Two days. Two days is all it took to clean up this house. When I got here the place was somehow both empty and a mess at the same time. There were some broken floor tiles, cobwebs and other eyesores that you would expect to find at an abandoned house.
I sigh and slump into the worn down couch that was left in the house. It's been a week since I left the hospital and I haven't been given anything important to do. This town doesn't even have an actual station here so they gave me a phone for emergency calls.
I have the phone in addition to my own on me at all times, but I don't know what I'm expecting. Waiting for a crime to happen here is like waiting for a solar eclipse.
The most I get are people complaining about weird noises around Route 210, but I've checked it multiple times and have found nothing.
In all honesty I’m basically a glorified park ranger.
With the free time I had, I was able to have a look around the town.
There isn't too much notable here. Just a few houses, a pokecenter and shop, a nice breakfast place, and a daycare. There are some interesting ruins east of the town, but other than a few rundown wall pictures it's practically empty.
The people I met here are fine, although they can get a bit annoying. I guess being the new face in town would warrant some attention since almost nothing happens here, but I could go without someone knocking on my door to welcome me every thirty minutes.
As I sit down I debate whether or not to go outside. It's a nice day outside and getting some fresh air would be great after spending the majority of my time here breathing in dust, but that would mean I'd have to deal with “them”.
Most of my pokemon were quick to accept living here since the larger space of land means that I can have more than six of them out at a time here. A majority of them have taken to exploring the forest here or just walking around the field around the house which is clear of trees.
When I first left the hospital I retrieved everyone who was in the Team Galaxy warehouse minus Blitz. Once I got home I sent them out to explain the recent news and our soon to change living space.
My question of how they would feel if I died was sort of answered. First off, Tora didn't seem to understand the situation, which I mean I don't know what I was expecting there.
When I sent out Juno, she seemed pretty excited that I was still alive. She jumped up and hugged me, way tighter than I thought was possible for a bug type, which made the area around my stomach where I was shot explode in pain.
Lucas was relieved, but with no further comment.
Taion looked really depressed and ashamed. The cuts on him have healed to the point where even the bigger ones were barely visible. I had to tell him multiple times that what happened was out of his control, and the result of it all didn't really matter. We both knew the ladder part was a lie, but he didn't really push it.
Then there was Ashley. She came out of the fight with some pretty nasty scars, but other than that she seemed fine. Although when I was explaining everything to her, she wouldn't look at me and acted distant throughout the entire conversation.
I didn't even try to reason with her as I did Taion since the situation was completely different, so I just thanked her for saving me and left it at that for the time being. Now I regret doing that since any future encounter with her can now open that can of worms. I currently have no idea how to even begin to deal with that so to the back of my brain it goes.
It’s currently 9:00 am so that breakfast place in town should still be open. The stuff they serve there is far from healthy, but if I'm being honest, it's the biggest highlight this town has.
I leave a note of my whereabouts on the door, and an old flip phone just in case I’m not back by the time before something inevitably happens.
Walking from my “new” house to the center part of the town takes about 15 minutes. It’s practically just a straight line west of the town’s forest. The path itself is a gravel and dirt filled line through the sea of trees.
Even though it's usually advised to have at least one pokemon on you at all times when walking through an area such as this, there aren’t that many things in this forest that would prove to be any type of danger.
It’s mostly just some Chansey, Starley and Roselias. Even after the run in with that one Garchomp I still feel fairly confident that I would be able to defend myself with my six shooter come a time that a two foot flower attacks me.
The metal clanking of my leg brace also helps with deterring threats as it echoes with every step I take. At first it bothered me a lot, but after a few days I learned to tune it out.
Walking into town, it’s actually pretty quiet. There are a few people out, but most of them only speak to greet each other, or make an occasional comment about the day. It’s definitely a change of pace from the city where you couldn't escape the multitude of voices even if you tried.
Once at the breakfast restaurant I take a spot by the windows, a place I’ve become accustomed to the last two times I've been here. It's not the most flashy restaurant I’ve been in, but it's fine as a place to relax for a few minutes.
Someone came to take my order and after that, It was basically the same routine as the old coffee place at Hearthome. I took out my dominos and stared at the tv for a while. This one was definitely on the older side, but it was at least capable of broadcasting news.
Nothing interesting today. Just some stuff about some Johto celebrity coming to Sinnoh, some garbage that is selling for way more than it should and a story on some Sudowoodo blocking a road.
After maybe the fourth story that was definitely not newsworthy, a waiter comes by and places a plate of egg and sausages with potatoes next to my domino tower.
I look at the mess of food and take a bite out of it.
I guess it's true that when it comes to breakfast restaurants, the more the food looks like garbage, the better it tastes.
While working on the full plate in front of me, I try to plan out my actions for the next few days.
The cleaning is basically done, so all that's left is to make the place not look abandoned. Then I also have to check Route 210 again, there's always the chance that I find something.
*TINK*
I accidentally hit the small tower next to my plate and the whole thing collapses beside me.
Shame.
I start to pack my things, ready to move on to the next part of the day. Before I leave one of the staff comes to give me the bill.
Just like with the last two times the bill is way less than it should be.
I can only speculate why, but if I had to guess it's due to my leg. I would probably be charged the normal amount but since I'm a crippled officer, I guess that's enough for people's pity.
It's a well meant gesture, but everytime I look at the reduction I can't help, but get angry. The pity I get is now just the status quo. Ever since I left the hospital it's been non stop about “how terrible it must be” and everyone asking if I need their help.
I can’t even imagine what would happen if they found out I was missing an eye. It's a miracle and a half that I had enough muscle left in the socket to move around a glass one.
I leave the restaurant, leaving enough money to pay the unchanged price. I refuse to be treated like someone incapable of doing anything.
I’m still the person who caught the Galaxy Admins as the youngest detective on the force. I am not useless.
“Excuse me.”
I turn around to see an old woman carrying three bags of groceries. She looks to be in her late 80’s, similar to the doctor at the hospital. She wore a flower print dress and had a sun hat on.
I can already tell what she's going to ask, seeing as a gust of wind looks like enough to knock her down.
Well I pretty much have to do it, since this is gonna become 90% of my job now, so I take the three bags from the woman.
“Thank you so much. You are such a kind young man.” She says as she begins to walk home.
Kind. I guess that's how some people could see me doing my job.
“Are you new around here sonny. I don’t remember seeing you before.”
Well I wouldn't be surprised if she had seen me before and still didn’t remember.
“Yea, I’m new. Came here a couple of days ago. It’s Alvis, ma’am.”
“Alvis? That’s a wonderful name dear. Your parents must have put a lot of thought into it”
I don’t even know them, but I doubt they put any thought into Kenny.
“I’m Olivia.”
The walk was only about five minutes, during which Olivia went on about her week and what pokemon she found hiding in her attic. While she was talking I didn’t really have a choice, but to listen due to the lack of any other processable information outside of how I'm going to deal with my pokemon later.
When we finally reached her home she said she would be fine with bringing in the bags.
“Thank you again, dear. I don’t know how I would have done it without you.”
“Ma’am, it's just my job. If you need anything else just call the emergency number”
I didn’t have anything more to say, so I began to walk back.
So how am I going to-
“Oh, wait. Alvin.”
My name’s Alvis.
“I'm baking some desserts today. Would you like some of them tomorrow?”
The question barely registers in my head, but I respond anyway.
“Uh yea sure.”
“You look tired, do you want to-”
“No thank you, gotta go.”
Then I began to speed up before she could continue to offer me things I clearly don’t need or want.
On the way back home I pick up something at the nearby mart. Hopefully this peace offering will suffice. Hopes are not too high though.
It’s about noon now, so the sun's beaming down on me. It's about now when I start to regret not asking the old woman for a drink or something. To prevent a heat stroke I take a detour, now walking underneath the trees. The shade makes the temperature go from unbearable, to just mildly annoying.
Walking the trees became a huge pain due to one oversight, my leg brace. Due to some of its parts being pretty bulky, it sometimes snagged on some roots, causing me to almost trip.
After seven minutes of what you could call barely walking beside the trail, I see something in the distance out of the corner of my eye. I spot a pair of two floating orbs, moving adjacent to me. I stop moving and the second I do, they do as well.
There is a moment of silence as I stare at the two objects, my right hand inching closer to the gun in my jacket.
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
Then a smile appears below the two orbs and a shape starts to form around them. It’s only then when I realize what or more accurately who it is.
“Kane, what the hell are you doing out here? You’re not supposed to be this far from the house.”
The Gengar continued to smile as he started to drum his fingers together.
“I have been wandering this place, exploring the new location, since it’s rare that you let me out. All the inhabitants of this place are rather fun. Alas, none of them seem too welcoming to me.”
That’s when I realize that I haven't seen that many pokemon wandering about on my way back. There were some, but they were mostly on trees, refusing to move. If Kane has been moving around here I can't blame them. Whether it’s due to his constant wide and unblinking eyes or the unwavering smile, Kane creeps me out.
“Okay, but you could have done that closer to the house, so again, why are you here?”
I didn't think it was possible for his smile to get wider, but it did.
“Well back there-”
He pointed in the direction of the house
“It’s too loud.” He starts to stare off into the distance. “Yes, far too loud for me I’m afraid.”
Then he returns his eyes to me.
“The fire type, the loud and annoying one, yes. She’s fighting with the others in their own mock combat. You know I would always love to bottle even though I am rarely allowed to, but the lesser fire type, she’s too-”
Kane waves his hand.
“Irritating to be around, it really brings down the atmosphere you know. Especially after that last escapade you went on.”
Ashley and Kane have never gotten along. I don’t entirely know why, but I have my ideas.
Kane does a quick scan of my face before talking to try to gauge how I will respond to his next statement.
“So I was thinking, the lesser one, she’s shown her hand, revealed that she is limited in capabilities, and because of that you're here now.”
He floats around me, arm pointing at the surrounding trees. Before stopping in front of me again.
“On top of all that, now is taking that out on all of us physically and emotionally. Don’t you think we should-”
“No Kane. I am not getting rid of her.”
Kane put an arm in front of his mouth and did his best to make a shocked expression with his smile still intact.
“Why, I would never suggest such a thing. She may be unbearable, empty headed, and defective, but she’s still family.”
Kane lowered his arm and looked directly into my eye.
“But you know, she seems miserable here too. So if that’s what you're thinking, then maybe it’s for the best.”
He then floats out of the shade and fades into the daylight. The last thing I see is his smile, then it’s gone.
Arceus help me, what am I supposed to do with these things?
The closer I get to the house the more I understand what Kane was talking about. If I didn't know any better I would say that some psychopath was setting explosives off. At least that's what it sounded like at first. Once I was close enough to see what was actually happening, I would describe it as less of a fight and more of a game of keepaway.
Jack was buzzing around in the air, doing his best to not get hit, not throwing a single attack, while Ashley was repeatedly launching herself at him.
“Hey chica, you know I’m always down to have an intense match, but why don’t we calm down for a-”
Jack barely avoids being grabbed out of the air and finally retaliates with an Air Slash. He's able to nail a direct hit, throwing the Infernape off balance for a moment. With it being a flying type move, it definitely hit her pretty hard, but to my surprise, she immediately goes back to relentlessly charging at the Scyther.
“HEY HEY HEY! IT’S NOT THAT SERIOUS! WE’RE JUST PRACTICING! IT’S JUST PRACTI-”
This time Jack wasn't so lucky. Ashley was finally able to grab him out of the sky and both started to fall to the earth, Ashley restraining his wings.
There was a burst of flames as soon as they collided with the ground. When the fire died down, Ashley was standing over Jack who was surprisingly still conscious.
“ You *cough* you win. Shit. Was that really necessary”
She didn't respond, instead deciding to walk off without saying anything.
When she was out of ear shot I walked up to Jack. Although hit with a direct Flare Blitz, he didn't look half bad. Eviolites are really something I guess.
“Hey, you okay?”
It took him a while to give an answer, taking a few seconds to catch his breath.
“Don't worry, feel like a million bucks.”
He sure didn't look like it.
“It may have looked pretty bad, but she's just frustrated, you know. Just needed to blow off some steam.”
He tried getting up but immediately gave up after finding it too painful.
“But it can't hurt to talk to her about it right?”
Yup, definitely something I have to do. I guess it's unavoidable at this point.
“Don't worry, I'll get to it. By the way, who else was uh.. fighting?”
“Mio and Nubbins.”
“What about Blitz and Kane?”
“Blitz went to bodyguard Lucas so he could look around the place. Kane declined the offer. Said it would be a waste of time for him.”
“Ah… I see. Do you want me to put you back in the ball or-”
“No, no, no. I'm fine like this, just give me a few minutes.”
After making sure there were no serious injuries, I left to at least make an attempt on the one thing I’ve been dreading.
I found Ashley leaning on the side of the house, idly drumming her fingers against the wall while staring off into the forest. She seems to be contemplating something, Arceus knows what, but it seems to really be troubling her. The fire that burns on top of her head isn’t too bright and she doesn't look as pissed as she did before, so maybe now's a good time.
“Hey. Are you okay?”
The second I speak, her head darts towards me. First there is a flash of surprise, then shame, then irritation.
“What do you want?”
“I just came to see how you were doing, i'm guessing not to great”
“Yeah, what gave it away, dumbass.”
Rude
Okay not the greatest start, but the situation is still salvageable. It was definitely a good idea to run over to the mart before coming back here.
I took the recently purchased bottle of protein out of my bag and offered it to her.
“I was passing through town and saw this on sale, thought that I might as well get it, opportunities like this rarely come you know.”
I paid full price for it. All 10,000P.
She takes it without saying anything. But there is a small hint of a smile on her face as she does. Well there's some progress. Now that she might be in a better mood I see no better time to try, so I go for it.
“So… about what happened a few months ago.”
I immediately feel the atmosphere shift, but there probably won't be another opportunity like this so I keep going. It’s a pretty tough subject to touch on, but we both came out of it pretty bad so I get where she's coming from.
“Look I understand how you feel, but you have to just let it go. You tried your best, but it just wasn't a situation where that was enough, but that’s fine. I doubt that anyone else could have done a better job, so in the end it doesn’t really matter, right? So how about we just forget about it and put this whole thing behind us, whaddaya say?
I extend my hand out, waiting to shake on forgetting the whole ordeal, but that never comes. Instead I hear her mutter a few things.
“Of course that's it.”
“Pardon?”
If she looked irritated before, she looks pretty livid now. The fire starts to glow brighter and get bigger.
“OF COURSE IT DOESN’T MATTER! HEY CAN YOU ANSWER SOMETHING FOR ME?! WHAT DOES MATTER TO YOU!? DOES TAION GETTING HURT MATTER?! DOES ME ALMOST DYING MATTER! OR DOES YOUR STUPID FUCKING JOB MATTER!? JUST FUCK OFF!”
With that she left, leaving burn spots in the grass with each step.
Fuck. Why does this have to be so difficult? Every step forward feels like ten back. What the fuck is her problem? I clearly do care since I almost lost everything bailing her out of getting a rock through the skull.
You know what? If she wants to continue being a bitch about the situation then fine. Continuing on with this is more trouble than it’s worth. I was right in wanting to avoid this. I should have just followed my gut.
As I make my way into the house I start to feel tired. I check the time, currently it’s 2:37pm. A bit strange since I haven't done much today, but I guess resting for a bit wouldn’t hurt anyone, as
long as I’m able to wake up in time to check Route 210. After that the cycle of doing nothing
No one else is in the house right now so it’s dead quiet. Other than me there's absolutely no movement. Nevermind, on closer inspection there’s dust everywhere. That's one more thing to tack on the to-do list
I move to one of the bedrooms upstairs, my eyes getting heavier with each step.
I start to hear Kane’s words echo in my head. His borderline suggestion to just get rid of her. Like that will ever happen.
I collapsed on one of the beds that were still intact enough to be comfortable and began to drift into unconsciousness.
—
It’s really nice out today. It’s really hitting that in between point where it's warm enough to go outside without needing to stack multiple layers of clothing, but also cool enough so you don't need to worry about getting a heat stroke. As I lounge on the park bench, Abel sits beside me, constantly scrubbing through lottery tickets.
“Hey dude, that's like your sixth one. How many of those things did you buy?”
“Ah, don’t worry about it. One of these will be a winner.” He says as he waves me off.
“I don’t know, so far you haven't won anything.”
A smile creeps on his face.
“Haven't won anything yet you'll see. It’s all about persistence.”
He pauses, then looks at me.
“Speaking of, I guess you probably do need a bit of help finding those things I asked for huh.”
It took me a while to understand what he was talking about.
“Oh, you mean that marble thing you showed me back at the theater.”
Abel nods. “Don’t worry about it. Like I said, you will know when you find it I’ll help you, just like last time.”
I start to nod my head in agreement, but then stop.
“Wait, did you help me last time?”
He gives a complex look.
“Sort of, It was mostly you, but you were having some trouble so I needed to help just a bit.”
I can’t remember that ever happening, but I guess it makes sense.
“This one should be a bit easier for you to find than the last, but you know, it never hurts to ask someone else for help.”
“I thought you said you would help?”
“Well yeah, but you know how it is being the mascot for a store.”
“No, I really don’t”
“It’s busy work, can’t be there to help all the time.”
I mean I guess, but who would I even ask to help me with this stuff.
“Anyway I see that you still also need help when it comes to, uh… asking people. Just remember what I’ve said before and you’ll be fine. Don't worry, I can help you with this too… maybe.”
Talking? Is he talking about the soft ball team? I thought things were going smoothly with them. I don’t remember-
“Hey, would you look at that.” Abel holds up his current lottery ticket. “I won.”
—
I wake up facing the window. When my eyes adjust I attempt to gauge the time via the sun. It looks to be right before sun down, so maybe around five. I don’t know how accurate that assumption is, but it’s definitely not too late for me to do a sweep of route 210. As I get up an image flashes through my head. A park bench, similar to the image of a festival when I first woke up at the hospital.
That’s definitely strange. Another dream I can’t remember.
Preparing everything for my journey down Route 210 was quick. Just needed to grab a few potions and a flashlight in case it got darker earlier than expected. I could always just use my phone for light, but my current one was new since the last one got obliterated when the Garchomp ran through the wall, so I’m not too excited about accidentally dropping this one and cracking it.
Now it was down to who I was going to bring along with me. There's no need for Blitz to come along, and his size might be a bit of a hindrance when traversing the more linear parts of Route 210 so they're automatically out. Mio might be pretty good for this since Umbreon’s really thrive at hunting things down at night, which would really help cause so far I don’t even know what I’am looking for. I guess by that logic it couldn't hurt to bring both Nubbins and Kane aside from the headache that they bring. Lucas would probably go if Kane wasn’t around. I don’t think Jack is willing to do anything at the moment. Both Taion and Juno would probably insist on coming with me after last time. While I am able to have more than six pokemon out here I didn’t bring everyone from my PC out since that would be a clusterfuck, so that leaves Ashley as the last one available to come. Although she hates Kane way more than Lucas seems to, she’s usually able to tolerate him when work needs to be done. Not sure if that still holds at the moment, but I guess I’ll find out.
***
Rounding up everyone wasn’t too difficult, though I asked Juno to get Ashley since maybe it wasn’t a good idea to talk to her again so soon. Surprisingly the most difficult one to convince was Taion. He insisted that the only way I would be going at all was if he walked alongside me the entire time. It feels really unnecessary, but a bit nice that he actually seems to care that I also almost died unlike someone.
Like the last few times I’ve been down this route, it’s completely void of anything interesting. It’s just the occasional pokemon wandering through the grass. Absolutely no sounds made from anything in the area could be thought of as out of the ordinary. Still I made a few rounds and even went all the way up to route 215, but I never saw nor heard anything weird. I decided to turn back right before reaching route 216 as by that point it was already getting pretty late.
Half way through route 210 I heard something to my left. Heard probably isn't even the right word. It was more so my mind was telling me there was something there. Without thinking I started moving towards it.Taion gave me a worried look at first, but followed. Whatever it was, it was far off the trail and deep into the forest.
The lighting in the area got darker as we went further and further into the depths of the sea of trees. Although I couldn’t necessarily see the pokemon along the trail I could at least hear them, the same could not be said now. It was almost completely silent, save from Taion’s footsteps and my braces clanking.
I was aware of a lot of things while walking. I was aware that I passed the temple that sits to the east of Solaceon town. I was aware that the sun was already long gone and it’s the perfect time to get attacked. I was aware that Taion was talking, voice frantic. I knew all of these things happened, but my mind never fully registered them. I was just focused on getting closer to whatever I was walking to.
Eventually we came across a cave opening. Going through it, I could feel that wherever it was was close, really close.
The cave was much larger than I expected. From the entrance it seemed like a very small tunnel, but it got wider the further in I went. There were some crystals that littered the wall, moonlight reflecting off each one illuminating the cave a light blue colour. It was a picture perfect view, but my mind was too focused on this thing to really appreciate any of it. The cave eventually split into three different paths. Without even knowing the layout of the cave I started moving towards the left most tunnel, sure in my mind that it was where I needed to go. Before I could take another step, Taion grabbed my arm.
“I said that's enough!” He yelled. This time I was able to fully hear him. I turned to him. He looked both frustrated and terrified.
“We’ve gone far enough for the day. Way too far. We should head back now.”
My head feels a bit hazy but I manage to respond.
“But it’s right there, so let's just get it and go.”
“What is!? What’s right there, all you’ve been doing is walking in a straight line for who knows how long and not saying anything!?” He actually looks kind of scared. I’m not sure why since we’ve done way more dangerous things than just walking down a cave.
I open my mouth to answer, but I realize that I don’t really have one. I don’t actually know what I’m going towards. I look at the tunnel behind him and realize that I no longer feel compelled to walk towards that direction anymore. The feeling of something being there, something I needed, was gone.
“Uh, yeah. You’re right, let's just go home.”
Taion sighs in relief and we begin walking towards the entrance.
*BAM*
We are stopped by the sound of a large crash followed by heavy footsteps. We both turn to see the source of the noise. Whatever it was, coming from the tunnel to the right. I brought up my revolver while Taion readied an attack. From darkness, a garchomp emerged, bearing its teeth.
Memories the last encounter immediately flood my mind and my flight or fight instincts automatically kick in. Although I had my gun ready my mind chose flight first, which immediately failed as my first attempt to run made me trip over my bad leg.
Taion tried to use Ice Beam on it, but it blocked the attack with Protect. I aimed my gun at the Garchomp, but hesitated on pulling the trigger. Now that I was no longer moving and was able to get a good look at the Garchomp. It looked nothing like the one back at the lab. It was practically identical to any common variety Garchomp. Then it appeared to me that it had no intention of fighting. Currently it was in a defensive position and had not moved forward since my initial reaction. If anything it started to move backwards.
Taion got ready to fire off another shot. Before I could tell him to stop, the Garchomp let out a screech, throwing Taion off and making me cover my ears.
The Garchomp started to back up further as Taion was trying to recover from the tinnitus inducing scream.
Then things went from recoverable to really bad as there was a flash of light. Ashley immediately took form beside me and charged the Garchomp.
Taken off guard by the entrance of a new threat, it wasn't able to protect itself before Ashley collided with it, knocking it to the ground.
“Ashley, what the H-”
Before I could finish she immediately got on top of the Garchomp and started throwing punch after punch at its head. Even after the Garchomp gave up on defending itself she just kept going.
I was completely stunned. I've never seen her be this violent in any fight before nor have any of my pokemon been able to release themselves when not called upon. I guess Taion was too as he just stood there, eyes wide, watching the absolute beatdown happening before us.
After a couple of seconds I finally regain my composure and take out Ashley's ball, recalling her before she could kill the thing.
There was a moment of silence as I walked towards the Garchomp, face bloody on the ground.
Before I reach it I hear smaller steps coming from the tunnel. Three Gible waddled towards the Garchomp on the ground.
“Ma? Ma?” I heard each of them say.
Holy shit. This was fucked beyond all belief.
When they got close enough they noticed me and Taion and started growling. You know it might be a good time to leave. I recall Taion and start to leave but stop.
Fuck
I take a full restore out of my bag and slowly walk toward the Garchomp. Both hands raised. The Gibble start to snarl and chomp the air, doing their best to look intimidating, but back up when I get too close. In a few minutes able to give the beaten Garchomp enough treatment in order to stabilize it. The Gible continued with their less than effective defense mechanism the whole way through which got annoying, but they never tried attacking.
After everything was said and done. I exited the cave, not daring to turn my back to the group of land sharks until I was out.
The walk back to the house was pretty quiet, but suspenseful. It was pitch black outside and my hands were once again covered in blood. I must have looked like a mad man, stumbling through the woods, gun in hand.
Once I got to the house I placed five pokeballs on the kitchen counter, only keeping one. I take a moment to breathe and think about my next course of action. Outside, Lucas and Blitz are sleeping on the field so they won't be a problem. I exit the house and as quietly as possible, I make my way past them into the woods.
It takes a while, trying to avoid waking them with the clanking of my brace is a difficult feat, but I pull it off.
Finally I walked far enough into the woods so no one at the old ranch could hear us.Hopefully even if she starts yelling at me again.
I take out Ashley's pokeball, debating if it was in my safeties best interest to attempt this again.
After a few seconds of mentally going back and forth, I made up my mind. I really hope the second time’s the charm.