Sheets gripped to my shaking frame as I sucked in a deep haggard breath, desperately trying to get my heart to slow down. Pain kept lancing from a spot on my chest, but everything was fine. No cuts or wounds or anything. Everything was... was...
Fuck, God, I could still taste the copper on my tongue.
I stood up from my bed, bringing the covers with me as I straightened up, and started pacing. Maybe moving will calm things down a bit. Yeah.
“Bad dream?”
I whipped my head towards my bed with wide eyes before groaning. Fuck, I woke up Emilie.
“Dumb question. Sorry. Don’t worry, you didn’t wake me up, I’ve been watching out for Sol.” Emilie motioned her hand out towards the doors. “Still hasn’t come back yet, by the way. It’s like, four in the morning.”
“Right.” The word was breathy and soft. “Sorry, I.” I sucked in another deep breath. “That was, so much worse than any dream.”
I glanced around the room before biting back a curse. Of course the stupid ghost was hiding. Fucking prick.
“Vision?” Emilie asked.
“Yeah. Sol’s dad sent me another dream.” I steadied myself against the foot of the bed. My heart was slowing down now. Good. “Bastard made me sit through his own death. Like I needed to see or feel that.”
I wanted to scream but I didn’t want to get thrown out of the center. Damn it all!
Emilie winced. “Feel?”
I nodded before swallowing down a bit of bile and glancing down at my chest. “I keep feeling phantom pain from wounds that aren’t there. The uh, the,” I snapped my fingers before walking away from the bed and towards one of the end tables. “Medicham! Right. The Medicham skewered us with a giant stalactite. Bastard fucking cheated and aimed at Sol’s unconscious body, so we’d get in the way of the stupid attack.”
I pulled open the drawer before wincing. Right. Only thing I put in there was Wally’s phone. My dex was in my bag. Which was... which was...
Why the hell was I so scatterbrained right now?
“We?” Emilie teleported to my shoulder and turned my head towards her.
I winced away from her glowing eyes. Light in general felt like a bad idea. Oh god the room is spinning.
“Lea, I need you to look at me, okay?” Emilie’s tone was light. Calming.
She was never this nice. What-
My thoughts were washed away as my eyes were held firmly in place by Emilie’s glowing gaze. She brought up a single hand and placed it on my forehead, squarely between my eyes. The entire world lit up in a brilliant white, and I felt my legs turn to Jello.
I steadied myself before letting myself fall lightly to the floor. Fuck, my limbs felt like they were trapped in a vat of syrup, ugh. “What on earth was that?”
“Me finally being able to see him,” Emilie said, her feet firmly on the ground as she looked behind me.
I slowly moved my arms underneath me and pushed myself up, before twisting around to look.
Absol’s crumpled body rested on the ground, his form looking more solid than usual. His white fur was stained red as the wound on his chest seemed to bleed anew, and his horn and face were pale.
“Was he,” I struggled to find the right words as my heart started to pick up the pace again. “Just... chilling out? Inside my body?”
Emilie nodded. “It wasn’t a possession, not a full one at least. He was just hitching a ride. I’m guessing he has to do that to share his memories with you.” She walked closer to the downed spook, her eyes still affixed to his fallen form. “I can’t believe it...”
I spasmed slightly on the ground as the single, overwhelming urge to take a shower urged me to my feet. “You can’t believe I’m not crazy? I thought you were already on that train.”
She turned and glared at me before sticking her tongue out. “Not that. We all know you’re crazy for other reasons, but that’s not what I'm talking about.” She turned back to look at Absol. “I know this was once a dark type, but I don’t feel that. His mind is... chaotic. Most ghost-types are, but it’s available. I can at least feel something from him. It’s odd.”
“Yeah, well. It felt even more odd when it was hitchhiking, so thank you for giving him the boot.” I smiled down at Emilie. “Now, how do we wake up something we can’t touch?”
“Correction, YOU can’t touch. I can probably-”
Her words died as a bitter cold wind filled the room with the faint smell of burnt incense and rot. The lights in the room briefly came to life of their own accord before dimming down and sputtering off. An otherworldly wail traveled through the air as the still form on the floor slowly started to levitate upwards, bringing a number of random small objects up with him.
I swallowed as I eyed the floating sheets and pillows. “Emilie, why is my room starting to resemble a scene from The Exorcist?”
Emilie’s eyes glowed blue as she lifted her hands up, pulling the floating objects back down to the floor. “S’not the first time, and I don’t know. I’ve never dealt with ghosts before, just Ghost Pokémon. Did you do something to piss him off?”
I rapidly shook my head. “Nope. I’ve been the ideal medium. Sunshine, rainbows, and lollipops. Why the fuck are we-”
This thing’s eyes snapped open, and they were all white; not an iris or pupil to be had. The creature opened its mouth and I recoiled backwards, bumping my back up against the glass doors leading out into the beach as the wails increased in volume. A thin line of goopy flesh trailed down from the top of Absol’s maw before reconnecting to his lower jaw, and I watched, transfixed, as Absol’s once solid form started to melt, his fur dissolving into the aether as the beast collapsed in on itself.
Emilie snapped out of her daze at some point and teleported in front of me. When, I didn’t know, but a single, bright, white wall of energy formed in front of me as the creature started to shrink. His body lost shape and form as it condensed down into a small, black ball of floating sludge. A single glowing light shined through the mound of spectral flesh before the creature began taking shape into something new. A skull mask slowly formed, its eye sockets baren and empty as it stared me down, before finally, the spell was broken.
The single blue flame at the heart of the newly born Ghost Pokémon slowly rose up through the miasma, before peeking through the eye sockets of the skull mask.
I stared on in silence as the last bits of the transformation truly took hold on the Absol in front of me.
“Dusk...” he muttered, his voice shattered and hollow. An ominous purple wave washed over the room, warping around Emilie’s barrier and rattling the doors behind me as it leered down at us.
“Absol?” I took a step forward, stopping just short of the clear wall Emilie had made. “Well, I guess that’s not-”
The ghost phased into the shadows before I could even finish talking, and I bit back a curse as a cold feeling trailed up my spine.
He was gone.
I stared blankly at the empty, open air in front of me before slowly walking forward. “I... What the fuck did I just watch?”
“Ah, I guess a birth? Death? I dunno. It’s really hard to define that with ghost types.” Emilie teleported to my shoulder. “Good news, I think I got barrier down now. Guess all I needed was the threat of death from a malevolent specter.”
“Why are you not freaking out about this!?” I shouted, before wincing and throwing both hands over my mouth. I looked towards my door for a minute before sagging down and relaxing.
Emilie giggled. “Well, we’ve been getting haunted for a couple of days at this point, and he seemed pretty chill. I doubt if he’ll be much of a problem now that I can actually see him. Besides, did you see that tiny little thing? Legends above he was adorable.”
“Right...” I trailed off. “Did we witness different things, because that looked bad. Like oh my god, the world is ending, please send food care packages levels of bad.”
She winced. “So... I’m guessing he isn’t usually the creepy, moaning, otherworldly abomination that we just saw?”
I shook my head slowly, giving Emilie my most deadpan stare.
“Right. Probably not ideal, then,” Emilie said.
“Emilie!” I whisper shouted. “Ugh... why did he change? How? He was fine earlier this evening, why did he change into a Duskull?”
Emilie stared down towards the floor. “I don’t know why, but I might have an idea on how. I think...” She swallowed before glancing towards me. “Well, at least a theory.”
I spun my finger in a get on with it motion.
Emilie huffed. “No need to be rude. I was easing into it because you seemed freaked out earlier, asshat.”
I could feel my bottom left eyelid start to twitch.
“Legends above, you’re moody today.” Emilie winced as I started to lift my left arm to grab her. “Alright, so most ghosts subconsciously feed off of the life energy of others, right? Well, what if Ghost Dad pulled some from you every time he decided to take a stroll down memory lane?”
“So, you think he just... hit critical mass and turned into a Duskull?” I asked. “That, I feel like there should be more to it than that.”
Emilie shrugged. “Yeah, well. Ghosts are weird. What do you want? Be glad he had better things to do, a lot of Ghost Pokémon can get really cranky when they first form, and I really didn’t feel like going another round against an angry spook.”
I slowly nodded before freezing, my eyes going wide at the sudden realization.
He wasn’t haunting us. He was haunting Sol. He stuck around after kicking the bucket because his soul was too worried about his daughter to find peace. How the hell would that translate to what he was now?
“Huh? What’s u-whoa!” Emilie clung on to my neck hard as I started to move.
I darted over to the nightstand and grabbed my poke balls, before sprinting out of my room towards the beach, pulling up Apollo’s poke ball as I pushed the door open.
His passed out form materialized on the sand when I released him, and I groaned.
“Quartermaster Apollo, Captain on deck!” I ordered.
The bird fell forward and kicked up about ten pounds of sand as he scrambled to take a stance befitting his post. He sputtered and coughed a few times on the inhale before standing straight, his wing bent in salute as he gazed up at me tiredly.
‘On deck, Captain. Forgive me.’ He looked around the dimly lit beach and winced, before shooting me an annoyed glare. ‘Forgive me for speaking out of turn, cap. But it’s a wee bit early. I know yer eager to keelhaul yerself a Gallade, but there is such a thing as burning the Litwick at both ends.’
I groaned before glancing up at Emilie. “Mini movie time. Show him the cliff notes of what we saw.”
Emilie leaned back before glancing nervously at Apollo. “Er... I’m going to need you to relax and be moderately open, assuming you’re-”
Apollo laughed. ‘Get on with it, lass. I want to deal with whatever the cap needs dealt with and go back to sleep.’
“Good luck with that after this,” Emilie muttered before closing her eyes and lifting one of her hands up to her head.
Apollo’s eyes flashed purple for a moment, and he winced. ‘Eugh. Note to self, great beyond looks a hell of a lot more attractive than whatever the hell I just watched. Going quietly into the night is preferable. I’m guessing you want me to track him?’
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
“Yes and no,” I said, my tone of voice solemn. “I think I know where he’s going. I need you to find Sol, preferably before he gets there.” I looked down towards the sand. “I don’t know what... that, did to him, but honestly, no matter how I look at it, I don’t see that meeting going well right now.”
Apollo opened his beak before snapping it shut and flying upwards. 'Look for the other lass, got it. Can I use the First Mate for sonar?'
Emilie winced. “Err, I can’t really track a dark type, Apollo.”
Apollo tilted his head. ‘Can you copy her ability?’
“Yeah, what’s that got to do with-oh.” Emilie blushed bright red. “In my defense I’m running on minimal sleep and a migraine.” She turned towards me before answering my unasked question. “I think humans call it Justified. The ability isn’t exactly common.”
Apollo grinned. ‘Hop on, we’re scanning the island. Steer me in the right direction when you feel something, alright?’
“Oy, who outranks who?” Emilie asked before disappearing from my shoulder and hopping on Apollo’s back. “Stop being bossy and fly, featherhead.”
‘Oh, good. I get to be featherhead now. Suzy can’t get back soon enough.’ Apollo started gliding through the palm trees toward the last place we saw Sol.
“Oi, don’t go so fast.” I shouted as I sprinted after them. “Remember, the squishy human can only go so fast.” Fuck I could already feel my left leg start to cramp.
The two of them just laughed as they maintained their pace. Mutinous little bastards.
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Emilie POV
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Emilie glanced behind her and grinned. They had successfully ditched their trainer. “Thanks for this.”
“Don’t mention it, lass. I’m just following orders. Not my fault I’m old and I couldn’t quite hear what the Cap was saying as we flew away, no sir.” A smug grin pulled at Apollo’s beak as he rose even higher into the sky.
“Don’t go too high. My Trace doesn’t exactly have the biggest range in the world,” Emilie said.
Apollo nodded once before diving, dipping just below the tree line as Emilie clutched onto the waterfowl’s back.
“I didn’t mean divebomb the palm trees,” Emilie shakily muttered.
“Bah, where’s the adventurous spirit that forced a Skarmory into a dead man’s dive?” Apollo glanced upwards, his head tilted slightly in the cresting morning light.
“She had a series of reality checks. Don’t start with me or I’ll find her again and steer you into palm tree.” Emilie glowered, meeting his gaze before smirking.
“Fair enough. I take it yer not as concerned about the wandering revenant?” Apollo asked.
Emilie rolled her eyes. “Please. You were right at the center. I don’t care how strong it was in life, Sol is more than capable of dealing with a freshly born spook.”
“Aye, that was my thought process too.” Apollo broke eye contact before glancing back down towards the ground, his eyes scanning the clearings as he went. “I’m more worried about what happens if she deals with it a little too well. Ghosts are always off their rocker the first few years they’re born. It’s a miracle Lucas is as sane as he is, though considering where we found him, the swabbie’s probably a special case. Chances are that our lass is liable to end the little guy before we can explain what’s what.”
Emilie winced. “Fair enough. This area’s clear, by the way. I’m getting Drizzle from you, a few Thick Fat’s from random Makuhita, and a bunch of Keen Eyes from the trees.” Emilie grinned before lying down on Apollo’s back. “Got any family local?”
Apollo snorted, though it lacked enthusiasm. “Yer avin a laugh. Not all Wingull are related, lass.” His eyes lost focus and the two of them drifted toward a tree.
“Watch it!” Emilie grabbed a few feathers and pulled, prompting the water type to veer to the left. “Head in the game, Apollo.” Her eyebrows pulled together as she stared down. “You alright?”
“Right, sorry. I remembered something, is all. I don’t know any of the local birds, but a human I once knew might be around.” Apollo glanced out toward the docks as he glided. “Might pop over and say hi if he’s here. See how the brat’s doing.” Apollo glanced down toward the ground. “We didn’t... leave on the best of circumstances.”
“Do I need to rough someone up?” Emilie’s eyes glowed blue.
“Feh. I appreciate the offer, but if I needed someone roughed up, I think I can handle it meself.” Apollo smiled. “Thanks for the sentiment, but we both were at fault with how things ended. I’m half worried me saying hi is just going to stir up trouble, but... I miss him.”
Emilie leaned down and ruffled Apollo’s head feathers, smiling at the slight dampness. “I’m guessing you don’t need therapy hour with me, right?”
“I think I’ve lived long enough to keep my own head on straight. Again, thanks for the offer though, lass. An extra big thanks for not just looking inside my noggin and pilfering my secrets for yourself.” Apollo chuckled dryly. “Was a bit worried about that when I first joined way back when, not gonna lie.”
“I’m not THAT nosy.” Emilie frowned. “Well, not anymore, at least. Not everyone likes getting prodded.”
“Aye, people and Pokémon alike enjoy their privacy. What can I say, we’re a secretive bunch. Speaking of secrets, though, I’m idly curious why I’m helping you sneak off to have a chat with our surly stowaway. I don’t need an answer per say, but it’d be nice to know why I’m earning the captain’s ire.” Apollo shivered, dipping down slightly as we flew past a sheer cliff face.
Wait, this cliff looked... and there’s Sol.
“I just wanted to clear the air, and I can’t do that if Lea’s trying to play peacemaker.” Emilie scowled down at the dark type as she stared blankly up at the rock wall. “You’re a good enough babysitter and I trust you to butt in only when necessary.”
“Fair enough, I suppose.” Apollo nodded before glancing around the clearing. “I don’t see our new spook, do you?”
Emilie shook her head. “Don’t sense it either. You keep an eye out, I’m going down for my chat.”
“Watch yerself and don’t poke the bear too much,” Apollo said.
Emilie teleported down, not bothering to answer, and reformed right next to the brooding dark type.
Sol didn’t even turn her head away from the cliffside. “You idiots don’t know how to leave well enough alone, do you?”
“We’re like fungus. We’ll grow on you eventually, promise,” Emilie deadpanned.
“Doubt it.” Sol sighed. “You lot are more annoying than anything. At least May and her ilk gave me space.”
“Holy fuck, you said her name.” Emilie smirked widely. “I wasn’t even sure you knew it.”
Sol giggled bitterly. “Ah... that’s refreshing. Going to be honest, I prefer the dollar store banter over the kid gloves your trainer’s been trying to handle me with. It feels more natural.”
Emilie winced before falling back and sitting on the cold, stiff grass. “Noticed that, huh?”
“She went from wanting to light my ball on fire with me in it to trying to be besties, all because she somehow pulled a few memories from my head.” Sol scowled. “Didn’t even know humans could use Miracle Eye. Regardless, tell her I don’t need her fucking pity.”
“It’s not pity, it’s... empathy. And learned behavior, honestly.” Emilie pulled her legs up to her chest.
Sol finally ripped her eyes away from the cliff face to look at her, before turning away and scowling. “Whatever, just tell her to stop.”
“Heh, good luck with that. As much as she yells about May’s hovering, she’s just as bad when we’re dealing with shit.” Emilie giggled.
Sol turned towards Emilie and glared. “Could you just get on with it? I’m assuming you came here for a reason other than to annoy me.”
“There was. A few of them. I wanted to tell you off, honestly. Legends know you deserve it.” Emilie met Sol’s glare with her own. “Looking at how pathetic you look makes that hard.”
“This coming from a tiny little girl playing at being strong.” Sol sneered before turning back to the cliff face. “You know, I’ve seen the pirate fight. He could’ve ended me, easily. The leaf might not be completely put together at the moment, but he was right. He is strong. That aspect of his being defines him. What exactly do you do, little girl?”
Emilie clenched her fists as rocks started to levitate around her. “This coming from the dark type that can’t use the void.”
Sol snorted. “Implying that you wouldn’t cave to a single Shadow Ball. You think throwing a few rocks around makes you strong? Even the damn sword can fight with power, though he doesn’t know how to use it yet. You’re just a little girl, playing in the rain.”
Emilie glared venomously at Sol, before looking toward the ground and relaxing her fists. The objects she had pulled up fell to the ground with a soft thud. “Just because you want a fight, doesn’t mean I have to give it to you.” Emilie looked up and grinned. “I’m more than a snarling beast, nipping at the wind.”
Sol instantly turned and lunged forward, biting through cold air as Emilie reappeared behind her.
“Slow,” Emilie taunted.
Sol pivoted and swiped her claw through the air as Emilie teleported onto her back.
“Sloppy.” Emilie grinned down at the creature as she leaned forward.
The dark type twisted around, and wails filled the clearing as a purple ball of smoke launched from her mouth. She winced as her own attack hit her tail end.
“Sad.” Emilie purred the word as she grinned down from the top of a palm tree, her voice mingling with a light creaking of wood.
“Cute.” Sol pounced upwards, only to be batted into the cliff as the palm tree recoiled forward. The dark type let out a soft whine as it slid down the rock onto the freezing ground below.
“Woo.” Emilie let out an exhalation of held breath as she reformed on the ground. “Thanks for that, I had a lot of pent up aggression and that really took the edge off.
A low growl sounded as Sol got back to her feet. “You are the most annoying, insufferable, pain in the ass-”
“I thought you liked that about me?” Emilie tilted her head and smiled.
Apollo landed on the ground between the two before tossing a glare at Sol. “I never imagined I’d be spending my later years playing referee to a pair of squabbling brats. Both of ye calm down, would ye?”
Emilie sighed. “Fiiiiine. Spoil my fun. Your accent gets more pronounced when you’re pissed, did you know that?”
Apollo ignored her. The bird kept his gaze focused on Sol. “I thought we were past the ‘picking fights with random idiots’ phase of grief.”
Sol winced before digging slightly at the ground. “She... got under my skin.”
Apollo winced. “Aye, she’s good at that, though you came out the boat swinging. Any particular reason for that?”
“I-” Sol bit back her words before glaring at the cliff face behind her. “To be honest, this place just pisses me off. I don’t know how I was able to come back here so many times after what happened.”
Emilie opened her mouth, before snapping it shut at the withering glare Apollo sent her way. “I’ll be good, I promise.”
“I’ve heard that before, lass.” He narrowed his eyes. “Earlier today, in fact. I thought Fae couldn’t lie.”
Emilie blushed. “I said I’d try.” She pushed her fingers together and looked away nervously. “I did try, I just failed. I promised this time. There’s a difference.”
“And this is why that whole ‘They can’t lie’ is a bunch of Tauros shit,” Sol muttered.
“Anyway, I think I can answer your question. If you don’t mind getting therapy advice from a Ralts that got her degree from a circus Mr. Mime.” Emilie smiled at the widened, terrified eyes.
“Arceus above, you all being nuts suddenly makes sense!” Sol shouted.
“When you were guarding Lucas, you had something to distract you from the horrible things that happened here. You could push your feelings down and ignore them because you were focusing on something you thought was more important than yourself. Something your family was sworn to protect.” Emilie nodded once. “Well, at least I think that’s what it was. This is a lot harder to do when I can’t peep inside your head to cheat a little bit, but considering your parents died-”
“Shut up!” Sol shouted. “Just... stop talking.”
Emilie winced. “Sorry. I poked the scab a little too hard. That was my mistake.” Emilie bowed, before lifting her head and meeting Sol’s gaze. “I know it feels like a mountain’s in front of you, but talking really will help. Putting it off, burying it.” Emilie shivered as memories of a swirling black miasma engulfing Lea’s mind played through her head. “It doesn’t ever end well.”
“Oh, and let me guess. I’m just supposed to talk to you?” Sol asked, her tone acrid as she turned her nose up.
Emilie opened her mouth but froze as green hair and a really embarrassing set of Team Electabuzz pajamas came into view.
“Tell me, great and wise therapist of questionable origin, how exactly does talking about it help? My parents were murdered protecting a stupid, pun loving, weak Ghost Pokémon. What value am I supposed to extract from that!” Sol shouted.
“He didn’t die protecting the sword. He died protecting you,” Lea said firmly, before turning an angry glare squarely at her Pokémon.
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Normal POV
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Sol’s eyes were narrowed, and I bit back a sigh as I glared at Emilie. “You shanghai my flier, leave me behind, and then proceed to pick a fight with a volatile Absol, all in the span of an hour. Did you even warn her about the wandering Duskull?”
Emilie winced. “I was getting to it. I just got side trac-”
“You’re on crackers and orange juice for the rest of the week,” I sentenced.
Emilie recoiled before turning up to look at me with wide, pleading eyes. “Please, no. The crackers taste like salty sadness and the juice makes my face do weird things.”
“Well, you should have thought of that before you abandoned me at the center.” I shifted my eyes back over to Sol. “You were your dad’s purpose, not the sword. Your life meant more to him than anything.”
Sol snorted before looking away. ‘Yeah, and looking after my worthless ass got him killed.’
Lea winced, before looking down towards the shadows. “I’m going to tell you something that I've probably told myself half a dozen times. I know it’s not going to make a difference and you’re not going to believe me, but it’s not your fau-”
‘Do you have any idea how easy it was to kill that monster after dad was impaled?’ Sol snarled. ‘That thing was on its last legs, literally and figuratively. It could barely move, his attacks lacked weight, the stupid thing couldn’t even move because his legs were blown out, and dad died because he had to protect the deadweight. If I wasn’t there, he’d still be alive!’
“You had no way of knowing how strong that thing was, and you had been helping your mom fend off threats for a while before that. You had no reason to think you couldn’t help.” I met Sol’s look head on with crossed arms and a bitter grin as I moved across the hard, slightly frosty grass. “And most importantly, you aren’t the one that killed him.”
Sol opened her mouth.
“You’re going to think of about a million things you could have done differently, wonder about every what if, and ask why to a universe that will never give you an answer until the day you die. But despite all that, at the end of the day, the only person to blame for your dad’s death is the one that killed him.” I walked closer to Sol and knelt down, sighing as she winced away. “You’ve got two choices, Sol. To be honest, they both kind of suck, but it’s what we’ve got to work with, and I’m sorry. You can let what happened rule your life, or you can push past it.” I smiled as I looked over at Apollo and Emilie. “We’ll be here to help regardless, but I hope you’ll choose the latter.”
Sol kicked at the ground and sighed. ‘I’m trying, but... it’s just so hard. I just get angry, and it’s so hard to control. I can’t, I-’
“Baby steps.” I lifted my arms up before she could ramble more. “Just... take it one day at a time, alright. That’s all we can really do.”
Sol nodded before glancing back at Emilie. ‘I-’ She choked on her words like the topic was causing her physical pain. ‘am. Sorrrrrrrrrrr-y about how I act-ted earlier.’
Emilie lifted an eyebrow up and shrugged. “I accept, for no other reason than watching you apologize again might trigger my gag reflex and I really don’t want to know what brownies taste like coming back up.”
“Bad,” I said, wincing as a familiar, disgusting taste entered my mouth. “The answer is bad.”
‘Yeah, well, whatever.’ Sol looked away from the two of us, her face a dark red. ‘She’s not as bad as I thought, I guess. Can we get out of here? I’m sick of this place, and apparently you all pissed off a ghost Pokémon for some stupid reason.’
“Right!” I hopped up before freezing and looking at the cliff. Leshy’s final goodbye played through my head, and I sighed as an idea popped into my head. “And Sol, before we leave this island, I think it’d be a good idea to go down and give them a proper goodbye. It helps a lot more than you think it would.”
‘I-’
“I’ll go down with you, if you want.” I cut her off, earning wide eyes and dropped jaws from everyone in the clearing. “May too, honestly. Not sure how well we’ll deal, but I know she’ll be there for you if you need it. Just... think about it, alright?”
Sol hesitated for a moment before nodding.
“Good, now then, Emilie?” I asked.
Emilie snapped to attention and clicked her jaw shut before nodding at me as I pulled out a pair of poke balls. “Yes, sir!”
Apollo rolled his eyes. ‘It’s ‘aye, captain’, you land loving-’
I recalled him and Sol before he could finish. “Think you could teleport us back to the center, I’m tired and I really don’t want to have to walk all the way back.”
“Can do.” Emilie teleported back up to my shoulder and I sagged down in relief as the world started to disappear.
That relief turned to dread as a small, black shadow peaked out through the trees before sinking down into the ground as the world faded out and the walls of the center foyer filled my vision.