CHAPTER 41

After lunch, we decided to split up and go about our business. Pauline and Justin stayed in Emilia’s room to comfort her. Denzel was going around and asking people for information and making connections. Louis and Cecilia had probably gone off somewhere to train their dragon types since they hadn’t had as much time to do so since we joined the group because Cecilia’s attention was focused on us. Or maybe they were just hanging out. That left little old me. What would I do?

I stepped out of the Center and explored the makeshift town that had been built at the forest’s entrance. People that lived here were all employees associated with the League or the Rangers, and I assumed the personnel rotated every few weeks, or maybe months. I stepped toward the forest entrance and saw that Rangers were stopping trainers and asking for some kind of ticket. Wanting to know more, I stepped forward curiously.

“No entrance ticket, no entry!” One of the Rangers said.

The trainer scoffed. “What’s this about a ticket? I just got here!”

“It’s a new system we’re trying out, and it’s been approved by the League. You have to go through a four hour class in the Ranger building to have access to the forest.”

“A class? I have a badge, I don’t need any classes!”

“Trust me, kid, you’ll need it. It teaches you everything you need to watch out for in the forest and how to fight back.”

The girl groaned and left in the direction of the Ranger building. It was the first time I was hearing about this, and even Denzel supposedly didn’t know about it, since he hadn’t said anything. I entered the large, cube-like building. Ranger stations were set up like Pokemon Centers. They had a lobby the same size, with a receptionist and an employee-only zone further in the back. There was a line of trainers, who were no doubt here to sign up for this ‘class’. I didn’t want to sign up without informing everybody else, so I left. One thought was stuck in my mind, however. Even with this class, people were severely wounded. And where they were wounded, there were deaths.

When I got back to the Center, I found Denzel in the lobby, speaking to some guy that looked older than us. If I had to place his age, I’d say he was in his early twenties.

“... underestimate Morelull. If you’re lucky, you won’t be seeing any, but if provoked, they emit lights that make you fall asleep for hours. That’s a death sentence in the forest. If you see one, turn away as fast as you can.”

Denzel was typing away furiously in his Poketch, taking notes. “Damn, this place is designed to get you killed. What about Phantump and Trevenant? I’ve heard some other kid talking about seeing those during his first venture inside.”

“Leave the Phantump,” The man said in a grim voice. “And that trainer’s full of shit. Probably he wanted to embellish his story. You won’t be seeing Trevenant here.”

“Sounds good— ah, Grace!” Denzel said when he saw me. “Come here.”

I walked up to the two and introduced myself. The old trainer did the same.

“My name’s Scott. I’ve been giving information to your friend here,” He said. “It’s my fifth go through the Circuit and my fourth time going through the forest.”

I looked at Scott in awe. “Wow,” I said. “Thanks a lot. Sorry for interrupting though,”

“No problem, we were almost done anyway,” Scott said. “I enjoy giving advice to new trainers. I have to say, though, it pains me to see so much suffering. This year’s the worst one so far. There weren’t that many injured last time.”

“That must be why the Rangers are forcing us to take a class,” I said.

“A class?” Denzel asked.

“Yeah, it’s a four hour course on Eterna forest. Personally, I find it a little redundant, but if it helps the new generation, I won’t complain,” Scott said as he got up. “It was nice to meet you, Denzel. You’ve got my number if you need any more info. I’ll be hanging at the outpost for a little longer.”

“Thanks,” He said.

It wasn’t often that we saw old trainers like Scott. Most people would have given up and returned to their normal lives by now, but it looked like he was still going strong. I was sure he was an extremely powerful trainer to have survived going through the forest so many times without a scratch or a scar. I told Denzel about how to sign up for the class and then left him to gather more information. I was sure it would be crucial for traversing the forest, so I didn’t want to disturb him too much. I went back to my room to pick up Frillish, but when I stepped out, I heard a door slam. Cecilia stomped out of Louis’ room, seemingly on the verge of tears. I felt my heart ache, and I followed her. The girl took refuge in her room, and I hesitated to knock. Would I be intruding? Was I doing this out of the goodness of my heart, or was I hoping for something else?

I was a terrible person.

I knocked anyway.

“Louis… not now, please,” Cecilia sobbed. I flinched, not expecting her voice to be so close. She was right behind the door.

“Uh— it’s not Louis, it’s— it’s Grace. Should I leave?”

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“Oh,” I heard. “Sorry.”

After around thirty seconds, Cecilia opened the door and let me in. She looked fine, although her eyes were red. She was clearly trying to hide the fact that she had been crying.

“Sorry, I saw you cry when you came out of Louis’ room, so I was wondering if I could help. We’re friends, right?”

The girl nodded. “I wasn’t crying,” She lied. “But thank you anyway.”

“What happened? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“It’s just something stupid,” She sniffled. “He’s been talking to my best friend in Unova behind my back. It’s… it’s like I can’t trust anyone here. I like my friends, of course, but I can’t speak freely to them. I always have to watch what I say.”

“Is it because of your dad?” I guessed.

“It’s always because of my father. I’m scared that he’s getting information about me through them, through no fault of their own. They don’t know how bad he really is. With you, I can at least say something because you’re just a normal girl,” She said. “No offense.”

I nodded. “But it’s your best friend, right? Would she say stuff to your dad?”

“I don’t know,” She said, clenching her pants. “I wish I could be sure, but recently, I’ve started doubting her— anyway, I’m okay now, so it doesn’t matter. Thank you for helping, Grace.”

“No prob,” I said, shuffling around. “How did you guys meet, anyway?”

“Me and Amy?”

I guessed that that was the name of her best friend.

“No, you and the rest of the group.”

“Oh. Well, I knew Pauline from her mother’s many business trips to Unova already, but the rest, I met recently when I first flew to Sinnoh. Our parents arranged our travels together.”

I wanted to ask about Louis too, but I decided against it. One, it would just be rude to do it right after she argued with him. Two, I wanted to prove to myself that I was better than that. I didn’t want to take advantage of the argument for…

What was I doing? She didn’t even like girls.

I deflated. “Anyway, I also wanted to tell you about a class we have to take…”

I explained the situation to Cecilia, who seemed to be better now that we were focusing on something other than relationships. We hung out for a while, something I couldn’t help but be happy about. I mostly asked her about how it was back in Unova. The region was a little bigger than Sinnoh was, and it was home to way more people. Cecilia told me about how she used to go to one of her family’s beach houses in a city called Humilau with Amy every summer. I couldn’t help but notice the sad twinge in her voice whenever she brought up her best friend, so I steered to conversation away, talking about how I first got Togetic and the antics she used to pull as a Togepi. That seemed to cheer her up.

Ultimately though, we couldn’t stay inside all day. Cecilia went to pick up her friends in their room while I was in charge of letting Louis know about the course because Cecilia was still furious at him, although she asked me to hide that fact. When I knocked on his door to let him know, he just ignored me and asked me if I knew where his girlfriend was.

“I do know, but uh, she’s picking up the others... Anyway, it doesn’t matter, since we all have to go to sign up for the class.”

“You have to help me talk to her. She misunderstood—”

“That’s not my job,” I said. Every time I talked, I felt more and more awful. I was letting my jealousy affect the way I spoke, and I knew I had to put these feelings behind me. “Talk to her yourself, man.”

He sighed. “I suppose I’ll have to. So we’re meeting at the Ranger station?”

“Mhm.”

Walking in silence with Louis felt awkward, but we just didn’t have that much in common. At least with Cecilia, I could push through listening about her insane amount of beach houses because of my stupid crush, and we could bond over our Pokemon training, but I wasn’t about to listen to Louis complain about whatever problems billionaires had. Even though Louis enjoyed battling, the passion Cecilia had for it simply wasn’t there. He didn’t put out even half of what she did.

Argh, I was just trying to find more reasons to dislike him, wasn’t I?

Whatever. We all met at the station a few minutes later. Louis kept repeatedly apologizing until Cecilia reluctantly accepted it, and everyone else seemed fine. Even Emilia, although still clearly scared, appeared to have calmed down. Luckily we wouldn’t have to wait, so we were placed in a makeshift classroom right away. There was the beginning of a powerpoint being projected onto the wall, and we all sat in plastic chairs facing the presentation. Our ‘teacher’ was a veteran ranger with a strange decoloration on his neck and half of his face, and his right eye was permanently stuck looking to the right.

“Listen up!” He yelled, slamming his fist against the wall. “My name is Anders Lackland, and unfortunately, I’m your professor for the day. This is the first class I’m giving, but before I begin, I know there are a lot of you in this class, and in the other classes that think that you’re too good for this. That this isn’t your first year going through this damned forest. But I want your undivided attention during these four hours. I’ve gone in Eterna forest more times than you sorry asses can count, and I will have information you’ve never heard before,” He said. “Take this class seriously, and your odds of making it out will be pretty high if you have the appropriate team, which might not even be the case, considering how many of you worms there are this year.”

I made myself small and just observed. He was being very aggressive, somewhat reminding me of a bootcamp instructor.

“See this?” He said, pointing at himself. “See this fucked up face? Got hit by Poison Sting six years ago. That’s what can happen to you if you get hit by one of the wild Pokemon out here. But I’m one of the lucky ones. Most of the time, one hit is all it takes. One hit, and you’re done. I personally don’t know why there’s been such an increase in trainers participating in the Circuit, but I do know one thing. You’re all terrible! You keep coming back all injured, or dead, so we were forced by the League to implement these classes to stem the bleeding.”

I inhaled sharply. Why hadn’t I heard about the increase in casualties in the media? And if they were so large that the League had to step in, I could only imagine how many people had been lost. Was it just incompetence, or had there been a cover-up?

The instructor grinned, and the right side of his face stayed unresponsive, like it was permanently under anesthesia. “Introductions are over. You know the stakes, now all I can hope for is that you listen. I’m going to make you into motherfucking professionals.”