Emilia woke with a groan to the blaring of her alarm. She slammed her hand down on the annoying machine, not even looking at the time and rolled out of bed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Muttering to herself, she stumbled her way into the room’s small shower, ratcheting the faucet as hot as it could go. She waited for a minute, stepped into the shower and flinched. The water was ice cold.
With a moan of frustration she rubbed her eyes again and scrubbed herself clean, making the shower quick and cold. Shivering and swearing under her breath, she exited the shower, wrapping a towel around herself as she made her way back to the bed.
She took a moment to dry herself off and pulled on a fresh change of clothes. Checking her pokedex, she saw Cashe sent her a message and groaned again. He and Lindon were not going to be back anytime soon. At least not until the evening.
She didn’t respond to the message, stuffing the pokedex into her pocket instead. She could hear the gentle patter of rain on the motel room’s window, even through the closed blinds. She reached into her backpack to grab a coat and paused, finally seeing the time on her alarm clock. 10:57a.m.. How? She had a terrible sleep, but her alarm was set for 7:30.
She groaned again and lopped down on the bed, a wave of exhaustion passing over her. She just wanted to go back to bed, but she couldn’t. She had to meet Dee today at the very least. She couldn’t do much else with Cashe and Lindon still in the wilderness, so maybe bed after that. And then sleep. Her stomach gurgled and she groaned again. Maybe breakfast first.
She rolled out of bed for the second time and pulled on a jacket, shaking her head to clear it from exhaustion. She left the room to find Gothorita standing in the hallway, a foot away, staring up at her.
“Shit! Arceus!” Emilia slumped back against the wall, heart racing. She put a hand to her chest, taking a few deep breaths to calm down. “You scared me out of my skin. What are you doing here?”
Gothorita stared at her and blinked once.
“Um, the hot water is off,” Emilia said, “Someone should fix it.”
Gothorita tilted her head to the side before turning and walking down the hall.
“Good morning to you, too!” Emilia muttered after the strange pokemon. “Stupid, creepy town with its freaky pokemon. At least I’m awake now.”
She pushed herself off the wall and made her way to the foyer. The man, Todo, according to the young man in the general store, was still fast asleep on the chair. Gothorita was either hiding under the desk or had simply disappeared, as she was nowhere in sight.
“Good morning,” Emilia called to the man. He didn’t stir. She snorted. She was pretty sure he was wearing the same clothes he was the previous day as well. Unbelievable. “Your motel sucks, by the way.”
She stepped outside to find that the rain had not let up in the few minutes it took to get outside. She sighed, glaring up at the sky in annoyance, letting a few drops of water pelt her face. She flipped the hood up on her coat and crossed the street, entering the Pokemon Center.
There was a different Nurse Joy behind the desk, as expected. It might not actually be a Joy, given the man didn’t have the pink hair that plague that family. He looked up as she approached the desk, greeting her with a smile.
“How can I help you?” He said.
“This guy didn’t show up here by any chance, did he?” Emilia said, pulling out the photo of Wynn, “He’s missing. Gym Leader’s looking for him.”
“I’ve only been here a couple of hours,” the nurse said, “But no, I haven’t seen him. Only you, so far.”
Emilia grunted, “So I take it you haven’t seen three people that look like trainers but are actually professional catchers?” Emilia said, “Two women and a man. Young.”
“No,” the man shook his head, “Like I said, you’re the only one I’ve seen so far. It’s how it is in remote locations like this. Some shifts you see no one at all.”
“So I’ve heard,” Emilia sighed, “Okay, well if this guy shows up, tell him to call the gym he works for. Or just call Gym Leader Kev yourself, if you can. They’re worried about him.”
The nurse nodded, “Will do.”
Emilia turned and left the Pokemon Center. It wasn’t good news. Wynn was still missing and if he hadn’t seen Dee or the others, that meant they likely weren’t back from the mountain yet. She didn’t know of anyone that came back from the wild and didn’t bring their pokemon to a Center.
She turned and walked the few feet it took to get to the general store. The door rattled as she tried to open it. Closed. Of course. She didn’t even see movement inside either. Now she couldn’t even check with the guy for an update.
Let her head clunk against the glass of the store door. She had nothing to do now but wait for Cashe and Lindon to return. At least she could get some sleep.
Heading back to the motel, Emilia paused in the middle of the street. In the window of the diner a figure could be seen sitting at one of the tables. The figure looked male, and though he was facing away from her, Emilia could make out dark, curly hair.
“Dee?” She took a few steps towards the diner to get a better look. It was Dee. The group must have got back in town early in the morning or late last night to have missed the nurse in the Pokemon Center. Emilia hurried towards the diner, pausing at the door. She peeked through the window. The woman she saw previously was nowhere to be seen. She opened the door, glancing around, before stepping inside.
“Dee?”
Dee did not turn around so she walked up to him. He was sitting at one of the cleaner tables, though its table cloth was still covered in dark brown splotches. He sat, ramrod straight, staring at nothing. The table was clear of food or drink; Emilia wasn’t exactly sure why he was at the table at all. He didn’t seem to notice her until she sat down in the booth across from him.
“Dee.” She put her hands on the table to get his attention and grimaced. It was sticky. She quickly removed her hands and looked Dee in the eyes. He looked tired. His eyes were bloodshot and dark circles lay beneath them. His hair, which she remembered as thick and curly, lay loose and limp, lined with dirt and dust and his tan skin looked pallid and clammy.
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Dee smiled at her. It was bright and cheery, but didn’t fit his face at all. It was like looking at a machine’s approximation of a smile. All the right pieces were there but there was nothing behind the eyes.
“Hello,” Dee said, “Nice weather we’re having, isn’t it?”
“What, Dee, it’s miserable out,” Emilia said, “What are you talking about? Are you okay?”
“Haha. That was a joke. I am well. Thank you for asking.” Dee smiled again.
“Ah, okay. You sure you’re alright?” Emilia frowned.
“I am well. Thank you for asking. Haha.” Dee nodded.
“You’re acting weird.” Emilia said with a frown.
“I am tired.” Dee gave her another stilted smile, “I have returned from the mountains and I am tired.”
“Then get some rest,” Emilia said, “But first tell me if you have seen this guy anywhere. His name’s Wynn.”
Emilia dug the photo of the missing gym trainer out of her pocket and presented it to Dee. The man’s eyes never left hers.
“I have not seen this guy anywhere. His name is Wynn.” Dee said.
“Dee, what’s going on, are you sure you’re feeling okay?” Emilia said.
“I am well. Thank you for asking.” Dee stood up, “I am going now. Nice to meet you.”
“Dee, wait,” Emilia said, “Did you see any signs of strong pokemon when you were on the mountain?”
Dee ignored her, heading straight out the diner door. He marched, stiff-limbed across the street. Emilia slumped back into her chair and watched him go. Something was wrong with him. Very wrong. Something was wrong with the entire village.
Dee continued down the street, ignoring the motel completely. Where was he going? Emilia bit her lip and pulled her pokedex out of her pocket, sending a quick message to Cashe to let him know she was doing something stupid.
She followed Dee.
It wasn’t difficult. At first she tried to be subtle, keeping out of sight and at the edge of buildings. Hiding in a town was tricky when there was no one around and the entire town was a single road. It soon became clear; however, that she didn’t need to bother.
Dee was barely aware of his surroundings. He tripped over bumps in the road and stumbled awkwardly when he tried to catch himself, like he had no coordination at all. He didn’t shield himself from the drizzling rain or look back. Or look anywhere at all. He simply continued forward, marching to the edge of town.
Emilia followed close behind, not bothering to hide at all now, simply strolling thirty yards back, her pace slow so she did not accidentally overtake the bubbling form of Dee. When he reached the edge of town, he took a sharp left, turning north, towards the towering mountain. He ducked behind the last house of the village, leaving Emilia’s line of sight.
She rushed forward, jogging to the edge of the house Dee ducked behind so as not to lose him. She pressed herself against the wall of the home and poked her head around the corner. The yard of the house was empty. Dee was already gone. Emilia swore under her breath, hereyes tracing across the lawn, stopping on a small shed.
Did he step in there? The yard didn’t have a fence, but there was nothing but the rocky hills that led to the mountain behind it. From what she saw, Dee wouldn’t be able to traverse those hills at all.
She script forward, rain dripping down her back as she approached the shed, causing her to shiver from the cold. The smell of wet, freshly turned earth permeated the air as she drew near. It was expected from a garden shed; the problem was, she didn’t see a garden.
She reached out, taking the cold, metal latch of the shed in her hand and sliding it open.
“Dee?” Her voice was a whisper.
The door swung outward, revealing a regular garden shed. Where did he go? The walls were covered in gardening tools - shears, trowels and gloves lay haphazardly around the shed. All were well used and covered in years worth of chips and dirt, but oddly, the larger tools were missing. There were no spades or shovels, no rakes or hoes. A small bucket hung from the teeth of a tiny gardening fork, which was odd. Why not leave it on the floor?
Emilia let her eyes drift down, the floor was a single sheet of plywood, new and oddly clean. She stepped into the shed and the floor creaked. It was loose!
She backed up and felt around the edge of the floor, finding a gap between the ground and the plywood where she could fit her fingers. She latched onto the edge of the wood and lifted, the large sheet rising easily on a pair of oiled hinges. The smell of fresh earth wafted out as she lifted. Once the plywood panel rose around forty-five degrees, it stopped, a latch catching it. Underneath was a tunnel.
“Fuck.” Emilia whispered. This was where Dee went.
She bit her lip, staring down at the tunnel. It was lit with a row of lamps, similar to what could be found in a mine. A set of stairs, made of packed dirt and wood, descended into the dim light. She couldn’t see where they led, the tunnel curved quickly, cutting off line of sight.
She swallowed, coming to a decision and descended down the stairs. She made little noise on the stairs, the rubber soles of her boots keeping her footsteps quiet. Noises echoed through the tunnel as she approached the base of the stairs. Scraping, soft ringing, and something else. Was someone speaking?
She reached the bottom of the stairs and rounded the corner. The line of lamps continued, illuminating the passage before her. Dirt walls supported by wooden beams greeted her, the tunnel branching off in two directions. The tunnel was dug by hand, the wall lacking the uniform consistency of machine digging. It wobbled as well, not proceeding in a straight line, though straight enough to see that it was long. The ends were not in sight, the slight curves of the imperfect tunnel stopping her from seeing where they led.
She took a deep breath and moved in the direction of the scraping noises, taking slow, careful steps so she did not scrape her feet across the dirt. There were definitely voices coming from further down the tunnel. She could her the soft sounds ringing through the tunnel, the words muffled and broken by the uneven dirt surface of the walls.
She came to a fork in the tunnel, voices coming from one direction, scraping coming from the other. She followed the sounds of scraping.
The dim lights of the tunnel grew as the scraping noises increased in volume. Soon she could hear the soft clang of metal on rock as well, bouncing off the walls. The tunnel opened up into a large room, dug deep into the earth. Close to her, a mining cart sat on a track, filled with dirt. Several others sat on the tracks, empty, waiting to be filled. The tracks ran across the room and into a tunnel at the far end, bending around another corner. The scraping was coming from a pit within the room, so deep she couldn’t see the bottom from where she was standing.
She crept forwards, taking cover behind a cart, raising her head above its edge. Blood drained from her face at what she saw. The missing village, men, women and children, digging in the dirt. They were near naked, all stripped, wearing nothing but their underwear and vacant expressions. They moved slowly, lifting shovels and rakes, scraping away dirt in slow, methodical motions.
Every person was covered in filth, stained and shaking from the cold. No one said a word or deviated from their task: the excavation of an enormous object. It was a statue, of some sort, its shape impossible to distinguish, most of it still covered in dirt. The village worked ceaselessly as she watched, uncaring or unaware that she was there. She saw a child fall hard, her face slamming into the statue as she tried to lift a bucket of dirt. She made no noise of complaint, only righting herself and returning to her work, blood streaming down her face from where her nose hit the ground.
A Beheeyem hovered at the edge of the pit, the alien pokemon watching the work. Any expression at all was unreadable on its face.
Emilia ducked behind the mining cart as the pokemon turned, holding her breath to stifle a scream of horror and disgust. Her heart was pounding in her chest, her breath was coming short and heavy, She could feel the panic rising in her, her hand shaking, she reached to her belt, searching for a pokeball.
Her pokedex buzzed, the sound like a firework going off against the scraping of the room. She ripped it out of her pocket, Cashe’s voice immediately coming through the speakers.
“Hey, Emilia, what’s-”
“Not a good time!” She hissed. She heard something move behind her. She glanced around the mining cart and the world went black.
*****