Chapter 39 - Cellmates

Celeste held a piece of the stale breakfast bread in her hands, her fingers tracing its edges. Leaning against the cold iron bars of the window, she gazed outside at the snowfall that had blanketed the world overnight.

Outside their cell, a large yard stretched before her, fitted with exercise equipment and a running course, all beautifully coated with a thin veil of snow. Farther away, the perimeter fence of the police department and the woods that marked the town’s northern edge came into view. Pine trees stood tall, their branches gathering frost and snow, transforming the landscape into the perfect picture of winter wonderland.

It was beautiful.

In her mind, Celeste imagined Pat’s reaction to all that snow. He’d seen Powder’s moves, of course, but she doubted her Slowpoke had actually experienced a snowy day before.

He’d like it more than puddles of water, Celeste thought to herself, a small smile dancing on her lips. Perhaps they could all build a snowman together? Pat and Powder would be right into their element. Aria could find them a carrot for the snowman’s nose. She’d drool all over it for a laugh, and… well, Celeste would complain, but they’d all laugh together.

A soft chuckle escaped her, but her happiness got caught up in her throat as her gaze returned to the bars that separated her from this beautiful dream.

She wasn’t free to play in the snow with her Pokémon.

Tears welled up in Celeste’s eyes, threatening to spill over. She shut them tightly, a desperate attempt to hold herself together.

How could she mess things up so badly?

She turned around to face the other girls who shared her cell, desperately seeking some distraction.

Lori sat in silence on one side, her gaze fixed on the walls. Although outwardly she looked composed and collected, Celeste couldn’t shake the feeling that she was perhaps too quiet.

Since their arrest on the previous day, Lori had hardly spoken, and when she did, her words were dry and brief. Celeste had caught a glimpse of a particular look in Lori’s eyes when she thought no one was watching—not guilt or sadness, but anger.

And that was rightfully so... After all, Lori had been caught up in the consequences of Celeste’s actions.

Convincing herself it was best to give Lori some space, Celeste shifted her attention to the other girl in the room.

Topaz lay on her bed, toying with a piece of bread while cheerfully humming an old song.

They had actually talked quite a lot the previous night until the guard had announced lights out and demanded silence.

Among other things, Celeste had asked Topaz how she had ended up getting arrested. She recalled the puppeteer’s show being interrupted by Jenny and the mayor, who claimed Topaz didn’t have a permit to perform. And she recalled having thought not having a permit wasn’t a good reason for an arrest.

As it turned out, Topaz had fled from the officers because she couldn’t afford to pay any fines or permits. Being a struggling artist and the whole cliché, money was scarce. Unfortunately, her Bibarel wasn’t particularly fast, so the authorities caught up with her. In the end, in a show of bravery, she had turned herself in buying time for her Pokémon to escape.

At first, Celeste had found the artist’s actions perplexing. Why leave her Pokémon behind? Wouldn’t it be better to face the situation together? But Topaz had simply laughed in response.

“Because I need Twilight to find a way out of this mess,” she had explained, causing Celeste to furrow her brow. She recalled that Topaz’s troupe was named Twilight Topaz. “He is my Mr rime,” she clarified. “The brains behind... well, my whole life, really.”

Celeste took another bite of her bread, determined to avoid dwelling on their situation or the painful emotions she was experiencing.

She turned to the young artist and spoke, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had enveloped them that morning. “Hey, Topaz,” she said. “Are you also from Galar?”

—*——*—

Celeste was met with suspicious glares from both Topaz and Lori, causing her to grimace. “Come on, I don’t want to spend the whole day just staring outside.”

Topaz laughed, sounding genuine and unburdened. “I’m from Ryme City.”

Lorelei glanced at Topaz briefly before returning her gaze to the wall, which made Celeste’s heart clench.

“That’s… also far away,” Celeste murmured, still observing her friend. She then shook her head and directed her attention back to Topaz. “How on earth did you end up all the way here?”

Topaz shrugged. “Dunno. It just… happened. We were in the Orange Islands this summer when someone told us a heart-wrenching story about a man and an Onix, and one thing led to another until we ended up here.”

“That... sounds incredibly vague.” Celeste managed a forced laugh that came out a bit too high-pitched, and Topaz responded with a grin.

“My troupe and I travel the world in search of inspiration for the perfect story,” the puppeteer said softly while studying Celeste’s expression. “You see, Rod, my Bibarel, is a master carpenter who creates all the puppets and sets. Frida, my Smeargle, paints and makes everything prettier. Twilight and I work on the script and performances.”

She paused for a moment, taking a deep breath.

“Thing is, we haven’t found it yet—the inspiration for our masterpiece,” Topaz continued. “So we keep travelling and collecting tales along the way. Whenever we come across something interesting, we make sure to turn it into a performance.”

Celeste’s gaze shifted from Topaz to the snow falling outside, a flurry of thoughts swirling in her mind. She pushed them aside and simply said, “That sounds ambitious.”

“Goals need to be,” the artist said, nodding. “Do you have one?”

Once again, Celeste’s eyes shifted to Lorelei, who appeared to be paying little attention. “I... I’m still figuring mine out,” she said in a weak voice, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “But Lori wants to become champion one day.”

Topaz raised her eyebrows and turned to Lori. “A rise to champion would make for a great story.” She motioned her hands as if creating an imaginary billboard. “First champion from the Sevii Islands! Now that’s a catch... uh... assuming you’re from here?”

Lorelei raised her head and narrowed her eyes. “I was born near Celadon,” she answered dryly, surprising Celeste. “I moved here when I was a child.”

“That still could work!” Topaz lifted herself up, interested. However, a single stern look from Lori caused her to purse her lips and uncomfortably look away. Clearly, Lori didn’t want to engage in a conversation.

“Hm, you mentioned something about a man and an Onix?” Celeste attempted to steer the topic away from her friend.

Topaz shifted in place and grinned at Celeste. “It was a bit of a dud,” she admitted with an exaggerated sigh. “We heard about this guy on Five Island who loved his Onix so much that he built a memorial for it after it passed away, but there wasn’t much else to the story.”

“So what? You had nothing else to do and went down an island?” Celeste sat down and leaned forward.

“Twilight got curious,” Topaz replied, settling down and leaning back. “You see, we met this wild Dewgong who told us some interesting stuff.”

“You talked to a wild Pokémon?”

“No, silly,” the artist laughed. Her positive mood was almost contagious, even though Celeste couldn’t fathom how she could be so unaffected by their current predicament. “Twilight did.” She tapped her head, amused. “He just passed down the message to me.”

Celeste nodded, her curiosity growing. “So, what did the Dewgong say?”

“That Four Island is a refuge for Ice-types, created long ago by something powerful,” Topaz leaned forward and lowered her voice. “Each year, as the days grow shorter and the hunter’s moon graces the sky, the power that shaped the island of ice returns and ice Pokémon from all over come here to express their gratitude.”

“Like the Lapras...” Celeste turned to Lori, who was now paying attention.

Topaz smiled. “Are you interested, Red?”

“No,” Lorelei said sternly. “And you shouldn’t be either. If the Pokémon come to a place they consider a refuge, then they should be left alone.”

Celeste looked down at her feet, feeling her heart tighten once again. “A-are there more than just the Lapras in the caves?”

Lorelei frowned and looked away, her breathing becoming heavier. “Doesn’t matter.”

Topaz raised an eyebrow and turned back to Celeste. “Anyway, we were really surprised to find out that an actual festival was taking place when we arrived here. Even more surprising was that no one seemed to know what the festival was about. So, Twilight and I did some good old-fashioned sleuthing.”

After shooting another worried glance at Lorelei, who was avoiding all eye contact, Celeste carefully redirected the conversation back to Topaz. “You went to the shrine?”

“Shrine?” The artist frowned. “I don’t know about any shrine, but we went to the Town Hall.”

“To... the Town Hall?”

“To check the town’s public archives,” Topaz explained. “We ended up finding this large section from the time when Kanto was annexing the Sevii Islands, about forty to fifty years ago. And let me tell you, there were some interesting things there.”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Celeste couldn’t help but be invested. Ever since Olga had told her about Captain Silverwind and Polaris, she knew there was more to the story, and she had this growing feeling that it was important.

“For starters, did you know that the Champion at the time came here to celebrate the town’s first festival after Four Island became part of Kanto?” Topaz said, glancing at Lorelei. “I bet that was the only time a Champion or Elite Four ever bothered with anything other than the volcano over in One.”

“That’s cool, but… it’s not all, is it?” Celeste asked.

“Of course not,” Topaz laughed. “I just thought your friend might appreciate that tidbit. Anyway, there was this budget document. The mayor at the time was commissioning murals from an artist in Kanto. There were copies of some letters describing the story the murals were supposed to depict... And... well, you said you saw my play, right?”

Celeste frowned. “I think I might have seen the murals too... but I thought they were older.”

“You did?” Topaz crossed her arms. “I looked everywhere for a museum or something. No one I asked knew about them, which was honestly disappointing. That was the history of this place, right? And a cool one at that. How could no one care?”

All three girls fell silent for a moment. Lorelei continued to stare at the wall, seemingly angrier than before, and Celeste remembered how Olga shared Topaz’s sentiments about people not caring for the local lore.

Stories are important. That was something her parents always told her, and stories like the origins of Four Island—or rather, Polaris—they helped shape a shared sense of identity. Even though there was something off about this one.

A powerful something made this place a sanctuary for ice Pokémon, and every year, seemingly at the same time, Pokémon came to the island to express gratitude. Exactly 279 years ago, a magical star had saved a crew of people from Orre and brought them to the same place. A town with a festival that used to be about gratitude…

It was easy to see there was a connection with those facts, but something was still missing...

Why had people lost their connection to the roots of the festival and their history? What was the star that saved the crew? And... was it still around?

Celeste let out a sigh. If she was free, she might be invested enough to look into those archives herself.

Her eyes wandered around the cell and to her two companions. No matter how much she tried to distract herself, it always came back to this. She had been arrested and wasn’t free to do anything.

And, because of her, neither was Lori.

Tears threatened to resurface, but there were still small blessings in this world. Before she started to cry, a guard came in, announcing that they had visitors.

—*——*—

“Are you okay?” Delia rushed to Celeste and clutched her hand through the bars that separated them. “What were you thinking, attacking someone like that?”

Nothing like having yet another reminder that she messed up, Celeste thought, looking away from Delia while purposefully avoiding the other visitor’s gaze. The last thing she wanted at this moment was Olga’s judgement.

“I wanted to help you,” Delia continued in a low voice, tinged with bitterness. “Luan wouldn’t let me. Can you believe it?”

Celeste managed a small smile. “It’s a good thing he didn’t, or else you’d be here with us.”

“Don’t berate yourself,” Olga interjected, her tone stern as always. When Celeste finally met the older woman’s eyes, she found an unexpected softness there that provided some comfort. “Don’t give me those puppy eyes. I’ve read your statement, and you still did something stupid. But… is that ranger really a poacher?”

Celeste held her breath, fighting back tears as she nodded slightly. She wasn’t sure what else to say.

Lorelei, however, did. She emerged from the corner where she had been curled up, almost dropping the untouched piece of bread beside her. “We need to do something about him.”

Olga sighed. “Agreed, but... we are out of options. None of the other trainers on the island are willing to help, and with the storm settling in, we can’t get help from outside.”

“Not all the trainers...” Delia muttered resentfully.

“You, Rey, and Luan aren’t strong enough,” Olga said wearily, as if she had already had this argument. “I won’t put unprepared children in danger.”

“C-Can’t you talk to Jenny?” Celeste spoke carefully. “Tell her Lori was just trying to protect me, and I’m the only one to blame—”

“I’ve already tried that,” Olga interrupted, but her eyes fixed on Lorelei. “You’re not okay.”

“I’m not pretending to be,” Lorelei snapped back. “Olga, I need to know that we can do something before it’s too late.”

Olga shook her head slightly and sighed once more, while Lorelei loudly kicked the bars, alerting the nearby guard. Celeste had never seen her so angry... and it was her fault.

As an awkward silence settled, Olga kept her eyes on Lori, who walked away from them toward the window, her chest rising and falling with shallow breaths. Meanwhile, Celeste turned her attention back to Delia, attempting to fake a smile. “Hey... are my Pokémon...?”

“Well?” Delia offered a faint smile of her own. “Yeah, you don’t have to worry. Powder is healing quickly, and Pat and Aria are mostly resting. They’re all very worried about you.”

“Once they’re fully recovered, can you take them to see the snow?” Celeste asked timidly. “Make sure they play a lot. Get some chocolate for Aria. She’ll try to put on a brave face, but I know she’ll be really stressed about all this.”

Delia’s eyes welled up a little, but she tried to maintain a brave front too. She shifted to Lorelei and attempted to keep the reassuring tone. “Your Glalie is doing well, too. Most of his armour has already regenerated.”

Lorelei turned back, her eyes momentarily softer as she nodded to Delia. She exhaled forcefully through her mouth, running her hands through her hair, first adjusting her ponytail, then her glasses. There was a determined look in her eyes that was a little scary.

“Olga,” she began, her face sobering. “We have another option.”

“No,” the answer came immediately, and Lorelei’s expression instantly changed.

“We can’t just do nothing,” she gritted her teeth. “The Lapras are in danger, and you said it yourself... we’re out of options.”

Olga looked at the two trainers behind bars with a strange mix of coldness and pity. “I’ll figure something out.”

“When?” Lori insisted. “After they capture the entire herd? Assuming they haven’t already. If you just point them towards—”

“I said no.” Olga raised her voice, alerting the guard once more. This time, instead of a warning, their visit was cut short.

As Celeste’s two friends were escorted out, she reached for Lorelei, attempting to place a hand on her shoulder. Lori brushed it off, closing her eyes and trying to steady her breathing as she walked back toward her corner.

“Perfect...” Celeste whispered sadly, once again fighting to hold back her tears. Lori was right, though. They couldn’t just do nothing...

—*——*—

“Hmm...” Celeste stared intently at Topaz, taking a deep breath to steady herself. “I choose truth.”

Topaz rolled her eyes. “Again? Where’s the brave girl who fearlessly attacked the evil poacher?”

“She got arrested and is trying to make better choices,” Celeste pouted, but forced a grin. “Your turn. Truth or dare?”

“Wait, that wasn’t my question!” Topaz huffed.

“That was a question, and I answered with the truth,” Celeste declared triumphantly. However, when Topaz slumped her shoulders and shot her an annoyed look, Celeste reconsidered. “Fine. Ask away.”

The last thing she wanted was for her new friend to get bored and stop playing. Without a distraction, Celeste would probably go back to watching the mounting snowstorm outside and dwell on how much she had messed things up.

“Okay... what about...” Topaz paused to think for a moment. “I know! If you could evolve your Eevee right now, what would you evolve her into? No cheating this time.”

Celeste crossed her arms in defiance. “I never cheated.”

“Right... Because your favourite Pokémon is a literal tie between Eevee, Slowpoke, and Vulpix.” Topaz raised an eyebrow.

Celeste snorted and then looked around as if sharing a big secret. “Leafeon.”

“Seriously?” Topaz leaned forward. “You actually have a favourite? I thought you’d say that your Eevee should choose what she wants to become or something... I don’t know... sentimental?”

“Of course she should choose, and I’ll love her no matter what, even if she stays as an Eevee forever,” Celeste replied with a small smile, nudging Topaz. “But I can still have a favourite. Come on, your turn.”

“Truth.”

“Didn’t you just complain that I only choose truth?”

“Yes,” the artist hummed, smug. “I’ll choose dare when you show some spine yourself.”

“Whatever,” Celeste muttered under her breath. “What about... celebrity crush?”

Topaz grinned. “Me. Five years from now.”

“Sorry to break it to you, but I think it will take more than five years for puppets to become mainstream.” Celeste grimaced.

“I don’t need the mainstream to be a celebrity,” the puppeteer shot back. “The world already has too many Dianthas appealing to the masses.”

“Hey!” Celeste complained.

Topaz laughed. “Don’t tell me you are a fan?”

“What if I am?”

“Come on, you seem better than those people who just fall for the latest generic teen idol.” Topaz waved her hand, amused. But Celeste’s angry glare prompted her to continue. “Diantha is pretty, generic, and unoriginal. She’s good at selling tickets, but you can bet she’ll fade into obscurity in a few years, probably after marrying some League Champion or whatnot. Anyway, truth or dare?”

Celeste huffed but felt the resolve to argue leave her body when she remembered her friend’s newest movie would be released soon. Diantha, always trying to maintain the surprise, hadn’t revealed much about the plot, but she would play a mermaid alongside a Primarina.

She really didn’t want to miss it...

She really didn’t want to be locked up when the movie premiered…

“Dare,” Celeste puffed her chest, determined to keep her mind away from anything too hard to process.

“Finally,” Topaz grinned and pointed to Lorelei in the corner. “This was getting boring with just the two of us, so I dare you to get Red over there to join.”

Lorelei looked at Topaz, annoyed, and stood up. Before Celeste could even open her mouth, Lorelei sat by her side, narrowing her eyes as she shifted her gaze to Topaz. “I have a name, you know?”

Celeste let surprise seep through her face before managing a small smile. “Are you playing?”

“Let’s get this going already,” Lorelei said, barely acknowledging Celeste. She stared at Topaz with intensity before finally asking, “Truth or dare?”

The artist was taken aback for a moment and shifted uncomfortably. “Truth.”

“Is this your first time in prison?”

Topaz lifted an eyebrow. “What sort of question is that?”

“I think I was pretty direct,” Lorelei shrugged.

“Of course it’s my first time in prison!” Topaz lifted her arms in exasperation before muttering, “Weirdo,” to which Lori simply frowned. “Okay, your turn, Red. Truth or dare?”

“Truth,” Lori chose, dryly.

Topaz smiled, “I wanna know what is fucking wrong with you.”

“Absolutely nothing.”

“Bullshit,” she insisted. “We went from celebrity crushes to my rap sheet. That doesn’t sound like nothing.”

“We are in prison, Topaz,” Lorelei answered. “This is not a slumber party.”

Topaz laughed. “Is that it? You’re salty because people around you are having fun?”

“Truth or dare?” Lorelei simply said, her voice as cold as her Pokémon.

“Dare,” Topaz leaned back, calmly.

“I dare you to tell me what you are hiding.”

“Hiding? Have you considered that maybe I’m just emotionally healthy?” Topaz rolled her head back. “Y’all should be glad someone here is. Poor Cee is clearly desperate to get her mind off things, and you’ve just been giving her the cold shoulder all day long.”

“We’re all having a hard time...” Celeste finally jumped into the conversation, rubbing her arm uncomfortably. “Please, Topaz, you have to understand, Lori... she has a good reason to be mad at me... and at, well... everything.”

Lorelei frowned, but Topaz laughed. “You think she spent the day staring at the walls because she’s mad at you?”

“... yeah?” Celeste looked down and away from the others. “It’s my fault we’re here.”

“Celeste...” Lori started, her voice quiet and her crimson eyes piercing. “Why are you making this about you?”

Celeste opened her mouth and closed it again. She quickly glanced at Topaz, who was observing them with curiosity. “I’m not making... I mean, I got into a battle against someone way stronger than me, and you got arrested because you helped me. This is me taking responsibility.”

“No,” Lorelei said. “This is you avoiding to focus on what we should really focus on.”

“I…”

“It doesn’t matter what I feel or what you feel,” Lorelei continued, her patience clearly running out. “What matters is that the Pokémon are in danger, and no one is doing anything about it.” She straightened herself again and glared at Topaz, who looked entertained. “Dare.”

The artist lifted her head and her eyebrows. “Okay… I’ll indulge you. I dare you to tell to my face what this is really about.”

“You are one of them.” Lorelei was finally to the point. “That’s why you’re so okay with being here. You got yourself arrested to get close to us so we’d tell you about the Lapras and—” She caught herself. “It won’t work.”

“Lori...” Celeste tried to reach for her friend again. “Topaz got arrested before us. She can’t possibly—”

“You don’t know that!” she snapped again. “We don’t know how many of them there are and what they’re planning. We can’t just go around trusting and befriending anyone.” She turned to Topaz, brushing away a strand of hair that had fallen over her face. “Especially people who seem happy to be in prison.”

Celeste bit her lip. “I... I know having a poacher posing as a ranger was scary, but... didn’t you trust me? We just met a few weeks ago, and I like to think we were becoming friends.”

Lorelei stopped and stared at Celeste for a moment before looking away. Topaz, on the side, simply laughed.

“What’s so funny?” Lori hissed.

The puppeteer shifted her gaze from the girls to the annoyed guard who left the room while grunting something about teenagers. She then lowered her voice and moved closer to them. “Wanna know why I’m so okay with this trashy situation?”

Lorelei narrowed her eyes.

“Because…” she grinned. “I have an escape plan.”

Topaz scanned the room once more before tilting her head to the side.

“So… Are you in?”