Suspended in a suffocating nothingness of darkness, I tried to orient myself, to get a grip on my surroundings, Somewhere, I could hear a sound, maybe a roar, maybe something else. There were scents in the air, tasting of weird colours and unknown purpose, filling me with a sense of dread and anticipation. Far away, I could feel a heavy presence, radiating a sense of gravity and power. An impression pressed into me, a purpose filling me, calling upon me, “Remember.”
Before I could make heads or tails of the impression, a hand on my shoulder shook me, ripping me out of the dream and into reality. The darkness around me remained, with only a few specks of light coming in from outside the tent where Claire had set up a small campfire, to brighten the dark forest.
“Wake up, Dani, NOW!” Claire shook me again, the urgency in her voice helping to clear the cobwebs from my mind.
“What’s going on?” I asked, crawling out of my sleeping bag.
“Move, there’s something out there,” she replied, grabbing my hand as if she would drag me if I didn’t start moving. Urged by her, I quickly got out of the tent, managing to grab my Pokéballs on the way, only to see next to nothing in the darkness outside.
The night was completely black, the trees blocking the scant light from above with only a small circle of light illuminated by the campfire. The wind was blowing through the trees, making a few rustling sounds and there were some other noises, far away, but I couldn’t spot what had Claire so spooked. Above us, Myna was hovering in the air, her wings beating fast to keep herself aloft in an impressive display of strength.
“What?” I asked again, as she gripped my hand and started dragging me away from the tent.
“Between the trees, look!” she urged, pointing to a particular set of shrubs.
Looking over, I couldn’t spot anything that warranted such a reaction.
She let out a hoarse cough before speaking, “There’s something in the trees.” she told me, her voice a little raspy. When I looked over to the trees again, I thought there was a faint, purple tinge to the shrubs as if I was looking through coloured glass, but I couldn’t be certain in the dim light.
“Myna is trying to keep it back,” she added and I realised that the beating of Myna’s wings produced a faint air stream, akin to a gentle gust of wind.
“Charm, come out,” I called, pressing the button on his Pokéball and sending him out. His flame instantly brightened the area, giving us a bit more to see, and what we could see wasn’t promising. The faint tinges of purple were all around us, wafting back and forth and now readily visible in the bright light shed by Prince Charming.
“Don’t breathe it in,” Claire warned me, coughing again, “I think it’s a Gastly,” she added, my blood running cold at the implication. Gastly was amongst the most dangerous Pokémon, not so much for its actual strength, but for its malicious behaviour and lethal abilities. The Gas-Pokémon was mostly just that, a noxious, toxic gas and if the Pokémon wanted, it could turn from a mild, rash-inducing irritant to a lethal, airborne toxin with little warning. Getting enshrouded by it could easily make you faint or kill you outright, something this thing should be quite capable of, judging by the enveloped area.
“We need to run.” Claire urged me, taking a brief glance into the woods, before calling to Myna. Following her gaze, I noticed that the mist in direction of the river was a little thicker, that it was billowing back and forth, almost as if it would surge towards us the next moment.
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“Can you push yourself? We need you to open the way,” she commanded, sounding a little desperate.
“Charm, add some heat, maybe it’ll help,” I added my own command, watching as Charm spat his embers into the sudden gust of wind produced by Myna. At the same time, from the other direction, a tendril of smoke lashed out, striking the distracted Myna in the back. When her partner was swatted from the air Claire next to me paled and pressed the button on her Pokéball, managing to recall Myna before she could hit the ground. At the same time, we started to run, trying to get away from the small clearing and the nearby river.
“Charm, lead the way, we need light,” I ordered, making sure that Claire was able to flee with us, despite her weakened state.
Running through the dark forest was a frightening experience, and would be even without the sentient cloud of poison gas that had driven us from our camp. When I briefly glimpsed behind us, to the light of our campfire, I could vaguely see the outline of a face in the orb, staring at me with wide, open eyes and a laughing mouth.
Shivering in fear, I pulled out another Pokéball, this one belonging to Vio, and called her out, sending her some distance in front of me, so that she had a bit of time to orient herself after coming out.
“Behind us,” I told her, picking her up as I ran past. I couldn’t really hold her securely, not while dragging along Claire, but I managed to secure her under my arm, something she helped by holding on tightly.
“Keep it away!” I commanded, hoping that her psychic abilities would make the difference, even if she might not be able to see it.
I could hear a faint hum, but ignored it, pushing on. Vio might have managed to do something, as she clung to my side, but again, I had no way no knowing, no capacity to turn around and look. The only things I could focus on was the flame leading the way and the hand, dragging along Claire.
How far we had to run, how far we ran, I didn’t know. Finally, after what felt like hours but might have only been minutes. the force needed to drag along Claire became too much, forcing me to slow down. Looking back, I noticed that Claire was staggering, barely able to keep going and set down Vio, just in time to catch the stumbling Claire. She clung to me, her breath coming in pained, laboured gasps, but somehow, she managed to speak.
“Are you alright?” she asked, her question momentarily stunning me.
“I am.” I assured her, making sure she didn’t collapse to the ground, “But what about you?”
“I’m fine,” she replied, the pain in her voice making the falsity of that statement painfully obvious. For a moment, I considered picking her up and trying to carry her away but despite being taller than her, the difference wasn’t that much. I might be able to carry her for a couple dozen metres, but running away with her wouldn’t work.
Looking up, I realised that Charm had positioned himself between us and the direction we had been coming from, with Vio standing near me and quietly backing him up. Their tacit cooperation managed to make me smile, despite the situation.
For a few, tense minutes, I stood there in the dark waiting and watching vigilantly, quietly hoping that we had escaped. The silence was broken, when Claire completely passed out, only my arm around her keeping her up. Making a decision, I wrapped my arms around her as best as I could and carried her to a nearby tree.
With a bit of care, I leaned her against it, before calling my two partners over.
“Okay, Charm, we’ll have to sleep out here. I have no idea if we manage to get back to camp in the dark, I doubt it.” I told Charm, sitting down next to the panting Claire. For a moment, I closed my eyes, before trying to make myself as comfortable as possible while letting her rest on me. Her breath was coming in short, pained gasps, but there was simply nothing I could do to help, to make her more comfortable.
Annoyed at my inability, I gently stroked her head, hoping that the gesture might bring a little comfort to her.
“Please, be near and keep us warm,” I asked him, before looking over to Vio. She moved to my other side, cuddling against my side, almost mirroring the position I had placed Claire in, leaning against me, as if to reaffirm her position. Her dependency brought a gentle smile to my face, the knowledge that my little one depended on me gave me a bit of strength and confidence.
Closing my eyes for a moment, I let out a sigh, settling in for a rough night, hoping that the Gastly wouldn’t find us. And thinking about how to fight it, if it did.