Chapter 19: The Flower Maiden
"What… happened?"
Yoake asks himself as he slowly opens his eyes. As his vision was finally clear, he noticed that he was under a roof, and not some sort of the forest trees he was expecting. This quickly made the trainer confused as he doesn't know where he is or what happened to him.
"Where am I?"
The trainer raised his upper body, turned around, and made some observations of the place or room he is in. He noticed that the room was decorated like one of those Minka houses that you often see in the rural parts of the country.
"Gardevoir!" Yoake cuts his thoughts out as he remembers about his Pokemon. He panicked for a moment as he still remembers the sound of the gun last night, he can still feel the pain in his body, and everything about it was stuck in his head.
He noticed that his clothes changed, instead of the gray sweater that he usually wears, he was wearing a white shirt. His jeans didn't change much but there was one thing he realized that was gone from his body, his scarf.
"Shit… where is it?" Yoake immediately stood up and began finding his beloved scarf. As his panic side kicks him into a perpetual state of delusions but it ended very briefly as he finally sees the scarf that he holds dear, it was on top of a drawer nearby.
Yoake sighed in relief, he was worried that this scarf might have been taken away from him, but it seems everything is fine, for now.
His attention quickly changed once more but this time, he was focused more on finding Gardevoir, and the person that brought him here. He stood up from the bed he was laying on, and went to the door, he noticed that it was a sliding door, and he slid it to the side, walked out, and stood in a corridor.
The corridor had wooden planks and different rooms with similar patterns, and each end of the corridor was different. On his right, it ends with a wall with a picture frame hanging on it, while his left seems to end with another room, guessing that it must be the living room or such.
He walked to the left end and headed to the living room. Upon reaching the corridor's end, He heard the heavy rain pouring outside, there were few claps of thunder.
"Good morning Mister Katsuragi." A familiar voice greeted him. He looked around and it was none other than Erika, the Grass-type specialist of Celadon City. She was sitting down on the floor with a lowered table in front of her, holding a black cup that was releasing steam, assuming that she was drinking something very hot.
"Would you like hot coffee or tea?" She asked the trainer, her eyes were still closed but she was drinking from the cup very slowly. Yoake noticed that she was wearing her famous kimono today, the golden one with a few flowers printed on it.
"Just hot tea please." Yoake respectfully told her. Erika opened her eyes, placed the cup on the table, and began preparing the trainer's drink. On top of the table, there was a kettle, another cup, and tea bags. She puts one tea bag on the other cup, pours some hot water in it, and waits.
"Here, you can sit in front of me." Erika invited the trainer to settle.
"Okay…" Yoake nervously accepted the invitation, he blushed for a moment and continued. He sat on the floor, parallel to Erika's place. He decided to wait for the tea to finally settle and began the talk with Erika. The two can hear the heavy rain outside, and a nice cup of tea is enough to warm them on this cold morning.
"I'm guessing you want answers?" Erika asked him. The trainer nodded as an answer and began to talk to her.
"Yeah, like… How did I get here? Where is Gardevoir and what Happened last night?" Yoake asked three questioned to Erika. She took a deep breath, put her cup on top of the table, and began explaining.
"Right, I'll answer the best I can…" Erika stated as she began to answer his question.
(Flashback on what happened last night)
It was after dusk, and things began slowing down in the border between Cerulean and Vermillion provinces since the road between the two isn't as good as those you get from the highway. On that road, is a car cruising in.
Inside the car was Erika, sitting on the back, eyes closed, and patiently wait for them to arrive at their destination; Beside her was her Pokemon, Oddish. While they quietly cruise in the border, they heard a gunshot, the noise wasn't far from them, and they thought that they were the ones that got shot.
The car stopped for a moment, and Erika opened her eyes and noticed that Oddish was rushing to open the car door, in a state of confusion, she began calling out her Pokemon.
"Oddish? What are you doing?" Erika asked her Pokemon. As it successfully opened the door, it quickly went to the woods as it was being called upon for an emergency of 'something'.
"Miss Erika!" The Driver called out the specialist's name as she quickly followed her Pokemon to the forest.
She managed to catch up to Oddish but she couldn't stop the Pokemon from running toward 'something. They heard two gunshots, and this time, it was nearby. They begin to find where the gunshot came from, and Oddish seems to know where it is.
It didn't take long for the two to find the origin of the gunshot, and in Erika's horror, she saw a familiar body lying on the floor bleeding, it was none other than Yoake Katsuragi. She noticed that there was a brief glow on Yoake's body, but there is something else that bothers her. It was the suspect, it was none other than them. It was three years since they returned, and things have changed a lot, but even if time has fully changed everything, it seems that they were back at it again.
She feared that this day would come, knowing that this is the only trainer that is left, and seeing it being killed by them was enough to boil the loving Erika into anger. She quickly took out a Pokeball from her belt and told it to use its strongest move so she can kick them out from here quickly, and safely recover the trainer.
"VILEPLUME! USE PETAL BLIZZARD!" She shouted' Shew threw the Pokeball to the area near to them, and the Pokemon jumped out from its Pokeball and released a powerful greenish blizzard to them.
"What the!?" They said as they saw the blizzard toward them. They quickly looked around and saw the specialist, they knew that they wouldn't have the time to fight the specialist, and so, they threw a Smoke Bomb to the floor and quickly left with no trace.
As they left the scenery, Erika ran towards the body of the trainer and carried him to her arms. She noticed the bleeding and quickly called her Pokemon to heal him as soon as possible. The trainer wasn't the only one bleeding in the area, she saw the fully evolved Gardevoir bleeding on the ground, and saw that she was also shot with a bullet.
"Vileplume, carry Gardevoir back to the car." She hesitated. The Pokemon followed her orders and carried Gardevoir to the car while she carried the trainer. He was a bit heavy but she managed to carry him back to the car with ease as Oddish's vine whip assisted her.
"Miss Erika? Who's that?" The Driver noticed the two carrying the trainer and Gardevoir into the car.
"Quick, no time to explain. We have to go back home." Erika quickly told her driver. They nodded, and took a U-turn, and headed back to Cerulean City. She withdrew Vileplume as soon as they left the place. Erika places Yoake's head on her lap, while Gardevoir was sitting on the passenger's seat.
"Oddish, can you use your Synthesis on Gardevoir and Mister Katsuragi?" Erika asked the Pokemon, to which it promptly nodded. The Pokemon began to heal Gardevoir, and slowly, it gained consciousness and woke up.
"Gardevoir!" Erika called out the Pokemon. Gardevoir quickly tried to use one of its moves as soon as it saw Yoake lying on Erika's lap unconscious.
"Don't worry, I'm here to help you two, trust me, I'm his friend, sort of," Erika explained the Pokemon. Gardevoir quickly stopped using its power and continued, the Pokemon wasn't fully keen with Erika but seeing her and Oddish healing them allows her to give some thoughts about them.
Oddish used Synthesis on Yoake, and she quickly hears breathing from the trainer's mouth. Oddish leaned its head to the trainer's chest and it was excited as it heard a heartbeat. The trainer was slowly healing but he needed more rest to fully heal after the loss of blood earlier.
"Are they your friends Miss Erika?" The driver asked the specialist.
"Sort of…" Erika answered their question.
They finally arrived at the gym, they parked at the parking lot which is near Erika's house, which was near to the gym.
"Gardevoir, can you help me carry Mister Katsuragi?" Erika kindly asked the Pokemon, to which she nodded and began assisting her to carry the trainer.
The two carry the trainer like a drunk friend on Friday night. Oddish helped them by sliding the door with its vine whip, allowing them to enter Erika's house. They went to a room and slowly lays Yoake on the bed so he can rest. Before laying the trainer down, she decided to take Yoake's sweater to see if there was any bloodstain, and there was. Both of his shirt and sweater got holes in them assuming that it was by the bullet.
"Gardevoir, does Mister Katsuragi have any extra shirt?" Erika asked the Pokemon. She nodded and gave her his bag. It was a relief for her to see that Yoake has enough shirts to replace the one that has holes, but his sweater will be an issue.
"Well… this will be awkward…" Erika gulped as she took a shirt from the bag, places it on top of the bed near Yoake. She took a deep breath and remove Yoake's shirt, and replace it with the new one.
"Leaf? I uhhhh…" Yoake mumbled, it was clear that he wasn't fully awake but he was mumbling his words. He then stopped mumbling and continued his sleep, Erika successfully puts the new shirt on him, and slowly let him rest on the bed.
"Right...I'll be taking care of these. For the meantime, Gardevoir, I have an extra room for you, where you are going to sleep there." She told the Pokemon, which it nodded. She looked at Yoake's scarf and sweater and saw how precious these two are to him, and so, she decided to handle it with care.
(End of the flashback)
"I realized that your scarf was significant to you since you mumbled a lot about it." Erika giggled as she tells the story to the trainer. Yoake blushed and chuckled after hearing those words from her.
"Well, I do talk a lot when I sleep." Yoake excused himself. Erika gave another giggle before realizing that Yoake's cup was already empty.
"For now, I want you to rest, and tomorrow, I might help you with your training," Erika stated to the trainer.
"I mean… we can do the trainer later, right?" Yoake insisted on the specialist.
"No, you should rest," Erika told him. Yoake sighed for a moment, stood up and went back to his room, and continued his rest. He was eager to fight her later or tomorrow but it seems that plan was delayed, all thanks to the man that shot him last night.
"Breakfast will be served before 8," Erika told him. Yoake looked at the wall clock and saw it was near 7, and so, he decided to continue his rest.
As the trainer went back to his room, there was one thing that Erika kept out from the flashback to keep it a secret from him. She stood up from her sitting, grabbed the tray that holds the two cups, the leaves, and the kettle, and headed to the kitchen.
She remembers those words last night.
"He's a sweet kid, even though he has changed for two years in his room, it's still him, I know it." A female voice said as Erika was calling to last night.
"I know what I did that night was bad but I have to do it, it's his sake after all." The female voice continued. Erika smiled and decided to comfort the person on the other line.
"Listen Leaf, I know the relationship between you two is in a bad shape, but if you talk to him one on one, things might work out… you know," Erika insisted to Leaf that the two should reconcile.
"I know but it's just… I'm scared…." Leaf's tone changed as soon as she said those words.
"I've already lost three of my friends, and my heart can't afford to lose another one." Leaf slowly began to tear up and Erika tries her best to help Leaf throughout the years but it seems that finding the others is a loose hope.
"Okay, I want you to lay low, for now, we'll handle him," Erika assured the trainer, she sniffed for a moment and wanted a repeat from the specialist.
"You sure? He's a tough nut you know." Leaf sniffed.
"Don't worry, everything's going to be fine," Erika assured her.
To be continued in: The First Coalition
A/N: Hello everyone, I've decided to give you guys an advance because I'm going to move next week so expect that I won't be making a new chapter next week. (unless if I have enough time)
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