Bab 1: An Outcast In Twilight Town
The darkness and fog seemed to swallow everything, yet a silhouette of a man running could be seen in the shadows. No one knew what he was running from, but you could tell he was terrified. The only source of light was a Flareon trailing behind him, emitting a dim, eerie glow.
Neither of them knew where they were going, but they knew they had to keep running or else something else would catch up to them. Suddenly, the man came to a halt. A claw had pierced his chest. As the claw was ripped out from him, warm blood spurted forth, and he sank to the floor.
The Flareon rushed over to the man and started to yell frantically. It was helpless to do anything as it saw the man's life quickly slip away. As it watched the man close his eyes for the final time, a rush of tears welled up in its eyes, and it wailed out in sorrow.
Gray blinked back tears as he opened his eyes. He had that strange, sad dream again—the same one that had haunted him ever since the day his parents died when he was just a little boy.
Gray rose from the comfort of his bed and, as usual, his beloved Shuppet was there to greet him. He stretched his body a little and suddenly remembered something important. Today was his fifteenth birthday!
Gray was a tall and thin boy with a somewhat pale complexion. His eyes were black with a melancholic air that seemed to be highlighted by the fact that he almost never smiled. He also had intractable gray hair that he preferred to hide under a hat. All of this gave him a ghostly look that ironically seemed very appropriate for someone like him.
When he was six, he lost his parents in a mysterious accident, and since then he had been living at the Twilight Town orphanage. It had left a deep mark on him that he lost all his memories prior to that event. He sometimes tried to force his memory to remember some of his past, but he never was able to.
Gray had a rather troublesome quirk: Pokemon would run away whenever he got close to them. With the exception of Dark-type and Ghost-type Pokemon that, unlike the others, were very friendly with him.
Due to his abnormality, rumors of him being cursed began to spread, which brought him a lot of inconvenience. Several Ghost Pokemon would often follow him home, scaring the other kids in the orphanage and causing genuine trouble for him because they enjoyed pulling pranks on people.
The caretakers told Gray he should at least leave them outside at night, so that other kids could sleep peacefully. Gray defended himself by explaining that he couldn't do that even if he wanted to.
Unlike other Pokemon, who you can simply shut out by closing doors and windows, Ghost-type Pokemon can go through walls. Because of that, Gray was forced to sleep alone in the attic, where his ghostly companions would not bother anyone.
Gray's classmates began to fear him and not play with him anymore. Every time they saw him, they gave him a wide berth due to the Ghost Pokemon stalking him. Although this hurt the boy's feelings at first, over time he came to accept it and became reclusive and withdrawn.
He didn't hate them for it, though. He still maintained his kind and compassionate attitude, always willing to help those in need. So, even though he was feared by many, some people were still open to speaking with him.
While growing up, Gray's main company was his ghostly friends, especially a Shuppet with whom he formed a strong bond of friendship and always accompanied him everywhere.
She was calmer and more well behaved than the other Ghost Pokemon that lived in the attic with Gray. Thanks to that, she was accepted by the children and caretaker of the orphanage. Sometimes, they even spent their afternoon playing with her.
Now that Gray had turned 15, a year away from leaving the orphanage, he had already begun to plan for his future. He had a job at the local convenience store and was saving up money to build a nice home on the outskirts of town, where he could enjoy the quiet and not bother anyone.
After washing up, Gray went down to the kitchen followed by his Shuppet. He said good morning to everyone and helped himself to a plate of pancakes that had been served out on the table. After that, he returned to his room to get dressed for work.
As he was leaving the orphanage, he saw the little children huddled around something. Curious, he went over to get a better look. The kids were playing with an Eevee, only it wasn't a normal Eevee.
It was a shiny Eevee with silver fur and a bushy tail that had a white-colored tip.
"Umm... hello, Gray," said one of the girls, Emma. "Look at what we found! An Eevee! We found her outside this morning. Isn't she pretty? We're going to ask the matron if we can keep her here."
While Emma spoke with Gray, the furry Pokemon raised her head at him. Suddenly, a big smile lit up on her face. She immediately pounced on Gray and rubbed against his legs.
Everyone was puzzled. A Normal-type Pokemon approached Gray? What's even weird, she acted as if they had known each other despite this being their first time meeting.
Shuppet went over to the Eevee and said a few things to her. No one understood what happened but the Eevee suddenly jumped away and went on the offensive. She yelled some other things that went completely over their heads before launching herself at Shuppet.
Apparently, Eevee was planning to attack Shuppet. However, it was of no use as Eevee's Tackle went right through her.
"Calm down," Gray said, somewhat worried. "You won't be able to do anything to her, physical attacks are useless against Ghost-type Pokemon."
Gray didn't quite know how to deal with Pokemon of other types besides Ghost and Dark. Nonetheless, he did what he could to put the Eevee at ease. However, this had the side effect of making Shuppet jealous. She conjured a ball of dark energy above her head and hurled it toward Eevee. Unsurprisingly, it had no effect.
"Shuppet," Gray said, "I suppose you forget that Ghost-type moves are ineffective against Normal-type Pokemon, don't you?"
However, both Pokemon ignored him as they continued to fight but were unable to hurt each other. Under these circumstances they did everything they could do, Shuppet used Screech and Eevee used Growl. Both attacks were the kind that didn't deal damage, but at least they managed to annoy each other and everyone else around them as well.
The children scurried away with their hands over their ears, and Gray also followed suit. By the time Shuppet and Eevee realized they were alone, Gray had already arrived at his workplace.
Shuppet knew where Gray worked. She often went there with him and nobody there objected to her presence. So she made her way to the store where Gray worked, closely followed by Eevee.
The convenience store was rather small. But because there was little competition in this small town, the sales were pretty good. By the time Shuppet and Eevee arrived, Gray was restocking the shelves.
The two Pokemon jumped on the boy, each one trying to out-affection the other. This caused the shelf he was stacking to topple, scattering the items all over the floor.
"Look what you did!" Gray yelled angrily.
"Eevee!" (It's Shuppet! She's the one who did it.)
"Shuppet!" (What? It's obviously your fault.)
"ENOUGH! It's both your faults. Get out and don't even think about coming back!"
Gray snatched both Eevee and Shuppet by the scruff of their necks and headed out the door. He threw them outside before slamming the door shut. When he finally calmed down, only then did he realize he had understood what Shuppet and Eevee had said earlier.
"This day is getting weirder and weirder," he thought with a shake of his head.
Meanwhile, outside the store, Shuppet and Eevee had started another fierce round of screaming, much to the annoyance of all the nearby pedestrians. The situation got so bad that the store's owner, Don Marcus, had no choice but to talk to Gray.
The best way to describe Don Marcus was the word "Big". He had a big nose, a big belly, a big mustache, and a big heart. That was why he had no problem hiring Gray despite his poor reputation in the town.
"Gray, are those two Pokemon outside yours?" Don Marcus asked.
"Only the Shuppet. The Eevee, I have no idea where it came from or why it acts as if it knows me," Gray replied.
"Well, it seems that both of them are trying to get your attention in some way. I think you have some issues to solve so why don't you take a day off?" Don Marcus said.
"Would I still get paid today?" Gray asked cheekily.
"Scram brat!"
The days that followed were terrible for Gray. The Eevee didn't leave, rather it stayed by his side and began to follow him everywhere. He somehow managed to keep the Pokemon from bothering him at work, but upon returning home he had to deal with their constant unwanted pampering and attempts to get his attention.
And so Gray's peaceful, lonely, quiet life went down the drain. In addition to the trouble that he was having with the two Pokemon, the kids at the orphanage asked him to play with them so that Eevee could join in.
Not only that, but he also had to put up with the constant bickering between Shuppet and Eevee. Until one day, he could no longer take it anymore and broke out.
When Eevee flung itself against his feet to greet him affectionately, he kicked it away. The Eevee's body was not hurt in any way, but its heart was. Eevee climbed to its feet, shocked and deeply hurt.
Eevee looked up at him with wet eyes and said, "Even if you no longer love me, I will always be by your side."
After that, it went away to find a corner to be alone.
When Gray realized what he had just done, a pang of guilt rose in his chest.
"I…" He wanted to call her back but hesitated, so he just shut himself up in his room.
Shuppet, who was nearby, saw the entire thing. She was feeling conflicted at the time; she didn't like that Eevee at all, but she felt awfully bad for her. While she enjoyed the abundance of negative emotions to feed off, it made her sad to see Gray in distress.
A few moments later, Shuppet looked up at the sky and started to become restless.
Her gut feeling told her that something was wrong. As the leaves rustled in the cold breeze, she sensed the presence of something sinister in the air. Something evil was brewing in the town and, more disturbingly, in her.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone