[X] My Assistant

[Master Houndoom]

It was a much, much brighter day in Arthro town when the reunited group arrived. The trip home had gone late into the night, and there was another session of sleeping under the stars followed by a poorly received early morning to make it back to the pokécenter.

Amongst the humans, there wasn’t a whole lot of talking. Reilly was silent, his brow furrowed, as if he knew something had gone on, but just what it was eluded him. It had to be a strange feeling, and it was causing him to act strangely in the eyes of his companions: He didn’t complain or grumble under his breath. He just walked along, silently, contemplating.

Tuesday, too, was quiet, but the two older teens were far too used to that to have it be of any concern. However, she, too, was engaged in a strange activity. Every once in a while, she would stare at one or the others of the older two of the group; at one point, she had reached out and touched Jaima’s wrist, just above his pokégear. When he’d looked down to see what she had wanted, he caught her staring at where her hand touched his, then, pulling away, watching her fingers. Jaima had looked at Meiko with a little concern, but both had agreed; the two had been through something that was borderline traumatic, and didn’t need a worried big brother, or teenage jokes, or a hovering big sister type. So they walked, and waited, and made sure that mother the other two did was seen as scornful or wrong.

Unless they had actually done something scornful or wrong, but there were no incidences of this to speak of.

Finally, they made it to Arthro town. Jaima arranged for the rooms, four which, if needed could be downgraded to two, while Meiko took the two youths and all of the pokemon, including Jaima’s to see the nurse.

“OK,” Jaima said, holding up the keys. “We can do this two ways: We all get separate rooms, or we can split two rooms: boys and girls. Up to you two.”

Meiko smiled at him, if a little sadly, and Jaima winked at her in response. She blushed, but if Reilly or Tuesday saw it, neither mentioned it. Jaima was being quite accommodating. In fact, the only arrangement he wasn’t about to allow was Tuesday and Reilly in the same room. Not after the kiss he’d seen them swap the last time they had arrived in town.

And since he wasn’t going to let them do it, he and Meiko couldn’t, either.

Finally, the choice was made, and Reilly and Tuesday took the keys to the rooms they had chosen and went ahead to make their way to bed. Jaima and Meiko stayed in the small lobby.

“Worried?” Meiko’s face had a knowing smile on it, and it was Jaima’s turn to blush.

“A little… It’s obvious something happened…” He shook his head. “But if I try to pry it out of them, they’ll just shrink into themselves. Right?”

Meiko grinned. “I’m so glad you’re open to learning… it would take so much longer to train you up properly…”

Jaima smirked. “Speaking of training…”

“I’ll be good!” Meiko said, biting both lips and looking, at least partially, mock frightened.

Jaima looked toward the Nurse’ station, already darkened for the night, but Meiko reached down and took his hand. “They need rest too, Jaima. We’ll be OK. And if anything happens, Mercury can get out of her ball…”

* * * * *

Nightwish was out of her ball, lounging against the shelf, sighing. Usually, by now, she’d have the gist of her newest mark. By now, she’d be planning on how to get the most out of the trainer, then leave them with a post hypnotic suggestion that would have them breaking her poke ball thirty minutes after she’d taken their food, potions, and, a few times, money.

Not this time. This time, the trainer had gotten under her skin. This time the trainer had reminded her of Nightwish’s first, when she had simply ben called Gothi. When she had been…

Ugh. She had almost said “happy.” How terribly cheesy.

But she had been. Meiko reminded her of what Cyndy could have been, had…

Cwap, she thought as the tears came. Cyndy had gotten sick, and, though the gothita was almost too young to know what was going on, she knew her trainer wasn’t going o get better.

Cyndy had had cancer.

Then her uncle ‘took in’ Cyndy’s pokémon, and made the mistake of talking to his partner about how much gothitelle could get with certain individuals. The mental pictures were almost as bad as the words.

But Cyndy… before that horror, before she had run away for the first time, Cyndy had been a good, happy, kind trainer. And now, despite her hardships and fears and other issues, Meiko was a good, happy, kind trainer, with good friends…

Nightwish felt the tears leaking down her face. gweat. just great…

There was a pop, and two arms enfolded her from behind. Nightwish tensed, but then, slowly, relaxed. You’we wucky i don’t thwow you thwough a waww.

There was no reply, but the hug got tighter, and Nightwish sighed and relaxed. Thanks, Mewcuwy…

What are friends for?

I’m just now stawting to wemembew…

[Umbrae Calamitas]

She couldn't explain it.

There was a sensation, somewhere between her chest and her head, a tingling ache that lessened the closer she got to where Jaima and Meiko had died. There was a hollow feeling in her stomach that seemed to deepen, too, the closer she got, but that was not as strong as the other and thus easier to ignore.

Darryn had offerred, more than once, for them to slip off the road and travel through the grass so as to avoid the area, but no. She needed to see it. She didn't know why and she couldn't explain it, but she had to go there.

There weren't far off now. She remembered this section of the road. She and Reilly had come back this when when they ran back to town to get help. She remembered stumbling on the road when the explosion occurred, shaking everything around them and knocking her to the ground.

She glanced down at her hands. The bleeding scrapes on her palms had healed quickly, but she could still remember the burn of torn skin. Her knees ached in memory of landing hard on them during the explosion, but the ache in her chest hurt the worst of them all. How was she supposed to deal with this? How did you just keep going on like nothing had happened when you had lost two of the people who she had spent so much of her time with and who had taught her so much? Not to mention their pokemon, whom she had grown incredibly close to, like Shadow, who had done so much for her...

She didn't know what she was supposed to do.

"We're here," Darryn murmured.

Tuesday looked up, her feet slowing to a stop. She felt her breath sigh out through her lips and she had to blink to clear her vision. She felt tears slide down her cheeks.

Yes. She remembered this place, but it looked different now.

There was a great gouge in the asphalt where the oil tanker had tipped over and slid some feet, crashing into other cars. That had been the reason that they were out there in the first place. The four of them had heard the crash and come out to see what had happened, and Jaima and Meiko had stayed to help while Tuesday and Reilly ran back for more help.

And then the explosion.

The road was blackened in a circle where the explosion had occurred, the edges jagged and burnt into a ground. Distantly, she wondered if the wound could ever be removed from the road, or if it would remain, a permanent reminder of all that had been lost.

The medical and clean-up crews had done a fair job. Scraps of metal lay about in some areas, occasionally melted fast to the asphalt, but for the most part, there was little reminder that actual people had been here.

Tuesday tried to swallow the ache that threatened to swallow her.

Something caught her eye and she turned her head at a flash of color. She expected, perhaps, half of a pokeball sphere or a scrap of burnt clothing, but no. There was a flower growing in the center of the road.

It was the strangest flower that she had ever seen. Beautiful, it glimmered and shone, as though reflected the light that hit it. As though the flower were made of glass.

Tuesday found herself stepping closer and vaguely she recognized that Darryn was asking her something, but whatever he said didn't register. The flower... it was beautiful, compellingly so. In fact, she could feel it, she was sure. The very air thrummed with the force of its existence - life, blossomed and full and crying out "I am here!"

A flash of red to her right and Zorro appeared. Tuesday nearly turned her head, forgetting for a moment that he was not a riolu any longer, but a lucario. For the briefest of moments, she had thought he was Shadow and her heart ached for her friend.

The flower thrummed, a heartbeat that sang to her. Tuesday swallowed, crouching down before the flower. This close, she could see it was indeed crystalline, but it rose up from the ground as though it had sprouted. No hands made this. No tool touched this. There was some other force at work here.

"I am here!"

The voice was like that of a child - young, innocent, calling for help.

"I am here!"

Tuesday leaned closer until her lips were almost touching the gleaming petals, her breath misting against the crystal. There was something about it that seemed so... familiar. It was the strangest thing.

"Please," the flower whispered. "I am here."

Tuesday reached out, and in a motion so swift it seemed too easy, plucked the flower.

It was delicate in her fingers, soft. The stem felt alive beneath her hand - dotted with fibers like a true flower stem, yet it almost felt like water flowing between her fingertips. Smiling despite herself, she brought the flower to her nose as she turned.

She inhaled ash and fire, heat barrelling down her throat. Tuesday gasped, gave a wracking cough, and yanked the flower away. She tried to throw it, but it would not leave her fingertips, and desperate, she sought out her friends.

They were gone.

The road lay beneath her, clean and undamaged. Cars moved by, the occasional horn blaring. Tuesday felt her breath coming sharply into her lungs as she gasped for air. The smell of ash had vanished, the heat gone. The road was unmarred - no marks of an explosion, no longer burdened by a great black scar.

She wondered... had she dreamed it all? A terrible nightmare? A horrible vision, even. Had it never happened at all and she would return to find Jaima and Meiko fine, wondering where she had been, what had taken her so long. They would still be waiting on Darryn to arrive, eager to tell him of all that had occurred while he had been away, eager to hear of his own exploits. Zorro would be newly evolved and the thrill of that evolution would not be haunted by the memory of a great loss. They would all eat breakfast together, laughing, and Meiko would help her to buy some new clothes. Shadow would stand at the side, watching, a casual smirk on his face, and Mercury would float about, alternating between laughing and arguing with Nightwish. She and Reilly would get into a spat and Meiko would grin and make an amused remark about weddings and dating and allude to things Tuesday was not old enough to hear, and blush when she met Jaima's eyes.

Tuesday laughed, a bright, happy sound that filled her heart with relief and love and peace. She turned, heading back to the pokemon center.

The oil tanker missed her by an inch, slammed straight into the side of a small car, and flipped onto its side.

Tuesday felt her heart drop down into her stomach at the smell of gas. She saw Jaima and Meiko race into view, and she realized that she was about to watch them die.