Child of Thorns - A Pokemon Sinnoh Reimagining

The nurse was kind enough to let Inyssa bury her Pokemon, which she appreciated.

Sharp pain stabbed up her arm as she drove the shovel into the ground, the metal handle feeling cold against the bandages on her right hand. She took a deep breath, tasting the cold air and sent the shovel down again with enough force to send dirt flying everywhere, covering her boots in mud.

If anything, it was a good way to express her anger, she thought as she kept digging. Barry did the same next to her, head down and eyes missing their usual brightness. Behind her, the nurse was still asking if she needed any help, and when she replied that she didn't the woman started talking again about how sometimes these things happened, how it wasn't her fault, and if she needed anyone to talk to...

But Inyssa stopped listening at that point. The only relief she could find now was the surge of pain every time she drove the shovel down. It gave her an excuse not to talk, an excuse to ignore everyone's inquisitive eyes and their questions, so many questions. She'd been the only person in the Windworks who wasn't a Galactic grunt, besides Katie's father who was at the time tied up in the basement, and as such the police relied on her to tell them what had happened. She'd already told the story once to them, by obligation, and she was not going to do it again to the rest of the kids in the Pokemon Center just because they were curious.

One of them even told her that she was really cool for trying to fight a criminal organization alone; if Barry hadn't stopped her that kid's nose would be broken right now.

She raised her gaze to him, but her friend wasn't looking her way, only worrying about the hole he was digging. He hadn't said anything since they started, or more specifically since she told the story when he was near; he simply placed a hand on her shoulder and accompanied her to one of the flower fields outside the city, shovel in hand.

Inyssa figured he'd heard everything he needed. Just another instance of her leaving him alone and going off to do something dangerous. She could see he wanted to tell her something about it but the opportunity wasn't right; if he scolded her for abandoning him right after she lost her Pokemon he would look like a jerk. He was probably waiting until things blew over, bottling up his anger. The thought made her even madder, sending heat to her arms and making her use even more force on her digging. So what if she didn't come to him for help? The opportunity just wasn't right, and she needed to hurry; she didn't know if Katie's father was in mortal danger or not. It's what had to be done; it's what any respected trainer would've done.

It's what her sister would've done.

Her hands stopped, leaving the shovel inches from the ground. The thought killed all the strength in her muscles.

She'd never thought about it like that. Was that why... was that the reason Shadi disappeared? Did she go too far trying to do things alone? Maybe she had underestimated her enemies just like Inyssa had, except she wasn't lucky enough to survive it. Her eyes went to Barry once more. Was that what he thought of her? He probably saw her as just another Shadi, just another reckless trainer who was going to get herself killed because she never asked for help.

She bit her lip, furious. If that's what he thought then she didn't need him around. She didn't need anyone; one did not become Champion by asking others for help. And if that thinking lead her to her death... well, it was what everyone expected from her anyways, and it would be what she deserved.

She opened her mouth, wanting to say something to Barry, something hurtful for what he surely was thinking, but his voice interrupted her before she had the chance to speak.

"I'm sorry." His voice came out faded, barely above a whisper. "I should've been with you."

His words caught her off guard, replacing the anger she felt with a numb feeling of confusion. She looked at him for a couple seconds, not sure what to think, and then just looked down and started digging again.

"What are you talking about? It wasn't your fault," she replied. "I screwed up so don't blame yourself for it."

She could see her friend's shoulders drop, and the expression she mistook for anger now looked more like guilt.

He stopped digging for a second, letting out a small sigh. "We're supposed to be like... like the two best trainers, you know? Always together, always saving each other's butts. But I'm never there for you. I'm never there to help you."

Inyssa stared at him dumbfounded. Was he... blaming himself for what happened in the Windworks? That didn't make any sense, there was no way he could've done anything, it had all been her fault. His thinking was so illogical that she wanted to walk to him and smack him on the back of the head for being such an idiot. She narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth to say something, to say that she didn't need his help, but...

"I... I'll make sure to call you next time," she said. "It's not your fault, Barry. I underestimated those Galactic grunts. It will not happen again."

"You're darn right it won't!" For the first time in hours Barry drew a smile at her, and for a moment Inyssa's pain seemed to disappear. "Because next time we'll beat them right back to outer space or wherever they got those uniforms from."

"If you say so..." Inyssa shrugged, cleaning her eyelids with her sleeve.

And with a final, painful push into the dirt she finished the hole they had been working on. She threw the shovel to the ground and stood still for several seconds, her breathing ragged. It was around four feet deep and twice as wide as Bertha was, so she figured it'd be good enough. With slow steps she turned around and approached the small bundle of white that lay between the flower beds, looking so out of place amidst such vibrant colors. She grabbed the sheet-covered corpse of Bertha and without saying anything she deposited her in the hole.

Barry started pouring dirt on top of Bertha, while Inyssa simply stared with unfocused and foggy eyes. Barely aware of her movements, her fingers closed around the stem of the gracidea she had spent an entire hour trying to find, and tried to place it on top of the grave. For some reason she couldn't quite put it in the center; her arm was shaking too much.

Barry's fingers fell on top of hers, and with his help she was able to plant it.

She heard the nurse's steps getting closer, and a soft hand patted her on the shoulder.

"The flowers change here every year. Soon a new field of color will bloom on top of this grave," she said. "I'm sure she will be happy resting here."

"Eh, it'll do I guess." Inyssa shrugged, perhaps too strongly. "Could be better. If it were me I'd want a whole party around my funeral; some marble statues of me, maybe a couple flying jets doing pirouettes around my grave... you know, go out with some style."

Laughter sprouted from her, wild and sharp and just a little bit unhinged. The nurse shifted her gaze from her to the boy, unsure if that was a joke or not. It didn't last long however, and soon she felt her smile drop dead as the silence grew around her once more.

She stood there, waiting, expecting someone to say something. Should she say something? She remembered a lot of people giving eulogies for her father when she was young, but she was never good at talking about others. She simply placed a hand over the cold dirt and lowered her head, trying to cover the wetness in her eyes.

"I'm sorry." She spoke between sobs, eyes closed and wind roaring in her ears. "You deserved better than this."

Two days passed before the nurse saw her fit enough to leave the Pokemon Center; not that she wouldn't have escaped again if she had any way to get to Eterna City, but as it was she decided to play the good little trainer act and for once do what she was told. She used that time to train her Pokemon, challenging any and all trainers she was able to find. She would not be under prepared for a fight again.

The only one of her Pokemon who didn't seem thrilled with the idea was Steven, who simply flew around town, occasionally coming to the Pokemon Center to eat and cuddle with her, not having any desire to fight. She didn't blame him, especially after what he'd seen in the Windworks. He deserved a rest.

She slid down on the sofa and took a sip of the cup of tea in her hands, considering her options for the day. There was still no news about the Route 206 incident, and if she had to wait another day she could probably go challenge the Floaroma trainer school. She heard steps behind her and soon enough Barry sat alongside her, a cup of hot chocolate in one hand and a raisin-covered cookie on the other.

"Do you know who ate all the donuts?" he asked, a defeated look on his face.

"No, do you know if leptons are compound particles?" she replied, her cheek resting on her hand.

"Is that a reference to something? I swear, you probably don't know half of the smarty pants words you always use." He took a big chunk out of the cookie with a single bite. "So, what are we doing today?"

She opened her mouth to speak but Barry interrupted her by raising a finger.

"And before you say it, no more training." He knit his eyebrows. "Everything hurts from yesterday and I'm not the one who was in the infirmary."

"I can manage by myself if you wanna sit this one out." She shrugged. "I'm perfectly fine, thank you."

"A previously dislocated arm, two deep cuts on your hand, a swollen cheek and a lot of bruises..." Barry listed with his fingers like it was a grocery list. "Come on Niss, take it easy, if you keep at it I'm gonna have to pick you up with a wheelbarrow next time."

"I didn't think you'd have the attention span to remember all that."

"Wow, rude." He wrinkled his nose, pretending to be offended by her comment. "Seriously though, I have a great idea for today. Take a look at this!"

He bit the rest of the cookie and started rummaging through his pockets, finally finding what appeared to be a small poster that was curled into a ball. Inyssa deposited the cup on the table in front of her and opened up the piece of paper, revealing some artwork representing a small blue robot with a blaster gun on his right hand. On the top of the poster, with giant red and yellow letters it read Punkman: Super number 8.

"See? The new Punkman game is coming out today!" Barry extended both arms as if trying to showcase how amazing the poster was. "They're letting kids try it in the Game Corner of the city, and if we get lucky we could get the Poketch version!

"That... does actually sound really good. I've been waiting for this one for a long time." She admitted, eyebrows perking up. "I just hope after so many release delays the game will still be good."

"I'm sure it'll be awesome, I mean the main developer is still working on it." He pointed at the man's name on the poster, as if she couldn't read it herself. "So that's it then! We'll go to the Game Corner to play video games and we won't worry about anything else today. Sounds like a plan to me!"

She sighed, trying to hide her excitement. "Fine, but remember: video games won't save you next time."

"Great! Just let me get my backpack and we'll be off." Barry jumped out of the sofa like a spring and started heading towards his room.

Inyssa finished what was left of her drink and simply let herself lean against the pillow behind her, eyes closing slowly. Her body was stiff, and getting to the Game Corner was going to be hell although not as much as training her Pokemon all day again. Still, she refused to stay there doing nothing like half the trainers around; comfort wouldn't get her anywhere. She opened her eyes again and lazily got up from her seat, leaning on her left arm with difficulty. She breathed deeply and stretched her extremities, her entire body protesting. Absentmindedly she looked towards the outside of the building, and there...

A flash of pink disappeared from one of the nearby buildings, so fast that she could only make out that color with a side glance. She froze, eyes still set on the corner she saw that colorful flash from, and she felt a need to go out and investigate for herself. There was no way, she thought, she probably just saw someone else by mistake and...

Before she could move she noticed another two figures approaching the Pokemon Center that she hadn't paid attention to before. She felt a shiver on her spine at the sight of a tall, well-dressed man with long brown hair and beard, his young daughter next to him. Katie and her father were coming right towards her. Panic hit her like a truck as she began clumsily looking around to pick up everything that belonged to her and putting it in her backpack at record speed. She looked everywhere around for Barry, and when she finally found him walking down the stairs she ran towards him and tried to hide behind him, attracting some glances from the other kids around.

"Hey- whoah, what's going on!?"

"It's... it's the girl! It's the girl I saved and her father, they're looking for me!" she stuttered, grabbing onto the back of her friends' shirt. "Dammit Barry, you're too skinny for me to hide behind! If you're gonna eat so much then at least gain some weight for Mew's sake!"

"There are walls around you know," he replied, still thoroughly confused. "And why are you hiding? They're probably here to thank you for what you did."

She stomped the ground. "That's the problem! I... I don't want to deal with that, it's gonna be stressful and sad and I don't want anything to do with it."

"Well what are we supposed to do? They're coming from the front door," Barry pointed. "And I don't think there's a secret back door around, like the one in the school's cafeteria we used all the time."

"I... well..." She bit her lip. "I know! There's a window in your room, right?"

Barry tilted his head to the side, eyes narrowed. "Niss, my room is on the second floor. I don't think that's gonna fly, nor us for that matter."

She grabbed him by the arm and started dragging him towards the stairs with an air of desperation.

"Come on, I can handle it!"

Inyssa could not handle it, as it turned out. An ill-advised fall, some quite colorful insults and a couple minutes later both kids were walking through the busy streets of Floaroma, the pained girl leaning with one arm against Barry.

"Next time leave the crazy ideas for me," he said, a sly smile on his face. "That was a good one, lots of potential, but it lacked a bit of polish."

"I'm gonna break your leg if you don't stop talking," she grumbled while limping alongside him. "I... didn't have much time to think, okay? I had to go with the first thing that came to mind."

She could see Barry still smiling, but for some reason he felt more jumpy than usual. Maybe it was because she was leaning against him but she thought he was looking around way too often. Right after she said that she caught him looking behind them, eyes narrowed.

"Yeah, about that. I still don't get why we ran away," he said. "I thought you liked being praised by people."

"That's... not true. Stop making things up." She grit her teeth, her face flushed. "I didn't want to make things awkward. They probably wanted to thank me even though I didn't do anything; I didn't want to deal with that."

"Nothing? You saved that little girl! And who knows what that psychopath would've done to her dad if you didn't buy so much time?"

"They would've been fine," Inyssa assured him. "If I didn't interfere Katie and her dad would've been released after Team Galactic finished their job, probably, and I would still have Bertha." There was a lot of bitterness attached to her tone. "And that girl, Pyxis, wouldn't have been hurt by that psycho if it weren't for me."

Barry rolled his eyes. "You're unbelievable, Niss. Always being more empathetic the worse someone treats you."

"Hey, up yours."

They kept walking, every minute getting farther from the main street and the Pokemon Center. According to the map the Game Corner was placed somewhere in the north-east of town, where all the entertainment businesses were located. With some luck they could get there before mid day, and maybe after Barry and her could get something to eat in a nearby restaurant. The possibility was still dancing in her head when she noticed something strange; Barry was consistently poking her in the back in a rhythm that seemed... deliberate, almost. She looked at him expecting to see him smiling but she only found a grim expression on his face, eyes narrowed and teeth clenched. The boy met her gaze and glanced backwards.

Inyssa turned her head, completely oblivious. "Huh? Is there someone behind us?"

Barry couldn't help but sigh.

"Oh for...!" He turned around quickly and took a Pokeball out of his belt. "You were supposed to be subtle about it! Come on Niss, you're usually smarter than that."

Before she could reply the boy threw his Pokeball into the air, towards a nearby alleyway at their left. From its light appeared a tall, oval figure with two long arms and a small yellow beak. The Prinplup materialized and immediately looked through the passage, where Inyssa's eyes couldn't reach.

"We know you're there!" Barry yelled, attempting to sound intimidating. "Show yourself now before my Pokemon drags you out!"

Inyssa was completely lost, eyes wide open staring between her friend and the apparently empty alleyway. But her confusion was cleared when she felt steps coming from the other side, approaching them. Her stomach turned when someone walked out, both hands behind her head. The girl's pink hair was covering part of her face, and she was wearing the same shirt Inyssa saw her in a couple days ago. Now from up close though, Inyssa was momentarily taken aback by her appearance and the stray patches of hair on her face, like she'd tried shaving without a mirror to look into. Was she trans? Inyssa wasn't sure, so she just said the first thing that came to mind.

"It's... you!" Inyssa pointed at her, eyes wide open, until she realized how inane a statement that was. "What are you doing here?"

"You didn't notice her following us?" Barry asked. "I've been trying to warn you since we left the Pokemon Center."

"By doing what, poking me in the back?" She protested, perking her nose dismissively at him. "Besides, you have much better hearing than I do."

"That was Morse code! You're telling me you don't know Morse code?"

"D... do you?"

"Yeah, my mom taught me when I was little," he explained as if it were the most normal thing in the world. "I thought everyone knew it!"

"Um... excuse me?" she whispered, catching their attention. "Give a girl some attention here, will you?"

She'd probably noticed the momentary confusion on Inyssa's face when looking at her, and had said that to clarify and ease the tension a little, which Inyssa appreciated. Unfortunately, she was still very suspicious. She and Barry turned towards this girl, her expression a mix of confusion and amusement. Inyssa followed her friend's example and produced Enma's Pokeball in her hand.

"Why were you following us?"

"Yeah! And you better not try anything funny," Barry warned her, shaking his finger at her. "We're not in the mood for any surprises, right Pedri?"

The Prinplup placed one of his sharp fins close to the woman's face, eyes focused entirely on her.

"Whoa whoa, calm down!" She was completely still, a drop of sweat running down her face. "I don't wanna start anything, I swear! I just wanna to talk to you."

"Then why didn't you talk to us when we were in the Pokemon Center?" Inyssa asked, pointing Enma's Pokeball at her face.

She gulped and took a step back. "I... didn't want anyone to see me. I'm keeping a low profile for now."

"That doesn't really makes us trust you more you know," Barry said. "You could've come up with something better."

"I... I'm telling the truth. I just wanna talk to you... um..." She bit her lips, looking contemplative.

"Inyssa," she clarified. "And fine, suppose we don't see you as a creep, which we do, what do you want to talk to us about?"

The stranger lowered her hands as slowly as possible while she tried to think of what to say. Her cheeks were flushed and her lips pale.

"Nice to meet you; I'm Metchi." She waved with one hand. "And... I wanted to ask you about what happened in the Windworks, if it's not a bother."

Barry narrowed his eyes and looked at Inyssa, waiting for her response.

"Well I'm sorry to disappoint you but it is a bother," she replied bitterly. "Go ask the police if you want a story, I'm not in the mood to entertain anyone."

And with that she put Enma's Pokeball back on her belt and turned around.

"No, wait, wait!" Metchi tried to walk forward but suddenly remembered the knife-sharp fin pointed right at her. "Please... I can't go to the police, I can't talk to anyone else about this. I just wanna ask you a couple questions, I swear."

"Why do you need to know that so much?" Barry asked, incredulous. "Are you a paparazzi or something?"

"What? No..." she raised her eyebrows at him, only now realizing that she was talking with kids much younger than her. "I can't tell you why but I promise it's important."

"Listen, you can't just follow us around and expect us to tell you things after that," said Inyssa with an irritated tone. "Why should we trust you? For all we know you could be one of those Galactic idiots."

Metchi's eyebrows formed a line over the bridge of her nose. Her expression changed to one of anger so fast Inyssa felt compelled to take a step back.

"I'm not one of them!" She yelled, ears turning red. Pedri was about to put his fin even closer to her face when she spoke again. "L...look, if you tell me I can give you some useful information. You're trainers right? And you wanna challenge the Gym leaders?"

Barry and Inyssa exchanged a careful look.

"Yeah, so?" the boy asked. "Do you know where to find rare Pokemon?"

"Even better." For the first time Metchi formed a small, nervous smile. "You guys are stranded here until the bridge in Route 206 is fixed, right? Well, I know another way straight to Eterna City."

They glanced at each other, lips pursed. After a moment of consideration Inyssa replied.

"We're listening."

Metchi nodded. "Do you know where Eterna Forest is? You have to go through Route 205 to reach it; once you're there you'll have to walk all the way through until you find a big, fancy mansion." She started explaining, clearly having trouble remembering the path. "It's abandoned, but in one of the back rooms there's a secret passage that leads to a hidden grotto in the forest, and if you follow the path you'll appear east of Eterna City."

Inyssa raised her Poketch and started fiddling with it, opening the map and carefully looking through it. Just like Metchi had described, there appeared to be a big, abandoned building in the depths of Eterna Forest.

"Wow, it's actually there," Barry said, pleasantly surprised. "How do you know about that? Is it haunted?"

"It was my hideout and that's how I got to Eterna City before... I had to come here," she admitted, her lips forming a sad smile. "And uh... I don't think it's haunted, as far as I know anyway."

Inyssa clicked her tongue, eyeing up the strange woman, trying to determine if she was to be trusted. On one hand she did seem to be trying to appear as un-intimidating as possible, but that might be a trap to lead them somewhere, the middle of a dark forest to be more specific. But then again, if she was saying the truth she pretty much had no chance; she had to get to Eterna City as soon as possible.

"Fine, I believe you," she said, even before she made up her mind about the subject. "What do you want to know?"

Metchi smiled so wide Inyssa almost started laughing, though she managed to contain herself. She lead both of them to a nearby alleyway and asked for the story where no one else could hear them. Inyssa thought that reliving what happened again would've been even more painful, but as words started flowing she noticed the pain in her chest was duller than before, and she didn't know if it was relieving or disheartening. It took her almost five minutes to summarize it, and when she finally finished the story she could feel her eyes getting watery again, which Metchi mercifully ignored.

"I can't believe they let Mars lead a mission like that," Metchi whispered to herself. "Out of the four commanders you could've encountered... I'm sorry kid, but you had shit luck that day."

"Yeah, you can say that again."

"How do you know those guys anyway?" asked Barry.

"Sorry, but I can't say anything about that." She raised both hands as a sign of apology. "Trust me, if I start running my mouth it'll be dangerous for all of us."

Inyssa grabbed her by the arm just before she turned around to leave. "Well, since you insist on being a mysterious jerk, do you mind if I ask you another couple questions?"

Metchi smiled nervously. "I have a feeling I'm gonna regret this. But yeah sure, shoot."

"Were you the one who blew up the bridge in Route 206?"

The question caught her by surprise. Metchi opened her mouth to respond, but she couldn't find the right words. She looked away from Inyssa, and finally after a few seconds she answered.

"So you were the brats on that Salamence." She laughed weakly. "Well, no, that wasn't me, though I was around when it happened."

Inyssa could feel that there was more to the story, but she decided not to press her luck; something told her the girl was telling the truth, if only partially.

"Sounds like it was quite the adventure," she commented, thinking about what to say next. "And my other question is... who were you talking to when I found you a couple days ago?"

Metchi froze, and Inyssa could see that she caught her by surprise even more than with her previous question. The girl looked down and her breathing became more heavy as her thoughts raced. Whatever the truth was, it seemed to be something that she really didn't want anyone to know. Even more incentive to find out about it, Inyssa thought.

"That was... shit, I can't make anything up." She bit her finger. "Look just... I was talking to an... associate." She pronounced the last word slowly. "I can't say anything else, sorry."

Inyssa sighed, somewhat disappointed. The exchange of information hadn't been as fruitful as she had expected.

"I have to go now," said Metchi. "I don't wanna say more than I should, and I shouldn't stay in the same place for so long anyway. Now that you told me all that..." She gave Inyssa a small bump on the arm. "I can actually plan a course of action. Thank you."

And with that she took a Pokeball from her rugged belt, which appeared to be the only one she had. She pressed the button and from the burst of light light emerged a robust quadruped Pokemon with an extremely long neck and four green wings growing from her back in an X shape. The Tropius landed on the floor and immediately let out a deep yawn, lazily studying the two unknown trainers next to her.

"Whoa, what's that!?" Barry yelled in excitement at the sight of the strange Pokemon. "She's super cool!"

"Oh, you mean this gal?" Metchi approached her Pokemon and gave her a pat on the neck. "Her name's Lyserg. She's lazier than a Slaking, but she's useful to get around."

Inyssa couldn't help but appreciate the beautiful Pokemon, which had clearly been well taken care of, at least much more than she thought possible with someone like Metchi. The brown of her body was vibrant and her wings were long and robust.

"It has bananas on her neck!" Barry stated the obvious. "Can you eat them?"

"I'm... not sure actually." Metchi looked at her Pokemon contemplatively. "They usually fall off every other week, but I've never tried eating one since it seemed... weird. But I can save you one for next time, if you want." She gave Barry a warm smile.

"That would be amazing."

Metchi gave him a pat on the shoulder and approached her Pokemon, jumping on her back with little difficulty and putting her arms around her neck. The Tropius began flapping her wings, and a powerful wind soon filled the street.

"Wait!" Luckily Metchi heard her and looked down at the young trainer. "Hey... I have another question."

"Another one?" Metchi asked, raising an eyebrow. "Fine, sure. Try not to make it anything personal this time."

Inyssa held her question for a few seconds, wondering herself it she should ask it. Barry was looking at her expectantly, and she felt like it wasn't the right time to be thinking about that. And yet...

"By any chance do you know someone called... Shadi?" She spoke slowly, almost in whispers as she avoided Barry's eyes. "Shadi Dawn. Sort of looked like me, a bit taller, longer hair and angular face..."

Heat rose to her face as she waited for an answer. She could feel Barry's eyes staring at the back of her head, but she didn't care. Even if the possibility was almost nonexistent...

"I'm sorry," Metchi replied. "I don't think I know anyone like that."

Inyssa's shoulders dropped. "That's... okay. Have a nice trip."

"Yeah... same to you guys," she nodded, and then looked straight ahead. "I hope we'll meet again. Until then!"

Dust exploded all around them as the Tropius took flight. When it finally cleared Inyssa looked up, only barely able to see the shape of the flying Pokemon as it soared through the sky towards the west, disappearing in the distance.