Ch 38: You’re in my system, Under my skin
They didn’t see Pomona again that day.
Or rather, they didn’t see much of her. Every once in a while something would ‘tug’ on her attention and she’d look up, or out into the forest. There she’d catch a glimpse of purple against the sky, or drifting amongst the trees, and then it would be gone.
It could have been worse though, Gem was more than happy to keep her busy. By the time the sun was just starting to sink (early in the valley) Hailey almost felt more comfortable inside the Minun’s mouth than her own, and if Gem had been wearing lipstick then you would have been hard pressed to tell her original skin colour.
The fact that the little brat had started openly talking about getting some made Hailey nervous, she wasn’t sure she could actually roll out in public with that all over her face.
Still, as… enlightening as the afternoon had been, they had perhaps overdone it a tad. Gem had to do all the work of setting up camp as, by the time she was done sucking face, Hailey was wheezing, on the verge of a full attack. Still, she took it in good fun, the Minun seemed to like playing nurse and helper.
They turned in early that night, without anymore fun, but that was fine with Gem.
This time they set up the tent over some soft moss, far more comfortable, especially for Hailey. Gem was snuggled up in a sleeping bag next to her partner, and she’d finally gotten some real one on one time. Sure, it was just a taste, but that was like saying a glass of water was ‘just’ a drink to someone lost in the desert. The Bond throbbed through her.
Which was partially why she wasn’t asleep yet.
Hailey was, but the girl seemed to have an uncanny ability to conk out anywhere, anytime. Now she was gripping Gem like a stuffed Teddiursa and that was just fine.
She had snagged the girl’s Dex though. Arceus she had missed technology.
Not specifically anyone on it, she’d cut what few, loose ties she had when she left Hoenn, but just scrolling, checking trends, keeping up on gossip. She’d have to build a network again.
First job was finding the right people to follow and sure, she could make her own profile on the device, but it was funnier to use Hailey’s, like the shut-in would ever notice.
Gym Leaders were often a good place to start, trendsetters and taste makers. Given they were right next to Eterna, Gardenia was the obvious choice to start with. Plus, she was curious about the red head, what did Pomona see in her?
It was a fairly typical Gym Leader page, the pinned post at the top had some glamour shots of the building itself, lots and lots of flowers, and absolutely no details on what the current gym challenge was.
Below that was more interesting. It seemed she was no longer out managing the traffic jam if the photo of her passed out on a couch was any indication, probably taken by a partner. Below that was more interesting still, pictures from the night of the pit fights. Whoever had been taking them had been obviously focused on Gardenia, catching her yelling, lit by firelight, a far more impressive and commanding image than the figure passed out on the couch.
There were some of the fights, well, the starts of them at least. Gem even found one of her against that Monferno. The downward angle made her look even smaller than normal, but she looked hot.
I still say that should have counted as my win!!! she commented under it, before erasing. This was Hailey’s Dex after all.
Instead she wrote I still think Gem should have won that! and hit send.
While she was here anyway… Hailey’s Chattr profile (she was surprised the girl even had one) was pretty bare, the only post on it was of a girl on a bike that had gotten reblogged by some Lucario. Well, Gem could tighten that up.
One of Hailey’s landscapes was put as the header, and a few pictures were pulled and posted. All of Gem of course, she was naturally photogenic!
Plus, she would have felt a bit weird about posting Hailey or Pomona without them knowing.
Speaking of the (literal) ghost…
“Where the hell have you been?” Gem hissed. There wasn’t even the sound of the zipped going down as Pomona phased right through the tents wall, but she heard a small woosh and felt a prickling on the back of her neck. Hailey, it seemed, remand steadfastly asleep.
“My job, of course. Searching, not that you two made it easy, with all the energy you were giving off.”
“Oh we didn’t make it easy for you?” Gem did her best shout-whisper.
Pomona simply replied “Yes, it was quite distracting.”
“Heh, well serves you right for gallivanting around, meanwhile I got to teach Hailey all the fun things you can do with a mouth besides talk.”
“Oh, all of them?” Pomona’s tone didn’t change.
“Well… some of them, fun ones anyway. She’s already got a sharp tongue, I’ll bet she learns to put it to some nice uses.”
“How nice, I do hope I am there for the next such instance.” And that was all Pomona said before going silent.
Pomona was gone again in the morning.
“I really need to get some… paperbacks or something.” Hailey said around mouthfuls of re-hydrated scrambled eggs. “Didn’t bring any with me, didn’t want the excess weight. Plus, read all the one I had like 40 times already.”
“So, what do you like anyway?” Gem was mostly just pushing the remnants of her breakfast around, spreading ketchup.
“Whatever I could find really, though the hospital library always had a shitty selection. Either kids books, non-fiction biographies, or really tame romances. To choose a favourite out of that lot… I guess Captain Clefairy series. We only had, like, half the books, but it was decently entertaining.”
“Sci-Fi? Ha! Nerd!” Gem ribbed.
“Hey, what do you want? Like I said we had a crappy selection. Besides, what bed bound girl wouldn’t want to dream about going on far off space adventures?”
“Fair enough.” Gem shrugged, before leaning over and drawing a line of ketchup across Hailey’s face. “You’re still a neeeeeeeeerd!” A proclamation followed up by a lick.
“Oh you say that” Hailey couldn’t help but laugh. “But you haven’t seen the latex spacesuits they were drawn in on the covers. Pretty tight for fighting alien monsters.”
“Latex you say? Well now I am interested.”
“Yes, I as well, sometimes I have wondered if I could drift all the way up to the great beyond.” The voice was quiet, but it made both of them jump.
“Great Fucking Arceus!” Gem yelled, “Made some bloody noise next time!” Pomona looked unperturbed.
“Maybe we should put a bell on her.” Hailey joked.
“Perhaps.” Pomona just shrugged, “if it would make you more comfortable, though such accessories have a tendency to fall through and get lost. We can check in town once we are done here.”
“Once we’re done? What you haven’t finished… whatever this has been yet?”
“No.” Pomona said. “I thought you might like to see it.”
The forest was quiet, strangely so.
In the small clearing they’d been camping out, things had been normal. The sound of wind through the trees, bugs buzzing, birds gossiping. All that faded away as Pomona led them to the north, well under the shadow of the Bike Path, to a rock wall, and series of caves.
“So” Hailey said dryly, “another damp hole in the ground?”
“How damp it is is unknown to me, but my clients often seek out such places.”
“So… what? You’ve already met them for this weird sale or whatever?” Gem didn’t looked convinced by the accommodations. “Pompom, are you a drug dealer?”
“No.” Was the only answer she got.
The inside turned out to be pleasantly cool, if not a little damp, compared to the hot sun outside.
Eyes adjusting to the change, the interior was revealed to be a prototypical managed cave. Rough, but not sharp walls, solid board pathways, though they looked old. The only thing was, there were no lights.
Well, it was a good thing they had bought flashlights with all the other camping crap.
“So your ‘client’ is in here then?” Gem air quoted in the beam of Hailey’s light while Pomona pushed.
“Somewhere, yes.”
“Somewhere?! You don’t know?”
“I know she is somewhere in here, I felt it, but I came back to get you two first.”
“So… what?” Hailey said, “we just walk around till we find them? Do we have a description? Can we ask folks?”
“No.” Hailey was really starting to get annoyed at that word. “We will know them when when we see them, but I doubt there will be others in the caves currently.” She didn’t give any reason why, but Hailey felt she was telling the truth. It was quiet in here, like the forest outside, perhaps more so.
There was nothing really for it but to start moving. Light played over the uneven walls as they pushed deeper. Rough, unadorned, it spoke more to the shy simplicity of Ground types rather than the more brash nature of Rock types. Well, that and the sand that collected under the walkway boards. The caves quickly spiralled out into a mess of intersecting tunnels, many without any kind of flooring. Signs of a decently high population, yet the place was quiet as a tomb.
Every now and then Hailey got the uncanny feeling they were being watched, that barely reflective eyes were peering at them from the far darkness, but no, there was never anything there. Besides, if there was, they wouldn’t be staring at her.
Pomona was leading the way, though leading was a bit of a strong word for it. The Ghost would float to an intersection and pause, unclear but not unsure. Then, as if pulled by a string wrapped around her midsection, she’d jerk and float down another one.
Gem and Hailey followed with increasingly skeptical looks on their faces.
“You think there was a bunch of Mon down here before? Or just one who really liked digging?” Hailey said, almost whispering.
“Nah, this many? Totally a nest, or whatever Ground types call it. They do this weird thing where they burrow next to each other but, like, never talk or anything. They just exist in proximity.”
“I dunno, sounds kinda nice.” Hailey said. Reminded her a bit of the hospital, only less clinical. You didn’t always need to be yammering.
“Whatever.” Was Gem’s only response
“I believe they are giving her space.” Pomona finally spoke, floating at the terminus of a dead end tunnel.
“And how do you know that before we find… whoever it is?” Hailey asked.
In response, the Ghost simply floated to the side. The flashlight beam played across a crumpled figure leaned against the wall. The air momentary caught in Hailey’s throat, at least until she she saw the small movements of breathing.
She was a sort of greyish blue, except for a bright red splash on her belly. Lanky and angular at the top, widening and rounding down below, especially around a thick, almost tubular tail. Sharp looking fins erupted from her body at several points, lending her and incredibly streamlined feel.
Or it would have, if she wasn’t laying on the ground like a discarded doll.
With trepidation, Hailey raised the beam. She wasn’t asleep, and despite surely having been underground for quite a while, she didn’t turn from the beam. Her eyes were yellow, but unfocused, listless, tired.
They reminded Hailey a lot of the ones she saw in the mirror.