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Heather watches the girl with the long, dark brown hair and bright green eyes battle a bad guy with her Brionne.
She’s actually not horrible! Not anywhere near Heather’s level, but not everyone can be. Still, this girl could make a good sidekick!
When the battle finishes, the girl turns and keeps walking, soon catching sight of Heather. “Hey, you’re—”
“Shh, follow me!” Heather says quietly, motioning for the girl to follow as she scampers off out of the building.
Once they’ve both gotten outside, Heather looks up at her with a grin. “So anyway, hi!”
“Hey!” the girl says with a smile of her own. “You said your name was… Heather?”
Heather nods. “Yeah! And I saw you beat that bad guy! You did so-so, but I think you have potential!”
The girl looks amused at that. “Ha, thanks. My name is Carly, by the way. It’s nice to meet you.”
Oh, right. She hadn’t had time to introduce herself earlier before Heather’s dad pulled her away, had she?
“So, uh… something you need?” Carly asks.
“Do you wanna team up and take on some more bad guys?” Heather asks, bouncing on her feet a bit. “My dad thinks I went home, so I should have at least a little time. His name is Corey, if you didn’t know, but everyone else is always calling him things like ‘Dr. Molinar’ or ‘Officer Molinar.’”
“I actually have met him a few times. I didn’t know he was a cop, too,” Carly says.
“He’s not! He doesn’t even have a badge! Dummies,” Heather says, rolling her eyes.
She guesses it’s cool that her dad is helping to stop the bad guys, but that doesn’t make him a cop. And of course he’s doing it in the most boring way possible. He can’t even be bothered to battle them!
“Anyway, bad guys!” Heather continues. “Wanna beat ‘em up?”
“Do you have any Pokémon to do that with?” Carly asks.
“Yeah, see?” Heather says, motioning to her belt. She only has Salamence, Gyardos, and Archeops with her, but that’s really all that she needs. Probably even more than she needs.
“Do you think maybe I could see one of your Pokémon? Since you got to see one of mine,” Carly says.
Heather smirks. “Sure! Take a look at this…”
She plucks Salamence’s ball from her belt and lets him out, and Carly stares, eyes wide.
“Huh. Wow. Yeah, that’s good,” Carly says, before looking back over to Heather with a smile. “Let’s stop some bad guys together!”
“Sweet!” Heather says with a grin, recalling Salamence. “Come on, let’s go! They’re over this way!”
She runs off to Malchous, and Carly follows behind. The two of them head towards the ruined Gym building.
“Hey, actually, didn’t you have a friend with you earlier?” Heather asks as they walk.
“Yeah, but he and I decided to split up. We’re kinda looking for someone,” Carly says. “It sounds like there are multiple people missing, though… oh, hang on.”
Carly sends out a Roselia and has it use Cut on a tree. A super big vine quickly recedes into the ground.
“How did you know that would work?” Heather asks.
“I have a bit of experience,” Carly says.
“Oh, that’s good! You won’t slow me down, then!” Heather says. “Come on, let’s keep going!”
Carly nods, and the two of them continue towards the Gym.
They soon find a large vine they can’t see connected to any trees, and they decide to split up for a minute, Carly heading towards a tower.
Just as Heather starts to look around, though, a pair of bad guys appear. She hides, listening in as they talk about a Pokémon hooked up to a machine inside the Gym that’s apparently causing all the havoc. It sounds kinda familiar, but she can’t put her finger on it…
As she listens, Carly walks back over, clearly not seeing the bad guys. Heather moves fast, pushing her to hide behind a pillar. “Hey, stay back!”
Carly stealthily peeks around the pillar, and her eyes widen as she ducks back down.
After a few more moments, the two bad guys leave, and Heather sighs. “That was close! You gotta be more careful!”
“Sorry…” Carly says sheepishly. “But hey, thanks for the save! Did you hear them say anything we can use?”
Heather nods. “They’ve got a Pokémon hooked up to some kind of big machine in there!”
Carly’s brow furrows. “So it really is another PULSE…”
Heather’s eyes widen. “A PULSE?! Isn’t that the name of the thing that made stuff go crazy in Obsidia last week?”
Carly nods. “Yeah. The Pokémon is probably another Tangrowth…”
That’s crazy! Even Heather has heard the talk about the incident in Obsidia! A Pokémon made to go crazy and tear the place apart, only for some Gym Leaders and Trainers to step up and help? It’s just like the start of a comic!
“You were there, then?” Heather asks excitedly.
Carly nods. “Yeah. I just wanted to help people, y’know?”
“That’s awesome! It’s good to have a sidekick with some real experience! A Tangrowth will be no match for Salamence, though!” Heather says. “Let’s sneak around the area and take out their guards before they notice anything’s up!”
“Good idea!” Carly says with a smile. “I’m sure they’ll be no match for us!”
Heather gives Carly a Super Potion stolen from a bad guy, since she’ll need it more— anything less than an Ultra Potion or maybe a Hyper Potion isn’t really helpful to Heather, anyway— and the two of them head back out and up north.
The two of them both take on the various guards. Heather could do it by herself, sure, but she lets Carly do a lot of it too. It’s important for her team to get more experience before a big showdown!
“You’re really strong!” Carly says as they look around an area to the west of the Gym, just in case anyone is stuck there somehow. “Are you a Gym Leader?”
“Nope!” Heather says, smirking. “I’m one of the Elite Four!”
Carly’s eyes nearly pop out of her head at that. “Holy shit— th-that’s incredible! Guess I’ve got a long way to go, if I wanna be Champion!”
“Yep! You’ve got potential, but it’ll take a lot more than that to beat me!” Heather says confidently.
There’s nobody in the area, just some Pokémon Egg that Carly says she’ll come back for later, so they head back towards the Gym.
Carly has her Roselia cut down another tree to get rid of another vine, then heads to check out the area past it while Heather scopes out the building, trying to figure out a way in.
Just as she comes up with a plan, Carly comes back, staring at her Pokégear. Apparently, somebody dropped info on the Tangrowth over there, what a bunch of dummies!
The bad guys did something to the Pokémon to make it part Ground Type, somehow? Not that that’ll help against Heather!
She heals Carly’s team, and then the two of them climb up the nearby tower using the vines wrapped around it and jump over to the Gym, heading through an entrance on the roof. They find a hole in the floor.
“I’ll jump down first and scope it out, then call you down, okay?” Carly asks. “Just in case it’s a trap.”
“Good idea!” Heather says.
It’s a relief that Carly’s pretty good at this; at first, Heather was kinda scared she’d get distracted having to help Carly.
Carly smiles and nods, then jumps down.
Heather waits, listening. There are some voices; one is Carly’s, but it’s mostly someone else speaking. It’s also quieter than Heather expected it to be. She’s pretty sure they’re talking about the Tangrowth? She doesn’t get why they’re talking so much, though, if it’s not some big, evil speech.
Soon enough, the unfamiliar voice speaks louder. “…unfortunately, I can’t do that. After all, I’m with Team Meteor. Surround her.”
There’s the sound of more people hitting the ground. Heather prepares herself as the unfamiliar voice speaks again. “Sorry about this. By the way, one of my orders is to eliminate you, so don’t take it personally or anything, all right?”
“Heather, now!” Carly calls.
“Right!” Heather shouts before jumping down.
She lands in front of Carly, facing down three bad guys. There’s another one up some steps, in front of a machine with a freaky looking Tangrowth inside. He’s dressed differently than the others, so he must be the boss!
But Heather’s attention is soon taken by one of the other three, the grunts, underestimating her. It makes her scowl. She’s twelve, not two.
They don’t seem to believe she can beat them… until she sends out Salamence. Heather really loves the look people like them get on their faces when they see him.
Carly goes to fight the boss, and Heather fights all three of the grunts at once. It’s easy! She’d almost think they were all using freshly hatched Pokémon!
Once the last one goes down, Heather looks over her shoulder to see if Carly needs any help… only to see that the Tangrowth is gone. Carly holds her Brionne in her arms, praising it for its hard work.
Huh.
The boss says something about another PULSE in Beryl, which definitely catches Heather’s attention, and then the building starts to shake. She and Carly quickly climb onto Salamence, and he flies them out.
Once they’re safe outside, they stare up at the Gym, and… nothing.
Lame! They beat the bad guys, why isn’t their base collapsing?
“This is a rip!” Heather complains.
“Hey, even if it’s still up, I think we did a great job,” Carly says with a smile. She holds a hand up. “High five?”
“Yeah!” Heather says, grinning and high fiving her. “We made a pretty good team!”
But she only gets to talk about how awesome it was for a few moments before her dad comes along to ruin the fun.
He scolds her, again, as if she doesn’t already know he’s upset. Though he actually does surprise her by bringing up her mom.
And then he notices the ring on Heather’s finger, and gets oddly quiet.
She actually gets angry enough to snap back at that. What, he’s finally gonna say something about her mom, only to change his mind at the sight of something she owned?! That’s stupid!
“ENOUGH!” her dad yells. “You are untimely in pressing far too hard into matters which you do not and cannot comprehend! I have done all that I do for the sake of keeping you safe—”
“And you won’t even tell me what from?!” Heather interrupts. “I don’t need your protection— just ask Carly!”
“She took out three guys at once! It was really impressive!” Carly says.
“Thank you!” Heather says, glad that at least someone around here can recognize strength. “I think you just want to keep me caged up!”
“…I beg your pardon, she— you did what?” her dad asks, face suddenly pale as he stares over at the Gym.
“Three of the evil people in black hoods, in the time it took Carly to beat one!” Heather says. “So think about that!”
“Your daughter is really strong. I understand why you’re worried, but maybe you should ease up on her a bit?” Carly suggests.
But Heather’s dad doesn’t even seem to hear her as he looks back to Heather, asking if the bad guys saw the ring.
What a stupid question. Sure, it’s probably valuable, but why would the bad guys care? It’s just an engagement ring— if they want one, they can steal one from a store. Heather just ends up climbing onto Salamence and flying away.
Her dad’s such a jerk. Heather can clearly handle herself— if anything, she should be the one worrying about him! After all, she’s a member of the Elite Four, and he was just a Gym Leader! Just because she’s young, doesn’t mean she can’t be a hero!
Sure, maybe she’s not a perfect battler. She makes mistakes sometimes, and she should really improve on her training with Ghost Types. But her dad is far from perfect too! A lot more people can say they’ve beat him than her!
Heather guides Salamence to fly her to Rhodochrine. After all, that boss guy said there was another PULSE in Beryl, and if Heather were planning to unleash the plant apocalypse there, she’d hide her secret weapon in Rhodochrine. So she lands there, recalls Salamence, and starts looking around.
She easily beats down some more bad guys, and after a while, she finds Carly and her friend. They’re stuck in the Nuzleafs’ territory, trying the switches. Looks like they’ll need an expert’s help!
“You have to pull all three of them at once,” Heather says, walking out from the trees. “The Nuzleaf made it that way so that only they could do it.”
Carly waves. “Hey, Heather!”
“Oh, surprise! Hello up there!” Carly’s friend greets. “How do you know that?”
He’s all purple— eyes, wild hair, weird clothes. It kind of makes Heather think of her dad, if he were way younger and knew what the word ‘fun’ meant.
“I mean, it’s obvious, right? Also, this place is kind of my backyard,” Heather says with a shrug. “Anyway, hi again Carly! Why’d you go and let yourself get captured? Just don’t get caught, dummy.”
She really thought Carly would’ve known better, after almost getting caught once.
“I‘ll keep that in mind,” Carly says. “But like… it meant I was able to meet up with Cain quicker, so I’d do it again.”
Carly’s friend, Cain, laughs a bit. “That’s one way to do it! Plus she was able to get me out of that cage.”
“Well… I guess that’s good,” Heather says. “I mean, I could’ve done it, but still!”
“So I’m guessing Heather’s the one you mentioned teaming up with, then?” Cain asks.
“That’s right,” Carly says.
“Yeah, she’s kind of my sidekick,” Heather says. “But then my stupid dad showed up and yelled at me some more and blah blah blah— so anyway, I ran out again. Now we’re here. Hi!”
Cain looks concerned. “Running away from home is a pretty big leap…”
“Nah, I do it all the time. I go back, eventually,” Heather explains. “Usually I just go have a sleepover with my friend, Shelly.”
“Oh, that’s the Bug Type Leader, right?” Carly asks. “Are you two close?”
“Yeah! She’s my best friend in the whole world!” Heather says with a grin. “Sometimes we just have a surprise sleepover at her Gym down in Lapis.”
“That’s nice,” Carly says with a smile. “Anyway, let’s all take down Meteor and the PULSE together!”
“Well, if you say she can help, I guess it’s fine,” Cain says.
Heather huffs at that. “Are you kidding? You guys are my backup!”
“…not partners, just backup?” Cain asks, raising a brow.
“Yeah, I can probably handle them myself— so it’s just in case!” Heather explains.
Carly shares a quick look with Cain before looking back to Heather. “Sure. Let’s get us out of here, then we’ll be your backup.”
Heather nods, glad she gets it. “Everybody pull on the count of three!”
They all take a lever. “One… two… three!”
They all pull, and Heather grins. “Good job following basic instructions!”
Carly and Cain look at each other again. His expression is a bit weird, but she just smiles and shrugs, for some reason.
“Okay, I’m gonna go beat up the evil people now!” Heather says, preparing to call out Salamance. “Come help eventually, okay?”
“You’re going in the air?” Carly asks.
“Yeah! It’ll give me the advantage of surprise,” Heather says.
“Well, be careful,” Carly says.
“You don’t gotta worry about me!” Heather says.
“Hold on, it’s dangerous to go alone—” Cain starts, only to cut himself off as Salamence comes out.
Heather climbs on and points to the sky. “Salamence, it’s take-off time!”
They fly off.
Cain seemed a little put off at the idea of playing backup, but really, it’s not as bad as he thinks it is! In stories, especially comics, the hero always has backup in case something goes wrong. And this is obviously only the beginning of the story, so it could totally happen! It probably won’t, but it could, and it’s good to be prepared! So yeah, backup is important.
She gets why he’d think otherwise, though. Who wouldn’t want to be the hero? But it just makes the most sense for Heather to be. As a member of the Elite Four, she’s one of the strongest Trainers in the region, and she doesn’t exactly see any of the other Elites or the Champion around. So she’s gotta do something!
She finds the bosses and the PULSE Pokémon quickly enough, but it’s best to take out the grunts milling around first. Besides, there are a bunch of big vines that are blocking the bosses off from the rest of the area, so Cain and Carly wouldn’t be able to get to them, and what’s the point of backup if they can’t back you up?
So Heather spends a while diving down to take the other bad guys by surprise, beating them all easily.
Eventually, she notices that Carly, Cain, and some others have made it to the bosses, so Heather swoops in right as one of the bad guys and another girl send out their Pokémon.
The man with the Crobat doesn’t seem to want Heather there, but what does she care? He’s a bad guy!
It does kinda make her wonder, though. A lot of people say a person’s Pokémon say a lot about them, so are Crobat users just stuffy losers or something?
One of the bad guys calls out to another one, and a lady with a dark green ponytail approaches Heather. If she thinks she’ll win, she’s got another thing coming!
Heather starts with Archeops so that she can stay on Salamence’s back. The bad guy sends out a shiny Hydreigon, which is a bit surprising, but nothing Heather can’t handle!
Except it’s a lot more difficult than she expects. The Hydreigon either dodges or tanks all of the attacks aimed at it.
Weirdly, though, it almost seems like it’s… holding back, for some reason. Plus, it seems like the bad guy isn’t paying much attention to the fight, instead just staring at Heather with dull eyes even when she gives commands. And yet despite those things, Hydreigon defeats Archeops and Gyarados in barely any time at all.
Heather scrambles off of Salamence. “Get it with Dragon Claw, as hard as you can!”
It hits, but it doesn’t even seem to leave a scratch.
“Dragon Pulse,” the bad guy commands, voice flat.
What’s her problem?! She acts like she’s barely putting any effort into this!
But despite that, and despite Salamence putting all of his strength into the fight, the bad guy and her Hydreigon win.
Heather bites her lip, recalling Salamence. “J-just because I lost, doesn’t mean you won! I still—”
“Say goodnight,” the bad guy interrupts.
And then, before Heather can even question it, she’s punched in the gut so hard she’s sent flying back through the air.
Pain shoots through her body as it hits metal, and then she falls to the ground, on her face. The last thing she hears is screams of her name, and then she passes out.
— — —
Heather wakes up in her bed.
For a moment, she thinks that everything was a dream. If it were real, her whole body would hurt, right?
But then she realizes her body does hurt, it’s just incredibly dull. Her dad must’ve used his painkiller on her.
…but wait. When did that happen? And how did she get home?
“…Heather?”
She blinks, and realizes that someone is standing in the entrance to her room. The police chief.
“What… happened?” Heather asks, sitting up. “I was fighting a bad guy, but I lost and she hit me really hard, and… where’s my dad?”
“He’s… in the arena, battling with Carly,” the chief says, looking unsure. “…Heather, I need to ask you something.”
“Yeah?” Heather asks, confused. When’s the last time her dad battled someone, especially in his arena?
“Are you…” the chief starts, hesitating. “Are you aware that your father is working for Team Meteor?”
Heather’s eyes widen, and her stomach drops. “…huh?”
The chief swallows. “…your father is an agent of Team Meteor known as Borealis.”
…what?
“When we unmasked him, he fled back here. When we entered the building, a gas spewed by the reactors caused my officers to begin acting strangely,” the chief continues. “Defeat of them in battle was enough to make them snap out of it, but I have elected to stay behind to both check over them and watch over you while Carly confronts your father alone, apparently at his request.”
Heather sits there in silence for several moments as her entire world falls apart.
Her dad? A part of Team Meteor? But… she thought he was working with the cops to help stop them!
…but then, is it really such a surprise? With the way he acts, he fits right in with the bad guys, doesn’t he? That also explains why he was so insistent she stay away from the fight, and how that one guy with the Crobat had been upset over her showing up…
…Heather’s trembling, she realizes. And then she gets up. She grabs her belt from on top of her drawers, putting it on, takes her phone from her nightstand, putting it in her pocket, then grabs her backpack from the foot of her bed.
“What are you doing?” the chief asks.
But Heather ignores him, grabbing a few changes of clothes and some money and stuffing them into her backpack before putting it on. Then she pushes past the chief, running over to her dad’s room. She finds her mom’s ring, slipping it on, then runs past the chief again and out into the Gym area, up to the arena.
As she approaches, she hears her dad speak. His words about betrayal are all the confirmation she needs, and then he says something about… her being used to control him?
Then he asks Carly to keep Heather safe. She scowls, heading in.
The confrontation goes almost exactly how she should’ve expected. Her dad confesses to being one of the bad guys, and, to Heather’s surprise, to making mistakes. But he doesn’t make any move to fix them, or explain all the things he’s been hiding.
So she makes her intentions to leave clear, then starts to do so. Even then, he tries to stop her, but she won’t let him. And the whole time, Carly stays silent, just looking between the two.
“You’re being completely irresponsible,” Heather’s dad says, sounding just the same as always even as his only family leaves forever. “You can’t just fly away and hope all of your problems will be solved.”
He only says that because he’s never tried. It’s not Heather’s fault he never liked flying.
So she glares at nothing, unwilling to face him again. “Watch me.”
She was right, before. Her dad doesn’t want her around because he cares, he just wants to cage her. He’s not just a jerk, he’s a bad guy! He wants to control her, and stop her from fighting against him and his friends! And anything he said that contradicts that is obviously just a lie, because bad guys don’t have to tell the truth.
She starts to leave, only for her dad to speak up again. “Heather!”
…there’s actually a bit of emotion in his voice, so Heather pauses. “What.”
“You took your mother’s Ring again, did you not?” her dad asks.
Heather looks down at where it sits on her finger. “So what if I did?”
“…don’t lose it,” her dad says.
…of course that’s what he cares about.
Heather takes a deep breath that shudders more than she’d like it to, and then she leaves.
“Heather, wait!” Carly calls.
But Heather ignores Carly, running as fast as she can. Tears she didn’t realize were welling up start to fall.
Fine. Fine! She doesn’t need her dad, she never did! He was only holding her back, anyway! So she’ll leave.
And if her dad keeps doing bad things, she’ll defeat him.
— — —
Heather flees to Obsidia Park.
It’s not where she’d usually go after running away, but she wants to be alone after… all of that. She doesn’t want to talk to anyone aside from Salamence, so she stays put even when an explosion of some kind happens up north.
“I can’t believe him. Can you believe him?” Heather asks as they sit in the park.
Salamence lets out a low rumbling sound.
“Well, maybe you can. I guess you’ve known him longer than me,” Heather says. “I wish you could talk. Then you could’ve warned me.”
Salamence lets out another rumble.
Heather pats his head. Obviously she doesn’t understand him, but she’s glad he listens.
She ends up spending the night there. It’s not the most comfortable, but Salamence keeps her safe.
The next morning, she wakes up from a dream about an overgrown jungle-forest and the lady with dead eyes with a start. For a moment, she’s confused about why she’s on the ground, under Salamence’s wing, before it all comes rushing back and she scowls.
Heather gets up and, Salamence trailing behind her, starts to look for somewhere to get some food, grumbling about her stupid dad as she does.
As she tries to figure out what she wants, though, something catches her attention. An Air Slash, sent into the sky above Lapis Ward.
Shelly wants to meet up, then? Usually Heather would go immediately, but… she’s hungry. She wants to get something to eat, first. Just that. She doesn’t need to calm down after having a bad dream and getting upset about her dad again. She’s not a baby.
She finds somewhere and gets food for her and her Pokémon. Afterwards, she has Salamence fly her to Shelly’s Gym. Sure, she could just walk, but she doesn’t want to risk bumping into her dad or one of his bad guy friends. So it’s best to fly.
Once they land on top of the Gym, Heather recalls Salamence and takes a quick look into the distance. Satisfied by a distinct lack of bad guys, she climbs down the side of the building. Once she gets to the bottom, she hears a familiar pair of voices.
“Heather?”
Looking up, she sees Carly and Cain. “Oh, it’s you two. I saw Shelly called me a while ago, but what are you doing here?”
She’s actually not super keen on seeing Carly after what happened yesterday. Heather’s dad may have asked the other girl to keep her safe, but she doesn’t need it.
“Um… we were kind of concerned about you…” Carly says, playing with a strand of hair between her fingers.
“Well, you don’t have to be. I’m fine,” Heather says.
The other two share a look before Cain speaks. “Um… about your dad… did you hear?”
“Uh, yeah? I was there,” Heather says, starting to get annoyed.
“Yeah, but… do you know what happened after you left…?” Carly asks cautiously.
“I don’t care about that. I’m on my own now,” Heather says.
The other two share another look, brows furrowing. Carly tugs on her hair.
“I’ll be fine,” Heather says, looking away. “Who needs parents anyway? All they do is tell you a bunch of stupid things you’re not supposed to do. Like they know any better.”
She’s fine. She’ll be fine.
And then there’s a new voice. “Excuse me, but if I heard correctly, you have separated from your legal guardian?”
Heather gasps and jumps, turning around and seeing some old blond guy in a doctor’s coat exit the Gym. “Who the heck are you?! It’s none of your business, old man!”
“Yeah, she’s— she’s just hanging out here for a little while!” Carly says, sounding weirdly worried.
“No, I’ll be here for as long as I want!” Heather snaps. “Don’t try to convince me to go home! I’m on my own now!”
“Are you?” the old man asks. “Because, you see, I run a service for the children of Reborn. I give homes to those who have none. Food, shelter, and even many friends, just like yourself. Does that sound nice to you… Heather, was it?”
Heather scowls. “For someone who was listening in, you sure don’t listen very well. Like I said, I don’t need any of that! I’m fine all by myself!”
“There is no need to be so rude,” the old man says. “I am offering you a home.”
“No, no, sh-she already has one!” Carly says, putting her hand on Heather’s shoulder. “She’s fine, I’ll just—”
“You’re not taking me back, you jerk!” Heather shouts, ripping herself away from Carly, who backs up.
The old man looks between the two of them for a moment. “…I’m sorry, but you are Heather Molinar, correct?”
“Yeah, so?” Heather asks, and Carly flinches for some reason. “No matter what you say, I’m not going with you, either! You’re a creep! No girl would ever want to be around you!”
That seems to strike a nerve, and the old man scowls. “…indeed? Well, I would say that you leave me little option… however, it is you who does not have a choice.”
Great. Yet another adult who just wants to control Heather, what a surprise! Why the heck did Shelly even call her here, if this creep is hanging around?
“Hey, geezer, how about you lay off the girl,” Cain says.
“Excuse me. I am not a ‘geezer,’” the old man says, offended. “I am a doctor. I’ve worked many hours for that title and I expect to be addressed appropriately in turn.”
Wow. This guy might be as boring as Heather’s dad. Maybe that’s just how doctors are.
“Well, doctor,” Carly starts as Cain mumbles under his breath. “I can assure you that Heather doesn’t need your services. I’ll just contact her uncle, and—”
“What the heck are you talking about?” Heather asks. “I don’t have an uncle. And even if I did, I wouldn’t need him, just like I don’t need any of you!”
The old man sighs, then rattles off a bunch of law stuff about adoption, and Heather realizes that trying to reason with him is a waste of time.
But when she tries to call out Salamence and leave, the old man grabs her arms way too tightly, even when she, Cain, and Carly try to tell him to let go.
The old man makes some kind of legal threat, causing the other two to pause just long enough for him to drag Heather off despite her protests.
“Let me go, you creep!” she demands as they turn a corner. “My dad’s not even dead, he’s just a bad guy!”
That actually makes the old man pause. For a second, Heather thinks she’s going to be let go, only for him to frown down at her. “…so you aren’t aware that… oh dear.”
“…huh?” Heather asks, because it almost sounds like he’s implying something stupid. “Aren’t aware that what?”
“…we should get you to a better environment before we discuss things of such magnitude,” the old man says before continuing on.
It’s not confirmation, but it’s close enough that Heather’s blood runs cold.
But that’s… that’s impossible! Her dad can’t be dead, he was fine less than a day ago!
So she thrashes and screams as she’s dragged along. Calls the old man a liar, and a creep, and a jerk, and a bad guy, and even one or two of the words Heather’s dad doesn’t want her to use.
But the old man doesn’t let her go. He drags her into a building, past some kids, and up to the top floor, letting out an Electivire.
He doesn’t answer the things she says, talking to some other people instead. She only gets a more direct reaction when she scratches him, and that’s to have his Electivire hold Heather down.
“You might feel a little shock…” the old man says as electricity starts to dance across his Pokémon’s wires.
And it’s a lie. Because Heather feels pain worse than she ever has before, and she screams.
— — —
What happens next is a blur.
No, maybe that’s not quite right. Heather is aware of it all. She sees and hears everything just fine… she thinks. But at the same time, she feels weirdly… disconnected from it.
After some time— though she has no clue how much— Shelly, Carly, Cain, and some other kids show up, half of them with Pokémon out. After some arguing, and a burn, the old man lets Heather go with them.
The seven of them head to the bottom floor, and the others decide to run to the old railnet before they leave the building. They get a good ways away before realizing that Carly and one of the other kids aren’t with them.
Just then, though, some cops come running in their direction, causing them to flee the way they came. They find Carly and the other girl again, Cain quickly filling them in as they all run through Lapis.
Eventually, they all run into an alleyway and are confronted by two guys. Carly and Cain battle them, and win. Then a third guy shows up. Apparently, they’ve stumbled into a gang’s hideout.
The new guy gets an extremely shortened explanation of what’s going on, and he and Carly strike a deal: he and his gang will provide the seven of them shelter from the cops and orphanage workers, and she’ll do some work for the gang.
And so, for a while, they hide out, occasionally being shuffled to a new house.
Heather doesn’t do much during the time. She doesn’t talk at all, either. Not to the three kids from the orphanage, even when she realizes she knows who one of them is. Not to Cain, even when he tries to relate to her. Not to Carly, even during the multiple times they’re the only ones awake, late at night. Not to Shelly, even when she pleads.
That doesn’t mean she doesn’t listen. She listens to the others speak, sometimes even when they don’t know she’s there. And during one of those times, she hears Shelly, Cain, and Carly saying something that makes her feel even worse.
But no matter what, Heather doesn’t speak a word. She feels as if she can’t talk. She tries a few times when she’s alone, but nothing comes out.
At one point, Carly asks to see Heather’s mom’s ring.
Heather stays silent.
Carly says something about it having something hidden underneath it.
Heather stays silent.
Carly backs off, saying she understands if it’s not the time.
Heather stays silent.
Later that night, when she’s alone, she fiddles with the gem. To her surprise, she’s actually able to pop it off. Underneath, she finds what she’s pretty sure is a small Data Chip.
Heather stares at it for a moment, then sets the gem back in.
She can think about it another time. For now, she just hopes she doesn’t have any dreams about electricity or dead stares.
— — —
Heather and the other kids got captured, and… the bad guys took her mom’s ring.
It doesn’t have that Data Chip inside anymore— Anna asked for it, and Heather didn’t resist her taking it— but still…
It’s not like Heather can do anything about it, though. Not when her Pokémon were taken, and that old creep, Dr. Connal or whatever, stands in front of her with his Electivire.
As she tries not to tremble, he puzzles over her. He asked her questions, but when she didn’t, couldn’t, answer, he began mumbling to himself about what’s stolen her speech.
It makes Heather want to scream at him. Tell him it’s his fault. He and his Pokémon hurt her so bad it haunts her dreams and left her unable to talk. But obviously, nothing comes out.
What would she even say, anyway? Last time she tried to say anything to him, he didn’t listen and just shocked her.
Suddenly, Carly and Cain come running in, demanding Heather be let go. After some back and forth, the doctor claims he’s not intent on fighting them. That he’s with the bad guys just for curiosity.
Before, Heather would’ve called that out as stupid. Now, she says nothing.
And then Cain lets out his Nidoking. The Pokémon slams into Electivire, knocking it away from Heather and causing the old man to dodge out of the way.
Carly rushes towards Heather, snatching her hand and pulling her along to the doorway leading upstairs. Cain follows, recalling his Nidoking, and the doctor calls after them, but makes no attempt to follow.
Both Cain and Carly ask if Heather is okay as they run up the stairs. She doesn’t answer.
She’s not really part of the following confrontation with the one eyed man, either. Not like she can be without Pokémon. Instead, Carly and Cain fight the bad guy.
While they do that, all Heather can do is think. And she decides she wants to be alone. But she already knew that, didn’t she? It’s just that nobody’s given her a choice since she went to see Shelly.
Carly and Cain win, but end up having to trade some jewelry for Anna’s safety, and then they all run. Down flights of stairs, joining up with the others. When Heather falls behind, Carly grabs her hand and pulls her along.
Once they get back to the railnet, Charlotte hands Heather her belt and backpack back. She considers running back up and outside to have Salamence fly her away, but Shelly, Cain, and Carly are all crowding around her, so she figures it’s best to wait.
Not much of note happens after that. Not to Heather, anyway. They find a barricade, and then an old train. Cain holds onto her and Shelly as the train speeds along the tracks. Then the train stops.
Heather exits it to see the open evening sky. And something about that is a relief— it’s been a while since she’s seen the sky while she wasn’t being pushed or pulled around by someone, hasn’t it?
And that thought reinforces her decision. She lets Salamence out, climbs onto his back, and flies away.
It’ll be fine. Heather’s better off alone.
— — —
For some reason, Cain keeps popping up.
He’s clearly following Heather. It’s annoying. Isn’t it obvious she wants to be alone? She ends up moving around, trying to throw him off.
He should just take the hint already. If Heather wanted to hang out with a guy in purple with Poison Types, she would’ve stayed with her dad. Maybe he’d still be alive, too.
Other than that, though, Heather is fine. Good, even! She boxed most of her team just to make things easier, but Salamence is all she needs to protect herself anyway. If she needs money, she just finds a Trainer to beat. Nobody can beat the two of them!
…well, not “nobody,” but still!
Anyway, Heather has also started being able to talk again, at least somewhat, so that’s good. Definitely makes things easier.
As she walks through Agate City late in the day with a sandwich she bought, trying to figure out where she can sleep later, she finds a Pokémon sniffing at a trash can— a runty looking Nidoran Male.
“…hey, little guy…” Heather says to him. “Where’s your Trainer?”
The Pokémon looks up at her. Tilts his head.
Oh. Maybe he doesn’t have one. Maybe he just wandered here all by himself. Or maybe someone left him here. On his own.
The Nidoran chitters. He’s staring at Heather’s sandwich, she realizes, so she breaks off a little bit and throws it to him. He scarfs it down happily.
Heather spots a bench nearby, and goes to sit down on it. And the Nidoran follows her, jumping up to sit right next to her. So she alternates between taking bites of her sandwich and tearing some off to feed him.
Once the sandwich is all gone, she pets the little guy. He’s pretty cool, for a Poison Type. “…you think maybe you’d like to come with me?”
Nidoran chitters happily at that, so Heather digs a Poké Ball out from her bag and taps it to him. Once it clicks to confirm he’s been caught, she lets him back out, and keeps petting him.
Having one more mouth to feed shouldn’t be too difficult. He’s just a little guy, so she doubts he’ll eat anywhere near as much as Salamence.
She doesn’t exactly have any experience training Poison Types herself, but she does know things about them, and the male Nidoran line probably isn’t that different from the female one, right? For some reason, she feels like she can’t just leave the little guy…
And it’s pretty nice, to scratch behind his ears as the sun sets.
— — —
Heather walks through Ametrine City.
She figures it’s her best bet to shake off Cain. She’s pretty sure he’d need to use moves he doesn’t have access to to get up here.
But this place definitely has its own challenges. Finding somewhere to sleep will be difficult, considering the cold…
As she thinks, though, she feels a hand on her shoulder. She whips around. “What?”
A man with spiky blue hair puts his hands up defensively. “Shit, sorry bro, I was just wondering what’s up. You’re not exactly dressed for the weather.”
Heather scowls. “I’m fine.”
The man looks her over. “…are you sure, dude?”
“Why do people keep asking that?” Heather asks. “I’m obviously fine on my own!”
“…on your own?” the man repeats. Heather nods, and he thinks for a few moments before speaking again. “…how ‘bout you come crash at my place?”
Heather glares. “No. I don’t need a dad.”
“And I’m not trying to be one. Dads suck anyway. Like, I’ll take care of you, sure, but you can just think of me as a friend, or… a big brother,” the man offers. “It’ll be cool. There aren’t any rules at my place, so you can do whatever you want. And like, no offense, but you could really use a shower, bro.”
…it’s a tempting offer. Somewhere warm to sleep, with no rules? And he’s right, honestly; Heather hasn’t been able to bathe properly since leaving Reborn City, which was… at least a week ago, she’s pretty sure.
“…you promise there’s no rules?” Heather asks.
“Yeah, those are lame!” the man says.
“All right, fine. But if I don’t like it, I’m leaving,” Heather says.
“Cool with me,” the man says. “Name’s Blake, btw.”
“I’m Heather,” she introduces herself.
And living with Blake turns out to be pretty cool. He deals with Cain when he somehow makes his way to Ametrine, while Heather just glares from a distance.
Blake wasn’t lying about no rules, either. He lets Heather go to sleep when she wants, and eat what she wants. He even lets her play games her dad never would’ve let her even look at.
They play a lot of games together, actually. Not just the kinds her dad would dislike, but always competitive ones. Blake seems to really like them, and Heather really likes beating him at them.
“SHIT!” Blake hollers as he gets hit with a blue shell in Mario Kart.
“Sucks to suck!” Heather says smugly as she races past him.
“Broooo, how do you keep kicking my ass?” Blake wonders.
“I’m just that good!” Heather brags.
She wins, obviously. Because she’s awesome. Blake grouses, but he’s clearly not actually mad. And Heather laughs and accepts when he challenges her to another round.
She’s been dreaming of dead stares and electricity less often lately, too. Maybe she’s finally found somewhere nice to stay.
— — —
Over two weeks have passed since Heather moved in with Blake, and she finds herself staring at the mirror a lot lately.
People who knew her mom always say that Heather looks like a mini-her. And it’s something she’s always been happy to hear— better her mom, who by all accounts was pretty cool, then her boring old dad.
Lately, though, Heather often wonders if it’s entirely true. If maybe there is some small feature she has in common with her dad.
…obviously she hopes she doesn’t. Because why would she want to?
She shakes her head, leaving the bathroom. She’s hungry.
Blake’s not here. He sometimes leaves to… well, Heather’s not sure what. He mentioned the circus today, or something. But he left some money so she can get food. She’s craving a burger, so she leaves the apartment to go to a restaurant in the city.
She heads over, orders, and soon enough has her food and some soda. As she eats, Shelly pops into her head.
Heather wonders how she’s doing, but then realizes that she’s probably fine. After all, last they saw each other, Shelly was with another member of the Elite Four, and they were on their way to go meet up with yet another one. Plus, Cain and Carly had gotten strong enough to beat everyone in that old building…
Shelly’s probably having a lot of fun, wherever she is. Reading, and battling, and spending time with the others. And even if the bad guys showed up again, Heather’s sure they managed to beat them.
Shelly doesn’t really need Heather.
…Heather ends up losing her appetite before her meal is finished, so she gets a to go box and trudges back to the apartment.
But as she approaches the building, she hears a familiar sound. Turning around, she sees an equally familiar Crobat.
She looks up at him, surprised. “Hey…”
Crobat lets out a squeak as if saying “Hey” back.
“Where’d this dude come from?”
Heather looks up to see Blake approaching. “Oh. Hey.”
“Yo. Again, where’d this dude come from?” Blake asks. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a wild Crobat before. Not around here, at least.”
“He’s not wild,” Heather says. “He… was my dad’s.”
Blake’s eyebrows shoot up, and his eyes flick over to Crobat. “Oh damn.”
It almost seems like Crobat is glaring at Blake, but maybe that’s just a Crobat’s default expression.
“…do you wanna, like… get rid of it?” Blake asks.
Heather shakes her head. “No. I want to keep him.”
Blake looks between Heather and Crobat for a minute, then sighs. “…all right. I guess that’s cool. You have to feed him and shit, though.”
“I know,” Heather says.
Crobat lets out a happy sounding chirp, and Heather smiles. Having him around won’t be so bad.
— — —
A week or so later, a blockade appears in the mountain, and the city’s backup food supply goes missing.
This worries pretty much everyone. Ametrine City is too cold for the residents to grow their own food, meaning they rely on shipments. And flying food up is somewhere between incredibly difficult and outright impossible.
So when the city’s backup supply disappears, people panic. They ration the food they do have, and they start to grow hungry. Everyone is uneasy at best.
Everyone, that is, except for Blake.
“Shouldn’t you be saving those?” Heather asks as he opens a pack of chips while they game one day.
“Nah, I’ve got a stockpile,” Blake says. “Don’t worry, bro, you and I will be fine.”
“You’re sure?” Heather asks.
Blake scowls a bit. “Yo, birdie, maybe you should quit asking questions and focus on the game, or I’ll wreck your shit.”
Heather complies, but still, it’s kind of suspicious. No, incredibly so. In fact, she realizes that, even if they weren’t huge, she and Blake haven’t skipped a single meal since the situation began, and yet they still have food.
So she does some sneaking around, and some spying. And what she finds out angers her; Blake is a part of Team Meteor. They’re responsible for the blockade, and he’s the one who stole the city’s food. They intend to starve the whole city to death.
How dare they? That’s an awful thing to do, even for a bunch of bad guys! Heather’s first instinct is to beat Blake up… but she stops herself.
She may be part of the Elite Four, but Blake isn’t a slouch, either. He used to be a Gym Leader, plus he uses mostly Ice Types, which have an advantage against all of Heather’s best Pokémon, especially Salamence.
And… well, she hasn’t exactly been keeping up with her training as much as she should, to be honest. As much as she hates to admit it, if Blake took the battle outside, he’d win, without a doubt.
So instead, Heather takes a different approach. She sneaks into the shed where the food is stored whenever Blake is busy, and starts handing food out to the city’s children.
“Promise you won’t tell anyone about this, okay?” Heather asks as she gives some soup cans to a young pair of siblings.
“Why not?” the boy asks.
“Because if Blake found out I was doing it, he’d stop me,” Heather says.
“What? Why?” the girl asks.
“Because he’s a bad guy!” Heather says. “D-don’t tell anyone that either, though, it has to stay a secret!”
The siblings both nod.
“We won’t, promise!” the girl says. “Thank you for the food, Heather!”
“Yeah, thanks!” the boy says. “You’re like… a guardian angel!”
…huh. That doesn’t sound too bad, actually…
And Heather keeps working to earn the title. Keeps feeding the city.
Until one day, as she raids the shed again, the door slams shut, causing her to look up in alarm. “Huh?!”
“Sorry, squirt, but it looks like I have to put you in time out!” comes Blake’s voice from outside.
Heather’s eyes widen, and she rushes over. Tries to open the door, then bangs on it. “Let me out!”
“No can do, kiddo. I heard you liked playing hero, but this is game over!” Blake says. “Real shame, but what can you do?”
“You could try not starving an entire city!” Heather yells.
“Hmm… nah!” Blake says. “Sorry bro, but orders are orders. And if you’re getting in the way of mine, I’ve gotta do something about that. Don’t worry though, it’s not like you’ll go hungry!”
Heather continues to bang on the door. Demand to be let out. But it’s no use. In fact, she’s pretty sure Blake left as soon as he was done talking.
She tries to have Salamence break the door down, but it doesn’t work. All it achieves is making the various stacked up boxes wobble dangerously, so Heather recalls him.
It’s best to keep him in his ball, given how crowded it is in the shed. And she was stupid enough to leave the rest of her Pokémon and her phone in the apartment, too, which means she’s all alone.
She’s trapped for a long time. It’s hard to keep track, but it must be days. And the only thing there is to do, other than eat and sleep, is think.
Of course Blake turned out to be a bad guy too. Heather should’ve known. Should’ve been smarter, and figured it out earlier. Should’ve not be caught.
She hates him! He doesn’t even come to check on her! He just left her alone, like everyone else!
And… she doesn’t like that, does she? She said time and time again that she wanted to be alone, but she never really did. At least, not like this…
It makes her angry. She’s sick and tired of it! She screams and punches things, but it only hurts her.
…and in the end, she’s forced to accept the truth. She wasn’t left alone. She’s alone because she made it that way. She’s not fine, and it’s her own fault.
Blake can take a hike. Heather doesn’t wanna hang out with someone like him, and he deserves to have his plans messed with. But everyone else…
Carly and Cain were nice to Heather. They tried to look after her, but she pushed them away because she thought she didn’t need it. Carly tried to keep Heather away from that creepy doctor, but she didn’t know enough to realize at the time. Cain tried to check on her when she ran away again, but she got mad at him for it. They both saved her twice, but she didn’t even thank them.
Shelly came to save Heather the first time, too, and had spent almost all of the time between then and when Heather flew off worrying over her. Sometimes even begging her to talk. And it had felt like she couldn’t, but maybe she just hadn’t tried hard enough— she’d been able to once she ran away again, after all.
And Heather’s dad… he’s dead, now. She’ll never see him ever again. And— and when she and the others were all hiding out with that gang, Heather heard— she eavesdropped on Shelly, Cain and Carly while they were whispering about her dad, and he’d— her dad had killed himself!
…maybe he did it because Heather was gone.
The only person who was gone but that she hadn’t pushed away was her mom. And even then… maybe that was Heather’s fault, too. Her mom had died in childbirth, after all.
But as Heather starts to cry for not the first time since being locked up, apologizing to the people who aren’t around to hear it, she hears banging on the shed door.
“—ther!”
“…huh?” Heather wonders, wiping her eyes.
“Heather! Can you hear us?! Are you in there?!”
“Are you hurt at all?! Did he do anything to you?!”
That’s…!
She walks over to the door. “…Shelly? And Carly, too?”
“She’s there!” Shelly says, sounding relieved. “Carly, she’s there!”
“Heather, are you okay in there?” Carly asks.
“I’m fine, but what in the world are you doing here?” Heather asks, baffled. How did they even get up to Ametrine in the first place? And how did they find Blake’s hidden shed?
“We came to rescue you!” Shelly says.
“We know you’ve been here for a while, but it’s going to be okay!” Carly says.
“She’s right! We’re sorry it took so long, but we’re here for you, now!” Shelly says.
And that sends a warm, tingling feeling through Heather’s chest. Odd, but… nice.
Working together with their Pokémon, the three of them are able to send the door flying off of its hinges.
Heather steps out into the snow, glancing away and rubbing her arm sheepishly. “Thanks for coming for me.”
To her surprise, Shelly practically tackles her in a hug, and Carly wraps her arms around them both. Somewhat awkwardly, Heather wraps an arm around each of them.
Once they’ve all separated, Shelly smiles at Heather. “Of course! That’s what friends do, right?”
“Yeah,” Heather says, looking away. “I never was much of a friend though.”
Looking back, their friendship was always on Heather’s terms. They’d always done whatever she wanted to do. Plus, her dad had always said it was rude to show up for a sleepover without warning, but she had brushed it off because Shelly had said she was fine with it. But maybe she was just saying that to keep Heather happy. Some best friend in the whole world she was…
But from the corner of her eye, she sees Shelly shake her head. “You were to me. You were all I had. And… I shouldn’t have pushed you so hard to talk with me after something so horrible happened to you. I understand that you needed alone time.”
“But I didn’t, and I could’ve at least told you if I did!” Heather says, looking back to Shelly. “Shelly, I’m sorry—”
“It’s okay! Don’t worry,” Shelly says, cutting her off. “Someone just told me that everyone makes mistakes. Nothing can change the past, but we can always fix the future. So, I forgive you. I’d forgive him, too.”
Heather isn’t sure who she’s talking about, but she doesn’t care. She starts to tear up again, for a different reason this time. “Right… thanks. You too, Carly.”
“I’m just glad we were able to rescue you!” Carly says.
“…I’m kinda confused about why you’re here, though,” Heather confesses.
Carly tilts her head, looking puzzled. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Because… I haven’t been very nice to you,” Heather says. “But you’ve done a lot for me. I know my dad asked you to look after me, but it’s not like you had to. So why?”
Carly smiles. “Because it’s the right thing to do. Besides, we’re friends!”
“…but… I was a jerk to you,” Heather points out. “I spent almost the entire time we knew each other shutting you out, and when I wasn’t doing that, I treated you like… well, a sidekick. How can you say I’m your friend?”
“That’s just the way that I am,” Carly says. “We’re friends, Heather. If you’ll have me.”
…Heather sniffles, and has to wipe her eyes again as she nods.
As it turns out, there’s more to be done. Blake has Heather’s mom’s Ring, and is going to hand it over to the others in Team Meteor. So she and Shelly take to the air on Salamence, while Carly runs off to meet with her and Shelly’s other friend, Cal.
With four heroes working together, the bad guys have no chance!
— — —
The heroes win. Blake gets away, but not before the Ruby Ring is taken from him. Now it sits securely on Heather’s finger, and she resolves not to let it go so easily again.
So Heather, Shelly, Carly and Cal all return to Ametrine City to pass the food back out to everyone. And apparently Carly dealt with the blockade in the mountain, so food shipments will be able to start back up again!
Once everyone in the city has gotten something, the four reconvene to eat together. But first, Carly speaks up about something else.
“Hey, when I was heading back through Blake’s apartment, I found this on the floor,” Carly says, pulling a Poké Ball from her pocket. “Is it yours, Heather?”
Heather shakes her head. “Nope. I got all of my Poké Balls back. Maybe it’s Blake’s?”
“I don’t think so, since he had a full team on him,” Carly says. “But if it’s neither of yours, who does it belong to?”
“Maybe we can get a better idea by seeing what Pokémon it is?” Shelly suggests.
“Oh, duh,” Carly says. “All right, let’s see…”
She sends out the Pokémon, and a Gengar stands before the four of them. It blinks, looking like it wasn’t expecting them, which makes sense.
“A Gengar? How’d it get here?” Heather wonders.
“It’s definitely not Blake’s. Not unless he’s undergone a drastic change in preference since I quit Meteor,” Cal says.
“What should we do with it?” Shelly wonders.
“…I think Heather should take him,” Carly suggests.
“Huh? Me?” Heather asks. “And how do you know it’s a boy?”
“Let’s call it an educated guess,” Carly says with a smile. “And I think you’ll make a good Trainer for him.”
“It makes sense. You do train Ghost Types!” Shelly says.
“…actually, I was thinking about maybe switching my types to Flying and Poison,” Heather reveals.
For some reason, Gengar seems surprised to hear that.
“Really? Why’s that?” Shelly asks.
“Well… I kinda just chose Flying and Ghost because those were what Mom used, and I started out by training her old Pokémon,” Heather confesses. “And I really do work well with Flying Types! But I’m not as great with Ghost Types. But I’ve actually picked up a few Poison Types I get along pretty well with recently, so… I think it just makes the most sense! Do you guys think they’ll let me change my official specialties?”
“I don’t see why they wouldn’t, as long as you can prove you can battle well with them,” Cal says.
“Gengars are also Poison Type,” Carly says.
“Oh, that’s right, they are,” Heather realizes. “So… I guess he fits right in either way! Do you think you’d like to come with me, Gengar?”
Gengar blinks, and then smiles. He nods, which looks really funny when a Gengar does it.
Carly takes Heather’s hand and presses the Poké Ball into it. “You two take good care of each other, okay?”
“Of course!” Heather says with a grin.
No matter what happens next, Heather knows she can take it on, because she’s going to do it with her friends!