Pt3Dreams That I've Been After

The morning air was cool when Matron Patricia hugged Holly goodbye. "You'll have to keep us updated. I want to know how you're doing." She released the girl from her embrace and pulled an old pokégear from her pocket. "It's second hand, the screen's cracked, but it should work fine."

Holly's face brightened as she opened it. "Thanks!" It had everything: phone, radio, map. All a girl needed to find her way. "I'll call you when I get to Celadon City."

"Glad to hear it." Matron Patricia wiped a tear away from her eye. "Now go on."

Holly turned her back to Lavender Town for the last time and walked towards Route 8. The haunter materialized in front of her. Holly looked at him—she already had the distinct feeling it was a male—and said, "You'll need a name." She shifted her backpack. "I can't just keep calling you 'haunter', can I? That's like you calling me 'human'." She listed names as they walked, ticking each one off on her fingers. "Shadow, Dark." The haunter shook his head or stuck his tongue out at each new suggestion.

"Holly," it said.

Holly jumped back about a foot. Goosebumps rose on her skin. She stared at the ghost, eyes wide. "You…you talk!"

He grinned.

It took Holly a full minute to calm herself while the haunter watched her with unblinking eyes. "I didn't know you could talk," she said at last. The haunter cast her a smug look. Holly crossed her arms. Now the surprise had worn off, and she was not amused at all. "Well then, you can give yourself a name!"

"Holly," it said again.

She frowned. "That's my name. You can't have it."

His usually smiling mouth thinned to a flat line. Apparently he didn't like that answer. "Eidson," he said after a moment.

"And that's my family name," she refused again. "You can't—" she stopped in her tracks. The path ahead of them was covered entirely by tall grass. Who knew what kind of pokémon lived in there and would be more than happy to attack her? She had been warned about tall grass before, but that was before she had a friend with her. She looked back at the haunter, who was waiting for her.

"They probably just said that to scare me," she decided, and stepped into the grass.

For a short time the only thing that bothered her was the way the grass tickled her bare legs until a growlithe jumped out at them. It stood as tall as Holly's knee. Its fur was raised into a high tuft on its neck. It let out a loud, guttural growl.

Holly knew she should have been scared, but she wasn't. Not this time. "Okay, my first pokémon battle. Haunter, attack!"

The growlithe suddenly leapt at the haunter, sharp teeth bared. It looked like it had made contact, but fell through the haunter as though it were just air. The haunter turned and started at the growlithe. The air seemed to ripple around them. Seconds later, the growlithe fell on the ground. The haunter looked over at Holly, waiting for her approval. Not until she saw that the wild pokémon was only asleep did she give it.

Holly's eyes shone. She pumped a victorious fist into the air. "Good job! We did it!" Her smile matched the haunter's. "We're going to make a great team. I just know it."

"Yes," he agreed.

It was still strange to hear the haunter speak, but it reminded her that she wasn't alone. He wasn't a dumb animal. He had already proven that he had a mind of his own, and even if he didn't say much, he could understand her. In time, Holly felt sure she would understand him too.

"I just thought of something," Holly said, striding through the grass with greater confidence than before. "I don't have any real family left, and you're always going to be with me, right?" She answered her own question. "Right. So, maybe…maybe it would be all right to call you Eidson."
Holly walked down Route 8 with a spring in her step and a new friend at her side.

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They reached Saffron City just as the sun was setting. "Eidson, can you make yourself invisible?" Holly asked just before they stepped through the gate. "I don't want you scaring other people."
The haunter faded from sight.

"And I won't be able to talk to you either, at least not 'til we're on our own."

She felt something cold on her shoulder, sending a chill down her spine. Eidson had just rested one of his disembodied hands on her to tell her he understood. Holly took a deep breath, and walked into the city.

She hadn't been in a city this large since she left Celadon so many years ago. She looked over her shoulder. Eidson was still there, not too far away from her. Again, she reminded herself that she wasn't alone, even if she couldn't see him. "Let's find a place to stay," she whispered, just so he would know where they were going. The streets were beginning to fill up with people trying to get home. She thought of the hard-working fathers going home for dinner. If she were at the orphanage, she'd be helping cook.

She couldn't stop right now, not when there was so much of the city left to explore! She had already seen other kids, some her age or even younger, wearing pokéballs on their belts. She followed one to the northern part of the city, only to find herself standing in front of the pokémon gym. Psychic type, huh? She thought, reading the sign. Sounds tricky.

The doors slid open and young man, seventeen or eighteen years old stepped out of the gym. His hair was an almost perfect bowl cut, except for a long cowlick. He wore a loose purple outfit, indicative of a psychic in training. Holly didn't know or notice that. Instead, she smiled at the cute natu on his shoulder. "The gym is closing for the night," he said in a stern, irritated voice, not even bothering to look at her. The natu ruffled its wings and let out a loud chirp. The psych turned, and slowly turned his gaze to Holly. He slit his eyes at her. "Where are you going?"

She swallowed a lump in her throat. Something about him made her nervous. "Celadon."

"Good. Stay there." He turned quickly and walked off.

"Don't listen to him."

Holly jumped when she heard the new voice behind her. She whipped around to see another boy approaching her, this one closer to her age. He gave her a smile, letting the nervous girl know that he came in peace. An eevee walked at his feet, the tip of one of its pointed ears at knee height. "Jared's a jerk." He held out a hand for her.  "You look new around here. I'm Cass, by the way."

"Cass?" She asked, shaking his head.

"Short for Cassius…it's not important." He looked away for a second, apparently none too happy with his full name. "And you are?"

"Holly." For a second she had forgotten how introductions were supposed to work. She felt her face grow warm.

"You aren't doing the gym challenge, are you?" He asked.

Holly shrugged. "Maybe. I'm thinking about it."

Cass bent over to scratch his eevee between the ears. It let out an appreciative squeal. "I actually came here to get some tips on raising an espeon." He picked up the eevee so Holly could get a good look at its face. "This is Vesper, by the way."

Holly looked over her shoulder for a second, where she was sure Eidson was still hovering. "I'd like to become a pokémon trainer, too, but I'm not really sure how to start."

"You'll need a pokémon first. That's a good place to start," Cass said with a touch of amusement in his voice.

Holly rolled her eyes. She didn't find the situation as funny as he did. "Okay, say I get a pokémon. Then what?"

"It's not that hard." Cass rolled his shoulders back easily. "You fight other trainers, wild pokémon until you're strong enough to face a gym leader. Have you been living under a rock?"

The corners of Holly's lips tugged downward. "Sort of." She heaved a sigh. "This is my first time on my own, and not everyone has been so nice to me."

"I'm sorry," Cass apologized.

Holly raised and lowered one shoulder. "It's not your fault."

"Well, I know not everyone's a saint. It's not easy going on your own."

She nodded when her stomach growled. Her eyes went down to the ground again, cheeks turning pink in embarrassment.

"Hey," Cass said, taking on a much friendlier tone. "You sound like you've had a long day. Let's get some dinner."

"But I don't have any money," she objected. It wasn't true, but she could only afford cheap hotel rooms and the food she had already packed until she got to Celadon City. She didn't know what she would do once she got there, but she was sure she could figure something out.

"No problem. This'll be my treat." It took another moment to convince her, but shortly they started walking down the street together. "You should be a pokémon trainer. You can get rich on prize money alone if you're strong enough."

"Maybe," Holly said. She already liked the idea. She hoped Eidson did, too.  

She let him pick the restaurant. It might have been nice to decide for herself, but she hadn't gone out to eat in the longest time. It was a nice dinner, moderately priced, and best of all, Holly didn't feel uncomfortable in it. She chewed on her tarusburger thoughtfully, listening to Cass. She liked to hear him talk. He was a year older than her, and already his life was so much more exciting than hers. "My dad's an eevee breeder," he said while Holly enjoyed a sip of her lemonade. "Breeding pokémon is great and everything, but it's not what I wanted to do, you know?"

Holly nodded. "Believe me, I know." All those dreams she had as a young girl. The only one that she'd achieved was finally leaving the orphanage. But that could only lead to bigger things. Maybe she could become a pokémon trainer, and make another dream come true. She had Eidson on her side, after all, and he'd already proven that he was a great partner.

"My dad had me work with the eevees, training some of them even, but he finally figured out that I would go off on my own somehow, whether he gave his permission or not," Cass went on. "He decided that if I was going to do this, then he was going to give me all the help he could. He gave me Vesper and anything else he thought would be useful and sent me on my way." He let out a short, nostalgic sigh. "And how about you? How'd you get here?"

Holly twisted the napkin in her lap. It frayed in her hands. She didn't like talking about her past, especially not to strangers, and she couldn't say anything about her future, especially because she wasn't sure how  to begin it. "Um, I lived in Lavender Town for a long time. I actually just left home today."

Cass tried to hold back a chuckle. "So that's why you looked so lost outside the gym."

She nodded, bashful. "I haven't been to a city this big since my…" She paused. The words got stuck in her throat. She felt tears form in her eyes. Why was this bothering her now? She had been living without her family for so long. "Since my parents died."

"Oh." He looked down, apparently finding a sudden interest in his plate. "I'm sorry."

"Well." She wiped away the tears hanging on her eyelashes. "It was a long time ago. But thanks, Cass." She sniffled once. "Let's just talk about something happier, okay?

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"Do you know any hotels in the city?" Holly asked as they walked out of the restaurant. After the conversation made a turn for the lighter, she became much more talkative and comfortable with Cass. "I'm kind of nervous about spending my first night alone. I'd rather sleep in a place I know is safe."

Cass thought for a second. "Between Sabrina and the fighting gym, Saffron is usually a pretty safe place." He pulled out his wallet, checking the amount of money he had on him. "I know one place, but it's kind of expensive." Holly watched him carefully, wondering what he was doing. "I know we only met today," he started, "but how would you feel about sharing a room with me tonight?" He smiled at her. "We'd have separate beds, of course, but we could split the price."

Holly stopped. Matron Patricia would have a heart attack if she knew that Holly was sharing a room with a boy, especially a boy she had just met! Then again, Matron Patricia wasn't here, and she didn't need to know everything. "If I can afford it, sure." Besides, if he tried anything, Eidson would be right there to protect her.

They found the hotel that Cass had told her about and paid for a room together. Just as they were going upstairs, Holly's cracked pokégear rang. "You go ahead. I'll be right in," she told him before picking up the phone. "Hello?"

"Holly? This is Holly, right?"

It took her a second to realize that it was Matron Patricia. "Oh, Matron! Hi!" She thought about Cass, just behind the door. There was no way she could have known she was sharing a room with him, right? Or maybe she had spies, friends in Saffron that the Matron had asked to watch out for her? She tried to shake the random thoughts away. That was just stupid. "How are things at the orphanage?"

There was a long pause.

"Remember that Rachel wasn't feeling very good when you left?"

Holly nodded, then remembered she was on the phone. "Yeah." She could still see Rachel's pale face all too clearly. "How's she doing?"

There was a loud sniff. "Holly, Rachel…Rachel passed away."

Holly didn't hear anything after that. She was too stunned to hear the details of Rachel growing colder and colder, until she finally faded away. Holly said goodbye and hung up the phone in a daze. She wiped her eyes with her shirt sleeve. "Eidson," she hissed to the chilled air around her.

Its eyes appeared first, then its ever-grinning mouth.

"Did you do this?" She whispered.

She jumped when she heard the door open. Eidson disappeared the moment Cass emerged from the room. "Are you all right?" He asked. Holly only shook her head. He held the door open for her. "Come inside."

He sat across from her on a bed only a foot or two away from hers.  "Here." He handed her a cup full of cold water. "What happened?"

Holly took a jittery sip. It calmed her some, enough to speak to him. "One of the girls in the orphanage I lived at…she died."

She heard a sharp intake of breath. "I'm sorry," Cass said.

She took another sip. "We weren't all that close, but I knew her for a long time. It's more of a surprise than anything else." Surprise and an oh shit moment. As much as she enjoyed Cass's company, she wished that he could leave her alone, just for a few minutes. She needed to think about all this, and see what Eidson had to say.  "She just got sick out of the blue. It was just shock." Still, it didn't stop her eyes from watering.  She struggled to hold back her tears. Too much crying in one day.

Cass put one hand on her shoulder. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

She wanted to ask him about haunters—he had to be more knowledgeable than her—but she didn't want him to get suspicious. "No, but thanks for asking."

After the lights were off, Holly stared into the darkness for a long time. She finally let sleep take her, only to fall into a nightmare. Somehow being trapped in that burning house was better than being awake.

Hot air burned her lungs while she tried to run. Suddenly, the black smoke that had blinded her before cleared out. She had an easy path to escape. A door opened at the end of a hallway. She sprinted down it, but just before she reached the door, Rachel appeared in front of her.  Holly stuck her arms out, groping for the door. They passed through Rachel.

Rachel's face was pale, her lips were chapped and bleeding. They opened, to whisper just one word: "Run."

Then the dream faded, and Rachel with it.

Eidson extracted himself from Holly's nightmare. He'd had his fill of dreams for the night.