It was OK to admit that it didn't feel bad being pushed, especially after several days of rolling herself.
Her arms… well, she never wasn't in some kind of pain, the aches never left they just migrated. So it wasn't surprising that she hurt after several days on the road, all over really, but especially in the shoulders. Hailey had built up some impressive pain tolerance over the years but there were limits.
A lot of the walk was in silence, and she got the sense that was unnatural and uncomfortable for Gem, but what did they have to talk about really? So far, Old Solceon Road was their only common touchpoint.
A C list daytime soap opera that had been in reruns for years. The (mostly stupid and contrived) struggles and lives of the Thorn clan. Matriarch Maybaline, her Taros partner Gold, and precocious oldest daughter Jenny-Mae. Plus a revolving door of cousins, aunts, old loves, rivals, and strangers. At least half the plots involved Jenny-Mae falling head over heels for the latest Mon to swagger there way into town, though they never worked out, funny that.
"…And I always thought it was creepy how they could never keep the younger siblings consistent, they changed, like, three times and no one ever mentioned it."
"Four actually, in the first season little Debbie went up the stairs one episode, and just never came down again. Must have gotten eaten by a Ghastly."
The sun had mostly fallen a few minutes ago, so Hailey hoped Pokémon eyes were better in general than hers, cause otherwise it was the blind pushing the blind. Still, the valley created a kind of weird effect. Running nearly perfectly South to North, if you looked up you could see that the top edge was still illuminated, glowing.
Not for much longer though.
"That show was weirdly haunted, wasn't it? You'd think they'd go more for Normal, Ground, and Rock types on the ranch. Hell, one of the most reoccurring characters was that Mismagius, what's her name."
"Charm or something like that think. I dunno, maybe the Thorn's were secretly killing travellers and burning them under the barn, so they got haunted. Ghosts are whole reason I'm out here, actually." Hailey added onto the end, utterly accidentally. The last thing she needed was to be giving out personal details.
"Oh, which one? Didn't think those annoying pranksters hung around here." Was Gem actually interested, or was it just some deep seated gossip hunting instinct? Well, either way, she was trapped now.
"A Drifloon, from what some local told me. Apparently they like to hang around the Windmills. Why she came up to me, left a basket of food, and stole my camera I don't know. Gonna have to shake it out of her."
"A… ghost made those?" Hailey still couldn't see what face the Minun was making, but from the way her tone shifted, it was probably something like a grimace. What, did she think the ghost cursed them or something? Wait, could ghosts do that?
"I thought, like, those were from your mom or something, all done up in a cute little basket. You could Little Red it if you lightened up a bit… and maybe some makeup, concealer…"
"What, do you think you're the Big Bad Mightyna? Don't think you're tall enough to get in the club." Yeah, Hailey wasn't going down that line, better to deflect. Gem started to inhale for a no doubt 'witty' retort, but it caught in her throat. There was a light in the distance, artificial.
"Finally!" The Minun almost choked out, "the rest house, thought I would never get here pushing your flat ass."
Ok, Hailey's ass might have been flat, but that was uncalled for. Still, there were more important matters, matters like "Rest House?"
"Yeah, the rest house right before Eterna Forest. The city is to far away for anyone but birds to get there in one day. Why do you sound surprised? Where… were you planning to sleep?"
Silence wasn't really the best response to that question, but it was better than the other options.
The chair ground to a stop. By the breath on her cheek she could tell Gem was now hovering over her side. Just had to keep looking at the light a hundred or so meters away, yep.
"Hailey, you weren't planning to… sleep in the woods were you?"
Gee, silence, such a wonderful sound. The funny thing was, Gem didn't burst into laughter like Hailey expected her to.
"Hailey, I've been pushing you all afternoon, I know you don't have a tent. Can you even put up a tent? Hailey?" The little electric type was… concerned? Oh, that was almost worse than laughter would have been.
"I mean, tree's give you cover, and it wouldn't be the first time I've…" The admittedly pathetic excuse was swallowed by a sudden rush of air. A breeze? No, the telltale sound of wing beats followed. Hailey had the sudden urge to duck away, hide her face, but it was to late.
Also, totally unnecessary as the figure of a brown feathered woman resolved in the darkness, lightly touching down in front of them, huge eyes glowing red.
"Hoo?" Came a clipped voice.
"Uh, Hoo to you to, I guess." Gem decided to respond, better her was all Hailey could think.
The figure came closer. Her brown colouration almost vanished in the darkness, giving the unsettling illusion that her red eyes were floating free in the air. The Mon was tall, but not wide, puffy, but not muscular. It was hard to tell in this light but Hailey thought she saw feathers, not fur. A flying type then.
"Why does everyone make that joke? I obviously meant who was in your party for the Lodge? Just one?"
Ah, the caretaker, not a wild Pokémon swooping on them from out of the dark, ready to carry her away, because apparently that was something she needed to be wary of now. Maybe? It was still unclear.
"Jeez, you forget your glasses grandma? There's obvious two of us, I'm not pushing this chair for fun. Though I am here to meet a group, what Hailey does is her own business." Gem was confused, and frankly so was Hailey. On and off, on and off, what?
The feathered woman continued to be unnerving. Those giant eyes blinked so fast, and they didn't rotate, instead her entire head snapped around, panning the area before finally, and roughly, coming to a stop on her. Were all flying types like this? She was not a fan.
One arm extended out, feathers extending from her wrist past that, and brushed through the space, over her chest and face. Felt like she was trying to brush away an illusion, which wasn't pleasant. Plus, it made her want to sneeze.
The bird woman was silent for a moment, all of them just silent there in the dark, before she shot back up with a soft exclamation (which sounded suspiciously like another Hoo). "Two then! Ah, my apologies, you may call me Delvey. Now you miss, you said you were meeting someone?"
The Minun stepped around the side of the chair, Arceus she was doing that strut thing again.
"Not important, but Gem's the name, looking for a Vijaya, should be here." She punctuated her sentence with a finger snap. Again, what was the point?
The question, however, quickly flew from her mind as Delvey abruptly spun her head around. Full 180 degrees, like it was nothing. Hailey jumped in her seat.
Her heart may not have been capable of going a mile a minute, but it was sure making a bid for the the 4 minute mile right then. Gem hadn't taken it much better as a shower of blue sparks suddenly ignited the night, before falling the ground. Delvey didn't seem to notice though, a faint sound, almost like humming, drifted to them. Was she… thinking?
The snap back forward was almost as startling, and Hailey increasingly got the sense she was under some high powered telescope.
"Yes, there is a group with a human by that name here tonight. Seems capable enough so I don't suppose there's any worry of some Wild jumping them."
The 'hmph' Gem gave as she tossed her head had to be practised, there was no way she just did that.
"I am not 'some Wild', they know me." And then, with a surprising lack of fanfare, the Minun just… walked off, toward the lodge.
Hailey felt a bit awkward, she'd been trying to get rid of her but… was she supposed to thank her for the push? Give some snarky parting remark? In the end, staying silent won out, especially as Delvey's eyes (and entire head) swung back to look at her.
"I am… surprised she wasn't with you, seemed like the type to… well, nevermind. Welcome to Eterna Lodge, if you'd like to stay the night I'll just need your Dex to register you, have got to get paid by the Chamber of Commerce somehow." The hand wreathed in feathers once again reached out, this time to receive. Well, this was a bit awkward.
Hailey didn't have a Dex, or a PokéGear, or weird smart watch, or anything. Those all cost money. Not a huge amount of money, from what she understood, but a decent amount. So many books and shows she'd watched had made a big deal out of their protagonist being given one by their parents (or a Professor in the more power fantasy type series), usually immediately followed by an admonishment not to break or lose it, or there would be hell to pay.
They were a lifeline and link to the world.
So what did Hailey need with one? She never left Our Lady of Healing Moonlight, so obviously she didn't need a Mon encyclopedia. She had no one to call so another tick against. The only computers she'd ever used were the ancient ones in the common rooms and you couldn't even do anything interesting on those, the Porygon watchdog would catch you.
Who would even give her one anyway, Carita? The woman wasn't exactly the gifting type. Well, usually. Sometimes after exams, or just… whenever she'd share some of the chocolates she was always snacking on, but that was a far cry from buying a bit of high technology. Besides, she was just her doctor, not her mom.
So, she could just say she didn't have one, but then she wouldn't be able to stay the night. She might have technically thought she'd be sleeping outside again, but after the first time… well, the knowledge that there were in fact beds out here made that much less appealing.
So, she'd lie, subtle like. Surely they could make an exception just once, right?
"Dex? Ah, right, yes, it's, uhh… in the shop?"
She got a single, much slower blink, in return. "In… the shop?"
"Yeah, ahaha, I uhh… dropped it, then accidentally rolled over it. This things heavier than it looks." For emphasis she put her hands on the wheels and gave them a quick push, back and forth, while delivering her best innocent smile.
It was probably crooked.
"I… well, ok, do you have some other ID? It's a bit more of a pain, but I can mail it to my office."
Oooh, another good question. Hailey did, technically, have ID, she wasn't unregistered or anything. Trouble is, it wasn't much. No mordern school enrolments, no utility bills, no bank records, just her birth certificate and her medical history, both held in a hospital strongbox. Her property but obviously things she couldn't just inconspicuously roll up and grab before she left.
Still, an idea came to mind.
"No, well, not on me." A half lie was easier to sell than a full one, she hoped. "See, the reason I'm travelling is cause a Wild swiped a few things from me, including my wallet." Changing one thing to two wasn't that much of a stretch, hopefully.
Judging by the way the other woman puffed up, that may have still been a stretch to far.
"Stolen? Stolen!" Hailey braced for it, you couldn't out-wheel someone who could fly. This was it, the end of her life of crime. It was surprisingly warm and fluffy. Cracking an eye open her vision was surrounded by a sea of soft brown. Ok, this stranger wasn't hauling her off to the hospital police, she was… hugging her? Weird.
"Those, those… uncouth rapscallions. No respect… no manners… no…" And now she was mumbling to herself. It was so awkward that Hailey had the urge to lightly pat the woman on her back, what was she doing comforting her? There wasn't a chance though, as Delvey snapped back into standing, brushing down her feathers, restoring some semblance of propriety.
"Ahm, yes, well, have you notified the Rangers? I swear I have to keep them on speed dial with all the Jenny Come Latelies who try to sneak into MY establishment and…" Ok, there was clearly something else going on here, some, preconceptions perhaps, between Wild and Partnered Pokémon, and Hailey did not want to get in the middle of it.
Or maybe Delvey was just weird, who knew?
"Ah, no, I… haven't. It happened between towns." Not entirely true, but she didn't need to know that Hailey was deliberately avoiding the authorities. "And, just between you and me, I'd like to keep this pretty quiet, for personal reasons. Plus, I don't think a bunch of Rangers tromping through the forest looking for a ghost would amount to much." She added, almost sheepishly onto the end. Hopefully it would help sell the story. "Just would like to say the night, one night, if that would be ok with you?"
A long moment followed, but finally, Delvey blinked first. Literally.
"Well, I suppose I can't just let you sleep outside, what a ridiculous idea that would be!" Ok, did any other Pokémon want to tell her she was a big idiot? Ouch.
"However, I'd be much obliged if you could send me your information once you recovered your property, paperwork and all. I'll write my number down for you dear."
Hailey just gave her a thumbs up, was easier than talking, she'd learned that over the years. Now she wasn't just lying to this woman once, but twice, technically defrauding her to.
This wasn't how she pictured her nice trip, it was just supposed to be her.
The lodge was somewhat spartan, but not uncomfortable. Built of great stripped logs, set up like blocks, with a high pointed roof, it blended in surprisingly well to the valley to its south, and forest to it's north.
Delvey left her at the front desk, apparently eager to get back to her paperwork. Did she live out here on her own? Seemed unlikely given how she was going off on Wilds earlier, but there was no sign of a partner around. The lights were down low, but the Noctowl, as she'd been told, didn't seem bothered. The building was quiet, the real noise came from behind.
The clinking of bottles, the mumbled roar of uninhibited conversation trying (and failing) to keep it down, and the low crackle of flames. There were only a few other actual humans here, but this far out into the wilderness, they were likely all trainers of some sort, so that meant anywhere from two to six partners each. More than enough for a fairly raucous party, but it didn't sound like anyone had jumped in the bonfire yet so that was something. And eventually they'd all filter in to the bunk room to flop down and get some kind of sleep before morning.
The posted rules had been very clear that there was only one to a bed and no fucking in the showers, on pain of being made to clean the whole place on top of whatever else Delvey felt like at the time. The Noctowl must have been reasonably powerful, or intimidating, to enforce that rule anywhere close to frequently.
Hailey found a bunk right at the back, it was a bit noisy right now from the party, but once people filtered in they hopefully wouldn't notice her all the way back there. The ever sadder and emptier plastic bags sagged on hooks attached to the bedposts, while the much more cheerful picnic basket went on a separate one.
The more than a bit dirty baby blue blanket was hung, revealing the sweatpants underneath. None of her clothes were looking good really, she might not sweat much, but they were still the same ones a nurse had helped her into days ago.
The rest of her wasn't doing to good either. Swishing water around the mouth wasn't much of a substitute for brushing and the showers weren't exactly set up for her to easily operate, especially without soaking a bunch of other stuff. Yeah, gross was a good word for her right now, but really, how different was that to usual?
Hauling herself out of the chair was a trial, but a worthwhile one. Clean sheets, actual blankets, a pillow. Even if hundreds had passed through here before her it was all so luxurious feeling right now.
Listening to the crackle of fire and the snatches of conversation, Cresselia came quickly.