One of the things that fascinated Hailey the most was how many places outside felt like they were inside.
The Ravaged Path obviously, it was underground, but Eterna also felt like that. The trees weren't as dense as some forests she'd seen on TV. Rather, titanic spires of wood reached up to Rayquaza, their canopy spread like a spilled liquid. The branches, the leaves, they flowed like water, filling every nook and cranny, so that light only reached the floor in shattered, drifting beams.
It felt like she was under some great, arched roof, inside yes, but so different than the buildings she was familiar with. It honestly threw her off.
The paths here were far from straight. From the entrance they splintered and spread, winding around the great trunks, soon loosing sight of each other. On either side great patches of moss sought to envelop the beaten trails, only kept clear by the semi-constant tread of feet. It felt like you could wander for centuries here and nothing would change.
So how did you find anyone here? How do you find a house?
She'd checked the brochures that were scattered around the lodge. They'd talked about the many species of tree in the forest, how the trails were marked, and what not, but no mention of any buildings.
Eventually she'd screwed up her courage and asked Chloris about it. The lady had been… confused? Or perhaps worried was the better term, Hailey wasn't sure. The proprietress had lived on the edge of the forest for decades, but could not tell her anything about a so called 'manse' hidden in them. "It just wouldn't be right" She'd said, "To build there. There are… places, that we, humans I mean, don't belong as anything other than visitors. You'll feel it, when you go in."
And honestly? She kinda was.
Slowly rolling down the trail it felt… sacrilegious was really the only term she knew, to imagine building here. To drag in materials and heavy machines, to disturb the leaf and soil, to even consider burrowing into one of the ancient trunks. Humans could visit Eterna Forest, but they couldn't stay here.
Which raised the worrying question.
What if Pomona wasn't here, what if her camera wasn't here? What if the serene seeming ghost had just lied to her, sent her on a wild Zangoose chase for her own yucks? What if she hadn't even done anything, what if she'd just dropped her camera at some point and it was no ones fault but hers? What if it would never be found?
The air was cool, but not cold under the leaves, yet Hailey found herself actually sweating a bit. Heat couldn't do it, but fear, anxiety could.
Because there was also the other missing piece, Gem.
According to JJ, the Minun was somewhere in this forest. According to JJ, the electric type was hurting, bad, far worse than Hailey would have guessed even with how the two had met. According to JJ, there was nothing she herself could do, and Hailey was the only one around who had managed to talk to her at all in a normal, natural manner.
Did she have an obligation to try and do… something? She'd spent maybe half a day at most with the Mon and a good part of that had been mutual sniping. She had no experience with comforting people, she did not have a easing demeanour, she barely knew what was even going on with Gem, even with JJ's description!
But…
She hadn't… hated the Minun, and the fact that someone had come to her, asked her for help, seen her as someone other than a thing to be helped… it left a mark.
So, she rolled.
Despite the worry, it was still a nice morning in spite of it all. She'd never imagined a place like this could exist. Eterna forest had shown up on TV of course. In the News, on shows, but Hailey was now realizing that she'd never seen the inside of it on the boob tube. Always just the outside, or what was clearly another forest substituted for the interior. Was there some unwritten code among camera people?
It wasn't quiet, but it wasn't loud, the moss muffled everything in a way that made it impossible to gauge distance. The muttering of grass types, the chattering of bug types, the swish of fliers in the canopy. They could be far out of sight or pop up right beside her, walking and chatting with each other on the same trails. They didn't notice her, of course, so trying to stop someone and ask if they'd seen a electric blue mouse wouldn't come to anything.
Still, it was kind of interesting seeing all these Pokémon just… exist, with no humans (as far as they knew) around to chase or lust over. A particularly striking example came up on her left. The canopy had thinned just slightly in one spot and it let through a sunbeam so perfect Hailey thought there must have been a special effects crew up there positioning it. It fell right on a large, grey boulder, edges worn soft and dappled with moss.
There was a woman draped over it. Well, a Mon. Fur the colour of wheat, with pointed leafy ears, hair, and tail. She looked so impossibly comfortable stretched out on that sunny rock Hailey barely even twigged that she was completely naked. It was just to purely content, cozy, to register as lascivious in any way.
That's probably why the lounging Mom looked so pissed off when a explosion shattered the peace, a dull whump mixed with the crackle of electricity. A nap tragically ruined, but perhaps, for Hailey, a clue found.
"C'mon Hussy! Was that a punch or a Beautifly kissing my face?!"
It had definitely been a punch, the fact she was seeing stars spoke to that, but show no fear and what not. Minun weren't really built to take punches but she'd show them she was built different. Who was a lightweight now?
Granted, the Bunneary that had done the punching (was it still a punch when it came from ears?) was just about her height, but she was still a physical attacker so that had to count for something right?
And jeez was the bunny letting her taste it, Gem was covered in bruises. Now, only some of those were from the Buneary that she hadn't bothered to get the name of before she jumped, but they'd been adding up all morning.
Eterna wasn't exactly overflowing with tough customers, it had more of a laid back vibe, but a Bidoof here, a Dustox there, she'd endured more than a handful.
It wasn't exactly polite to go around getting into smack downs with random people, but that was the Pokémon way. You wanted a humans’ attention and you couldn't just grab them? You had to prove you were worth it, and when JJ and the rest of the pack finally showed up they'd see that she was no rookie, no spring Torchic, that she could keep the pace.
All she needed to do was stay conscious till then.
"What you're fine shocking a girl while she's sleeping but can't take it bitch?!" For being so soft looking, those ears sure packed a wallop, like coiled springs.
Perhaps that was a bit of a bigger ask than she'd thought.
Up close, the fight was certainly a lot more visceral than the ones she'd seen on TV, even the one she'd glimpsed along 204 had been half foreplay. This was all combat, with its wince inducing thumps and bone cracking hits. The fact that, even under 'pressure', Pokémon almost never bled was probably all that kept the clearing from getting a new red paint job.
The two shorties going at it would be almost comical if there wasn't actual anger behind the blows.
Gem, she was trying to prove something, it was stupid, but Hailey at least could understand it. As for the bunny, well, even she didn't live under a big enough rock to not know about Lopunny and their earlier form. So many people couldn't shut up about their bunny lust, so they were all over ads especially. There was this one talk show segment she remembered where a Lopunny "expert" had been talking about how many people failed at bonding with Buneary, that they could be charitably described as "testy".
So it probably hadn't taken much to set this one off, question was, what, if anything, was she going to do about it.
Gem was either losing this fight bad, or she'd been on some kinda warpath. She was more purple than blue, along with a hearty helping of grass stains and impacted dirt. Sparks cascaded from her cheeks with no rhyme or reason, she wasn't even using electric moves on the Boundary, just slugging her. Or, well, punching, aggressively tapping perhaps. Look, the Minun's arms were almost as scrawny as hers, if healthier looking.
So, what to do, because it looked like the Buneary was about one or two ear punches (what a weird concept, even for Pokémon) away from knocking Gem down for the count, and who knew if she would stop there? Sure, Gem would be fine in the long run, but she kinda needed her conscious to talk to her. Plus… it wasn't exactly pleasant to watch.
She could roll up and yell, the rabbit probably wouldn't attack a human, but with her condition that might just confuse and enrage her more, so that was out.
Tricky it was then.
"Who dares disturb the peace of the forest?"
Rolled behind a trunk, Hailey tried to add some vibrato to her voice but it didn't work that well, it was mostly just as scratchy as usual. Still, it seemed to at least get some attention as the sounds of fluff impacting fur momentarily ceased. "Stop this pointless violence in… the name of Eterna!"
"Hey, who's butting in? Daisy? Buttercup, that you? What's with this Eternal crap?" The sounds of pacing picked up, the bunny was probably trying to search out the source of the noise. Hopefully her condition would actually help for once and keep her from pinning it down. "Where are ya? Come out if you don't want a walloping! Arceus damn it if this is you Shade I swear, once I learn Brutal Swing I'm gonna pay you back for all the crap!”
The moss made it hard to tell how the other was moving, so Hailey chanced a glimpse around the tree. Yeah, it had been the right time to step in. Gem was flat out on the forest floor, while the Buneary prowled around the clearing, looking around trees. Still, the chatter gave her an idea.
"Oh don't be such a spoilsport. I know you loooooove playing with me. How about we try some tag? As always, you're IT." Even from a distance, a shudder visibly went up the rabbits spine as she went ramrod stiff, ears erect.
"Shade I swear to Acreus I will march into the city and buy a Fire Punch TM!” Wheeling around she… pointed? At Gem with one ear. “Hey, crazy bitch! Try me again and I'll leave you with worse than some love taps!"
That rabbit sure could book it, still, Hailey gave it a few moments before she left her spot. Gem wasn't going anywhere anyway. Rolling over, it was almost funny how similar the scene was to the one just a day before. Almost.
Looking at someone crying through bruised eyes was never a happy picture.
Blood was pumping in her ears, and as a Minun she had more ear than average, it totally drowned out the world outside.
Eyes weren't giving a much clearer picture, unwelcome leaking cast everything into a blurry mosaic, greens blending into browns as she stared up at the hidden sky. The rest of her body wasn't feeling much clearer. Pokémon fought all the time, they were built for it, it was even fun, but that was because the combat was usually just a prelude to more intimate encounters.
The crash of body against body, power against power, the roars from the watching trainers or even crowd, nothing got the blood pumping like it. Even if you were too sore to do more than cuddle after, fighting was supposed to be a prelude to intimacy. Either with your partner and team, or with your opponent, no hard feelings and everyone goes home happy.
Gem wasn't feeling the love though, more bruises and some rocks digging into her back.
Still, at least the Buneary had eased up for now. If she was honest with herself, lying in the dirt, even if the species had a reputation for a temper, the bunny had reason to be angry with her. Just as Pokémon fought for humans, and over humans, they went at each other when there were none around. To train themselves, hone themselves, or just to blow off steam, but there was a code every Mon instinctively new from the start, and she hadn't exactly followed it. She'd been manic, fighting from dark till the late morning, hoping someone would see. Now though? She could just lay her till she finally faded away again.
If some traveller or, Arceus forbid, JJ came across her right now? She must look more pathetic than a Pichu tripping over its own feet.
Then, something moved into her sightliness. Things were still blurry, but it was shiny, with a light blue above it. Blinking, she tried to clear the water, still blurry. Finally, it clicked.
This might actually be worse than JJ.
What exactly did you say to a Pokémon that had just lost, bad? Been absolutely beat to shit with nothing to show for it? Another thing that wasn't exactly in Hailey's purview. Still, she had an entire lifetime of people trying to console her for… too many things to name really. She should be be able to do this.
"Uhhh funny meeting you like this again eh?"
Of course, the fact remained that she was still Hailey at the end of the day. Arceus damn it.
The tranquillity of the forest had a moment to reassert itself before Gem replied. "What are you doing here?"
Hailey was used to people literally looking down at her, but she also couldn't do much when someone was actually below her for once. It wasn't like she could just hop out of the chair and kneel down. So she settled for rolling closer to Gem so the two could look each other in the eye, albeit upside down.
"Well, JJ found out we spent most of yesterday together so she begged me to look for you." Best not make anything up about just running into her by accident, even a Slowpoke wouldn't buy that for more than a second. "She had a lot to say you know."
The Minun broke the gaze, head rolling to the side even as fresh leakage began. Still, she didn't move from the ground.
"About how they were looking for a new partner, yet not much on why they decided to travel to far to do so. About a yellow and blue mouse that first met them in Canalave, apparently your species isn't native to Sinnoh? I didn't know that, but that's hardly surprising for me. About how they gave her a shot but it didn't really work out, the Minun didn't really match their style or experience, and personalities clashed. They tried to part amicably, or so JJ told me, I wasn't there. About how as they travelled East and North that Minun kept popping up, at first trying to convince them to give her another chance, then eventually challenging her partners to fights. How they started feeling like they were being stalked, like there was nowhere they could go, and they'd have no other options than to beat this little creature unconscious or have some Rangers haul her off."
There had been more to, but Hailey didn't know how much was relevant here, or even true. She didn't know JJ, she didn't even really know Gem, but here she was in the middle of them, sitting through the silence. When Gem finally mustered up enough something, courage, anger, who knew, to answer, her voice cracked.
"So she sent you to tell me to finally get lost while she ran?"
"She asked me to make sure you were alright."
The ugly sobs and screams echoed through the forest.