Grief could not be passed by in an instant, it dragged like a mire. However, there was a sign that told you you could start. Not hope, or joy, those would come later. It was when you started noticed the mundane discomfort you were in.
Take Gem's situation for example. For one, she still ached all over. Bruises, abrasions, nigh skinned knees, her ‘partners’ had thoroughly worked her over, and they hadn't even bought her dinner after. Even kneeling on soft moss, her face on a girls lap, all the pain she'd put herself through was coming back to her. Physically, at least.
With one last sniffle, for now at least, she slowly pulled herself to her feet. You knew you'd overdone it when your mostly energy body was popping and cracking with every movement. There wasn't really anything to debate, she felt gross. The dirt rubbed into her lovely blue and yellow fur, not to mention the grass stains. Every muscle hurt and that wasn't even touching on the pit of unease and despair that still sat heavy in her gut, only time would get rid of that.
She'd have killed for a compact, there was nothing around to check but she just knew her normally sapphire blue eyes were red and bloodshot around the edges.
Then there was the matter of the girl in front of her.
There were no psychics around (hopefully), so in the sanctity of her mind she could be honest. Wen… Hailey, wasn't much to look at either. It was still kinda hard to draw a direct bead on her, but she didn't know they still made humans like… that. People, well mostly Mon, sometimes called her a bitch. When she wasn't crying her eyes out, it wasn't the most inaccurate of statements.
She thought fast, she talked fast, it was in her electric type blood, and the first impressions often just came rolling off the tongue. Was it her fault flaws were often more immediately visible?
And Hailey? Hailey was full of em. She looked more like something a poison type dragged out of their swamp than something Mon like her would spend their lives chasing.
She didn't say anything though, the normally irresistible urge just didn't bubble up. Looking down on the girl in the chair (and wasn't that a thing she wasn't used to being capable of) she felt… pity? Was that it? Didn't feel quite right. Guilt? Nothing about her was Gem's fault (aside from getting dragged out here) but still, somewhere deep down she felt like she'd failed the girl, that all of them had. This kind of thing wasn't supposed to happen anymore, she knew that instinctively.
She'd seen it yesterday on the path, how had this girl even survive this long? And now she came out here, just to help Gem…
"Suppose your on your way then, you had… something to do, beyond the forest, right?
The girl jumped, well, as much as she could, she didn't seem that used to people talking to her, more bells went off in Gem’s head.
"Ah, yeah, well not beyond. Hoping that somewhere in all this mess is that damn ghost that stole my camera. She said there was some old manor deep in the woods but I dunno, I didn't see one listed on any of the tourist brochures."
"Ugh, isn't that just a typical ghost type, annoying and flighty." With a target to focus on, Gem could feel some of her natural energy slowly coming back. There's be time to think about… everything else later, best to focus on something immediate now. "What did she even look like anyway?"
"Well, purple, very purple..."
"Yeah, a lot of ghost types are like that dunno why. Electricity, yellow, it's obvious, but purple? But come on, what did she really look like?"
"Uhh, well, tall? Well, kinda, next to me at least. She always seemed to be floating." Gem had the urge to mutter 'showoff' but she bit it back. "Oh! Her skin looked like it was made of fabric! That was kinda weird. Also, she had this yellow cross on her face, pretty distinctive."
"Well, yellow is the colour for people that want to stand out, right next to a nice blue." The Minun did her best to strike a pose, though it probably looked pretty goofy with what a mess she still was. "Still, you're avoiding the real details!"
"Huh?" Was the only response she got from the sitting girl. Oh Arceus, she really was going to lead this one by the hand wasn't she? To make it crystal clear she walked up until there was less than a metre separating them. Then snapped her fingers in the girls face.
"Her tits! Her ass! Her figure! How are you gonna track her down if you can't tell the forest Pokémon the most important details!"
"Tell the…" Oh Arceus, she was just going to roll around the forest all day before she even tried to talk to someone, wasn't she?
"I-I mean, I guess she was… soft? And curvy!" Hailey shouted out as she saw Gem raise a irate eyebrow again. "Like she was wearing a… ball gown type thing? Puffy, around the waist! What does it even matter, I know she's a Drifloon, I could just say that if I… if I asked someone."
"Yeah, sure, if you wanted to be boring, still, it's a place to start."
Reaching down, Gem started to finally brush herself off. She'd need a proper bath to get back to her old self, but it was a start.
Now she just needed to find some Pokémon to quiz that she hadn't already pissed off.
Just like the day before Gem was pushing her down a path, only this time there wasn't much talk of old TV shows to serve as a distraction.
Gem was pretty quiet, at least compared to the short time Hailey had known her. Probably still thinking about all her… baggage.
Hailey was quiet too, and not just because she usually was, no she was worried about setting the Minun off again. Not out of fear of her anger, she knew now she could handle that, even crack jokes about it. No, she was afraid Gem would start talking about it again.
Sex.
It was embarrassing beyond belief and if the Minun figured that out then no amount of gratitude for coming to find her might be enough to spare her the laughter.
Sure, the Minun had apparently been vacillating between two extremes for years now, but even with that she could still fit into the world better than Hailey could. The way she'd said it, it was apparently the most natural thing in the world to check out a thief while they stole from you, as if you were only chasing them so you could bend them over after!
And the thing was, if she had to guess, the Minun was probably right! At least as far as most people were concerned.
So she kept quiet as Gem rolled her through the forest, quiet so she didn't say something stupid, quiet so she didn't show her real ignorance. She tried to distract herself with the scenery, but it wasn't working. With just a few words the little brat had completely re-framed so much of the past two days, especially all the posing and strutting.
She wasn't doing it for Hailey of course, nobody was, that was just how Pokémon were. Effortlessly sexual when they weren't in the midst of depression induced breakdowns.
"Hmm, a Kricketot, bet the showoffs have got some gossip." The sudden statement from Gem abruptly brought her back to the real world. She'd been so deep down that she hadn't even noticed the faint sound of fiddling that was floating through the trees.
Coming to a stop, Gem hit the brake on the back of the wheels, which was more than a little humiliating, before walking around the chair and off to the red tinged bug sitting on a stump.
They were just looking for directions, did she have to sway her hips that much?
"That certainly is one big ass house."
"I think Pomona called it a manse."
"Who the fuck cares?"
Hailey felt the urge to reach over a slap Gem, but they were both too slack jawed at the sight to move much.
Plus, sitting down, she could probably only hit the Minun's ass, and she'd probably just enjoy that.
It hadn't been that hard to find really, at least with directions. Without them, they’d have walked right past it, but it seemed like all the local Pokémon knew exactly where it was.
Toward the north of the forest, not far from the city side exit, the forest grew denser, the trees shorter, as scrub and brush filled in the spaces between the woods. This clutter served to obscure a small trail, switching back from the main. No sign marked its way, and Gem had really had to work to push her through its twists, over the myriad roots that had grown over it down the years.
And suddenly it ended.
The clearing, while overgrown, was still a marked difference from the rest of the forest. While the grass grew tall, the forest was clearly being kept at bay.The grass was a yellow, instead of green, any the only tree in the yard was leafless and gnarled. Then the house itself, or manse.
The walls were clearly old and worn, but no gaps in the black paint could be seen. Meanwhile the roof was a ostentatious dark gold, while faint purple light flickered behind thick, warped glass. It gave a sense of age and timelessness all in one, as if it had been sitting here for centuries, but centuries hence it would look exactly the same.
"Arceus, could they be trying any harder to make it look like a Ghost Fuck Pad? Only thing that's missing are some jack-o-lanterns out front." Gem clearly wasn't as enamoured with the architecture, the scenes framing, as she was.
Still, no reason to sit around, she had a camera to get back. Really was a shame there weren't any pictures left on it, this would have been a good one.
First challenge was navigating the front steps.
Or not.
As Gem wheeled her up to the (quite large) solid wood door, they saw two boards had been placed down over the steps, just the right width.
"I guess we're expected?" Hailey said slowly. "I suppose that's a good sign?"
"A good sign they're prepared for a spooky gangbang maybe. If we open this door and there's a goth themed heart bed behind it I'm pushing you in and making a run for it."
"Please, even if some random ghost could focus on me, they'd still go for you first. They may be ghosts, but I doubt they’re into necrophilia."
The two just stood there on the cracked porch for a moment, staring, waiting for the other to grasp the great iron handle.
Finally, Hailey let out the breath she'd been holding, and pushed.
In many ways the old house was the opposite of the hospital she lived and been raised in. Where Our Lady of Healing Moonlight had been clean down to the microbe level, scoured without mercy, the Manse probably hadn't had a proper clean in decades, if not later.
It certainly made an impression.
As Gem rolled her through the front door, a thin haze of dust was launched into the air as the wheelchair wheels sunk into the deep, plush carpet that lay just inside. While it was day outside, in here you could hardly tell. The thick glass of the windows seemed to just absorb light, and the only illumination inside came from the candles. Somehow they burned with a deep purple flame, giving an impression of deep night, even though it probably wasn't lunch yet.
The roof of the entry hall threatened to disappear into the darkness overhead, while the twin grand staircases that hugged the East and West walls immediately told Hailey that there was nothing upstairs, at least for her. Even a normal girl would be intimidated by their steepness.
Most Pokémon had little interest in wealth for wealths sake, but the sheer amount of intricately carved hardwood cabinets, silver mirrors hanging on the walls, and faded paintings spoke to old, old affluence.
If Ghosts hadn't moved in here, a dragon would have.
"Well, we've walked into their den, the spooky bullshit should start any second."
And exactly as Gem said that, she was proven right. A sudden gust of wind slammed the door shut, shaking the walls with its weight. At the same time, a massive chandelier in the centre of the room blazed, the same purple flame that lit the candles, all while laughter echoed all around the pair. High, low, soft, shrill, it was impossible to tell from how many throats.
"See, what did I tell you?" Gem nudged her with an elbow, "the worst part is we can't just ask them to skip it either, this is like foreplay for em."
"You think there's more than just Pomona in here then?"
"Oh, no doubt, a den this fancy? No way one Mon could hold it down all by themselves. If I had to guess, probably anywhere from 5-10 'house mates' plus your thief in here, and all eyes are on us."
Despite the mood, Hailey had to snicker at that. "Oh, on us are they? Cause I'd be willing to bet that they don't even know I'm here. Why I bet to them, it seems like a lone little brat has just wandered in their front door. Wonder what they'll do with her?" It might have been a bit mean, but it was just to impish to resist. Was probably true as well.
Out of the corner of her eye Hailey could see Gem's spine go ramrod stiff. An entire mansion of hungry ghost ladies, all focused on her. Hailey felt she needed to give the electric type more credit, she didn't spin around and bolt out the front.
Of course, the door was probably locked, that's what always happened on the haunted house episodes of Lucky Lucky.
"W-well, clearly my natural radiance is just outshining you! Why… don't we split up? I can check upstairs and you can roll around down here? Maybe they'll get off my back if you're on my own!"
"Wouldn't bet on it Gemmy, but sure, give it a try."
She only responded with a stomp of her foot, before advancing to one of the stair cases. Hailey had to give her credit, she was persistent.
She made it almost halfway up before the steps flattened and she slid face first back down.
"Fucking ghosts." Came the muffled exclamation.