Pokemon Maroon - Chapter 2

------------------------------------------------------Chapter 2--------------------------------------------------------

Her family put Ash down a week later.

They didn't make a great ceremony out of it. Her father merely gave her a tonic he had prepared before she had gone to sleep. The Ponyta had neighed happily but weakly, wandered into her stall, and drifted into a permanent sleep. The others mourned her when they found her in the morning, but were quickly stopped by her father and led out to graze by herself. When she returned with them a few hours later the body was gone, her mother kneeling in its place as she cleaned out the stall.
She corralled the ponies and went back out to the house, where her father was busy readying the family wagon. She didn't say anything as she approached, merely stopping at the opening in the back to look at the casket.
Her father glanced over and stopped what he was doing, jumping down from the driver's seat and walking over to her. "You goin' to be alright?" he asked.
She didn't say anything for a moment. "There had to be something more I could have done." she said after a moment.
"We did what we could darlin'. Now-"
"I didn't do anythin'!" she yelled, "I could a – no, should a noticed earlier and done somethin'!"
"There's nothin' ya could have done darlin'," her father said.
"Nothin'? Nothin'!? How'd you know there wasn't anythin' I coulda done? I mean heck, if I didn' get so caught up in that stupid dream-" She was cut short as her father swiped a palm over his daughter's face, turning a good portion of it bright red.
"Never say ya got a stupid dream," he said, his gruff voice becoming quiet, "Now stop blamin' yerself for somethin' nobody coulda stopped. She was born weak and there wasn't a thing we could do but make her comfortable and happy, and that's just what we did. She wasn't just your responsibility remember."
"Yes she was!" cried Eve, more from sadness than pain, "All of those Ponyta there are! I'm the one who takes them out to graze, I'm the one who takes them out to run, I'm the one who plays with them and keeps them healthy! And now I failed! Again!"
Her father opened his mouth to speak, then closed it, unable to fight her argument. He hugged her instead, letting her bury her face in his chest. She stayed there for a time, until finally her tears stopped flowing and her breathing started to calm.
"Ya wanna come with me to the 'Yard?" he asked after she had fallen silent, "Ya can if ya feel up to it."
Slowly she shook her head. "Nah...No. I can't. Someone still needs to be here to take care of the Ponyta, and I've got that Togepi egg to take care of now. Don't need it hatching in a graveyard."
Her father nodded. "I guess ya wouldn't." He pulled away. "Well, the sooner I get goin' the sooner I come back." He whistled and called, "Blue!" An old Rapidash with a graying blue mane and tail trotted over, nuzzling her father. He patted the horse's backside and guided it over to the front of the wagon, hooking it up before looking back at his daughter. "I should be back in about a week," he said, "Keep your brother outta trouble."
They hugged again, and then he was off. Eve watched until he was out of sight, then walked inside, her eyes to the ground.

The day passed without her notice, her body moving through the rest of her daily routine like a machine. One minute she was back to working with the Ponyta, the next she was helping her mother pick berries, and before she knew it she was at the dinner table with her brother and mother, the three of them eating in silence. It took only a moment for her appetite to leave her, and she excused herself without taking more than a bite.
She walked up the stairs and into her room, taking a moment to check the Togepi egg the professor had given her before shutting the door behind her. She fumbled around blindly in the dark as she changed into her night clothes and tried to find her bed. Finally she found it and crawled in, taking hold of a badly-sown Zigzagoon doll before falling to sleep.

The little brown and white Pokémon was getting worse. His fur was falling out in clumps, leaving pale patches of skin in their place. It had been almost two days since he'd last woken up and moved around. Now he just laid on his little bed, eyes closed and wet while his chest heaved, his breathing shaky and broken time and again by coughing fits.
She ran around the house, finding whatever medicine she could. Her parents had wanted to put him down while he was asleep. "It'd be kinder," they said. But no, she wasn't just going to give up. She was going to get him back on his feet, no matter what.
As she unwrapped his wounds to clean them she heard something she'd never forget. His breathing started to slow, and then suddenly he whimpered with a mucus-heavy gag, and then he released one final exhale.
She stared at him a moment, the gauze falling from her hands. "Zig?" she mumbled, recognizing what just happened. The world around her started to grow dark as she started to shake the pokemon, tears starting to form in her eyes as it didn't respond. "No...No!" she cried, "Zig!"

Suddenly their was a crash outside her door, shocking her from her nightmarish memory. She sat up, wiping sweat of her forehead before getting up and walking to the door. She opened it and look down the short hall to her brother's and mother's bedrooms and, seeing nothing, walked downstairs. The air was cold, a chill running the back of her neck. "Hello?" she called out, wondering if maybe a Pokémon had somehow wandered in the day before.
Nothing responded to her call or her searching through the house, the only thing turning up being a fallen lamp that she picked up and put back. She blinked, glad her eyes had adjusted to the lack of light as she searched a second time. There had to be something she missed.
"Hey!" she called as a silhouette passed in front of her, disappearing into the dining room. She followed it, catching a glimpse of it move beneath the table. She got on her hands and knees and crawled under. "Now just come on out little guy," she said, "I'm not going to hurt you."
She thought she saw something in front of her and she reached for it. Whatever it was suddenly hissed at her and disappeared before she could react, scaring her back as she felt something nip at her hand. She swore under her breath and stood back up, looking around quickly to see where the creature had gone. "I'm just trying to help!" she said. The creature ignored her and did not come out again, and after another few minutes of fruitless searching she she headed back up the stairs.
"Eve?" called her brother, "Somethin' wrong? I thought I heard something crash down there."
"Don't worry, everything's fine," she called back, "Lamp just fell. Nothing's broken, so just head on back to sleep."
"Okay." She caught a glimpse of his door closing and sighed.
She turned back to her room and froze. There was a lump beneath her bedsheets, right where her head had been. Slowly she reached the top of the stairs and crouched down, becoming more cautious as the lump began to move. "What the heck's going on?" she mumbled to herself, taking a step forward.
The floorboards creaked beneath her and startled the creature hiding in her bed. It shot into the air, throwing off the bed sheets. Before she could react the thing charged at her, wailing like a banshee with enough force to hurt her ears. She lurched back with fear as she watched the thing come at her and felt the stairs disappear from under her feet. She swore and flailed about, trying and failing to grab something to break her fall. She shut her eyes tight and braced herself for when she hit the ground.
The impact didn't come. Instead she felt herself stop mid-fall, like she had fallen into a pool of water and was floating while something pulled her at her night clothes. She opened her eyes to see the creature from before gripping her clothes in its mouth, its eyes glowing. Slowly it lowered her to the ground, dropping her when she was about an inch off the floor.
She looked up at the creature above her. It looked like a floating ball with a spike on top and a cloth draped over it. She held out a hand to it. "Thanks there little guy," she said, holding out a hand to it, "You saved my skin right there."
The creature looked around, confused by the gesture. Slowly it hovered closer to her and rubbed its head against her hand, pausing a moment before doing the same in the other direction. It repeated this movement a few times, until finally it wasn't pausing at all, closing its eyes and smiling contentedly. When she went to reach for it, however, it shrieked and bolted back into her room, hiding beneath the sheets of her bed again.
She sighed and climbed back up the stairs, noticing the doors to her mother's and brother's rooms shaking. She walked over to her mother's, the closest, and felt it. It was shaking beneath her hand, like someone was trying to force it open. For a moment she thought she was imagining it because the door wasn't locked, until she tried to nudge it open and it didn't budge. She tried again, harder this time, and a sound reached her ears. She held her ear up closer to the door and listened.
At first she couldn't make out what she was hearing, the sound seeming to come from far away. Gradually it grew louder and clearer, until finally she could make out the voice of her mother. "Mom?"
"Eve?" said her mother, "Are you alright? You're screaming. I heard a shriek and-"
"Don't worry about it," said Eve, trying to quiet herself down, "That was just a little critter that got inside. Everything's fine, except I'm having some trouble hearing at the moment." She tried the door again and once again it failed to move, "Say, is something wrong with door? It's not budging a bit."
"I have no idea dear. I tried to open it but it seems to be stuck. Mind giving me a hand opening it?"
"Sure." She braced herself against the door. "Okay, on three. One. Two. Three." She thrust against the door as her mother yanked back, but still the door didn't budge. They tried again and again, each time without success. "Wait a minute..." said Eve, backing from the door and looking at her brother's room. "Ricky, you having the same trouble over there?"
"Yeah," he called back, "Why? Ya have an idea?"
"Maybe. Give a minute." She walked back to her room and looked at the edge of her bed. The creature still hid beneath the covers, still as a board. She approached slowly, stopping and raising a hand in a gesture of peace when it began to tremble. "Easy there little guy, I'm not gonna hurt you, alright? I'm just going to sit over here on the other side of the bed." She resumed walking over, sitting on the very edge of the bed opposite the creature. She stayed silent a moment, watching the bump where the creature lay.
After a moment she reached over and took hold of the blanket. "I'm going to lift this off you now, alright?" she said. She waited a second to make sure the creature didn't start acting up, then lifted the sheets and put them off to the side.
The creature was staring at her unblinkingly, the edges of its cloth-like body spread over where it lay. For a moment she didn't move, afraid she might spook it again. Then, slowly, she raised a hand and reached towards it. "Is it alright if I pet you?" she asked.
The creature didn't say anything, but it did move slightly closer to her and move with her hand as she made contact. She did this for a time, until finally it seemed the creature had relaxed somewhat. She started to pull her hand away, only for it to follow and continue brushing against her, eventually resting on her lap. "You're an affectionate little guy aren't you? And shy too." She patted the creature's face and turned it towards her. "So, are you the one keeping my mother and brother locked up in their rooms?"
The creature looked around fearfully, knowing it had been caught.
"Hey, don't worry little guy," she said, petting it again, "I'm not mad. Just let them out, okay? They don't bite, I promise."
The creature thought for a moment, then closed its eyes, its body becoming engulfed in a bluish aura. Then its eyes opened and the aura faded away with nothing seeming to happen. "Hey mom, Ricky, try the doors now." she called. She heard the doors open and her mother sigh with relief. "Thank heavens. Are you sure you're alright dear?"
"Don't worry mom, I'm fine. Just a bit tired."
"Okay dear. Get back to bed then. I'll see you in the morning." Her mother's door closed.
"Night sis," said her brother, also closing his door.
"Night." She got up and closed her door, then turned back to the creature. It was staring up at her, expressionless. "Thanks for that little guy. Say, you can stay here the night if you want. I – Whoa, easy there fella!" she said as the creature suddenly tackled her in what was as close to a hug as it could manage without arms, "I'll take that as a yes then."
Before she could start making up a place to sleep for the creature, however, the creature flew away and landed on her own bed. "What, you want to sleep there? Sorry little guy, that's my bed. I need to sleep there."
The creature just stared at her, not moving.
She sighed and tried to pick up the creature. At first it refused to budge, then suddenly her hands passed right through it, accompanied by some slight giggling on the part of the creature. "So you're a...ghost?" she said, her lack of sleep dulling what would have usually been a shocked reaction. The creature just cocked its head to the side. "That's not right is it? Then what..." She snapped her fingers. "A ghost Pokémon! One of those rare...um...oh darn it, I can't remember what you're called." She shrugged. "Ah well, I'll figure it out in the morning. Regardless, I doubt I'm going to get you to move anytime soon."
The Pokémon nodded and continued to stare at her. "Fine. Guess we'll just be sharing the bed then. Move over a bit, could you?" She crawled into bed, the Pokémon hovering over her as she adjusted before it laid down on top of her. She rolled her eyes and smiled slightly, placing a hand on its head before drifting off to sleep.

She awoke the next morning to her mother calling her down for breakfast, the Pokémon flying into her clothing and trembling at the sound. "Hey hey," she said, lifting the Pokémon out of her shirt and holding it in front of her as she sat up, "It's nothing to be afraid of. Just my mother calling me for the morning grub. You hungry?"
The creature just stared at her.
"You aren't really talkative, you know?" she said with a chuckle, releasing it from her hands as she got out of bed. It floated there as she changed into her farm clothes, spinning slowly in the air as it gazed at the room.
She buttoned her overalls and stretched. "Much better." She looked over at the Pokémon, which was starting to spin upside-down as well, and it's name struck her. "You're a Shuppet!" she said with a snap of her fingers, startling it enough to make it drop to the floor. She stifled a laugh and bent over to pick it up. "Sorry little guy, didn't mean to startle you. You alright?"
The Shuppet nodded and sat up in her hands.
"Good. Now come on, let's go grab a bite to eat." She started for the door.
As she opened it the Shuppet gave a quiet squeak and flew in the air, coming back down to squeeze beneath her shirt. "Hey, what the heck are you doing!?" she yelled at it, reaching into her shirt to try and pull it out but only finding air. As she withdrew her hand it became solid again, squirming against her skin and tickling her. "Sto-St-Stop it!" she giggled, trying to stifle her laughing as she clutched her chest.
"Eve, are you alright up there?" called her mother.
"I-I'm fine mom!" she called back, "Be down in a sec!"
"Hurry up now before your eggs get cold."
"Alright!" She looked down to find the Shuppet sticking its head out of her shirt and staring up at her, the tickling gone. "Comfy?" she asked, knowing she couldn't win against it. It nodded and slipped back into her shirt, this time seeming to fall back asleep.
She sighed and walked downstairs. "Morning mom, morning Ricky."
"Morning Eve," said her mother, gesturing to the table, "Come and eat your breakfast before it gets cold." She waited a moment for Eve to sit down, then said, "So what was it going last night? You said some critter got inside and was making all that ruckus."
"Yeah. Don't worry about it. A little Shuppet just got lost and was wandering around. I kinda scared it while I was looking for it I guess." She shrugged and started to eat.
"A Shuppet?" asked her brother, "Don't those things only come 'round when someone's all angry or sad or something?"
Eve thought for a moment. "Yeah...now that I think about it, you're right on the mark."
"That means the little guy must of come because of you, since you were pretty, you know, out of it and everythin' yesterday."
"Probably..." She tapped her chin. "Come to think of it, I'm feeling a lot better than I did yesterday."
"That's great dear," said her mother. She put down her fork and folded her hands. "So where is this critter? Did he just disappear in the middle of the night?"
"Nope. He decided to stay the night." Eve stopped mid-bite and lowered her fork. "He's actually here right now. He's hiding though. He's just a timid little thing!" She chuckled a bit, starting to raise the fork to her mouth. She stopped both actions when she caught her mother's and brother's eyes staring at her. "What's wrong? Did I get something on my-" She looked down. "Oh."
The Shuppet was poking its head out of her shirt, its mouth open and next to her fork. Its eyes shifted back and forth, finally settling on Eve for a moment. Before she could react it it bit her fork and fazed back beneath her shirt, taking the small piece off egg with it.
The three of them stared at where the Shuppet had been, unmoving. Eve began to chuckle, followed by her mother while her brother just stared and nervously joined in, gradually growing louder until they were all laughing at the event. The Shuppet poked its head out again, this time from the neck of her shirt instead of fazing through it. It looked around confused while Eve patted its head. "You really are hungry, aren't you little guy?" She pulled the Pokémon out of her shirt and placed it on the table. It looked around frantically, its eyes falling on her family before suddenly flying in the air and hiding underneath Eve's hair.
"You weren't lyin' when ya said he's shy!" said her brother as he resumed eating.
"He seems to really like you too," said her mother, "Though, how can you tell it's a boy?"
"I-" Eve stopped. "You know, I can't. I just assumed I guess."
"You know what assuming makes you," said her mother, "You should go ask the professor. He's a bit better able to tell things like this, and it'd be a good bit embarrassing to find out you've been calling your new Pokémon a boy when it was a girl the whole time."
"Wait, new Pokémon? What are you talking about?"
Her mother raised an eyebrow at her. "You are going to keep him, aren't you? He seems to like you plenty enough, and you're going to need more than an egg if you're going to go out like you've always wanted."
Eve blinked while her brother stared at their mother. "You're kicking me out?"
"You're father an I were going to wait 'till the egg hatched, but why keep you waiting if you already have a good and loyal Pokémon with you? You've waited long enough for this." She sighed and looked directly at her daughter. "Besides, it'd be best for you to leave the farm for awhile. You're almost an adult after all."
Eve nodded after a minute of thinking. "Do you want me to head out right away?"
"Oh, good heavens, no. You've still got to finish your weekly chores and prepare. You can head out in a few days after that's all done."
"Alright. Where do I go though? I mean, I've seen all the maps, and I know the professor wanted me to go out and do that research for him and all, but...I don't know."
"Ask him. He's a trainer too, you know. I'm sure he can send on your way." She nodded to herself at the soundness of the situation and then looked at her breakfast. "Now look, all this talking and now my food's grown cold." She sighed and shook her head. "Nothing to do about it. Come on now kids, hurry up and eat! We've got work to do!"

They finished their meals a few minutes later and headed out to the farm to do their respective chores, the Shuppet accompanying Eve to the Ponyta stable. "Well little guy," she said as she walked, petting it, "It looks like you're the best thing to have happened to me in a long time."