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There was something that the boy could only describe as a moment of clarity as his eyes darted between his fellow youth's jewelry. With current events it seemed like the forms of the unown were becoming more and more familiar. The alphabetical character was clear to him. 'D.' Did that lend credence to his visions of death?
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Doubtless his compatriots saw it too, and yet still the feeling, the revelation, seemed too empyrean to put into words. To feel the strings of fate pull tight around him... The old singer in his vision of the apocalypse to come had been right. It really did feel like a ball and chain. And yet the translucence of granted some measure of peace.
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''Did you guys see that?'' While part of him assured himself that they certainly did, nothing was as it seemed anymore. What could even truly be described as real? ''There's a letter on each of yours. D.'' But what did it mean? Was it to stand for the death and destruction that awaited the region should nothing be done?
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There was always another mystery. Circles within circles. Things hadn't made sense before, and it seemed the more anyone discovered the less anyone knew. Was it Hoenn's fate to see its demise? Could it be stopped in the face of some grand plan with this merely being the writing on the wall? Or was it Arceus' favorite brownie recipe?

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''Like a signal flair, eh?'' A couple of fingers briefly stroked his chin. ''Not a bad idea.'' There was a feint pang of regret that one of his own litwicks or their evolutions hadn't been brought along. While doubtless several guide sources stressed the importance of bringing the right pokemon for the job, there were some situations that would required a crystal ball.
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''Just the pins aching like shit in my thigh. Nothing some painkillers won't fix when we're back home.'' Official prescriptions kept the pain at bay, and Andy had taken them, but his romp along Mt. Pyre had been more that his numbed receptors could handle. But he wasn't going to complain, especially not in front of Aaron.
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''I'll leave a couple of mine here too in case some carnivore rolls up looking for scraps.'' What creature would pick at the fetid body parts he didn't know, but there were plenty of bizarre pokemon. ''Monocle, Creepseed, you're staying here. Play nice.'' Of course he knew the pumpkaboo didn't.
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The hope was his best behaved pokemon would balance out his worse behaved.

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The wheelchair whirred to life as it electrically pushed itself towards the door to his room where his friend waited. Epitaph watched the two make for the hallway like fools. They really were going to waste their time. Perhaps there was a way to convince that beheeyem to 'talk' to the other two. It seemed to be communicating with the other trainer.
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''It's that one there.'' The chair stopped for a moment so that his functional hand could point out the second portrait from the left. It was right after the last syllable had left his mouth that he realized the futility of both the gesture and the explanation. ''Wait. Why did you ask that if you can't see it?'' Finally the gengar joined the trio in the hall.
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''Gen. Gengar. Gengar?'' The ghost appealed to the psychic pokemon for its aid. Meanwhile his own trainer was considering their task. ''I am not sure if my aunt has some of these locked up. I guess we could try the old fashioned way though.'' There wasn't much time allowed to request an explanation on Hideo's part before it became abundantly clear.
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''Uncle?! Uncle!? Where are you you whiney cunt!?'' Epitaph glared sideways at the Galarian. Shouted so loud it interrupted his train of thought. ''Gengar?'' No familiar cry of the yamask came in return to Andy's own. Perhaps the pokemon really was dead. ''Damn. Nothing'' The boy stated the obvious.
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Truthfully, Hideo's hearing was likely better than his own.

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''I mean, yeah, probably,'' came the concurance with the notion that old faiths had ward or banishings. While the veracity of such things was dubious at best, a much more pressing issue came to mind. ''Built into this house though? It's not that bloody old.'' It also meant something weird was going on in his own home.
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He was too broken for all of this right now. It was fortunate then that his visitor switched gears to the matter of Andy's recovery. It made him wonder if his friend was getting bored of him already, especially since both legs were still casted. If Hideo was done with his crippled status already, Andy was outright floored with disgust for the affliction.
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''It's going to be for-fucking-ever before I even can get the damn casts off. Then I have to dick with physical therapy,'' a momentary pause as his expression grew darker, ''and then, maybe I can enjoy painful, fucked up walking for the rest of my life.'' An exasperated sigh escaped him. He didn't want to scare Hideo off with constant exploding.
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''But yeah, any amplified healing that isn't slowed to a crawl and heavily monitored will cock up the pins and plates in my bones.'' Was the diffusion enough? ''We can look around though, I guess. Maybe he died or something....can ghost types even die twice?'' Epitaph provided an incredulous glare. ''Gengar.''

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''I don't see why they couldn't have. In fact it would probably explain some weird shit throughout history,'' came the answer to the girl's question. ''Maybe they did show up, and were only remembered as a storm or some long forgotten hero.'' Of course his own tease of a revelation didn't surprise the girl by her own admission.
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And that didn't surprise him in turn.
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''All this shit that's been happening has to be pieces of some larger puzzle. That's what I'm trying to figure out. What the fuck is going on?'' Another of their lot arrived to slightly sidetrack things before they continued. Hideo made his presence known and like Eris seemed to have forgotten the entire thread where this little club house was constructed.
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Or had he imaged that?
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''Hey Hideo.'' The greeting was far less shy than Eris'. But then when had he ever been shy about anything? The girl's stammering made Andy ponder if perhaps she had a crush on the blind boy. It sure looked to him like the side effect of doki dokis. She had her own curve balls for him however. A quiet grumble escaped him at the mention of Azelf.
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He had never explicitly said he had seen the creature, nor did he intend to until he understood exactly what was being observed, what had been prophesied. Hoenn being destroyed was a big deal, but there was a war on. Doubtless either side would exploit the situation for their own benefit, which in the Galarian's mind could open a bigger can of worms.
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Speaking of Eris flashed a bracelet with a peculiar symbol. At the mention that no one could see it, Andy canted his head a moment before standing. Did she mean no one noticed or that no one could see it in a physical sense? The latter sounded like a child's fantasy, but nothing was as simple as it seemed it Hoenn. Closing the distance to the girl for a closer look, he wondered if only Hideo could feel it.
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''Asking Hideo to look at it probably isn't going to go anywhere,'' he joked.

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You could ascribe a few talents to Andy, but gardening wasn't one of them. A spill had nearly been taken when exiting his cabin and having seen the plant in its bloomage. Perhaps the zarude's abilities were more powerful than he could fathom. Perhaps he had planted the seeds on a long forgotten grave.
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Perhaps both.
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''That so?'' Came the facetious query, the trainer containing a chuckle. ''Just how many big carrots have you handled in your day?'' It was probably unfair to slight his friend for gardening. He was better at it than Andy was. Even had a shiver not shot up his spine, he probably wouldn't have continued his jeers. What was this?
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At first there was the expectation of a similar occurrence to the Soiree, as cursed and trying as that was. Another visit from one of the lake squids was also considered. However, upon even the barest of scrutiny the boy dismissed those two possibilities. The darkness, the chill, his experience with ghost pokemon informed him well enough of their presence.
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And it was a powerful presence.
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Giratina...? Could it finally be...? But Hideo was present... He had always hoped to make a deal with the devil in discretion, lest he be badgered to enlist with the League's AQUA Initiative. But then as a runaway, who would his friend really tell, especially if Andy requested his confidence? Still, the best number of people to keep a secret was one.
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Or well, one and an elder god...
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When the horses appeared, their arrival was met with both disappointment and excitement simultaneously. It wasn't the diety he wished to converse with, but they were certainly demi-gods in their own right. Now there was just the matter of the purpose of their presence. Hopefully it wasn't combat... On the other hand, they were in the middle of his ghost infested camp.
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Weren't they?
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''Thanks,'' came the gratitude for the zarude's harvesting alacrity. Hideo seemed absolutely lost as to what was happening. Just as before, the pokemon didn't assist as much with his sight impatient as others did. More concerned with the haunted horse's hunger, it wasn't until after it was fed and the mysterious miasma faded that his friend's question was answered.
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''We had very special visitors, of the equine variety. Also the spectral variety. I guess they wanted our weird carrots...''

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While dead megalopolans could be observed all day, dead people were a different story. A number of rotting aliens had been witnessed, and a few dead humans, but this level of decomposition was a first for him. While part of him could hold out hope that the gory remains were once a megalopolan, finding one out here would have been peculiar.
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At Aaron's lament, the Galarian first thought the boy was taking a swipe at his queasiness until he looked over to find him staring at his phone. Indeed, there were typically no police in the wilderness and even if there were, no cell service at that. This would have been a good time to have had his rotomdex.
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''Yeah, moving to somewhere that had service should work, but how are we going to direct them exactly where to go? If we lose reach of the location, they might think we're full of shit.'' His collection of ghost pokemon remained around him, curiously craning their necks to see what all the fuss was about.
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''Sable. Sableye.'' The crystal loving pokemon was already thinking that a mountain was being made out of a molehill. Boo Bag has warned of danger. ''Mimikyu? Kyu.'' Some things just couldn't be know without investigation. ''Pumpkaboo! Pump!'' And some priorities would always rule out over others, no matter how ridiculous.

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A swarm of boldores? Now that was something much more sensible to find in a cave than a Type: Null. That thing had been a monster. Boldores we're kind of cute on the other hand. Probably wouldn't kill anyone or anything. A xatu flew overhead as a litwick wandered around deeper in the trees, it's flame giving it away.
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Was it looking for the chandelure from before?
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''My sister ended up in a coma. Attacked by some rock pokemon according to mom.'' It wouldn't be a lie to say he felt he bore some responsibility, even of he didn't plan to fall down a hole into a cave. Typically it went unmentioned, but for some reason the mood struck him to mention something to a stranger.

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The reflection of light in its water bubble betrayed its presence. The dewpider, like many big types, seemed to camouflage excellently otherwise. Seeing this pokemon reminded him of the first time he had met John Sullivan, and his dewpider. While he was just as grossed out now, the memory enough to make him desire one of his own.
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And so hypnosis creeped up on yet another unsuspecting pokemon.

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''Gengar?'' The familiar call never felt so good to hear. The ghost loomed over his trainer. Andy wondered if his companion had gotten lost in the mist as well, or only watched him get lost. Epitaph offered the boy his cane, who stared quizzically before accepting. When had he dropped this? The memory wouldn't precisely come to him. None the less, its head was grasped.
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''Thanks. Where the hell were you at?'' A tinge of annoyance colored Epitaph's face. ''Gengar.'' Despite his irritating trainer's confusion, the pokemon helped him to his feet. Where did everyone go? Wasn't he just talking to chryssa glasgow, Ruby Walker and a few others about... Damn. A good source of information ruined like everything else by Hoenn's bullshit.
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As the phenomenon faded, it would be easier to locate his compatriots, either new or old. The appearance of League authorities to deal with with the peculiar events warded the Galarian away from the consideration however. League interviews tended to end with him being imprisoned, assaulted by a charizard, or.... provided free cafeteria food? Not really what he figured for great outcomes.
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''Come on, Taph. Let's blow this popsicle stand before we get picked for questioning. Knuckles were pressed gently against his forehead as a headache began to assault his cranium. ''Besides, I need to figure some shit out.'' At the nearest opportunity, the pair slipped out a neglected side door. Surely all of his friends had endured their own tribulations as well as he, hadn't they?

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You could ascribe a few talents to Andy, but gardening wasn't one of them. A spill had nearly been taken when exiting his cabin and having seen the plant in its bloomage. Perhaps the zarude's abilities were more powerful than he could fathom. Perhaps he had planted the seeds on a long forgotten grave.
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Perhaps both.
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It had been quite a spell since enough excitement graced the boy that he could share with Hideo. Times were trying, and that often inflicted gloom. The locale did little to alleviate it. Mt. Pyre had never been a cheery place. The sounds of his mighty collection of ghost pokemon stirring drew his attention. The doors to his cabin slid aside.
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''I see you came Tarzan style again.'' No other pokemon seemed to be accompanying his friend. So it was assumed that only the primate had delivered him. ''Yeah, se-'' Right. Hideo could not in fact, see for himself. And so the Blackadder crossed the distance before tentatively reaching for one of his friend's hands.
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''Check it out. While perhaps a little more intimate than Andy typically was, he saw no reason his fellow youth would outright refuse his guidance. ''Careful when you're feeling around. Don't want to damage anything.'' The hand was piloted to the plant's stalk. Since the rest of its anatomy grew from there, a good notion could be gained of it's size.

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The trevenant took the lead. There wouldn't be any complaints from him. Andy had been ambushed by a pokemon just like it before. Better it be there to ward off a similar event. Aaron mentioned he had seen a body and Andy wondered if it was at a funeral or something. He had almost forgotten the 'normal' way to see a dead body.
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Then again, this was Hoenn. There was a disaster every other week here. It wouldn't surprise him if the first school field trips were to some crisis zone so the children could help clean up bodies. While there was the curiosity for clarification, now wasn't the time to trade war stories. The terrain was rough. The rain had long cut many soft indentations in the mountainside.
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The shrubs, vines, trees, didn't make the journey any more pleasant. Finally a washed out hole in the ground, likely swept away by a storm, appeared before the group. Within was a gruesome sight: a rotting leg, mostly tainted meat clinging to bone, and a rib cage still filled with pussy black organs protruded from the dirt. From the positioning, it was clear to see they were not contiguous.
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''Bloody fucking hell,'' Andy gagged.

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