Pokémon Fool's Gold | Orre & Galar Fanfiction

Chapter 59: Disobedient

Wyatt couldn't find a box. He took Lyndon's credit card details to order a casket. The delivery man, meeting him at a gas station on Highway 1, was utterly baffled but said nothing. People were already lining up outside The Under Colosseum. Verzant announced the battle as the town's biggest event yet. He was spotted jogging with his Pokémon to warm up. Lyndon didn't bother. He sat in silence with Trip and Marowak until the casket arrived. It was the first time Trip remembered being with both of his parents. At the same time as he didn't want to disturb the cracked bones, because he feared they'd be scrambled in the casket, he wanted to. She was frozen in time, as if haunting screams still reverberated through the cavern, from the moment she hit the floor. It was unbearble to imagine, but impossible not to.

Trip couldn't help Lyndon. It had to be Wyatt. Brittle hair snapped off Laila's skull to dust the floor. Lyndon awkwardly gathered it to stow like a pillow in the casket. He knelt beside it.

'I love you, Laila. I always will. I'm so sorry.'

He and Wyatt hoisted it onto their shoulders. '...Trip? Are you coming?'

'I... I think I'll stay here a while.'

'Are you sure?'

'Yeah. I'll come up for your battle, dad. I promise.'

'Oh, forget that. It's insignificant.'

Trip knew Lyndon believed that. He was still distantly intrigued, if nothing else, to see his dad battle. As their footsteps faded, they left what should have been infinite silence, but maybe that amplified the volume of his racing thoughts; because he began to feel like he really could hear those tormented screams. He pressed his hands to his ears. It was in his head. No physical action changed their volume. Marowak offered its hand. He took it. They always shared cruel fates. Cubone could only evolve once it overcame the death of its mother, whose skull it wore, through nightmares that strengthened it. It used to cry at night, especially during the full moon. The sounds were shrill and haunting. It annoyed and unsettled Rosen, but it helped Trip sleep. She said she was taking it back to the Sevault Canyon to find its mother's remains. Trip always suspected when it returned with injuries that she beat it into submission. Either way, the experience stunted its growth. It was only on its new adventure with Trip that it let go and evolved.

'You're stronger than me. I don't know if I'll ever come to terms with any of this. Maybe I'll always be miserable. Always unlucky because I expect to be unlucky.'

Marowak disagreed. They couldn't communicate verbally, or telepathically like Anabel and Alakazam seemed to, but he knew Marowak believed it was him who gave it the strength to move on.

'When you saw the full moon... I never doubted you really saw her. I knew she was there, watching over you. Maybe I shouldn't doubt my own heart. Maybe I can hear her. Maybe she is trapped and tormented here. Maybe that's what's turned dad evil. If those Pumpkaboo can help her move on... maybe he'll be normal and we can leave all this behind.'

Maybe that was why Lyndon trained a Gourgeist. Though Trip wasn't sure whether that was for Laila or himself. Was Lyndon already halfway there, like Verzant said, in limbo with his tormented lover? He didn't understand anything anymore.

He heard echoing footsteps long before Wyatt's voice floated over. 'Hey, buddy. I don't have to stay. But I just want you to know I'm here if you need me.'

'I should go... I do want to see dad's battle.'

Wyatt shuddered. 'Your poor mom. I'm not fucking surprised this place feels haunted.'

He trained the Psychic-type Pokémon he had an innate ability to communicate with. It unsettled Jazlyn. Before he dropped out of the Gym Challenge three years ago, when his childhood sweetheart left him, he hoped he could become a Psychic-type Gym Leader one day. Trip was sure that uncanny power explained why both Wyatt and Anabel could see Shadow Pokémon auras. He accepted his comment as confirmation that palpable torment wasn't just in his head. It wasn't the comforting, motherly presence he wished he could feel, but it was the closest he'd felt to her since her death.