For the next half-hour, Claire and I told the two of them about the rest of our journey so far. Some of the things Claire and I had experienced, we kept between us by tacit understanding, such as seeing Shaymin up close and witnessing Ho-Oh from afar. While I wasn’t certain about Claire’s motivation, I knew that seeing those beings with my own eyes had been something special and trying to convey that special feeling through words would only diminish it. It was to be kept deep within my heart, a memory that would last me a lifetime.

In addition, there were other, more important, things to talk about. Such as the encounter with Gastly. Claire actively played down the severity of her injury, maybe due to pride, but even so, the two of them didn’t look too good once we were done with the telling.

“Lucas, why don’t we go across the mountains from here? I’ve heard Celestic Town is beautiful this time of the year.” Cliff suggested, looking a little green around the nose.

“Yeah,” he visibly swallowed, the usual, amused grin on his face gone, “That’s probably for the best.” he nodded.

“That Gastly reminds me of a story I heard while working with Professor Rowan.” Lucas added in a whisper, “Apparently, some forty years ago, there was another town, north of Eterna Forest, between Floaroma and Snowpoint.”

Blinking in surprise, I raised an eyebrow, leaning closer, just like the other two did.

“Nobody talks about it but the town was destroyed. From what I’ve heard, it was called Waldburgh, one of the older towns in the region, and now, only haunted ruins remain.” he let his voice die down theatrically. It made me wonder what had happened there and why people actively kept quiet about it. While I could see Cynthia and Joyce neglect to mention it, maybe due to a difference in priorities, for those three who had lived here, and remembered, all their lives, it was different. Leaning back, I frowned, making a mental note to try looking into it, before chuckling a little at myself, if the information was concealed, did I really think I’d be able to easily uncover it?

“What are your plans going forward?” Lucas asked, sending the ball back to us.

“The local badge, obviously. Afterwards, not certain, it depends on circumstances.” I shrugged, glancing over to Claire.

“Well, I’d like to take a two-week break here. After this one, I’ll need four more badges to be eligible for apprenticeship under a licenced Poké-breeder. We’ll have to go across the Coronal Mountains at some point, might as well now, if the weather is right.”

“Take the time you need to consider.” I tried to give her a good smile, though the reminder was a little heartbreaking. After the events in Eterna Forest, I considered a companion a necessity, or I’d have to radically change the way I trained my partners, asking them to watch over me at night. There were a lot of potential problems with that approach, but it might be worth looking into.

With Claire’s plans, that meant I’d have to find a different companion. Looking over at Cliff and Lucas, I started t wonder about their plans for the future. Did they plan to get all fourteen badges, or did they have their own goals? While I had talked with them a little while in Jubilife, I hadn’t been really interested in them.

“Did the two of you already make appointments at the Gym?” I asked, burying the considerations in my head.

“We’ve checked in and asked about a task. So far, we haven’t got a reply.” Cliff replied with a shrug.

“You okay with doing that next? Or would you like to rest some more?” I asked Claire, still sitting close to me.

“Oh, I’m fine. I just don’t want to relax for a bit. Depending on what task we get, we can even take care of it in those two weeks. I just don’t want to make the difficult crossing, before I’m back to full capacity.” she replied. It was a sentiment I fully understood, especially if she had been troubled on our climb up.

“We may as well walk with you,” Lucas suggested his normal grin back on his face. When Claire gave me a look, I could only shrug, not really caring whether they joined us or not. “Sure, why not.” she agreed, “What did you do while I was inside?” she asked me, as we were standing up.

“Eh, I ran into a local boy who had some questions and answered them.” I let out a sigh, “Not sure if it was a total waste of time or not.”

“What sort of questions?” Cliff asked, sounding curious.

“In a nutshell, why do Pokétrainers exist. Why do we need the League and the various Gyms, why do people have to ‘enslave’,” I made air quotes around the word, “Pokémon and ‘force’,” another set of air quotes, “them to battle. A part of me wanted to call out Prince Charming and ask whether or not I look like I was able to force him to do anything?” I snickered at the thought.

“It would be even more impressive if he had already been able to evolve into a Charizard, but there’s a limit to growth, in the short time we’ve been training.” Claire agreed with me, a look of amusement on her face.

“He will get there,” I spoke with utter confidence as if his final evolution had already happened. In my eyes, and in my memory-like dreams, it already had, though I was still unable to figure out anything concrete about my past from the vague images. If anything, the images appeared to be frequently contradictory, with two distinct and irreconcilably different themes.

“Good confidence you got there,” Lucas grinned, “Though, from what Cliff told me, you’ve got the results to back that confidence,” he added and for a moment, I was wondering if the compliment was genuine, or if there was some hidden barb within. Not wanting to appear the fool, I simply gave a snort of acknowledgement and continued my walk toward the Gym.

“If possible, I’d like to see your ability for myself,” he added, keeping pace with me.

“We shall see. While my partners have received treatment at the Centre, I’d like to give them some more time to recuperate.” I replied, neither confirming nor denying. There was a part of me that was curious how a former student of Professor Rowan, a researcher capable enough to be acknowledged by Cynthia, performed as a trainer. On the other hand, I was utterly unwilling to lose and hearing that he had caught an Onix, I wasn’t certain if my current Pokémon would be able to win. Similarly, I seemed to recall that his original partner had been a Chimchar, which undoubtedly had evolved to Monferno by now.

As a group of four, we made our way through town and to the Gym. The Gym of Eterna City was a simple, yet somewhat impressive building. It was made in an ancient style, with a brown roof sitting atop a sturdy brickwork construction, giving the impression that it had stood there for hundreds of years and would stand there for hundreds more.

Walking in, we stood in a lobby that could have served as the template for the other lobbies I had been in before. There was a counter, with a single, bored-looking attendant but no other people in attendance. Looking through a side door, I could see a reference-room, with shelves of books and a couple of tables. What stood out, were the countless potted plants and some indoor-flower beds, constructed to be a permanent part of the structure. Even just looking around, the atmosphere was similar enough to Eterna Forest, to send a shiver down my spine

When we approached, the attendant looked up, blinking for a moment, as if surprised that anyone would disturb him. After that moment passed, a polite, even friendly, smile appeared on his face.

“Good afternoon and welcome to Eterna Gym. What can I do for you?” he greeted us, before focusing on Cliff and Lucas. “Wait, I know the two of you. You’ve been here yesterday, right?”

“Correct.” Lucas nodded, “But today, we are just here to accompany our friends. Unless there’s been news?”

“Not yet. I’ve told Gym Leader Sylva, but she’s not given out a task yet.” he shook his head, before turning to us.

“And you, what can I do for you?” he asked, the earlier lethargy slowly replaced by enthusiasm.

“We are here for the Gym task,” I replied, showing our badges and paperwork.

He studied them for a moment, before nodding.

“I see. I will report to Sylva and we’ll see what she decides.” he shrugged, “It might take a little Sylva isn’t in the habit to have trainers do any random task and very little happens around here.”

“You are staying at the Pokécentre, too?” he added, looking at Claire and me. When we nodded, he confirmed, noted a few things down and settled back down, apparently done with us.

Exchanging a glance with Claire, we bid the employee farewell and walked back out of the Gym, not quite sure what to make of the situation.