June 11th, 2020
The past few days had gone by in a blur. For Charlie and Kyle, at least, that is.
The blazing hot days were punctuated by Charlie's multiple panic attacks. With every time she lost her cool, Kyle had to come up with varying excuses to justify her actions, without giving away the terrifying secret that they knew: Brandon was going to die.
Like it or not, Kyle had to deal with Charlie almost entirely on his own. He wanted desperately to tell Sofie, to invite somebody else into their problems, but.. he didn't want anyone else to be put in danger.
Flashback.
"We need to tell somebody!" Charlie had said almost instantly when they returned to the present day. Kyle shook his head emphatically and immediately shut down that idea.
"We'll have to save Brandon some other way. Nothing was stopping him from gunning us all down, and yet he didn't. We're already messing with the time-space continuum. Any more and the results could be much worse," he spoke with an even tone.
"How are you so calm?" She had asked him angrily. "Am I the only normal fucking human here??"
The noise had attracted a visitor: Brandon.
"Yo."
"Hey.. Brandon."
"Charlie, did you do something new with your hair? I like it, it looks really nice."
But Charlie had already walked away.
Present day.
Kyle had really regretted dismissing Charlie's idea of telling somebody, because his conversations with Sofie now just felt.. awkward. He didn't know they had shot Marla (as far as she knew) and she didn't know that they knew a crucial secret. Everything felt forced, and Kyle was tired of it.
He needed to battle the gym to get his mind off things.
Charlie had announced her plan to give up on the gym challenge almost immediately after they had returned to the present day, and Kyle had to, yet again, explain around her erratic behaviour.
Kyle entered the gym. Brad grinned. "Heya! Finally ready for a fight?" Kyle nodded, grabbing Quagsire's Pokeball with a sigh.
"Sure, let's get this over with." Kyle tossed the ball out as Brad sent out his Magneton. Kyle grinned. Winning battles sure let him escape from the gloomy atmosphere at the hotel. Quagsire used Mud Shot and easily got rid of Magneton.
Out next came his final Pokemon, Manectric. Kyle considered it an easy victory, but after one Mud Shot, Quagsire went down to a devastating Hidden Power Grass from Manectric. Charmeleon came out after that, and shot flames at the already weakened Manectric, securing Kyle another easy victory.
"Phew! You've got the talent, that's for sure. I was no match for your skill. Take the Magnet Badge." Brad grinned enthusiastically.
"Thanks," Kyle grumbled, walking out of the gym.
Fuck, he thought to himself. What now? I could talk to Sofie, but it's practically painful to speak with her.
Kyle headed back to the hotel room, where Brandon was just leaving.
"I'm gonna go fight the Gym Leader if Charlie is wondering where I'm gone, alright?"
"Sure. Gym is easy. I've already got the badge."
When Brandon walked away, Kyle decided that he would talk to someone he felt he could trust. Gym Leaders have a ton of power over the region, right?
He took a flying taxi to Skoro Town and walked into the Gym.
"Hey, Gustavo? Can you call Eddie? Got something I really need the help of the Gym Leaders for."
Gustavo nodded. "Sure, no problem. You hear about Marla?"
Kyle's blood ran cold. With all the chaos recently, it was very easy to forget that Marla was a very, very popular figure in the Johu Region, and not just some cold-hearted assassin.
"No.. what happened?" He asked tentatively.
"She was found dead near Conto Town just a week ago. I'm surprised you haven't heard. They thought it was a suicide, with how weird she had been acting recently, but no note or weapon at the scene. Sucks, she was a great person." Gustavo hung his head in disappointment.
Kyle grimaced and decided to change the subject. "So, you calling Eddie?" he asked. Gustavo nodded. "Actually, scrap that," Kyle decided quickly. He decided he may as well tell as few people as possible. "So. Uhh.. we saw Brandon die in a Celebi time travel thingy. Well, Charlie did. Not me. But still. And now I don't know what to do because my friend group is falling apart. Brandon is the only one who's acting fine, but everyone is afraid to talk to him because of one thing or another. We need help somehow."
Gustavo thought for a few moments, then spoke. "Huh. This is a predicament. I'm glad you told someone who's qualified to help with this, I guess. There really isn't much I can do, though. I have a Fearow I don't use for Gym battles that you can have to help you guys out, but I'm sorry, I can't think of any other way to assist you."
Kyle sighed, but nodded. "Alright. Thanks." He adjusted his glasses and walked out of the Gym into the calmness of Skoro Town.
Sure, he felt bad for scolding Charlie and then going directly against his own judgement. But something needed to change, and in a good way for once. He was going to start this change. First, though, he had something more important to do.
Back at Conto Town, he knocked on Sofie's hotel room door.
"Yeah?" Sofie opened the door and Kyle walked in, pulling her close.
"I know what Charlie did to Marla," he whispered in her ear. "I won't tell anyone."
YOU ARE READING
Pokemon SilkWhite: Journey through Johu
Adventure17 year old Brandon finally managed to free himself from the overprotective clutches of his mother and get a Pokemon. Armed with his mother's Marill and with his two best friends by his side, what could stop them? A lot, it turns out.
