Pokemon Brick Bronze: A novel

Journey to the City of Sand

That night, Play lay in his bed, the window slightly open allowing a cool, steady breeze of cold air to gust into the room. To be blunt, he couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this..empty. He'd failed to stop his best friend being taken away, and then, he'd been forced to watch his other best friend cry in front of him as a result of this. He liked to think than in times like these, he'd honestly forgotten that he was only ten years old. Ten years of age on this earth, and he felt like he'd already encountered enough to last him eighty. 

"Is this really what being a Pokemon trainer is all about?" He thought over and over, the words swarming around the landscape of his mind like flies.

"Is this even worth it?" Play had even thought about crying once, but alas, the tears did not come. He legitimately felt like there were no tears left to cry in his head. Nothing to say, because it had already happened right in front of him. It had already happened and there was nothing he could do about it. But eventually, after taking deep breaths, the cold air wafting into his face and lungs, Play did manage to slowly fall asleep. But what didn't help, was the strangest dream that he'd ever had in his life. He'd started walking along a grass road, there was laughter and happiness beside him. Looking to his left and right, he saw his two best friends. Jake and Tess. All of a sudden, Tess and Jake ran ahead, both laughing.

"Come on play!" Tess giggled.

"Try and catch us." Jake chuckled. The reality of his dream not sinking in yet, Play grinned before running forward after them. Only, a split second later, the entire landscape changed. Instead of lively and bright, the grass road turned into a dark and creepy wooden road. Up ahead of them, was a giant, black manor, all the lights in the house having been turned off. Up ahead of him, Jake and Tess were no longer running, instead they had turned into ghosts. The bottom halves of their body simply being cloudy whisps. They turned around in shock and horror until they were facing Play.

"Play!" They said uncertainly in unison. "Help us! PLEASE!"

Play jolted awake with a start. What a deranged dream. Looking around, his room was still dark, although it was freezing. The window being left open up until now was beginning to show off it's negatives. He couldn't get the ghostly figures of his two friends out of his head. But something else was troubling him, a long, forgotten memory that for some reason, hadn't bothered him until now. It had been in the back of his mind since it happened. However, it was sort of a dormant memory, just waiting for the terrors of it's contents to be re-released back into his subconscious.

"Fortulose Manor." Play whispered in the dark, his voice shaky and unsteady. 

Out of all the places to be that night, one of the places Play wasn't expecting to be was Route 9. Where he and Jake had battled in front of Tess, causing Play to then battle Tess. He'd beaten both of them, but in truth, he felt guilty for beating Jake. After all this time, he'd realised that he was simply trying to impress his crush. Why he hadn't made it look like Jake should win was only a guess. The huge tree in the middle of the forest where Xerneas had supposedly transformed into made itself known in front of him. Play's got goosebumps from looking at it, maybe it was the cold, but now, looking at it gave him a weird feeling. Nostalgia maybe? Anyhow, after making a few turns, Play walked up to a place right out of a nightmare. The connection that normally connected route 9 to route 10. Walking inside, his entire body started to shake.

"No way." He thought. Just like his memory told him, there was no smiling woman there. In fact, there was no one there. Eery. Play looked ahead of him, a pair of glass doors stood right in front of him. He knew deep down that he honestly didn't want to see what was on the other side, but for the sake of his peace of mind. He had to know. He just had to.