Newton
The blinding light of the afternoon sun woke Newton, he'd overslept again. Without delay he wrestled himself free from Grump's ever tight embrace and shot to his feet. The Muk's actions matched Newton's emotions, with a mighty stretch the big purple slime began meandering about the campsite aimlessly. As Newton stood up, the nuts and bolts from last night's tinkering rolled off of his lap and onto the shallow amber sand that covered the entire southern valley. He set up camp in a small open cove knowing that Jonton and his crew were heading north, this alone put his mind at ease. After retrieving his fallen equipment Newton smothered the embers left from the small campfire he'd made and took a moment to take in his surroundings.
To look north he could see the treacherous, rocky cliff faces of Mt. Chimney, the jagged pass looked a most unwelcoming host when compared to the much smoother and hospitable climb of the Fiery path. South he could see where the uneven mountainous terrain turned to dense forest and the tiny forest clearing that would lead him directly to route 111. Going west would be going back to Lavaridge and the coast was east. As he decided which way to head the events from a few days ago rushed to his memory; the menacing look on Jonton's face, the cleaver coming down, the screaming, the blood.
Newton found himself caught up in the horrific memory, it kept happening lately, as he gazed vacantly into the distance it took all of about five minutes for something foreign to draw his attention. A Pokemon maybe, slowly headed towards the opening of the forest it dwarfed the nearby fauna, leaving a trail of flattened bush weeds and long-grass in its wake. Newton's vision had been getting worse as of late, as a boy he could spot the tiniest imperfections in devices that whizzed about him on never-ending conveyer belts, now he could barely read the small-print text on his own gauntlet. He knew he'd have to get closer if he was going to identify the roaming creature.
As Newton turned around ready to pack up his stuff he noticed that Grump was nowhere to be seen. Instead a trail of purple slime glistened in his place, a trail that could easily be traced to the Pokemon heading towards route 111. Letting out a sigh he rolled up his sleeping bag, picked up his sack and began following the slimy trail towards Grump who waited at the opening. With no wild Pokemon in sight Newton figured he'd let Miss Moans out. He rummaged through the various metal scraps and broken devices in his sack before finding Entei, he held the ball tight in his clutch as he considered the possibilities of unleashing the fantastic beast, how would it react? Would it like him? What if it didn't like him? He put the ball back before catching up to his more predictable companions, sorry buddy.
'What's the matter? Scared it's going to erupt?' Newton jibed, he liked to think he was going on an adventure wherein he'd decide things, not his Pokemon. Grump knew when he was being scolded, he'd always freeze in place and look blankly towards the ground with what Newton thought looked like an upside down smile. The face always made Newton laugh and as he did Grump relaxed again, leading the way to route 111. The Muk was beginning to smell normal again and Newton concluded it must've been the arid atmosphere surrounding Mt. Chimney.
The journey to Mauville was pretty uneventful, upon seeing the first signpost Newton recalled Miss Moans back into her pokeball - the last thing he wanted was to be chasing the Linoone around the city all day. In fact he wanted to be leaving for verdanturf by nightfall, that way at his pace he'd be back in Rustboro in about three days. I must tell Gaillard about the Fairfax bastard. Garrett's screams resonated through his head and before long Newton needed to find somewhere to take a seat.
As he wandered about Mauville thinking about Garret and whether or not the young trainer survived Newton barely noticed the looks of disdain being shot towards him and Grump by the few that passed him by. He always thought Mauville would be more heavily populated from the stories he'd heard, maybe it was the time of the year but there were more folks at Fallarbor than here. Eventually he found a small cafe with no customers, somewhere nice and quiet that he could just sit and clear his mind of what had happened in the mountains.
Cafe Coffee, very original Newton thought as he entered the cafe, the door was heavy and creaked open no wonder there's no customers, poor buggers can't even get through the door. The door became stuck as it was halfway open and with one big shove Newton found himself slamming the door wide open and cascading into the cafe with a great loud crash.
The cafe's interior was just as bland and unimaginative as its namesake, dull brown tapestry draped over grey cobblestone. An old-fashioned till made from bronze and copper and a few cheap looking tables and chairs made of the same material were all that accented the otherwise large and foreboding room.
'No! Nooo, no nonono... This. Out. Put it away.' The owner immediately corrected the table and chairs that Newton had crashed in to and gestured angrily towards Grump. She was a small, old lady with more wrinkles than Newton had ever seen on a person and a fiery attitude. He could tell immediately from her accent that she didn't grow up around Hoenn.
Before Newton could get bothered by the discrimination Grump began frowning at the elderly lady mouth agape in the shape of an upside down smile. Newton cracked a smile and his growing anger arisen from his friend's mistreatment quickly faded, 'look buddy can you wait outside? I won't be long, I promise.' Grump averted his gaze to Newton for a few seconds and after he'd made his mind up slunk down into a large, thin puddle and squeezed his way beneath the cafe door. 'Sorry for barging in like that... it's just the door...'
'Shit door. Very shit door. I try to change for long time but nobody listen to me, y'lo?' the old lady interrupted as she mopped up the mess that Grump had made. 'So you want drink? Coffee?' She asked as she returned to behind the till.
'Well actually, I was just looking for somewhere to rest for a while, collect my thoughts before continuing on my travels...' Newton replied, honestly.
'You no spend money. You go! This not hotel. This coffee shop!' The lady was already pretty pissed off about Grump and seemed to be getting increasingly more agitated at Newtons presence. As she reached for a nearby broom and began shuffling towards Newton he knew he'd be getting the boot if he didn't think fast.
'Hey, hey... Stop that,' the woman started prodding him with the brush, she was deceptively strong for a frail old woman. 'I'll fix the door, okay!? Let me stay for a while and I'll fix the door!' the woman ceased her attack, pondered for a while and once again returned to behind the till.
'Well? What you wait for? I make tea.' The lady put the large, silver kettle beside her to boil and began crushing some herbs into a small bowl. Letting out a small sigh Newton got to work on the broken door hinge. He expected it wouldn't take long and surely enough the door was as good as new, before the lady had even finished brewing the tea, too. As he sat down to relax again Newton considered that the job wasn't much of a chore, if anything it was a welcome distraction from thinking about what happened to Garrett.
Then he started to remember it all again, he could hear Garrett screaming as he clutched at where his arm used to be, memories of the blood soaking into the sand flooded his mind. When he thought of the blood he began visualising the gruesome dismemberments that he'd seen during his years at the factory. Images flashed through his mind, images that he couldn't stop. He could see Jonton's menacing scowl and he found himself once again becoming despondent, replaying the experience over and over.
The increasingly loud whistle being emitted from the kettle eventually pulled Newton back from his memory, he sat upright in his chair unaware if the lady had been speaking to him or not. All of a sudden the cafe door swung open and an elderly gentleman sullenly made his way inside. He wasn't expecting the door to be fixed.
The man was dressed particularly well, Newton noticed. A suede suit, dark brown in colour with a smart bowler hat that he respectfully took off upon entering the cafe. His shoulder-length hair was whiter than snow but he had a youthful look about him. The old geezer didn't shuffle along and slump over like other elderly people Newton had met and his skin had not one wrinkle, yet this man appeared weak, dragging his feet as though his shoulders weighed a tonne.
'Good evening, Sun! Got back just in time for tea, aye?' The man asked rhetorically as he gave the elderly woman a tight embrace, he spoke with a warm tone in his voice, soothing almost. He removed his jacket and took a seat on Newton's table 'Don't mind, do you?'
'Not at all.' Newton lied, there were plenty of other tables, if anything this was the dirtiest of the lot. He'd learned the hard way that people avoid filth and dirt, with age he used this fact to get away from people. People would leave him alone in the sewers, leave him alone if he wore dirty, stain-covered clothes, yet this man was different.
'Got that door sorted then?' He asked Sun, who was placing two porcelain saucers out on the table, one for each of her guests.
'This young man fix. Good boy.' She gave Newton a beaming smile as she poured the coffee, after adding some milk she went back to the till, Newton wondered how long she'd stay up for - it was already pretty late and the chances of another customer didn't look too good. Yet she stood, waiting. She seemed much happier now at least.
'So a good boy huh? A good boy with a good story I bet. What brings you to Mauville?' The man stirred his tea as he spoke. How does he know that I'm not from around here?
'Is it that obvious?' Newton stirred his own tea. The man paused for a moment and let his eyes wander around Newton's shoddy outfit. He didn't typically like being judged by others but this felt different, as though this well-dressed gentleman deserved to judge him. It was an unusual feeling that Newton couldn't shake or explain but before he could fill the silence with words the old man pulled a dark wooden box about the size of his forearm from his bag and laid it flat on the table.
'It was your friend outside, don't see many like that 'round these parts' he gestured towards the window. Newton couldn't help but wonder what was inside the box. Looking through the half-closed shutters he caught a glimpse of Grump squandering about in the rain, he couldn't keep his buddy waiting much longer. He took a sip of his tea, it was piping hot but surprisingly delicious, it was a relief to feel his insides warmed by the broth after spending so long on the road.
'Quite an uninteresting story, actually.'
'Oh come on now!' the man pleaded, 'even the most boring people have an interesting story or two to tell. Take me for instance; my name's Giddy. I've got a brother named Gaddy, do you have any brothers or sisters?'
Newton took another glug from his tea, it was beginning to cool a little and as scintillating as this old man's conversation was he knew that if he stayed much longer he wouldn't much feel like hitting the road again before sunrise. He'd also met people that like to talk a lot before, too. He wondered what was in the box. Although the man had friendly intentions Newton was quick to remind himself that he wasn't here to make friends 'No sir, I do not.'
'Without my brother; Gaddy, my niece would never have been born, precious thing she is...' The old man reached into his pocket and pulled out a black wallet with a fancy, ornate fist clamping it shut. Gaddy unclamped the wallet and leaned over to show Newton a picture of his niece, she was picturesque, that he could not deny. Gaillard would have liked her a lot. 'Her father moved her and her mother; my sweet sister, to Kalos on her seventh birthday. She is dead now. May the gods bless her soul, she was everything I had and I let him take it away from me.'
Newton could tell the old fella was fighting back the tears now, he felt sympathetic towards the man, hearing stories of heartache and sorrow made him think of Michelle and how much he misses her. His eyes darted to the wooden box before he wrestled his focus back to the old man. 'I'm sorry to hear about your niece, maybe you should find your brother, he may need ...' Before Newton could finish the man burst into tears.
'Don't you understand!? He killed them. He took them away from me and he killed them both!' Gaddy struggled to speak through his whimpering but it didn't take him long to realise the situation he'd put Newton in and almost as quickly as it began the broken man gained back some composure. 'You might as well have it.' He gestured towards the wooden box on the table.
'I'm... Uhh...' Newton was at a loss for words, he lost the woman he loved to a behemoth sea vessel that should never of made it through the designing stage. A hideous contraption, ill-made, badly neglected. I told her not to go. Newton struggled to imagine life with a brother but he knew that brothers were supposed to be close. He tried to imagine how he'd feel if he did have a brother, one that was capable of doing something so horrible, so monstrous. Realising there was nothing he could say to mend a pain so deep Newton picked up the box and gently opened it 'What is it?' He asked, his curiosity getting the better of him as he took away the silk cloth that wrapped around yet another box. Newton hated excess packaging.
'It was hers. Well, I never got the chance to give it to her but she loved to fish...' Gaddy almost smiled when he spoke about his niece. 'You'll make more use of it than me.'