Chapter Text
It was a clear day in Slateport City and it was far too warm for Archie to spend it inside. As soon as he had eaten breakfast he had rushed outside, ready to play the summer day away. Some of his other neighbors, including one of his best friends, Shelly, seemed to have the same idea.
"Archie, Archie!" She shouted, rushing towards the boy. "Did ya wanna play ball with us? I wanna show ya how good I've gotten!!"
"'Course we can, Shelly!" Archie responded, smiling at her enthusiasm. At the young age of five, Shelly was already blossoming into a full-fledged sportswoman and Archie, three years her senior, was more than willing to play with her. At the rate she was going, she'd probably be better than him at the sport in no time. As usual, the kids in the neighborhood split into two teams. They did this so often, most of the kids knew where to go. Shelly and Archie, the two who were best at the sport, (or maybe it was because they were both so loud, they weren't sure), were always deemed captain. They didn't mind, and competition was fun. "Did ya wanna pitch first or bat first?"
"Bat! Gimme!" She rushed forward and gave Archie the glove, and the game began.
Their parents had told them, time and time again, to walk to the beach or a park to play baseball. If they kept playing in the neighborhood, soon enough they'd wind up breaking someone's window. But Archie and Shelly never listened. They had a system going on with the houses in the neighborhood. Archie's house was first base; the house at the end of the street was second base, and back around was Shelly's house as third. Home plate was the middle of the street, but they weren't worried. They usually had one kid sitting out who was always there to shout if a car was coming.
The game went on smoothly for a while, and the two teams were obviously pretty equally matched. By the ninth inning, (or at least they assumed it was the ninth inning. They weren't sure but some kids were getting hungry so they figured they'd end the game after this), rolled around, the two teams were tied. Archie strolled up to the plate, bat in hand, ready to win this so he could go home and make himself a sandwich.
"I'm gonna strike you out, Archie!" Shelly taunted confidently, tossing the ball in the air and catching it repeatedly.
"I'd like to see you try, Shelly!" He shouted back, smirking at her. He gripped the bat tightly in his hands and held it back, waiting for her throw.
At the first pitch he swung too early, getting himself a strike. He cursed himself under his breath than got ready to go again. At the second pitch he swung too late, and he could hear Shelly laughing from her place at the mound. He gulped, realizing that Shelly really had seriously improved her throw. But he wasn't about to lose. At the third pitch he swung at just the right time, striking the ball as hard as he could with the bat. The ball flew high, high up into the air, soared over Shelly, past second base and crashed right into the second story window of the house at the end of the street, completely shattering it. For a moment, there was silence. Then, there was panic.
In a neighborhood that prided itself on knowing one another, this house was an outlier. None of the kids on the street knew who lived in that house. In fact, it had been vacant until about a month ago, but despite that, no one had seen much of the family inside. There were rumors that the house was haunted, some of the kids claiming that they had seen a pale white ghost with flaming red eyes and hair peering out the window. They had all laughed about it, teasing one another about whether or not they were scared, but now that they had to actually face the house head on, no one knew what to do.
"What should we do?" One of the boys asked.
"I dunno, but I'm not goin' near that house!" A girl replied.
"Does anyone have a spare ball?"
"Nope, that was the only one we brought!"
"Well, I'm goin' home! I'm not goin' near it!" Many of the kids followed suit, running hastily back to their own homes, hoping to avoid the certain death that waited in that house. Archie could see Shelly running back to her house, and he caught up with her and pulled her back by the collar.
"Hey, Archie, lemme go!!" She protested.
“No! You gotta help me get the ball back!" He replied.
"Why do I have to do it? You're the one who hit it in there!"
"Well, you're the one who threw it so hard! This is both our faults!"
"Well, I'm not goin' in there!"
"Fine, you just gotta at least help me think of a way in there!!" Their argument settled and the two of them glanced at the house, trying to figure a way in.
"Should we knock on the door?" Shelly offered.
"No way! Then the ghost will eat us right there!" Archie argued. "We gotta break in somehow, that way we can get the ball and leave before they notice!"
"But won't the ghosts wonder why their window is broken?"
"We can just say a wingull crashed into it or somethin'."
"Of course! That makes sense!"
"But about getting in..." Archie hesitated, trying to think of something he could do. He looked at the house and sighed. The door was shut tight and so were all the windows, save for the broken one. He wished he had a pokemon; that would make things so much easier, but apparently they couldn't be trusted with an eight year old. Was there really that much of a difference between eight and ten?
That's when he noticed it; the front of the house had some vines creeping up it on a ladder shaped thing. He tried to remember what it was called... something fancy... a trellises? Whatever, it didn't matter what it was called. He should be light enough to climb it, right?
"Shelly, watch my back." Archie said, stepping forward. "If I fall you gotta catch me."
"You're bigger than me." She pouted.
"Fine. If I fall, you gotta call your mom. Got it?"
"Yeah, I got it. Just hurry!" He said nothing more and grabbed a hold of the trellises, and began to pull himself up. The wood was a little shaky, but he climbed slowly and managed not to fall. He finally reached the second floor and hopped into the room, knocking a few extra shards of the broken window onto the floor. Much to his surprise, the room itself didn't look haunted. There was no dust or cobwebs anywhere; in fact, the room was spotless. The walls were painted a pale red and were covered with many pictures of various scenic locations in Hoenn, such as Mount Chimney and Meteor Falls. There was a desk with a neat stack of books upon it and a very large bookshelf with even more to read. It was clear that whoever lived here had nothing better to do than read. He finally noticed the ball lying near the door. He quietly crept forward, hoping he could grab the ball and leave without disturbing the ghosts.
"Who are you?"
The unexpected voice caused him to jump and nearly scream. He turned and found a kid, who looked about the same age as him, sitting in the bed. Archie had been scanning the room so feverishly for the ball that he hadn't noticed the kid sitting there. Plus, it didn't help that his red striped pajamas blended in with the bed sheets so well. Archie became a little nervous at the sight of the boy. Was this the ghost that some of his friends had claimed to see? His skin was sickly pale and he did have red eyes and hair. But he really didn't seem that frightening. He was pretty skinny and wore large glasses. If need be, Archie would have no trouble beating this kid in a fight. Then again, if he had otherworldly ghost powers, then there really wasn't anything he could do.
"Are you just going to stare?" The kid continued, "I asked you who you were." Maybe the kid really was a ghost. He didn't seem intimidated in the slightest that someone had broken into his house. In fact, he looked irritated at most.
"Oh, uh, hi." Archie finally said. "I'm Archie. I live a few houses down."
"Okay, Archie. What are you doing here?"
"I was, uh, gettin' my ball back. I accidentally hit it in here."
"I see." The kid turned his attention back to his book. "But why did you break into my room? We have a front door."
"'Cause I didn't wanna die." Archie responded. He regretted saying it the moment it came out; being brutally honest was one of Archie's issues.
"Die?" The kid asked. "Why would you die?"
"I-I, it's nothin', I mean-" The kid glared at Archie, folding his arms as he waited for a proper response. His intense glare just made Archie even more nervous. "Fine!! Everyone says this house is haunted and I didn't wanna die!!"
"Haunted?" The kid repeated, after a short pause. And then a smile appeared on his lips. He began to laugh. It wasn't even a subtle giggle or something quiet; he began to laugh loudly, tears forming in his eyes as he kept going. Archie would have been embarrassed but he was unsure whether the boy was laughing at him for calling him a ghost, or if it was the diabolical laugh of a ghost. Finally, the kid calmed down and wiped at his eyes. "A ghost? Are you serious?"
"Hey, don't laugh at me! How was I supposed to know better?" Archie replied, averting his gaze away from him. "My friends said they saw a ghost in here! And none of us have ever seen ya come outside, so...!"
"So I'm the ghost?" The kid asked. "Well, it's nice to know I can scare people without even going outside."
"So you're not a ghost?"
"Of course not! Don't be silly. I'm a kid, just like you." He readjusted his glasses and got out of bed, approaching Archie. "My name is Maxie."
"Well, it's nice to meet ya, Maxie." Archie felt a wave of relief pass through him now that he knew he wasn't talking to the dead. He held his hand, (the left one, of course), out for Maxie to shake, and hesitantly, he took it and shook.
"Nice to meet you, too." He replied. Archie couldn't help but notice how cold his hand was.
"So if you're just a kid," Archie asked, strolling over to retrieve his baseball, "then how come you're never outside? I didn't even know ya existed until now."
"Well, we've only been here for a little over a month." Maxie responded. "We used to live in Lavaridge up until then."
"Oh, isn't that where the hot springs are? I always wanted to go there once!"
"Who cares about the hot springs when Mt. Chimney is right there?"
"Eh, volcanoes aren't that great. They're just boring like mountains 'til they explode, and then you're dead."
"I promise you there's much more to them than that."
"Well then you keep 'em. I've got the ocean." Archie looked out the window, which had a fairly unobstructed view of the ocean beyond Slateport. "Nice view. Ain't it beautiful?"
"It loses its charm when that's all you get to look at all day." Archie turned to say something in protest, when he noticed that Maxie's bed was facing the window.
"Do ya not... leave this room very often?" Archie hadn't considered it until now, but it was already past noon and Maxie had still been in bed, in his pajamas and it didn't look like he planned on leaving anytime soon. Not only that, but his skin was really pale; it looked as if it hadn't seen the light of day in ages. Plus, that would explain why he and none of the other kids had never seen him before.
"I don't see a reason to." Maxie said. "I moved here in the middle of summer break. I don't know anybody yet, and I probably won't get to until classes start. So I might as well wait until then."
"That sounds really boring." Archie said. "The point of summer is to be with friends outside of class! You're supposed to have fun and play outside!!"
"Well, I..." Maxie looked like he was going to argue some more, but stopped when he noticed Archie's right hand. "Are you okay?"
"Whaddaya mean?" Arcie looked at his palm and noticed a long, thin cut across it. "Oh." He must have cut it on some of the broken glass of the window when he climbed in. He hadn't really noticed it; the fear of encountering and getting killed by a ghost was more important to him than a cut.
"Come with me." Maxie said, heading towards the bedroom door. "I'll get that fixed for you."
"Hey, it's okay. You really don't have to-"
"That wasn't an offer, it was an order. Come with me."
Archie sighed and followed behind the boy, figuring there was no point in arguing. The two walked downstairs in silence, Archie mostly being quiet so he could look around. The house was... normal, to say the least. Archie had been expecting a typical haunted house filled with old, ornate furniture and chandeliers that were all covered in cobwebs. But what he got was a normal house with mostly modern furniture and not a spot of dust or decay to be seen. The whole place was actually much cleaner than his own house and he realized, with all the stuff he left lying out in his room, that chances are there'd be more bugs in his own house than Maxie's.
"I guess it really isn't haunted." Archie said when the two finally arrived in the kitchen.
"Are you really still worrying about that?" Maxie replied, opening one of the cabinets and pulling out a first aid kit. "Give me your hand." Archie complied and winced when Maxie began to wash it with a paper towel dipped in rubbing alcohol.
"Look, ya really don't have to do that." Archie said. Maxie kept a firm grip on his wrist and kept going. "I mean I get cut up all the time. It's no biggie."
"That's not a good thing." Maxie finally tossed the paper towel into the trash and began to wrap Archie's hand with bandages.
"Yeah it is. It means I'm havin' fun!" Archie pointed to his elbow, which had a azumarill print bandage on it. "I got that when I fell off my bike while ridin' with Shelly. It was a lot of fun! And that cut on my knee; I accidentally scraped my leg against a rock while I was swimmin' in the ocean. It hurt, but I still had a lot of fun! Plus, it makes me look cool."
"You're really weird." Maxie said. He finished up the bandage and put the first aid kit back in its spot.
"You're just jealous." Archie said, curling his right hand into a fist to test it out.
"That's a stupid thing to be jealous of." Maxie replied.
“I still think you’re jealous.”
“Whatever.” The two of them sat in silence for a moment, before Maxie cleared his throat.
“Well?”
“Well what?”
“Aren’t you going to head out now?”
“I think you should come with me.”
Maxie paused for a moment; clearly that was not the response he was expecting.
“What in the world are you talking about?”
“Ya heard me. Come with me.”
“Why?”
“Look around ya, Maxie, there’s no way this could be any fun! You need to go outside, run around, get dirty, just have some fun!”
“Are you serious?”
“Of course! You said you don’t know anyone, but now you know me! We can play baseball together with some of my friends! You should see how hard my friend Shelly can throw the ball and…" He trailed off. Wait. The ball. That's why he was here: he had broken the window. "Shoot, the ball!! What about your window? I broke your window!!"
"Yes, you did."
"Are your parents gonna be mad?"
"Probably.” Maxie replied calmly. "I might not be allowed to ever see you again. Which is why-"
"Oh come on! That's so unfair!!" Archie interrupted. "I mean we just met! We didn't even get a chance to hang out and-"
"Which is why," Maxie continued, talking over Archie's whining, "I broke the window."
"Wait... what?"
"The book I was reading had an awful ending. I hated it so much I threw it out the window. That's what happened, isn't it?" Archie couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was Maxie really letting him off the hook like that?
"Won't you get in trouble?"
"I'm sure I will. But I don’t think my mom is going to kill me or anything.”
"Well... is there somethin' I can do in return?" Archie replied sheepishly. This was honestly the nicest thing anyone had done for him; and lord knows how much he hated getting in trouble.
"I heard there's a beach house near here that sells ice cream floats." Maxie said. "When we hang out next time, get me one." Archie smiled; he liked how Maxie didn't even consider the possibility that there wouldn't be a next time. He appreciated that kind of confidence.
"It's a deal."
Pretty soon after that, Maxie convinced Archie to finally leave the house, explaining that his excuse would make more sense if Archie weren’t around. Not only that, but Archie figured he had kept Shelly waiting long enough. He exited through the front door and found her sitting not too far away in the grass, pulling clumps of it out and then dumping it on her leg.
"What are you doin'?" Archie asked.
"Archie!" She jolted up in surprise. "Nothin'! I was just bored! What took ya so long?" She grabbed ahold of his hand, looking horrified. "What happened to your hand? Did the ghost attack ya?!"
"Easy, Shelly, calm down." Archie said, gently pulling his hand out of Shelly's grip. "I just cut myself on the window. That's all. In fact, there's a kid inside and he was the one who fixed it up for me."
"There's a kid in there?" Shelly asked. "Is he... y'know, alive?"
“Well… he definitely does look like a ghost.” He thought about how Maxie had bandaged his hand and how he had offered to take the blame for breaking his window despite knowing next to nothing about him. He smiled. “But he seems really nice. I trust him.”
"Ya didn’t answer my question." Shelly said. Before he had a chance to answer her properly, a book came flying out of Maxie's window and fell to the ground just a few feet away from them. Shelly shrieked and began to run away, and Archie soon ran after her. He turned to get one last look at the house, and noticed Maxie standing at the window, staring down at them. It looked like he was smiling. Archie waved at him before returning to his task of catching up to Shelly.
They didn’t see each other again until about a week later, on yet another painfully sunny day. The window had since been fixed, but Archie had decided to keep his distance. He had no idea how long Maxie would get grounded for. He knew his parents would’ve surely grounded him for at least a week. Maybe more, seeing how this wasn’t the first time he had broken a window.
He walked up to Maxie’s house and nervously knocked on the door. He was still worried he’d encounter one of Maxie’s parents, and then he’d admit what really happened. He had just met Maxie; he didn’t want to be banned from seeing him before getting to know him. Much to his relief, Maxie opened the door.
“I was wondering when you’d come back.” Maxie said. He shut the door behind him and began to walk ahead of Archie. “Well, let’s go.”
“Hey… aren’t ya gonna tell anyone you’re gone?” Archie asked, catching up with him. “Won’t your parents be worried?”
“As long as I’m home before mom gets back from work, I’ll be fine.”
“Wait, are ya home alone all day?”
“Usually.”
“Aren’t ya a little young to be doin’ that?” Maxie almost looked offended at his sentiment.
“I’m almost nine! I can take care of myself, thank you.” Maxie replied. “Besides, mom’s really busy. She can’t be home all the time.”
“What about your dad, then?” Maxie paused for a moment, but quickly got back to his usual pace.
“What about him?” Maxie said with a shrug. “He’s not here.”
“What’s that supposed to-”
“Archie, why are you letting me lead the way? I just moved here. I don’t know where anything is.”
“But…” Maxie glared at him, effectively silencing him. Archie could be oblivious at times, but he knew what that look meant: drop the subject. He led Maxie to the beach, making sure to talk about his love for water type pokemon instead.
As promised, he bought Maxie a sundae from the little shack on the beach and, much to Maxie’s displeasure, Archie made the two of them sit on towels on the hot sand.
“Why couldn’t we just stay inside?” Maxie complained.
“It’s crowded in there!” Archie replied. “Besides, we’re at the beach! What’s the point if ya can’t see the water?” Maxie took a bite out of his ice cream, and then looked to the ocean.
He glanced back at Archie and shrugged.
“It’s not that special.” He finally said.
“What’re ya even talkin’ about? Look at it!” He gestured to the ocean with his spoon, splattering the sand in front of him with chocolate ice cream. “It’s so big! And have ya seen some of the stuff that lives in there?”
“Yes, I have. And I think the fire types in the mountains are much cooler.”
“That’s just cause ya haven’t seen ‘em up close!”
“You mean like in an aquarium?”
“Nope! I’m talkin’ about in the sea! One time when I was swimmin’, I felt something rub against my leg. I thought it was seaweed, but when I dove under, there were a ton of tentacool everywhere!”
“That sounds terrifying!” Maxie exclaimed, “Why would you come back?”
“Tentacool aren’t that scary. There’s just a ton of them. And why wouldn’t I come back? The ocean’s home!”
“What are you even talking about?”
“Have you swum in the ocean before?”
“No.”
“Then of course ya don’t get it.” Archie stood up. “C’mon, we should swim!”
“Absolutely not.”
“Aww, how come?”
“I don’t know how to swim.”
“Is that all? It’s simple, I’ll help ya!” He grabbed Maxie’s hand to help him up, but Maxie pulled away.
“I don’t care how simple it is, I’m not swimming with you.” Maxie snapped. “Besides, I don’t even have a swim suit.”
“Your shorts’ll work just fine.”
“That’s not the point!”
“Well what is it, then?” Archie sighed. “C’mon, ya stay inside all day. This could be your chance to actually do somethin’ fun! Why don’t ya live a little?”
“I am.” Maxie glared.
“Oh really? Ya don’t look like you’re havin’ much fun. Do ya prefer stayin’ in your room all day or somethin’?”
“Prefer… are you serious?” Maxie asked. “Do you really think I choose to stay in my room all day? Do you really think I like being cooped up? There’s a reason for it!”
“Well, what is it, then?”
“Just…” Maxie looked around nervously, and then gestured for Archie to sit down beside him. “Sit down, okay? I don’t want to draw attention.”
“Fine.” Archie sat down and Maxie, after once again looking around him, began to unbutton his shirt. “I thought ya said ya didn’t want to swim.”
“That’s not what I’m doing. Shut up.” He unbuttoned his shirt down to his stomach, revealing a long, red scar that started just beneath his collarbones and stopped just after his ribcage. It didn’t look like any scar Archie had seen before. Even the bad ones he had seen some of his friends get from falling off their bikes didn’t look like this. It was long and straight, almost as if it were intentional.
“Whoa… what happened to ya?” Archie asked. “Did ya get attacked by a wild pokemon or somethin’?”
“Of course not. What kind of pokemon cuts this cleanly?” Maxie sighed and began to button up his shirt again. “There was something wrong with my heart when I was born. I can’t remember what it was, but it made me dizzy and I couldn’t play outside a lot and sometimes it was hard to breathe. So a doctor cut me open and fixed it. That’s why I moved here. Now do you understand why I wasn’t outside playing with everyone?”
“Yeah… yeah, I think I get it.” Archie replied. Even though Maxie had buttoned up his shirt, he still couldn’t help but stare. It was hard to believe someone his age could go through something like that. Surgery, getting things done to your heart… he had only ever heard things like that happen on those cheesy hospital dramas that his dad watched, and he noticed that most of those characters died, anyways. Either those shows were incredibly inaccurate, or Maxie was the toughest person he had ever met. Or maybe a mix of both.
“So… you’re allowed to be outside, right? This isn’t gonna kill ya or somethin’, is it?”
“Of course not, don’t be silly,” Maxie responded. “I’ve been alright to go outside for over a week now. I just haven’t because I don’t know anybody yet. Mom moved us here because the air is clearer and figured I’d spend the summer resting and then make friends when the school year started. I guess she didn’t realize how boring that’d end up being.”
“Whoa…” Archie said. Honestly, he couldn’t even imagine it. Being too sick to run around, having to spend most of his summer inside. He must’ve been desperate to get outside, regardless of whom it was with. Archie knew he would be if he were in his shoes. “I’m sorry, Max.”
“For what? You didn’t do anything. In fact, I should thank you; if it weren’t for you, I’d still be stuck in my room right now.”
“Is that why ya covered for me? I mean, with the ball and everythin’?”
“Obviously. Normally, I would’ve gotten you in trouble. You shattered my window, broke into my house and even called me a ghost five minutes after meeting me.” Maxie paused, a ghost of a smile appearing on his face. “But then you asked me to come outside and play with you. You had no reason to do that; you were just there to get your ball then leave, right? I didn’t have that many friends in Lavaridge, and I thought it’d be even harder here in Slateport. But then you immediately asked to hang out. There was no way I could let a chance at a new friend get away.” Maxie paused, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear. Archie noticed the change in his demeanor. “I’m talking too much. Did you want to go home now?”
“Go home?” Archie asked. “’Course not. It’s hardly even noon! We’ve got the whole day to do stuff! I know a great place where ya can see Mt. Chimney. Ya like Mt. Chimney, right? Oh, there’s a contest hall not too far from here. Maybe we can catch one!”
“You don’t have to do that. You only owed me ice cream.”
“So what? It’s already July; half the summer’s over.” He stood up and held his hand out towards Maxie. “I’m gonna help ya make up for all that lost fun. Okay?”
“I…” Maxie grabbed Archie’s hand, and smiled genuinely for the first time all day. “Okay.”