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Upon looking back Eli realized his partner was gone. Eli's black and red eyes scanned around to see if he had gone somewhere else in the room. But that didn't seem to be the case. Maybe he was offended by Eli's request? Or maybe he thought Eli would wrap it up and went to go check on his pokemon. There were many possibilities, either way it didn't really bother Eli. He had the room to himself, so he could talk freely with the little girl. His black and red eyes suddenly turned more gentle than normal, looking down at her as the male sat down, reaching up with his tattooed hands and pushing his hair back out of his face a bit. His back leaning back against the table the girl was hiding behind. "My name is Eli, what's your name?" He asked softly, trying to break the ice, to help her feel a bit more comfortable. "Cecilia..." She said nervously as she brought her knees up to her small chest and wrapped her arms around them, holding herself.

It was odd, being on this side of the conversation. "When I was a little boy, my father worked at a pokemon graveyard, in a little town far from here called lavendar town. It was a large tower where pokemon who passed away could be burried peacefully and their trainers and friends could come visit them. My father, he was just a grounds keeper. He would spend hours every day making sure the place was as clean as possible. He would polish the tombstones, and if there was a grave site that hadn't been visited in a while. He would put flowers there and spend time talking to the pokemon that had past away. He told me he wanted to make sure the pokemon weren't lonely, even in the afterlife."

The little girl's nerves seemed to fade as Eli told his story. Looking up at him her eyes going wide, seemingly captivated. Maybe it was due to the thought of a pokemon grave yard, or what he was saying about her father. Eli didn't try to figure it out, he just kept talking. "I used to go with him on the weekends, I would sit at the pokemon's grave sites and talk to them, tell them about what happened that week. Tell them jokes and stories. I wasn't sure if it helped, but I had seen my father do it so many times, it just seemed like the right thing to do." Eli's face had gone soft, the memories of his kind and loving father flooding his mind. His eyes even watered a bit. But those quickly faded away as the little girl, Cecilia, asked him a question. "Did you ever see them? Did they ever talk back?!" She asked excitedly. Her little hands reaching up and grabbing onto Eli's sleeve, her eyes wide with hope.

Eli looked down at her with a soft smile and slowly shook his head no. "No...Sadly I never saw them. But my father did, he said he saw them often. And one day he told me, that the pokemon I visited, that they loved when I came to talk to them. He could seem them listening and how happy it made them..." Cecilia's face was a roller coaster of emotions, the hope quickly faded to sorrow, then back to hope again as he talked about his father's ability, then, awe. She seemed amazed, but then quickly sad again. "I wish I could see spirits... So I could see mommy one more ti-" Her tiny soft voice was choked out as a lump formed in her throat and tears began to stream down her small, dirty face.

Eli wasn't sure what to do, slowly he reached out, placing his hand on her head, which was sporting a very messy hair do. In an instantly the tiny girl had thrown her arms around Eli and was bawling. Eli knew there were no words to say to make things better. So instead he just sat there, and let the little girl squeeze his body as her tears soaked his black jacket. The room, once silent, was now filled with the girl's sorrowful wailing, echoing throughout the tower. Eli wouldn't be surprised if the girl's father could hear it from the bottom.

After a few moments Eli began humming, a soft little lullaby. The tone was gentle, it was a tone Eli hummed often. Unlike earlier it was missing that more eerie vibe to it though, this time it seemed genuine, comforting. Cecilia sat there sobbing into him, gasping for air once her tiny lungs had no more. She cried, and cried, and cried until she finally began calming down.

creeeek. Creeek. Creeeek Cecilia's grip on Eli suddenly grew tighter as she clenched him, now instead out of hurt, it was fear. "Cu? Cubooone?" Eli's lips curved into a small smile. It was his partner, his friend. The one who comforted him in his time of need, and the one who he first comforted. "Don't worry, it's my friend I want to introduce you." Hearing Eli's Voice Kibou came running around the table quickly and jumped into Eli's lap clutching him tightly. The usually strong, stoic pokemon obviously having missed his friend and was worried about him. "Bone! cubone cubone bone bone!" The cubone shouted angrily seemingly lecturing Eli not to leave him like that again.

Eli laughed softly and rubbed the top of the skull Kibou wore on his head. "Cecilia, this is Kibou, my cubone. Kibou this is Cecilia. We are all alike. We have lost parents, and know just how lonely that can be..." Eli said with a soft sorrow in his voice. Cecilia's eyes went wide in surprise as she looked at Eli then down at Kibou. "y-you two too?" She asked softly, her voice cracking, threatening to break into tears once more. Kibou simply nodded, his own eyes closing trying to fight back tears.

"My father ended up passing away while I was still a child... It was very hard for me. It was at that time I was in the pokemon graveyard, much like you trying to talk to my dad, trying to find him, trying to see him. That I found Kibou, who's mother was brutally killed. Kibou and I joined together and comforted each other until we were ready to continue on with life. To live the life our parents would have wanted us to live. My goal is to collect other pokemon that have had suffering and to create a family of our own. You are welcome to join our family too." Cecilia was already pouring tears from her eyes before Eli even finished his story. Throwing her tiny arms around Eli and Kibou as she sobbed. "We can stay here as long as you need. Until you're ready to keep going. It doesn't mean that you have to forget, we never forget. We just have to bring them along on our journey."

Cecilia nodded into Eli's chest. "o-okay!" she yelled as she began sobbing uncontrollably once more. Eli's shirt becoming drenched in her tears and snot. And so they sat there, allow cecilia to feel the painful loss of the death of parent. And after a few hours of sitting there little Ceclilia had worn herself out, crying herself to sleep. Eli gently scooped her up in his arms and carried her down the creeking, worn out stairs. Careful where he was stepping so not to fall through or cause to much noise to wake the sleeping girl.

As they reached the outside the father who was pacing saw them "Cecilia!!" He shouted as he ran toward them. Cecilia waking up slowly rubbing her eyes. "d-daddy?...DADDY!" She wiggled out of Eli's arms onto the ground and leapt into her father's arms who embraced her and spun her around as she clenched onto him tightly. Eli's lips curved into a small smile and took his chance to leave the two. They needed each other, and Eli would be sure to come back in the area to visit to make sure she was okay. But the time the two were done embracing and crying, they turned to thank Eli but he was already gone.


"bone.. cubone? "Don't give me that, you know I don't do well with all that kind of stuff. I don't need the attention. She is safe and reunited with her Father, and was given her time to mourn. That's all that matters, I don't need to stick around and let people see that side."BONE! Kibou obviously disagreed with Eli, and thought they should have stuck around a bit longer to say goodbye. But those kinds of things made Eli uncomfortable, he didn't like having the attention, and didn't wanna be some 'hero'. He just wanted to make some extra cash, and saw a girl who he knew he could help. It was as simple as that. Plus, Eli had a facade to keep up. Who would think he was creepy if they knew he had such a kind heart inside?