Archive of Our Own ^beta

Sneasler huffed a long breath as she spotted the Pearl Clan settlement on the horizon. She’d run out of excuses not to visit, so here she was, grumpily trudging through the snow with her basket slung over her shoulders. She’d planned ahead of course; sunset was only a few hours off, and if she needed it Avalug still owed her a favor and could kick up a quick snowstorm. Both would give her a good excuse to keep her visit short. If everything went her way she’d show up, stand around long enough to convince them that, no, they hadn’t pissed off Arceus this month or whatever, get the hot gossip from Glacion, dodge Irida trying to talk about forcing her to choose a warden, then dip with whatever hasty ‘offerings’ they scrambled to throw together while she and Glaceon talked. Short, easy, and the option that left her the least willing to shove the clan leader into an ice cave.

She was close enough that she could see the people moving about in the settlement, walking among the tents and doing whatever it was humans did. She could also see smoke and smell the rich scent of cooking meat on the wind–maybe she would get a little of that before she left. Sneasler licked her lips but kept the same pace, even hot, juicy Swinub meat wouldn’t convince her that visiting the settlement was worth the fuss it would cause. If they thought they’d found something that would actually get her to visit, then where would she be? Better to leave them guessing.

The guards that patrolled around the outside of the settlement finally noticed her as she came within hearing distance. One of them shouted something in human tongue and ran off back to the tents, probably letting everyone know she was there, while the other called out to her, arm raised in greeting before he bowed his head slightly.

Yes, yes, her great-great-grandparent met Arceus once and got a job out of it, whoop-dee-doo, can she be let in now or what?

The guard was saying something, she wasn’t listening, as she finally reached the edge of the settlement and walked right by him, intending to find the warmest spot she could to wait out her arbitrary time limit. The talking suddenly cut off, however, when a light blue blur raced around one of the tents and smashed into him, ignoring the human it knocked down to skid to a stop in front of Sneasler.

*Sneasler Hello!* Glaceon chirped with a head tilt, tail wagging. *Glad you’re here! It’s been so long!*

*Hey Glaceon* Sneasler purred, tilting her own head and flicking her claws *Got any good gossip?*

*Oh Yes! Oh Yes!* Glaceon pranced in place. * We Found something! Something New!* She shook her head, pawing the ground in clear excitement.

*Something new?* Sneasler tapped her foot. That was interesting. Pearl Clan didn’t really like new things, about as stubborn and unchanging as the permafrost they lived on. That Glaceon was excited about whatever it was, was really saying something, though Sneasler didn’t know what.

*Come! Come! You have to See!* Glaceon’s tail wagged harder and she flicked her head toward where she wanted Sneasler to go. *I think you will like it!*

Sneasler wouldn’t lie and say she wasn’t a little curious, but she also wasn’t sure she wanted to go deeper into the Pearl Clan settlement either. She was ignoring Glaceon’s Eevee-kit-eyes with the seasoned practice of someone who had met the late Lord Arcanine’s pups when they were born and had therefore seen cuter. Then again, all she was doing was standing here, and her only real entertainment was trying to show her something instead of just telling her the usual gossip… ‘Sigh’, well it was better than waiting here to get ambushed by Irida or any of the clan Elders.

Glaceon clearly saw her resolve flicker, because the Eeveelution instantly perked up with a cheer, dashing in a small circle before starting in the direction she’d gestured to previously.

*Follow me! It’s not far! You will like it, I’m positive!*  

Sneasler followed Glaceon between the tents, her smaller friend keeping up a stream of meaningless, repetitive chatter about how much Sneasler would like what she was about to see, and how excited she was, all without once getting around to explaining exactly what this mystery thing even was. They had appeared to reach their final destination in fact, a tent that smelled horribly of bitter herbs and berries, by the time Glaceon mentioned anything new of note.

*Sister Irida and the Elders have even been talking in the big tent all day about what to do… Oh, we’re here!*

 Sneasler was torn between confusion at what in Hisui was so important about this mystery thing that Irida and the Elders had been talking about It for literal hours, and selfish relief that there was a very high chance that Sneasler wouldn’t have to see any of them because of this. Not that Glaceon knew, or cared, about Sneasler’s tiny inner conflict, instead pushing her way inside the tent while looking back to make sure Sneasler was following, which she was.

The inside of the tent smelled even more like bitter herbs than it did from the outside and Sneasler felt her nose wrinkle in disgust. She was pretty sure she recognized this place, this was where she sometimes brought injured humans for their fellows to fix. Right now it was mostly empty, except for the Grumpy Healer who was Ursaluna’s warden… and a Human Sneasler had never seen before, wearing some of the strangest human pelts she had ever seen. The human was all blacks and reds and silvers, a strange crest on its head and its fur shaped strangely around its ears. Its eyes were bright, the same color as its fur, and it turned them to rest on her as she entered, the rest of it staying completely still where it perched on the edge of it’s seat. It didn’t look at her for long, however, as the Grumpy Healer drew its attention back almost immediately by depositing something she’d been mixing into its hands.

“There, that should help with the remaining cough. Drink the whole thing. It won’t taste amazing, but it shouldn’t taste too bad.” She grumbled.

“Thank you” It replied, voice indicating it was a male human. Then it–he drank what the grumpy healer had handed him. His frown twitched lower as he did. *Arceus! This doesn’t taste too bad? It tastes like Stunky piss!*

If Sneasler had been drinking something right then she would have sprayed it all over the room. Was… Almighty was that Poken?!

Glaceon was trying desperately not to laugh.

The Grumpy Healer, who was a human and therefore didn’t understand Poken– like every other human! –didn’t react to the other human’s comment at all. She simply took the empty container back when he finished with a nod.

“Good, that should be it for medicine today..”

*Wonderful, I hate to think what else you’d do to that poor Stunky for ingredients…*

Holy Shit!

Glaceon had given up on holding her laughter and was rolling around on the floor.

“...But we’ll have to see in the next couple days.” The Grumpy Healer turned away from the other human but gave his arm a good thwap with the mixing stick she had in one hand, causing the human to yelp. “And try not to look so dour all the time, people will think I’m bad at my job if you keep that up.”

The human’s shoulders rolled forward slightly as he rubbed where his arm was hit, eyes only the littlest bit pinched in the corners.

“Of course Lady Calaba” *If you tell me to fix my expression or hit me with that stick one more damn time I’ll show you exactly why it’s called ‘Resting Murder Face’*

Oh, Arceus above, Sneasler wanted him!

                                         ___________________________________________

Drayden was never admitting to anyone, under pain of death, that he had found his sons in the trash.

Well, that wasn’t strictly true. Technically he found them in a pile of Trubbish next to his gym’s dumpster, but they had clearly been dumpster-diving for a while, and they smelled like it too, so… trash.

But one person’s trash was another man’s treasure, and everyone knew how dragons were about treasure.

Already breaking out the dad jokes, Clay would be proud.

Anyway, they were his beloved trash Impidimp, who he, at the time, hadn’t been 100% sure weren’t also Pokemon when he dragged them into the gym for a good hose down and some berries, having seen the bruising even under all the grime. The Trubbish all got some TLC too, which thinking back may have been the thing that initially convinced the boys that he wasn’t going to hurt them. Instead, after he’d come back from the gym’s storage room with arms full of towels, fresh waters, potions, and more berries, he’d found two very scruffy eleven-year-olds wrestling with some of the first-stage dragons he kept around, their little Trubbish friends cheering them on.

And that was basically that.

The adoption process was fraught, and it probably didn’t help that the boys only seemed to trust him human-wise, with anyone else getting growled at, quite literally, or one time bitten when someone wouldn’t respect Emmet’s space and Ingo took offense.

Oh, yes, they also had names, names that would be a big help in finding wherever they may have come from, names that meant Drayden didn’t have to rely on his own lackluster naming skills to provide ones for them–see Fluffy the Altaria and Ax the Haxerous.

Names… that were two of the only human words they seemed to know.

It was rather disconcerting to hear them muttering their own names to themselves or each other over and over, like listening to a distorted Pokemon call. It was only slightly made better when they started shrieking each other's names back and forth like some sort of game, which Ingo usually won for sheer volume. Other words, however? Maybe a handful. Yes, no, food, what, sleep, hurt, and surprisingly a bunch of train terms that implied they may have either spent time near or at some point knew someone with a connection to the Unovian Rail system.

It was a mystery, like them, but Drayden didn’t let any of that deter him. Didn’t let any of the setbacks or investigations or delays stop him from taking those two boys into his home the way they wormed their way into his heart.

They loved his house, and his dragons, the one Trubbish who had chosen to stay with them and not behind the gym playing easily with the Axew that had hatched from the egg he had given them to share. They were joined, bit by bit, by other Pokemon who seemed to arrive out of nowhere; Ingo came to breakfast one morning with a Litwick on his head, while Drayden came home to Emmet scolding an unhappy-looking Galvantula about muddy tracks it got on the ceiling. He walked in on the two of them oooing and aahing over a pair of Klinks, saw Emmet wearing an Eelectrik like a scarf, and Ingo wrestling a Timbur. On a visit to Clay they wandered off and came back with an Excadrill leading them both by the hand, and Emmet had found a fossil that they quickly got revived. The very territorial Durrant that started guarding the house came out of nowhere, just like the Boldore that lived in the back garden now, or the Crustle that he found the boys sunning themselves on top of when the weather allowed it.

They loved Pokemon, and Pokemon seemed to love them right back. It was like they could understand each other, sitting there and responding, and easy back and forth, call and response, reacting like they were having a complete conversation.

With their clear love of and understanding of Pokemon, he wasn’t surprised when they came up to him to ask about battling.

They were excited, gesturing and using as many words as they knew to try and get across what they were asking, and he was excited too. He immediately went to work explaining what they wanted to know, showing them his own partners and pulling up videos on his underused laptop. He even offered to bring them to the gym, which they readily agreed to, getting to sit in one of the special viewing boxes with their Eelectrik and newly evolved Lampent helping keep watch with Ax who was quite the mother hen. When he went to check on them after a few challengers they practically bowled him over, babbling incomprehensibly about everything they’d seen. It made something incredibly warm bubble up inside him, overflowing into a beaming smile that was hidden behind his beard.

His boys seemed to see it anyway.

                                         ______________________________________________________________

Volcorona had been a champion’s Pokemon for years, and a partner Pokemon for even longer, and he was sure he had never met challengers quite like these.

They had arrived at the champion seat at the same time and both had requested a fight with Alder, one after the other, even willing to wait a few hours between to make sure his team was properly healed up and ready to go. Both battles had been far more intense than any of the previous battles of their fellow hopefuls, which was saying something given you had to be incredibly skilled even to reach the champion. It was quick, and brutal, and brilliant.

And they had won, both of them.

Alder had given him a max revive and now he hovered at his partner’s shoulder, watching the little contrasting challengers, both smiling in their own ways, as Alder congratulated them.

“...And now you two will battle to see who takes the title of champion.”

“Ex *Fucking* scuse me?”

Volcorona’s wings missed a flap, but his partner clearly didn’t notice anything strange, smiling a genial smile even as two sets of silver eyes began to bore into him.

“Yes, you boys both did exceptionally well in our battles, but since you both beat me that means you will have to battle each other to determine which of you receives the champion title.”

Neither of the boys looked happy anymore, or, well, one was still smiling, but Volcorona had seen Gliscors smile like that when plotting murder, so that meant literally nothing.

“We don’t understand” *we both beat you fair and square you hack!*  

“Why can’t we both be champions?” *I knew we should have demanded a Multi battle!* 

*Yes it seems so!*

Volcorona was both intrigued and concerned–these kids knew Poken? How did they know Poken? Why did they know Poken? Did they even realize almost every human they’d probably ever meet wouldn’t catch a good half of what they were trying to tell them?

*That’s complete tauros-shit!*

And who taught those boys that sort of language!?!

Alder was trying, and failing, to explain that the League would only accept there being one champion at a time, no matter that they allowed gyms and other facilities to have multiple leaders. If they wanted to be recognized as champions, it would only ever be one of them, unless one went through the entire Elite Four again and defeated the other. Even if they went that route, however, it would take quite some time, as there was a rule in place that if a challenger reached the champion but lost, they couldn’t retry for another six months, a rule implemented years ago so challengers wouldn’t exhaust themselves or their Pokemon by trying to brute force the championship.

Neither of the boys were at all pleased with this.

*I want to bite him!* *Not if I bite him first!* 

Volcorona let out a small sound and sped up its wingbeats a fraction.

*It’s not my partner’s fault, please don’t bite him! He’s just following the rules!*

 The boys sharp silver eyes locked on him over Alder’s shoulder.

*A slowbro could write smarter rules.* *If a Pokemon used mind reader on the league, all they’d hear was krickitot.* 

They focused on Alder again.

*But you asked, so we won't bite your partner* *If Emmet won’t bite, I won’t bite.* 

Volcorona almost sagged in relief, despite still hanging in mid-air, but then it saw the terrifying glint ignite in those silver gazes.

Oh Shit.

*We will have to show them how stupid they are!* *Yes, we will make them regret this very much!* *We will be the best battlers!* *Better than Champions!* *And We’ll do it together!* *Yep yep!*

“Thank you, but we won't leave each other behind.” *It’s insulting you even suggested it*

“Yes, if we can’t both be champions we’ll try something else, but thank you for the battle.” *Please make it harder next time!*

The boys turned in sync, smiling in their own ways once more, and strode out of the Champion’s chamber shoulder to shoulder.

Alder waved at their retreating backs, a big smile on his weathered face.

“Always nice to meet such nice trainers. And so polite too!”

Volcorona stared incredulously at the side of his Partner’s head. Had they even met the same boys?

…Nevermind, forget he asked.

Arceus, he needed some fermented fruit and a lie-down.

                                         ______________________________________________________________

Hilda recalled her Pokemon and resisted the urge to collapse on the ground as the adrenalin finally drained out of her. Across from her the green-haired teen, the weirdo that had been trying to stop her from following those Team Plasma goons, was just standing there now that all his Pokemon were fainted. He wasn’t even trying to follow his… what? Subjects? That is if she chose to believe his claim about being the King of Team Plasma, which she really didn’t. This guy couldn’t be more than a couple years older than her, at that, and if she had to put money on it, she’d bet he didn’t even know what most of Team Plasma was doing at any given time. Stealing Pokemon from small children was pretty far separated from helping Pokemon reach perfection, or whatever green guy was on about. 

Green guy–what had he said his name was? N? Yeah, that–had shifted a little and… wait, was he waiting for her to catch her breath? Ugh! Why? She just wanted to check out the amusement park before she got her backside handed to her at the Electric Gym tomorrow–she wasn’t being pessimistic, she was being realistic ! Everyone and their lillipup had seen the chatter posts about those F*ing Emolga–she didn’t come here to get lectured at about the moral implications of training Pokemon. Or about how battling was super evil, while at the same time, the same person was trying to beat her in a Pokemon battle.  But no! She somehow managed to pick up a weird stalker who was super hung up on shitting all over her life choices and had decided they were destined rivals or something?

“You're good,” N cut through her minor pity party, nodding as if in acknowledgment of her skill. Then he clenched his fist and dramatically dipped his head. “But I have a vision, a mission, and I can’t give up now! I have to become stronger, unbeatable, to see my Truth through!”

Arceus, was this guy for real? He was going full monologue… Hilda didn’t even think he was hamming it up on purpose, he was probably being 100% sincere.

“I will defeat the champion, and once I have I will force all trainers to release their Pokemon, and finally Pokemon will truly be free and happy without humans…”

N probably would have kept going on, trying Hilda’s last patience, tempting her with his very punchable face, but to her immense relief, a new voice cut him off.

“That’s a verrry stupid plan, yep!”

The two of them spun toward the voice, and it took Hilda a couple of seconds to remember who she was looking at. She knew of the Subway Bosses of course, it was really hard not to, she was even planning to try her luck on the subway after she beat the gym. She was relieved some professional battlers had also shown up to deal with Team Plasma; she’d heard the horror stories of other regions just sitting back and letting ten-year-olds handle their evil team problems–Red of the Kanto region was supposedly so messed up he still lived on a mountain alone somewhere and wasn’t even capable of living with his wife and son. 

The White boss was grinning widely at them both, a smile that didn’t reach his eyes as he rested one hand on his Pokeball belt. The Black boss held a matching position on the white boss’s left, his face a stern frown as his sharp silver eyes flicked over the two of them. 

“Wha…?” N obviously didn’t expect someone besides her to call him out on his BS.

“I’m Emmet, and I said your plan was verrry stupid.” The White boss, Emmet, gestured with his free hand. “You can’t force people to release their partners against their will, no matter how strong you are.”

“No,” N was shaking his head “If… if I am undefeatable they will see that my conviction, my truth should be their ideal, and they will understand that separation is what’s best, what their Pokemon truly desire…”

“And how would you know that?” The Black boss–Ingo–cut him off this time. He was still frowning, and his brother was still smiling, but Hilda could somehow tell they were giving N some serious incredulous side-eye.

Either N could tell too, or he was just taking offense to their questioning his argument because he drew his shoulders back and placed one of his hands on his chest like some dramatic Galarian noble.

“I can hear what is spoken in Pokemons’ hearts. I can understand what they desire most, what they say about the humans around them, and how humans use them for their own ends.”

N finished his little speech, but the twin bosses didn’t seem all that impressed. In fact, they looked even more incredulous than before, glancing at each other in silent conversation, before looking back at the two teenagers.

“It’s not that we don’t believe you…” Ingo started.

“But we don’t believe you.” Emmet finished, actually pulling one of his Pokeballs out and rolling it in his palm. “We’ve met psychics, yep, and they can only hear psychic Pokemon. Mediums can only talk to ghost Pokemon, and you don’t seem to understand Pokemon at all…” N bristled, but Emmet just grinned wider. “So would you like to test it? I’ll send out one of my Pokemon, you tell me what you think he says, and I’ll tell you when you’re wrong.”

Emmet didn’t wait for N to answer before releasing his Pokemon, a brightly colored Archeops bursting into the air with a loud squawk, wings flapping desperately as it landed, looking around to see why it was let out. N crouched down in front of it, causing the bright red reptilian head to whip his way, cocking sideways, before looking away completely and back at Emmet, fluttering its wings madly as it hop-scrambled up to the boss’ shoulders and started lightly headbutting him.

“Well?” Emmet demanded, one gloved hand on Archeops’ face to keep it out of his own.

N stood back up, brushing a few leaves off the knees of his pants.

“He… he came out ready for battle, to fight at your command, he was surprised there wasn’t one, but he appreciates being out and trusts your judgment.”

“I’m Emmet, and that was cute, but no.” He wagged a finger on the hand not keeping Archeops back. “Archeops came out looking for his dinner, he was very excited. He asked who you were, and if you going to give him treats. I told him no, so he came back to me to beg.” He lowered his finger and dug around in one pocket, producing a berry which he gave to Archeops. “That was an interesting cold read though, a good skill to have in battle, yep.”

 Ingo nodded along, taking a quick glance at his X-transceiver as he did so.

“Yes, cold reading is a highly sought-after skill in the battling profession, and one we have much experience with, but it is not a skill that works particularly well on Pokemon, too much inherent bias involved. It’s easy enough to tell if a Pokemon is hurt or scared or happy, but anything else… well humans tend to see what they want to see.”

N looked stunned like no one had ever called him on his supposed ability before.

“C–cold read?”

“Yep!” Emmet was scratching Archeops under the chin now. “Someone taught you to Cold read, but told you it lets you understand Pokemon. Who?”

N didn’t respond, in fact, he looked a little shell-shocked. Hilda felt kinda bad, but he had just been talking about forcing people to release their Pokemon and before that was helping criminals escape, so she wasn’t sure what to do. Luckily she didn’t have to think about it for long, because there was the sound of sirens, and a short screech as an Officer Jenny pulled to a stop right next to them.

“Ah, Bravo! Perfect timing!” Ingo clapped as she dismounted. “We were just finishing our conversation Officer! I assume your compatriots managed to round up the others?”

Officer Jenny looked out of breath for some reason as she came to stand beside them, her Stoutland perching by her feet.

“Yeah, yeah we managed to catch the rest of Team Plasma that was in the area. Thanks for lending us your Depot Agents.”

“They Volunteered!” Emmet crowed, looking absolutely gleeful. “They are verrry unhappy that Team Plasma won't try anything on the Subway; honestly I think they’re getting bored.”

Ingo nodded.

“Indeed, fewer passengers have been taking the battle subway since Team Plasma appeared, and the Depot Agents are getting restless, so thank you and your comrades for allowing them to join tracks with you temporarily.”

Jenny waved him off, while her Stoutland appeared to snicker at something, drawing a brief confused look, before she looked over at the other two people there.

“So, this the ‘king’ they mentioned, and witnesses mentioned trying to buy them time to escape?”

“Yes, it appears they’ve raised him to believe in their cause and to believe all humans are abusive and all Pokemon desire freedom, by convincing him he possesses the singular ability to understand Pokemons’ desires, which always conveniently line up with their stated goals.”

Well when he said it like that, N did sound pretty delusional.

Officer Jenny sighed.

“That’s just…” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “I still have to bring him in for questioning, and especially if his guardian is a member of a cult. Is your guardian a member of a cult?”

N remained tellingly silent.

“Might we also suggest?” Ingo cut in. “Looking into possible rehabilitation instead of incarceration? I wouldn’t trust Team Plasma to provide a stable home environment to a child of any age, and aside from some attempted obstruction of justice, young N here’s only crime seems to be being led astray by the ones in charge of his upbringing.”

Hilda, and N, clearly, given the way he was looking at them, had to wonder how they knew all of that.

Officer Jenny probably thought they must have discussed it before she showed up because she just nodded and turned to get a set of cuffs off her bike. Meanwhile Hilda just barely heard N murmur,

“How… how did you know that stuff, about father?”

And Emmet’s even quieter response.

“Even in her Pokeball, your Zoroa is verrry loud, yep.”

Huh?

Wait, so did that mean…?

Officer Jenny drew everyone’s attention back as she held up the cuffs and a small device with a slot for N’s Pokeballs.

“Don’t worry!” She soothed, as he fearfully looked between his belt and the machine. “It only sends the Pokeballs to the Presinct PC so we can keep an eye on them and make sure they’re healthy. Just because we want to ask a few questions doesn’t mean we want to hurt you or your Pokemon, ok?”

N still didn’t look completely convinced, so Officer Jenny offered to send through one of her own partners who was resting but needed a bit of a checkup anyway. She let out the Watchog so N could see it first, and to tell it what was going on, before putting it back in its ball and sending it through. Seeing Watchog unbothered by the thought of the process convinced N enough to hand over his own Pokeballs, and then not fight as Officer Jenny slipped the cuffs over his wrists. Hilda wished she could do something for him as he allowed Officer Jenny to help him into her sidecar, the way his head hung so dejectedly was honesty making her sad, when Subway Boss Ingo leaned down to say something in his ear. She probably would have heard it, given the Black Subway Boss’ usual volume, if Officer Jenny hadn’t chosen that exact moment to rev up her motorcycle, but she didn’t. What she did hear though was N’s exclamation of 

“Really? You’d teach me that?” Which was followed by a sharp nod from Ingo, and a small, watery smile from N.

“Thank you.” Was the last thing Hilda heard him say, before Officer Jenny peeled off, leaving her and the two Subway bosses standing awkwardly in the middle of the street.

                                         ______________________________________________________________

Ingo had been missing for six months, and Emmett was getting verrry frustrated. 

Gear station was running as well as it could with one of its Subway Bosses missing, though they were still working out the logistics for reopening the Singles lines. The Nimbassan police were working their hardest to find his brother, making sure to keep him and Elesa in the loop as much as legally possible, but so far all they'd discovered was that Ingo definitely left unwillingly, and there was definitely Pokemon interference. 

Good, yep, great! Now they just had to find him… so where was he?!

Emmet was doing… not great, but not as bad as he thought he'd be. Their Pokemon were a big help in keeping him grounded, and someone had to stop Chandelure from running off to violently hunt down whoever or whatever took Ingo! And what about Gear Station? Ingo would be verrry angry with Emmet if he let all their hard work go to waste! He would continue running the battle subway and the trains to the best of his ability, but when it came to interacting with the press or the public… well no one could fault him for leaving that to Elesa or the Depot Agents, now could they? Everyone knows he doesn't like interacting with strangers outside of battle even when he's at his best, forget trying to get him to play nice when right now there's a part of his focus constantly devoted solely to worrying about and trying to find Ingo.

That’s what he was doing right now, actually, tucked away in one of the private reading rooms of the Nacrene Library where no one would bother him. Since he was the only remaining Subway Boss, and since the singles lines were down and he wouldn’t go on the multi-lines without Ingo, the challengers on the doubles and super doubles lines had tripled, exponentially increasing his workload. It had been recommended–and he’d begrudgingly agreed–that he cut down on his working hours before he suffered a burnout. So now every few days he let the Depot Agents handle the Subway and spent his time between caring for their Pokemon, hanging out with Elesa, and where he was at this very moment, pouring over a book about old myths and legends, trying to find anything that could lead him to what might have taken his brother.

The police had confirmed it was a Pokemon who took him, but they couldn’t determine what kind it could have been. Emmet had already gone over every possible common Pokemon that could have taken his brother without leaving a trace, but all of them had to be ruled out eventually for one reason or another. That’s when he’d started looking into not-so-common Pokemon, like the kind that were most definitely banned from the Subway and always seemed to belong to children for some reason. He’d randomly heard about the fallers in Alola, as well as the ultra beasts, and it had given him nightmares for a month, just the thought of Ingo being lost to another dimension, amnesic, forever, constantly being hunted by things that were like-Pokemon-but-not-Pokemon. Fortunately, some research had reassured him that his brother had not fallen through an ultra wormhole, mainly because if he had then the residual energy would have already had the Subway swarming with unwanted Ultra Beasts by now.

That was one Pokemon battle Emmet was actually glad he could avoid.

So back on the more legendary types of Pokemon, Emmet had been combing his way through all the stories, research, and sightings he could find, trying to spot anything even vaguely familiar. He’d started with Unova, of course, methodically working from the twin dragons, all the way through to the newly revived Genesect–both Clay and Lenora had almost obliterated what little remained of Team Plasma single-handedly for daring to muk around with a fossil Pokemon like that–but he found nothing. After Unova he moved on to Galar, then from Galar to Kalos, and so on, and so on. All of the things he learned were absolutely fascinating–and terrifying, oh dragons, why did children own these?–and he was already coming up with battle strategies. Maybe when Ingo came back–he was definitely coming back, yep!–they could go on a trip to some of these regions.

Ingo just had to come home first.

Emmet just had to find Ingo first.

His current research was on the main legends of the Sinnoh region, the so-called ‘creation trio’. Emmet vaguely remembered some news a few years back about yet another evil team causing chaos by trying to control two of the trio. Most of the information about that incident was extremely classified, so Emmet was stuck reading the much older stories, things that probably dated back to before Sinnoh was even Sinnoh, given the verrry dry nature of the book he was reading at the moment. The whole thing was some sort of study on the religion and clans of ancient Sinnoh, and aside from the points where there were transcribed journal entries describing things like massive Pokemon–he wanted one–and Pokemon he’d never heard of–what the F*ck was a Sneasler–it was dry as the Desert Resort. At least he was getting to the section that had some old photos in it. Those were pretty neat, not what he was looking for, but neat. There were a lot of this one girl standing next to various Pokemon–the journal entries weren’t kidding, some were gigantic ! That Driffloon was way too big for comfort–and a couple of different people, like a boy who looked like a young version of Clay, and a funny one of someone who looked a lot like Elesa, if they’d stolen her nice clothes and thrown her into the wilderness without any caffeine for a few weeks, then told her to wrestle a Pikachu. Emmet snapped a picture of the photo with his X-Transceiver, Elesa would get a kick out of it he was sure, as he flipped the page.

Ingo stared up at him.

What?

What?!

Emmet had to stop himself from accidentally smashing the book into his own face as he grabbed it, peering as closely as he could at the photo of his twin. And it was Ingo, it had to be! He looked tired, and he was slightly hunched over, but he still wore his faithful hat and coat, even if the coat was practically shredded, and he was performing his point and call in the photo. He was also very clearly complaining about having to take the damn photo at all, given the way his hips were angled and the slight shift of his stance. Emmet didn’t know if he wanted to laugh or cry, some hysterical noise catching in the back of his throat as he fumbled for one of his Pokeballs and quickly released its occupant. Galvantula landed on the desk, already concerned.

*Emmet, what’s wrong?!*

Emmet could only let out a high-pitched whine as he set the book down so Galvantula could see.

*Please, please tell me you can see him too…*  

Galvantula, with all four eyes, looked at the photo.

*Arceus Gate! That’s Ingo!*

Emmet almost started sobbing right there, the relief that he wasn’t imagining things was that strong.

Galvantula was still studying the photo.

*There’s human markings under the picture…*

Emmet looked down at the book and saw what Galvantula meant. Under Ingo’s photo were some words in smaller print that he’d overlooked in his shock. Motioning Galvantula back so he could see better, he read the words out loud for both their benefit.

*Warden Ingo of the Pearl Clan. A curious Individual who was said to have appeared out of nowhere one day with no memory of his past. Warden to Nobel Sneasler. Strongest Battler of his day. Was regarded by his clan leader as a ‘Gift from Sinnoh’. Was supposedly ‘returned to Sinnoh as he came’ a year after his arrival.*

Ingo was a warden? Emmet had read about those earlier in the book, it was easy to believe, and explained why Ingo’s photo would be in this book in the first place, that and the weird ‘gift from Sinnoh’ thing. The no memories thing was… bad, verrry bad, but clearly some parts of him must remember, or how else would he remember his point and call? Emmet would help him remember the rest. That last part though, what did that even mean? Returned to Sinnoh as he came? Emmet thought about it, hand on his chin, Galvantula staring up at him, waiting.

Then it clicked.

Ingo was said to have just ‘appeared’, and if they thought he was a gift sent to his clan by ’Sinnoh’, then they must believed wherever Ingo came from was where ‘Sinnoh’ was. So, by that logic, if Ingo was said to have ‘returned to Sinnoh’ that could only mean…

Emmet could feel himself start to vibrate as relief, joy, and giddiness all bubbled up together inside him.

Ingo was coming home.

Ingo was coming home!

He found his Brother!

Emmet grabbed Galvantula off the desk and spun her around, laughing and cheering *Ingo’s going to come home! Ingo’s going to come home!* It wouldn’t be for another six months, give or take, according to the book, and Emmet wasn’t happy about that but he now had a guarantee Ingo would be coming home!

Oh! He had to tell Elesa!

Using a move they had practiced way more than he cared to admit to, Emmet spun one last time before tossing Galvantula into the air, the spider coming back down to neatly grab hold of Emmet’s back. Hands now free, Emmet snapped a picture of the Ingo photo as proof, before gathering up all his research material to return to the library’s front desk. Then he went through what had to be the Library’s fastest-ever book return and checkout, before dashing full tilt outside, knowing there would be a train heading for Nimbassa arriving in mere minutes.

The train ride and run to Elesa’s apartment was full of Emmet’s barely-contained excitement, and Galvantula’s actually pretty successful attempts to calm his manic energy by running her pedlaps through his hair. He was able to, mostly, calmly wait for the elevator to show up and take him to Elesa’s floor, and he speed-walked to her door instead of running.

“Elesa! Elesa open up! I found something about Ingo! You won’t believe it! Elesa! He Knocked, maybe more forcefully than he should, but the bubbly feeling was coming back and he couldn’t help himself. Elesa was taking a weirdly long time to answer the door, so he kept knocking until finally the lock clicked open.

“Elesa, finally! What took you so…” Emmet swung the door open, expecting to see Elesa, only to see one of her Emolga hanging from the lock, and the other hovering there, both looking a little frightened. He mediately let Galvantula off his back and held out his arms to catch the two little rodents as they barreled into his chest, sobbing.

*Mr. Emmet! You’re here!* *We were so Scared!*

Emmet may not have been good with people, but Pokemon were another matter entirely. Gently he cradled the two as he nudged the door closed, looking around the apartment for anything amiss.

*I’m Emmet and It’s okay, yep. I’m here. What happened? Why are you scared? Where’s Elesa?*

The Emolga whimpered, both clinging to each other and Emmet.

*Mama got eaten by the hole!* *The scary hole opened up in the floor and ate Mama!* *We tried to grab her.* *But there was a big scary ‘mon in the hole!* *Then the Hole was gone!* *And so was mama!*

Emmet froze as the two Emolga continued to softly whimper.

A hole, that opened out of nowhere, with a Pokemon in it, that took people without leaving a trace?

Emmet had a verrry bad feeling about this.

Slowly, so as not to disturb the Pokemon using him as a tissue and comfort blanket, Emmet pulled up the photo he took on his X-Transceiver earlier, the one he thought Elesa would get a laugh out of, and this time he actually read what was written underneath it.

Elesa of the Survey Corps. Fell from the Space-Time Rift that appeared over Mt. Coronet from 18xx-18xx…

Well, shit…

                                         ______________________________________________________________

The day had barely even started, and already Elesa wanted to murder someone.

No, seriously, she hadn’t had caffeine in over a week, she had nothing but this heavy, itchy Survey Corps uniform to wear, there were no showers, and if one more person started a conversation by mentioning her falling from the Dragons damnd sky she was going to introduce them to her new survey boots face first. Yes, she supposedly fell from the giant eldritch rip in the sky, but that was the only thing anyone seemed bothered to learn about her. She didn’t even remember it! And no, she had no idea why she was here of all places. She had been perfectly content with relaxing at home after a long day at the gym, but then a portal opened up in her living room floor, and freaking Arceus had tossed her here. No explanations, no talking, no time to grab her team, nothing but waking up with a mouth full of sand and the horrified thought of what her sudden disappearance would do to Emmet.

She guessed that she was fortunate some local merchants were passing by, saw her, and offered to take her to Jubilife village, but she could have done without all the side-eye. They were polite enough, sure, and they offered her a job right off the bat for some reason, but it all seemed so tense. It felt like the time when she was little and she broke one of her mom’s vases practicing Pokeball throws in the house. Her mom had forgiven Elesa easily after she was done being upset and disappointed, but that hadn’t stopped Elesa from feeling guilty and trying to compensate by doing extra nice things for her mom for the next couple of weeks.

The tension made her feel tense, and having to wake up early every day was death without sweet sweet Coffee relief. She could get out of the village, go do some survey work, but…

*I am so boooorrred*

That.

When Arceus kidnapped her it obviously decided giving her the ability to understand Pokemon was better than giving her an explanation.

It was jarring, especially when she could understand all the horrific death threats Alpha Pokemon hurled at her when they started chasing. The village was better, but only because there were fewer Pokemon here, and most were kept in their balls.

Not something that applied to her current partner, if you asked him.

`The Shinx was the same one she caught as part of her ‘initiation’ and was a hyper little thing that demanded she keep him. He popped out of his ball with alarming regularity–he’d startled the professor more than once like that–and given he was her only Pokemon at the moment, he got quite the workout when she did go out and do survey work. He’d recently evolved into a Luxio, and if he had his way, would have her battling constantly until he was able to evolve into a Luxray.

But right now he was mostly in his moody middle-stage phase and had his head thrown back as he whined his boredom to the sky.

“We are literally heading to the training grounds right now.” She murmured, trying to keep anyone from noticing. Nothing to see here, just a model and her emo-cat-son, walking to the training grounds, not having a full conversation, no siree.

Luxio, however, knew he could be as loud and annoying as he wanted to be.

*But we’ve fought everyone there! Except for Zisu, but you won’t let me solo her.*

“Because she has a full team and you’re a middle-stage. I’m good, but I’m not that good. I want you to evolve before we try anything like that” Elesa used the cover of a yawn to hide her mouth with her hand.

Luxio perked his tail a little higher and shook his head like he was flipping his mane.

*We are both stunning in battle, don’t go selling us short.*

Elesa couldn’t stop the giggle that bubbled up at Luxio’s dramatics and unintentional pun.

The rest of her team would probably love him, whenever she figured out how to go home.

Right now though, she had to find someone who would battle her.

The Training grounds were mostly deserted as they arrived, only a couple of off-duty security corps members battling here and there. Ugh and here she was hoping to blow off some steam with a battle that didn’t involve running for her life. She peered around at the different groups–maybe one of them would be willing to indulge her–when she spotted some blue among the red.

Hey, that was a Survey Corps uniform, wasn’t it?

She speed walked over to the other survey corps person, noticing long dark hair tied up in a bandana–definitely not Rei–and that they were decimating the poor Security Corps member they were fighting.

Finally! An actual battle!

Ignore everything she said about one v. oneing Zisu earlier, she needed an actual trainer battle almost more than she needed coffee right now.

She reached them right as they finished up, the Survey Corps member already shaking the Security Corps member’s hand.

“You got me again Akari, and I thought I had you that time.”

The survey corps member, Akari, laughed.

“Sorry, but I’ve been training everyone up for the path of Solitude.”

The Security Corps member actively winced.

“Oof, I don’t envy you. You’re tough, but the Warden is brutal. Even Zisu has only succeeded on a few of the paths.”

Ok, now Elesa wanted to know what this ‘Path of Solitude’ was, and how could she get in on that.

Akari and the Security Corps member finished talking, and Akari finally noticed Elesa standing not too far away.

“Hey! I’ve never met you before, are you a new arrival?” Akari waved Elesa over, the Security Corps member giving both of them a nod as he left.

“Yeah, something like that…” Elesa dodged that question faster than the twins dodged her photoshoot invitations. “I saw the end of your battle, you’re really good kid.”

Akari ducked her head at the compliment, looking almost shy for a second, before looking back up with a grin.

“Thanks, I’ve always enjoyed battling and helping my friends get stronger! It is a little difficult to find someone to battle though, since almost everyone here is still so wary of Pokemon.”

Elesa stood up straight and gave Akari a cheeky smirk, while Luxio puffed out his chest down by her feet.

“Well, I’m not Everyone. I’m Gy–I’m Elesa, and I’m challenging you to a Battle!”

Akari lit up, practically vibrating in place.

“Sure! Let me heal my team first then I’m ready to go!”

Akari rushed over to a satchel that was sitting out of the way on her side of the field, while Elesa and Luxio strolled over to the opposite side. Well, she strolled, Luxio was prancing.

“You look excited.” She said. It was obvious enough that Luxio was pumped for battle that people shouldn’t ask questions if they heard her.

*A new Challenge! And she’s super strong! I can’t wait!*

Elesa felt like she couldn’t wait either, as she took her place across from a determined-looking Akari.

“I only have Luxio right now, but don’t let that stop you from giving us your best, you understand?” She called, waiting for Akari to show that she heard.

When she did, Elesa flashed one of her most dazzling smiles and struck a pose.

"Welcome to the main stage! My beloved Pokémon and your Pokémon shall compete! We're going to see whose star shines brightest!" Her pre-battle speech came without conscious thought, as she gestured for Luxio to take the field.

Akari didn’t seem to find it strange, or if she did she didn’t comment on it, as she grabbed one of the Pokeballs hanging at her waist.

“Me and my friends are ready for anything, lets go!” Akari replied, throwing out her own Pokemon.

A Gastrodon took the field with a loud cry.

Smart, taking advantage of Luxio’s weakness, luckily she and Luxio were more than a one-trick Ponyta.

She got ready to call out her first attack and unconsciously shifted into one of what she called her confidence poses, and the twins called her intimidation poses. 

Gastrodon twitched, which happened sometimes and was what she was counting on, and she was hoping its surprise would last long enough for Luxio to get a free hit, when across the field Akari made a bizarre high-pitched choking noise.

“Eek! Ah! Er… Hey, Who… who taught you that?!”

Elesa blinked at the girl, completely derailed–damn it the twins infected her–from the battle.

“Uh, taught me what?”

Akari was flapping and fidgeting with her hands as she struggled to explain.

“The, uh, that pose thing, that you just did!?”

Her confidence pose? What was wrong with it? She had been using those poses for years, they were part of her signature. She had spent hours upon hours figuring them out when she decided she wanted to be a model and a gym leader, and she still hadn’t gotten them quite right until the twins invaded her dorm with way too many snacks and helped her get them perfect.

“My best friends helped me.” Was her cautious reply. “Why? What’s wrong with it?”

Akari looked mildly distressed as she tried to explain, but kept coming up with nothing or stopping herself before she could get any words out. Gastrodon was looking back at its trainer in concern, while Luxio was looking back and forth between Akari and Elesa.

*Wait, what did you do?*

Later it would occur to Elesa that reacting to Luxio’s question was pretty stupid considering she was trying to hide that she could understand what he was saying anyway, but she was a little too confused to be thinking of that now, so when Luxio asked, she showed him the pose that had Akari so worked up.

Luxio made a startled noise, then burst into laughter.

*Arceus! I didn't even know you knew language like that!* Luxio laughed, practically rolling on the ground…

“What?” Elesa was still confused.

“WHAT?!” Akari got over her own struggle to explain, eyes wide as she hurried across the field, returning Gastrodon as she passed it and stashing the Pokeball as she reached Elesa and Luxio.

Shit!

Cover, cover, she needed to think of a cover!

Akari was right there before Elesa could even begin thinking of an excuse.

Then the girl surprised her.

“You–you understood him too?” Akari dropped her voice so only the three of them would be able to hear, eyes flicking around, checking to make sure no one was watching after her shout.

Too?

Oh… oh boy… 

“I…” Elesa could see the faint hope in Akari’s eyes, but it was almost buried under an even heavier layering of fear. “Yes, I can understand him.”

Akari sucked in a breath.

“How… how long?” She looked a little less fearful, though she kept glancing cautiously around them.

Elesa… Elesa could understand her caution, but this seemed to be caused by something more than just not wanting people to know about her ability. So, she decided to give the kid a little bit of trust.

“Just since I landed here. I couldn’t before.” She said, then she scoffed a little “Arceus thought it’d be funny I guess.”

“You’re from the rift?!” Akari gasped, continuing before Elesa could start to get frustrated “I… I fell from the rift a while ago. The Professor found me on the beach and brought me here. That’s when I figured out I could…” She gestured vaguely next to her head. “I didn’t mention it at first because… there was… I had to… they… didn’t trust me, at all, because I was a faller, so I had to work really hard to gain everyone’s trust” She huffed a small self-depreciating laugh that made Elesa tense. “And it turned out it was pretty much for nothing anyway. There was a disaster and they blamed me just because I was from the rift. They threw me out until I fixed it, and I did! I stopped the disaster, I saved Hisui, and they let me back into Jubilife… but I can’t trust it, not again, and not with this.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “But I can’t really leave either. “

“Why?” Elesa prompted when Akari went quiet a little too long.

“Arceus sent me here to complete the Pokedex, to ‘Seek out all Pokemon’, so I have to stay and help the Professor, help the Survey Corps. That’s why, I think . I think maybe Arceus thought it would make my job easier if I could understand Pokemon. Maybe? Whatever its reason, I couldn’t… I can’t let anyone know! They almost imprisoned me instead of just exiling me, and sometimes I just can’t help thinking that they probably would have gone through with it if they knew, if I’d slipped up…”

She got quiet again, and this time Elesa didn’t try to break the silence, trying to give the child in front of her some time to recenter herself. Instead, she began softly petting Luxio’s mane, giving him a good scratch behind the ears, feeling the familiar prickle of static over her fingers. It made her think of all the times she’d combed Blitzel after a hard day battling or given her Emolga a good brush. Even her Galvantula liked letting her play with its fluff every once in a while.

She hoped they were doing alright.

She missed them.

She missed home.

Akari took a couple of minutes, just breathing, calming herself down, while Elesa worked out a few knots in Luxio’s fur, before she turned back to face them.

“You said Arceus gave you the ability to understand Pokemon?”

Elesa looked up from what she was doing, earning a frustrated whine from Luxio, who was enjoying the attention.

“Yes. Didn’t tell me what was going on or why it kidnapped me, but it decided I should get to understand Pokemon I guess. Why?”

Akari nodded as Elesa spoke, steepling her fingers together as she finished.

“Okay, bear with me a bit, but you can understand Pokemon, but not speak their language, correct?”

Elesa didn’t know where this was going but gave the affirmative.

“And I can’t speak it either. Arceus only gave us the ability to understand Pokemon, not speak Pokemon.”

Again, Elesa agreed with Akari.

“But that thing, you did, at the start of our battle? The Pose? The way you moved, the way you stood, I actually understood that as Pokemon speech.”

Now that was surprising, Elesa didn’t know she was even doing that. Was that why it seemed to startle some Pokemon?

“What did I say?” She wondered out loud, only to watch as Akari covered part of her face with her hand and looked away.

“Um… It’s… It’s not important! No need to worry!”

Elesa thought she very much should worry, but Akari continued.

“Anyway, you said you had friends who helped you? Human friends?”

Elesa would let it be for now, but she would be getting answers later.

“Yes?”

“Cool, cool, um… this is going to sound super random but, uh, do either of those friends have a thing about trains?” Akari asked, not quite looking Elesa in the eyes.

Elesa felt like all the air had suddenly been sucked out of her lungs.

“Why?”She was the only word she could manage as something started banging around in her chest.

Akari still wasn’t looking straight at her, but she did suddenly look very determined.

“Because besides us there’s only one Person in Hisui who can understand Pokemon, but besides that, he can actually speak poke-speak, like he’s been doing it his whole life. Which is really interesting because he showed up several months ago with total amnesia. He talks like a train conductor, even though he doesn’t know what a train even is. And, even though he can’t remember pretty much anything from before landing here, he’s managed to remember a few things; a partner Pokemon who wielded flames with mastery, someone who looked like him who loved winning, and someone with dark hair and a thing for electricity.” She glanced down at Luxio as she said this. “And I thought, that sounded kinda like you, and when you said a friend taught you that move that was actually secretly Pokemon speech…”

She paused, having already made her point.

Elesa couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, eyes wide, something fierce and wild starting to shake itself apart in her chest as what Akari said completely sunk in. 

There was no way.

 No way.

She needed… needed…

Luxio nudged her hand softly in concern, and the sudden touch was just enough to startle her, and for the thing quaking inside her to finally tear itself free. 

Months and months and months of worry and fear and searching and grief spilled out, from before and during her time in Hisui. All of it, a swirling mass of pain, violently purged itself from her system, tearing itself free until all that was left was the hollow place where it had resided.

Well, that, and a sparkling, faint glimmer, an ember, almost smothered but finally free…

Hope.

She could breathe, and as she took in greedy gulps of air the ember began to grow, fanning itself up into a proper flame.

It burned, but in the best way, as she looked to Akari, wiping away the tears that had fallen down her face in her stunned state.

Her voice didn’t waver as she spoke.

“Show me where he is.”

                                         ______________________________________________________________

Dark clouds swirled around the peak of Mount Coronet, the wind stirring them into vicious shapes below the still yawning maw of the rift that cracked and flared with light for the first time since the day the sky bled red. Thunder echoed off the mountain stones, making the local Pokemon quiver into their dens with each crash. The air itself thrummed with energy, vibrating angrily against the sharp pillars of the temple at the mountain’s peak, the shattered ruins that had already seen the creation of many a myth, and today would see yet another. 

A fitting place for the end of this wretched world, Volo thought.

He stood triumphant in his ceremonial garb at one end of the temple, reveling in his triumph. All he had ever wanted was about to become a reality, as soon as he got rid of his little pawn.

Akari, the rift faller, chosen of Arceus, was across from him, defiantly holding onto the bag where he knew she’d stored the rest of the plates he needed. She had been frustratingly uncooperative, taking her sweet time collecting all seventeen no matter how much he urged her, and then not handing them over when he asked. She hadn’t appeared too shocked by his betrayal either, even rolling her eyes when explained his grand plan, which had made him grind his teeth. Ultimately, though, it didn’t–wouldn’t– matter, as her part in this saga was just about over. All that was left was for him to beat her pathetic team and take the plates, and none of this would matter at all. And if, by some Arceus damned miracle, the stupid child managed to defeat him, well, he still had Giratina under his control. The plate he’d taken from it was safely stored in his bag, and he could feel the power that flowed from the Lord of Distortion into him, giving him abilities far beyond these pitiful mere mortals.

He palmed the first member of his team, ready to finally crush Arceus’ chosen under his heel– It would know before he usurped It , that It had made the wrong choice, that he should have been It’s chosen–when a loud shriek followed by even louder shouting echoed up from the temple entrance. 

Ugh, what now?

A Luxray bound up the broken steps, snarling and sparking, a dark-haired woman riding on its back, followed closely by the Pearl’s Noble Sneasler and her Warden. They all rushed to Arceus’ chosen’s side, fussing over the girl, checking for injuries–as if the stupid child hadn’t had everything simply handed to her since she’d arrived! The clans loved her, the nobles had rolled over like Eevee kits, and even with all his hard work undermining her trustworthiness in Jubilife she’d barely gotten a slap on the wrist, and she had been welcomed back immediately with open arms. How pathetic! She could never understand true suffering, could never understand his vision!

No, no, it didn’t matter!

No matter how many allies she had, he would defeat her! And if they got in his way he would just get rid of them too!

He drew out Spiritoomb’s Pokeball–the child was distracted and he was never one to pass up an advantage–but the Warden must have seen him move because he grabbed one of his own Pokeballs and spun to face Volo directly.

The Warden stopped.

He blinked.

“What *the fuck* is on your head?!”

Ah, Volo forgot he got that little bonus ability from Giratina, but also…

What?!

“How… how dare you!” The nerve of this feeble-minded cretin! Who did he think he was talking to?! 

The Warden ignored the death glare Volo was sending his way.

*You’re over there with hair so ugly it’d make a Feebass cry and you’re asking me how I dare?* “It’s just so…” *did you go to a Mr. Mime for hairstyle tips, or…?*

That! …That…wurmple! That minuscule, insignificant bug !

The noise that escaped Volo’s throat was not a shriek, that was lies and slander!

The others were watching now, the Noble snickering behind her claws, the Luxray barely staying standing as it laughed, joined by the dark-haired woman, and Arceus’ chosen just standing there slack-jawed.

He would kill them all slowly.

But he would address the insult to his person first.

“You idiotic insect! I am clearly showing my devotion to…!”

*Looking stupid?*

Volo was shaking with rage.

That Pearl Warden! How dare he mock him! This was obviously traditional Celistic styling and attire–redone to better reflect his ascension and impeccable taste, of course–it was cultural! How had he not realized that the Warden was such an annoyance before now?

“I will make you regret your words!” He snarled, throwing his arms out to accentuate his point, “I will strike you down! You will be even less than a husk! I will destroy you so utterly that this time there won't even be your name left for you to remember, you’ll be incapable of remembering anything at all!”

The Warden didn’t react to his threat the way Volo desired.

“Indeed?” *Good, then I won’t have to remember your terrible sense of fashion. My poor eyes. Really envying Zubat right now.* “Please, enlighten us on how you’ll reach this destination?”

Volo stamped his foot–he was not throwing a tantrum!–his fists clenched as he stared down the infuriating Warden. That was it !!! Forget Arceus’ chosen for now, he would get rid of this man first! He’d waited this long to finally achieve his dream, he could wait a little bit longer if it meant taking care of this pest! Besides, this wouldn’t take long, then he would move on to Arceus’ chosen, and then he’d finally have his new world.

Volo smirked, putting all his ire into his smile as he tossed Spiritoomb out, ready to battle.

Spiritoomb’s 108 spirits all let out a horrible, rattling death wail as they came out of their keystone. The temperature of the temple dropped as an unnatural chill filled the air. The wind and the rumbling of the rift sounded like an ominous orchestra, eerie notes of not-quite music that danced just out of the range of hearing.

The Warden pulled out one of his own Pokeballs.

“Are you sure you wish to take this track?”

The Warden stood there, face frowning, shoulders loose, utterly unconcerned. He looked bored ! 

Volo wouldn’t stand for any more of this disrespect!

“Enough!” He cried, fury flickering at the edges of his voice, “You are, all of you are beneath me! I am about to become a god you dull creature, and I will not be bullied by…”

The Warden threw out his Alakazam, who instantly obliterated Spiritoomb with a Strong-Style Dazzling Gleam.

Volo gaped as Spiritoomb returned to his ball.

The Warden hummed.

“Hmm” the Warden cocked his head slightly. *Do you need a Lum berry for that confusion, or has your face always looked like that?*

Volo choked on the undignified noise that boiled up his throat, and hurriedly threw out Roserade’s ball so he wouldn’t give in to the temptation to answer the taunt.

The Alakazam brushed off a Strong-Style Petal dance and hit back with a Strong-Style Psychic.

Roserade didn’t stand a chance.

The Grass-Poison type collapsed in a heap before returning to its ball.

Volo was down two Pokemon in less than two minutes.

*Well, that was less effective than Thunder on an Onix. Bravo, I didn’t know it was possible to be that bad at something.*

The Warden wasn’t smiling, but there was the faintest twist to the edges of his lips that stoked the fires of rage in Volo’s chest.

Togakiss was sent out. There was no strategy, no plan beyond shutting the Warden up!!

The fight lasted longer than the others only by virtue of Togakiss being one of his strongest Pokemon, and the Alakazam not having the moves to one-shot it like the others. After a struggle Togakiss finally succeeded in dropping the Alakazam, causing Volo to hold back a cheer of triumph, glaring at the Warden as he did so.

The Warden stared right back unblinkingly with his hollow, silver eyes that glowed eerily under the shadow of his hat brim.

The ghostly chill should have left with Spiritoomb, but still Volo felt a shiver shoot down his spine.

*Oh good, you are smarter than a Slowpoke, I was starting to worry.* “Probopass, prepare for departure!” The Warden didn’t bother to break eye contact as he threw out his next Pokemon.

A Probopass materialized in front of the Warden, and, without any seeming input from its trainer, instantly let loose a Flash Cannon that struck Togakiss square in the face, throwing her into a broken pillar. The super effective STAB attack, coupled with damage taken from the fight with Alakazam was all just too much, and Togakiss fainted.

That was his strongest team member.

No… No no no no no! 

How could this be happening?! How could he be losing like this?!? 

That wretched Pearl Warden had lost Volo half his team and was only down one Pokemon himself! Ridiculous! And who knew how many he still had?! Did he have a complete team?! Had he come here specifically to fight Volo! To swipe his dream out from under him?! Did the Warden plan this? Ingratiate himself to one of the clans and wait until Volo was on the cusp of victory to take it for himself?! Volo wouldn’t let that happen! And hiding there behind him, like the sniveling coward she was, was Arceus’ chosen, daring to laugh at Volo’s plight! She wanted to stop him too! And the other woman… he didn’t even know who she was! What was she even doing here?! Did she come here just to mock him as well?!

Volo screamed as he threw out Arcanine’s Pokeball; he would burn them! He would burn them all for laughing at him! For trying to steal his glory from him! He would render them to dust, then crush them beneath his heels! This was but a small setback, he would not be defeated again. He would reclaim the time and ground he’d lost, reclaim it in blood if he had to, but he would reclaim it! 

However, as he watched the battle, Arcanine was not faring as well against the Probopass as he’d hoped, and soon he was once again witnessing as one of his team crumpled in front of the Warden and his Pokemon.

“We seem to be doing better than you.” *Didn’t know humans could use max power Frustration, not surprised you can though.*

“I’ll show you frustration!” Volo shouted back as he threw Lucario’s Pokeball with enough force that the Pokemon was rapidly launched forward as it exited. Lucario was smart enough not to wait for Volo to call a move before it crashed into the Warden’s Probopass, executing an Agile-Style Close Combat that fortunately also allowed it to vault away from the other. Probopass was injured, but not out, so Volo decided to take care of that.

“Again! Strong-Style!” He ordered. Lucario looked back at him in alarm but otherwise didn’t hesitate to follow through. It rushed Probopass again, taking a direct hit from an Agile Earth Power, and nailing the other Pokemon directly between the eyes. Lucario jumped back, panting, as Probopass fainted and was recalled.

The Warden patted the Pokeball as he clipped it to a weird contraption on his belt, then pulled out a new one from right next to it.

*You’ve finally decided to participate! Now tell me, do you actually know how to battle, or were you expecting your partners to do all the heavy lifting?*

“All aboard Machamp!” The Machamp emerged with a loud cry, muscles flexing, a wicked grin on its beaked face.

*Then again, I’m not surprised to learn you outsource all the work but expect all the rewards.*

“Lucario, Agile-Style Bulk…” Volo tried to order Lucario, but he was cut off when Machamp caught Lucario with a point-blank fire punch.

All four flaming fists slammed into Lucario’s chest, practically folding it in half.

Lucario, weak to fire and defenses already down from two Close Combats in a row, didn’t stand a chance.

Volo didn’t wait for Lucario to return to its ball, flinging it away so he could grab and release his last team member.

The Warden’s frown became an actual scowl, those dead eyes looking past Garchomp toward where the balls of the rest of Volo’s team lay scattered around his sandaled feet.

Volo growled. Don’t look away from him!

The Warden shook his head.

“How selfish…” *And throwing a tantrum like an overcharged Elekid*

Garchomp was already charging Machamp, an Agile-Style Dragon Claw ready and aiming for a critical hit.

“Are you calling me shallow?!” Volo screamed, hoping to distract the Warden and keep him from issuing any commands. Not because the Warden had hit a nerve.

*If you mean do I think I can stand in a puddle full of you and not get my feet wet, then yes.* the Warden answered, calling out to Machamp at the same time. “Ice Punch, Agile, then normal”

The four-armed Pokemon gave a rousing cry, its fists already glinting with frost, before it crouched, bracing for impact.

Garchomp saw the four times effective attack, saw the sinister spark in the other’s eyes, but it was too late to abort their rush. The unstoppable force hit the immovable object like a meteor strike, the impact sending a shockwave full of dust all over the temple. Volo was knocked off his feet, gritty dust getting into his eyes and fouling his pristine robes. Did that simpleton Warden realize how hard it was to get stains out of white cloth?! First, he mocks his outfit, then he absolutely ruins it! He must have done that on purpose! Volo was getting sick and tired of this nonsense! He was done with this Pokemon battle charade, he would send Garchomp after the Warden and the others directly! They would be taken by surprise–no one was ever ready to face a dragon in unarmed combat–and Garchomp would be able to make quick work of them!

Volo got to his feet in the quickest, but also most dignified way possible, still blinking against the dust in his eyes, as he got ready to order his Pokemon to attack.

His vision cleared completely in time for him to see Garchomp collapse to the ground, ice crystalizing on its scales.

The Warden’s Machamp looked down on its defeated opponent until Garchomp was sent back to its ball.

The Warden was watching too, but when Garchomp disappeared his horrible empty, glowing gaze slid up to stare directly at Volo himself.

No…

No…No…No…

No no no no no no.

No no no no no no no no! NO!

This… THIS!

This was…!

“Why? How!?” He hated how his voice cracked when he said it, fiercely grabbing at the sides of his head.

Everything he’d worked for… His Dream… Gone?! Just like that?!

…

…

No…

No, not yet…

He still had his trump card, didn’t he?

"No...no, this isn't finished yet!" He crowed, a manic grin slashed across his face.

Arceus’ chosen, still hiding behind the warden, full body shivered, head whipping around as if she could sense what was about to happen.

Maybe she could.

Didn’t matter.

"Can't you feel it? The chill creeping through your veins—the eldritch presence icing your heart?"

Volo yanked on Giratina’s bindings, violently forcing the Lord of Distortion into the physical plane. Giratina, incoherent with frenzy and pain, tried to fight back, but Volo had all the power here–and oh how sweet and heady it felt zipping through his veins–and it lost the fight without managing to do anything. Such a fun little pet, maybe Volo would keep it around after he remade everything.

Giratina emerging from its realm was like watching the very air die, shadows forming from nothing, oozing like puss from an infected wound into wretched cracking shapes of impossible angles. Colors, scents, sounds drained from around it, boiling away into tar-pitch that crept up, up, up, a twisted writhing tree of impossible darkness, scratching hungrily at the sky. Then, bleeding into existence was gold and grey and red, horns and bands and blank blood eyes, and a mouth that opened in an endless scream. It was hurting, and that made the world around it quiver in fear.

Volo laughed in triumph, joyous at the overwhelming presence of fear! Who could defeat the Lord of Distortion? The being who frenzied the nobles, and the clan’s own sacred deities? The one who ripped open Time and Space itself?! With Giratina’s power, he was truly unbeatable, and soon even Arceus would fall before him, once he dealt with these little…

“Ah ha. I must inform you that legendaries and mythicals are banned from battling on the subway…”

…

Volo’s mouth was left hanging open, his orders to Giratina silenced before even the first syllable had left his lips. Arceus’ chosen and the Sneasler were both squinting at the Warden, who himself looked possibly the most confused by his complete nonsequiter in response to Giratina’s emergence.

The woman with the dark hair, however, let out an absolute howl of mirth and finally gave up on staying standing altogether, legs giving out, tears streaking down her cheeks as she gasped for breaths between each successive round of body-quaking laughter.

The Warden actually looked away from Volo and the looming legendary in front of him to face the woman.

“Elesa, try to breath please.” He told her.

Volo felt the heat rushing to his head, his mask shattered completely by the violent flush of rage that stained his entire face red.

“WILL YOU TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY!” He screamed, pouring some of his frustration into yanking hard on Giratina’s binds, making the legend shriek, a skin-crawling sound of pure suffering.

The Warden returned his focus to the stalled battle, confusion gone as if it’s never been, face as impassive as ever.

“Oh, I’m taking this battle very seriously…” *After all…*

The Warden grabbed the brim of his hat in one hand.

*...If a battle isn’t serious…*

“Machamp, stand by!” he called, as Giratina screamed, ghostly energy erupting around it.

A breath of silence.

*...It isn’t fun!*

“Machamp, Full steam ahead!” The Warden shouted, twisting to the side, knees bent, one hand still on his hat, the other shooting straight out to point, as Giratina dropped into the move Shadow Force.

Machamp’s eyes flicked around, trying to catch sight of the ghostly shadow, hands close to its body, but it was of no use. Volo saw the slithering movement, then the rippling of Giratina emerging right behind the fighting type, tail swinging around in a powerful swipe that forced the Machamp back, grunting with pain.

Only…

“Now Machamp!” The Warden boomed, and both Volo and Giratina realized the fundamental misstep that had been made, when the Machamp, four arms once more alight with the shining blue energy of Ice Punch, slammed their hands together on Giratina’s oh so conveniently in range tail, gripping tight like an icy clamp. Then with only the faintest grunt of effort, they swung the legendary into the air, the six-legged dragon going over their head in a full arc, before slamming the Lord of Distortion into the floor of the temple like a sad sack of tubers. 

The Machamp didn’t stop there, however, oh no, it didn’t even give Giratina a chance to regain its bearings before it repeated the maneuver, and again, and again, and again, over and over and over. Giratina may have tried to escape, but it was also being continually stunned by a Pokemon using a singular sustained Ice-type attack, so Volo wasn’t sure if it could even think enough for that.

Eventually, the attack energy must have worn out, or maybe the Machamp just got bored, because with one final slam, it finally let go of Giratina’s tail, letting the now moaning legendary lay still in the crater. Volo would have thought the ghostly dragon had fainted, if not for the drawn-out whining-moan that was coming from it. The Machamp snorted something at it as it turned and walked away, something Volo couldn’t catch but sounded mocking. It walked back over to the Warden, who happily scratched it under the chin and patted one of its shoulders.

“Bravo, excellent job! You and the others will be getting many treats tonight!” The Warden crowed as if his pokemon beating up a dark god was a common occurrence.

*Ingo, pay attention, pets later* The Noble snarled, nudging the Warden and pointing Volo’s way with her claws.

“Oh!” *Right! The Fashion Disaster!* “Akari, could you be a dear and take care of that while I finish up with your friend over there?” The Warden gestured at the still moaning Legendary, then at Volo.

Ah, that was his cue to run!

His usual getaway Pokemon was still fainted, but Volo had been to this Temple hundreds of times and knew of every possible exit. If he could get out of sight for just a second he would be able to get away completely. Then he would leave this cursed place. He didn’t know where he’d go, but it was obvious he would have to find some other way to achieve his goals, some other legends that could get him what he wanted, his perfect world, a world without infuriating wardens and…

And right as he was about to step out of the Temple, the bindings tethering Giratina to him suddenly snapped, the loss of his control painful enough to send Volo to his knees. 

Wha…? Ah, Arceus’ Chosen must have caught the downed legendary–victory just handed to her as usual, of course–but that meant Giratina was also now free of him, and free of his compulsions, the Lord of Distortion would not be inclined to grant Volo mercy. So he should really be getting up and running now, just get up off his knees and…

“Ah, you are not scheduled for departure yet passenger.” 

Fuck.

                                         ______________________________________________________________

Akari wasn’t sure if travel via Arceus was always this bumpy and she just didn’t remember from the first time, or if it was because Arceus was technically working against time and space, neither of which was its domain, to drop them off in Elesa and Ingo’s home region. Regardless of which it may be, she was endlessly grateful when the horrible trip ended and she was dropped onto a patch of grass, groaning in blessed relief as she lay there trying to force down waves of nausea, hearing the distinctive thumps of the other two also landing.

“Ow! Worst flight, two out of ten, wouldn’t recommend…” Elesa groaned from Akari’s right, followed by the sound of a Pokeball releasing as Luxray popped out to help her up.

“I’m not freezing, I’m not bleeding, and I actually have more memories this time around, so infinitely better than my last trip,” Ingo called out, sounding practically chipper, which… yeah, fair. Though she selfishly wished he would sound a little more like the trip had left him as queasy as she and Elesa felt.

Akari waited to make sure her stomach wasn’t still trying to crawl its way up her throat–she was not getting vomit on her only set of clothes–before levering herself up, looking around to see where Arceus had decided to leave them. It looked like some sort of park, full of paved pathways and neatly trimmed grass, little patches of berry trees here and there, wild Pokemon she couldn’t identify scampering and playing between them. There were benches and fountains scattered along the paths, illuminated by lamposts that glowed dimly in the early morning light. There wasn’t anyone else around but the playing Pokemon and Akari felt a twist of tension that she hadn’t realized she’d been holding unwind. Few people would be out this early, so they were unlikely to have to interact with anyone before all of them got somewhere they could hole up and finally work out what they did and didn’t want to explain to the public. Akari already knew she would have to think of some way to explain why a missing Sinnoh teen magically appeared in Unova with a missing Subway Boss and a missing Gym Leader. Aunt Johanna would kill her if she found out she was back from the international news first.

Maybe Elesa or Ingo had a laptop or a phone she could borrow?

She was drawn out of her contemplation of possible overseas call charges with an excited shout from beside her.

“Oh! Sweet! This is that park on Fifth!” Elesa was up and futilely trying to dust off her Survey Uniform. “I’m only a couple blocks from here! Well, my apartment is… or it should be? I had auto-payments set up for Rent and Utilities and there’s no way I’ve been gone long enough for that to run out! If it did I have some more choice words for Arceus!” 

Giving up on her outfit–join the club Elesa, Akari gave up on not looking half-feral a month in, and she’s pretty sure Ingo gave up the instant he escaped modern society–Elesa pat Luxray on the head and reached down to help Akari. As she stood she saw Ingo was already on his feet, despite Gliscor bearing down on his shoulders in an ill-conceived attempt to help–was that why his back was like that?–his silver eyes keenly focused on the nearby Pokemon. Oh, their Hisui habits were going to be hard to shake, weren’t they? When he noticed Akari was finally off the ground he turned away from the wild Pokemon with one last assessing look, and smiled one of his barely there grin-frown things at her, bowed politely.

“Ready Miss Akari?” he asked.

Akari nodded, straightening her scarf as best she could and making sure her bandana was still on before shooting Ingo a thumbs up.

He nodded like he approved, then turned to Elesa.

“All set, now departing the station. Would you care to be our Conductor Elesa?” He said.

Elesa snorted, waving him off.

“Dork, it’s my Apartment, of course I would like to…” Elesa stopped mid-turn toward the park exit, one foot still slightly raised. Akari blinked at her back in confusion, why had she stopped? Elesa’s shoulders quivered for a second, she lowered her foot, and then she spun around to point an accusing finger at Ingo.

Whoa now!

“Was that a pun!?!” She jabbed at him.

“No” *Yes* Ingo replied, face the perfect picture of confused innocence. “I don’t know what you are talking about?” *But you have no proof.*

Oh! That’s what this was!

“Are you telling me you actually understood all those jokes you ruined by making me explain… Wait! Have you been doing this the whole time?!?!” Elesa looked somewhere between constipated and upset.

“Again, I have no idea what you’re talking about!” *Yep. Emmet too. And no one will ever believe you.* Ingo, Akari realized, was way more devious with all his memories intact. And chaotic.

This was hilarious.

Elesa opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, struggling for some sort of retort, before giving up and dropping her hand, spinning to face the park exit, clearly intent on pretending this conversation hadn’t happened. Akari stifled her snickers as best she could, following after her while Ingo took up the rear of their troop. 

Their little conversation had also revealed something Akari didn’t even realize she’d been wondering about. It was… interesting to know she hadn’t lost the ability Arceus had given her, even when it’d reversed everything else it did. Sure, she would have gladly traded the ability to understand Pokemon for her missing memories and the ability to go home–not to mention getting her phone back to normal–but she was happily surprised she hadn’t had to. It was just so cool, and useful… Yeah, it had been a point of stress in Hisui, always being worried about someone finding out and everything going wrong, but it had also been so, so helpful in filling out the Pokedex, and in figuring out how best to help the Clans and the Nobles. She’d gotten so much closer to her Pokemon than she’d ever thought possible–pokemon commentary was comedy gold–and when she’d met Ingo, who she didn’t have to hide from… Look, that man was a complete troll and she had called dibs. No, she didn’t care if the Pearl Clan found him before her, this was her Train Man now, and if she was going to share him with anyone it’d be his Pokemon and the two people he’d managed to remember. And she managed to score one of them already! Elesa was great, and she got the whole ‘Arceus kidnapped me and gave me this quest with no warning or instructions’ thing. Plus she let Akari know if she played her cards right she’d be able to score a second Train Man, and that just made her month. She’d also been up for joining the ‘Kamado hate club’ Ingo and their Pokemon had formed, and also gleefully joined the both of them in their ‘Prank Melli for the thing with Electrode’ campaign.

She hoped Elesa got to keep her ability too, and given how she was reacting to Ingo’s sass earlier it was most likely she had. It was nice to share something like that, as if it was some kind of unique family trait…

Aaaand Akari decided to drop that line of thought right there. No need to think too hard about the implications of that. She had an Aunt and Cousin who were missing her at home, she didn’t need to be looking for more family, she was fine! Besides, they were approaching a tall building that had to be Elesa’s apartment complex, the Model’s walk speeding up as the promise of a hot shower and actual clean clothes drew all of them like Mothim to a flame. Oh sweet, sweet indoor plumbing, how Akari had missed it! They all rushed through to the elevator, Luxray and Gliscor having to be recalled to their Pokeballs so everyone could fit inside, and they ascended all the way to Elesa’s floor, then rushed down the hall to her apartment, all of them reaching the door before any of them possibly considered that Elesa, having arrived in Hisui much like Akari did, would likely not have had her apartment keys on her.

Oh… 

Oh no…

The whole group stared at the door, and the door just seemed to stare back, unmoving. Ugh! Why?! They were so close, so, so close, and they were stopped in their tracks by a single door. A single door between finally being home, somewhere they could finally relax. Finally being somewhere they could just take a moment to truly accept that they were back. But no, instead they were stuck out here in the public hallway of Elesa’s apartment building. Why couldn’t this one thing have been easy for once? She was talking to you Arceus, you sneek!

Stupid Gate Llama. 

Well, what could they do now? Ingo definitely didn’t have his keys, and none of them had their phones or equivalent except Akari, but when Arceus took back the Arc phone upgrades it also left the thing with no charge. Jerk. Akari didn’t live in this region, and contacting her family for help was going to be a nightmare. They could still go to Ingo’s apartment and see if his brother was there, but there was no guarantee he was home and not at work already, and going out in public was everyone’s absolute least favorite thing right now. 

Why was the universe so cruel?

Trick question: It’s because most Legendaries were stupid.

Elesa let out a miserable moan that encompassed what all of them felt and thunked her head loudly against the door in defeat.

“Coming!” a sudden voice called from the inside.

Elesa jolted back to standing and shot Akari and Ingo a shocked look, as muffled footsteps came closer and the lock clicked, the door swinging open.

“Hello! I am Emmet, and I am house-sitting for Elesa, who is still missing, so if you want to leave a message please go talk to her…” A cleaner, white-wearing version of Ingo–he said he was Emmet?–answered the door, starting his speech before he’d even gotten it halfway open, a pair of black-and-white rodent Pokemon in his arms. But the instant he saw who was standing there his speech cut off.

He stood there with a stunned smile frozen on his face, silver eyes–that glowed just like his brother’s, huh–going wide.

There was a brief moment of silent staring from all parties, taking each other in.

And then…

“YOU’RE BACK!!” Emmet cheered, throwing himself at his brother.

*Mama you’re back!**You came back!* The rodent Pokemon shrieked and leaped at Elesa, who easily caught them.

“Babies!” Elesa had tears already forming in the corners of their eyes. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I didn’t want to leave any of you! How are you? Has Emmet been watching you this whole time?!”

*Mr. Emmet came after the scary Pokemon took Mama!**Mr. Emmet said Mama would be back but we had to wait!**We didn’t want to wait!**We wanted Mama back now!**But Mr. Emmet said if we were patient he would teach us verrry cool stuff**Yeah! So we were super patient!**And Mr. Emmet was right!**Mama came back!*

The rodents took turns squeaking and chittering at Elesa, telling her how much they and Elesa’s other Pokemon missed her and how they were all doing. Akari grinned and turned to look at where Ingo and his twin were grapple-hugging on the floor in a flailing mass of black and white. They were shrieking each other's names back and forth, over and over so loudly and repeatedly that Akari wasn’t sure if they were speaking Galarian, Poken, or both. Whichever one(s) it was, her ears were already ringing, and she didn’t doubt that they were disturbing the neighbors way too early in the morning, so she started trying to shuffle everyone into the apartment proper. No need to interrupt a reunion with questions after all.

It took some wrangling, but once Elesa noticed what she was doing and came to help, everyone was moved inside, the door was shut, and Akari took that as her cue to collapse on Elesa’s really, really comfy couch.

Mmm, forget the shower, she might just have to nap here first. No one would blame her, surely.

She zoned in and out of consciousness as Ingo and Elesa gave Emmet the run down on what happened while they were in Hisui, even nicely covering everything Akari had done so she didn’t have to wake up all the way and do it herself. At some point, Elesa released Luxray to meet her other Pokemon, which set Emmet off on a tangent asking about what Pokemon and battles were like in Hisui, which set Ingo off in turn, and somewhere in there amidst the pleasant low drone of stats and type combinations Akari drifted off completely, warm and absolutely safe for the first time in ages.

She didn’t know how long she’d rested before someone gently shook her awake, jolting her out of a warm, dreamless sleep, but as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, she did take notice of the heavy, vibrating weight on top of her. Ah, Typhlosion must have escaped its ball for naptime cuddles, the big baby, needy, needy thing. She grabbed Typlosion’s face in both hands and told it that, squishing its cheeks lovingly.,

To the side, the person who had woke her up laughed.

“Oh, I’ve seen Chandelure do that to Ingo, yep! Verrry funny!”

She looked over and saw Emmet there, standing beside the couch, elbows wide as one hand perched on his hip and the other, probably the one he’d shaken her shoulder with, held up to barely cover his wide smile.

“What?”Akari’s voice was still kind of gravelly from sleep, as she tried, and failed, to push Typhlosion’s head off her chest so she could at least sit up. Heavy, needy baby.

“That there!” Emmet pointed at her struggles, arm shooting out straight.  It would have felt accusing if she wasn’t so used to Ingo doing the exact same thing. “Your odd Typlosion is resting itself on your chest. Ingo told me your Typhlosion is Ghost-type. Chandelure likes to rest on Ingo’s chest when he sleeps. Chandelure is Ghost-type. They act the same, and it’s funny!”

Akari looked down at Typlosion, who was badly faking being asleep just so it could pretend it couldn’t hear her repeatedly telling it to get up. Every couple of seconds though one of its eyes would flicker slightly open, checking to see if Akari was still watching, and when it saw that she was, it would snap shut again.

Silly, lazy thing.

Fought Dialga and Palkia to a standstill, but won't budge when it comes to naps.

“Why do they do that?” She asked, giving up on physically moving the Pokemon, and looking up at Emmet. “Have you asked Chandelure before?” Ingo had said his brother could understand Pokemon too, right?

Emmet gave a sharp nod of confirmation.

“I am Emmet, and I have asked Chandelure!” He placed one hand over his sternum, “Chandelure says that’s where they can feel our soul best!” He looked away from Akari and back at Typlosion, “It must be a ghost thing! They want to be sure we are safe, for Pokemon, especially Ghosts, humans break really easy you know!”

Yes, she did know, and huh, she’d never considered that that might be why Typhlosion was so clingy when she slept. She would have to as Typhlosion herself, but just the thought made her feel all mushy inside at how much her Pokemon cared about her.

However, that wouldn’t stop her from playing dirty and recalling Typlosion back to its ball just to get the feeling back in her legs.

Sorry buddy, but she needed to get up.

With the excess weight finally gone, Akari fought her way out of the way too comfy couch that was trying to lure her back in with its deviously soft fluffiness. No! No way, she must ignore the comfy temptation! She’d had her nap, it was great, but now she desperately wanted to steal Elesa’s shower and all the hot water she could. She didn’t know the last time she’d felt completely clean–thanks still recovering partial amnesia, you jerk–so she wasn’t going to pass up a chance to scrub her skin within an inch of its life now . Or the chance to use actual shampoo on her Rattata’s nest of a hairdo. Arezu had done her best, but Akari got into a lot of Tauros-shit on the regular, and she also wasn’t too prideful to admit that future amenities had spoiled her.

But, you know, maybe she’d earned a little spoiling. As a treat.

She was never taking modern amenities for granted again, that’s for sure.

First though…

“Hey, Emmet?” Akari looked around Elesa’s living room as she worked the feeling back into her legs, “Where’s everyone else?” Neither Ingo nor Elesa were in the room, nor were any of their Pokemon, new or old. The only two here were Akari and Emmet, who had tilted his head as he thought about her question.

That was interesting, he tilted it in the opposite way Ingo did.

No, wait, pay attention, he was answering…

“I believe my brother is either asleep in Elesa’s guest room, or has found himself in a very similar situation to the one you just escaped, but with more of our Pokemon. However, they haven’t gone completely silent yet, so there’s nothing to worry about!” Wait, what?  “Elesa went to her gym to plan! And get a Lawyer… and possibly some new clothes for you. She’s going to start on revealing that you are all back, find some clothes that she says, and I quote “don’t feel like being wrapped in a Durrant’s nest” and then she promises to get takeout from someplace that won't make you all sick because Hisui food sucked.” 

Emmet delivered all his info like he was announcing train departure times, fast, clear, and concise in a way that made Akari laugh.

“Ha ha, Hisuian food didn't suck!” She saw Emmet roll his eyes and laughed even harder at the mental image of Beni reacting to the insult to his Mochi’s honor, “It just wasn’t very good either!”

“It was bad enough you all can’t eat pizza now for probably weeks, so yes, it did.” Emmet had both hands on his hips now, his grin savage as he made his point.

Oh damn, he was right, wasn’t he?

She already hated this.

But no way, no how, was Akari going to back down on an argument. Ingo said his brother liked winning more than anything else? Well, two could play that game! She beat Arceus in a fight, let's go!

Akari was gearing up to needlessly throw herself back into vocal sparing–was it stupid? Yes. was it fun? Also yes–when there was a noise at the front door, and the door itself was violently kicked open by what looked like an incredibly angry Elesa.

“EMMET!” She screamed, looking almost like a literal thunderstorm as she approached him.

Akari wanted to see where this was going… from a safe distance, so she rapidly scrambled away from the couch and into the kitchen, where she could still see what was going down over the bar island.

“I am Emmet” Emmet didn’t look as concerned about the oncoming threat as Akari thought he should. “What do you need Elesa?”

Elesa reached him quickly for someone wearing heels that tall, and then without too much effort grabbed Emmet by his shirt lapels and yanked him up to face her.

“I was at my gym Emmet, getting things set up, finishing paperwork, and one of my trainers asked me for a quick battle. I said sure, why not, can’t let the team get rusty. So we went to the field, they threw out their Pokemon, and I threw out Emolga because I haven’t battled with my babies in months, the battle goes to start, and what do I see?!” She was growling in his face by the end, and Akari was both intimidated, but also in awe of just how scary Elesa looked right now.

“I am Emmet, and I don’t know.” Emmet was weirdly nonchalant about his friend almost dangling him off the ground by his shirt.

Elesa was not.

She shook the white twin with a surprising level of ferocity as she exclaimed,

“EMMET! DID YOU TEACH MY BABIES CURSE WORDS EMMET!?! DID YOU TEACH MY DARLING SWEET INNOCENT BABIES TO SWEAR AT TRAINERS IN BATTLE EMMET!?!? DID YOU!?!?!

Emmet blinked as Elesa stopped shaking him, and Akari saw the understanding finally click behind his eyes.

“Ah…” He uttered, looking sideways to avoid Elesa’s glare.

Then in a split second, he pulled out of her grip and bolted to the still open door.

“EMMET!’ Elesa was hot on his heels, rushing out just as quickly as she’d come, the banging and crashing sounds of the two of them echoing down the hall as they chased each other.

Akari listened as the sounds grew quieter, the two of them having made it to the emergency stairwell most likely.

…

Well, they probably wouldn’t be back for a while, so it looked like she had time to take that shower.