Mike wasn’t running away from home. Running away had too many connotations that would label him as either dumb or pitiable. Plus, he was 11 now, and plenty of kids set out on their pokemon journeys when they were 10, so if anything he was just being even better prepared. 

Sure, maybe most kids had gotten a pokemon from their parents, or even an egg to raise, or they were lucky enough to have a pro or a professor in town who’d give them their first starter. Mike…had a feeling not a lot of kids found an old Rotom in a defunct old computer in the community hall backrooms and stole it. And then immediately left town. 

But there was nothing left for him in boring, tiny Edahu town, so…why not leave. He had better things to do. 

Not that he wanted to take on the Pokemon Gym Challenge, but if he didn’t want to be taken advantage of by thugs or get stopped by annoying inconveniences…he at least had to do a few. Maybe just some on the way to Carbosi City or…wherever he could get that thing looked at. If he didn’t just figure it out first. 

(It definitely wasn’t a relic or anything, but…Mike had no idea what the light was. And it had seemed more pressing to get out of Edahu town first.)

But now…he was on the road, Rotom buzzing excitedly around him, taking in the world as Mike slowly trotted down…the…

There was a girl on the road. With…long black hair and a fancy-looking dress, and…even the sideview he had of her face, she looked…

Mike blushed and quickly looked down, shoving his hands in his hoodie. If you didn’t make eye contact, you didn’t have to be challenged to a battle. And…you didn’t have to look at people. 

Ava looked up at the sky, studying it. Her hands relaxed by her hips, she glanced around at the forest as well. She opened her mouth to taste the air, and could taste discomfort. Shyness. And urgency. 

Ava glanced over at a young centaur, looking a bit like a fawn, try to duck his head and avoid her gaze as he passed. Feeling vaguely amused– especially since his pokemon was absolutely not aware of what its trainer was doing, openly gawking at her with interest– Ava called out, “I’m not a trainer, you know. I’m not going to challenge you.”

She paused, before frowning. Adjusting her dress to look down at her bare feet, before looking around the area. “...I… may ask you for directions though. I think I’m a bit turned around. I’m not sure where I am.”

Mike just sort of nodded though he kept his head down, only blushing harder. Though, against his better judgment, he slowed as she asked for directions. He…was only not looking at her because he didn’t have time to battle! (Or any potions on him, as he’d used the last one he’d pilfered from Doris’ cabinets after getting away from the damn Sandshrew that couldn’t take a hint. Though…he wouldn’t lose if he were to get into a battle.) And…he…guessed he could give directions…

Clearing his throat, his tail giving a nervous shake, Mike muttered, “You’re about three days northeast of Edahu town. Close to Pinna Parkland. Can’t really tell you--”

A loud beeping started blaring from Mike’s pocket, the boy jumping slightly and looking around panicked, a distinct lack of Rotom buzzing around making it apparent that-- “No, come on Rotom, don’t--”

Mike’s phone, now orange with a slight aura around it, suddenly flew from his pocket, opening up the GPS and showing the girl eagerly.

Ava watched as the– phone?? Yes, phone.-- lit up with a colorful outline of a map, showing where they were within the map before several names popped up nearby. Ava smiled in mild amusement at the apparently confoundingly helpful pokemon, before she frowned. Why had she been confused, for a moment there? Of course she knew what a phone was, and what GPS was, and had seen a Rotom pokemon before. It was just…

“Hmm,” Ava hummed, “I’m not sure where I should try going. I think I may not have any memories. Which, if you’re curious, seems to be one of those things you have to notice. I’ve just noticed that now. I can’t seem to recall how I got here, or… well, really anything before that.” Ava said, brushing her hair back a bit, “Curious.”

Mike just stewed in embarrassment, turning bright red as he harshly looked away, tamping one of his hooves into the ground…though he didn’t stop Rotom from showing the girl the map of the area. He didn’t even leave. 

Though, of all things she could’ve said next, what she did got him to look back up, a frown settling on his expression, Mike actually able to look her in the eye. “Do you have any pokemon with you? Or…I guess trading makes it kind of hard to actually determine where you might’ve been…”

He looked around. “...but some of the pokemon on this route can be kinda aggressive. Are…” Mike glanced down again, flushing pink. “...you okay?”

“Oh, I’m not sure. Let me see…” Ava patted around her dress, before finding an inseam at the ribbon around her waist. Pulling out a pokeball, she considered it curiously, enlarging it before pointing it at the ground.

Then out of the pokeball came… Ava put her hand to her mouth and laughed a bit. “Oh, this feels a bit… narcissistic. It might not tell me where I’m from, but it certainly shows I’m a bit self absorbed,” she theorized, nodding her head politely at the pokemon, who nodded politely back, Ava and Gothitelle looking eerily alike, even similar in size. 

“She’s a Gothitelle,” Ava recalled… before shrugging, “Not that I remember how I learned that. I just know it's true. I also know we shouldn’t ask her to try to tell us who I am. We might accidentally find out the date of our likely death, cosmically, and that sounds like a pretty terrible use of astrology. I’ll spare you the journey, Gothitelle, I can predict for myself that I have some walking ahead of me.” 

Ava put up her pokeball again, and Gothitelle disappeared inside. Ava put her pokeball back in her waist ribbon, before looking curiously at the boy. “...truthfully? Probably not. But I don’t actually feel hurt, or that alarmed. I just feel a bit lost. Like…” Ava closed her eyes, “Like my head was very, very full of something. More than it could possibly hold. And I only know I held so much at one point, because now I’m so curiously… empty. But that emptiness inside of me is impossibly vast…”

…she opened her eyes, another small, amused smile. “Apparently I’m poetic. And perhaps a tad melodramatic. What about you? Are you okay?”

Mike’s eyes widened as he took in the pokemon that the girl released. Gothitelle… It was always interesting, seeing a new pokemon, but this one…

[Gothitelle, the Astral Body Pokemon] Rotom chirped, switching apps on Mike’s phone to his pokedex. [Psychic-type, the final evolution of Gothita. Gothitelle seems to hold precognitive abilities based on the movements of the stars. While its predictions can be macabre, Gothitelle on the whole avoid unnecessary conflict. -A.D.]

Things the girl just said, so she was obviously familiar with her pokemon, missing memories not-withstanding, but… A fully evolved pokemon??? What kind of trainer was this chick?!

…not one, according to her. Just…someone lost. And had lost…

Mike frowned a bit, before blinking in surprise. “Me? Yeah, I’m fine.” Seeming to grab ahold of himself, Mike stood a little taller. “I am a trainer, and Rotom and I are doing just fine. If…” Sighing, Mike looked to the side and adjusted his glasses. “...even with Gothitelle, things would probably be better for you in Pinna Parkland than on some random-ass road. Or any city. You could…walk with me if you wanted. Since you apparently don’t have a map.”

“Yes, you did strike me as a trainer. I feel like you’re ambitious. I’m not sure why I say that… it’s a bit like I can taste it. You radiate ambition into the air,” Ava mused, “It’s either that, or I'm tasting blueberries nearby. Could be either, really.”

“But, yes, I’d walk with you. Thank you, you’re very kind.” Ava smiled lightly, before looking up and down the road. “You came from that direction. I suppose we continue on this way?”

Mike gave the girl a skeptical look at the tasting comments, but drew himself up again. “Of course I’m ambitious. I’m not just going to wait around and waste my life doing nothing. And one day everyone will know the name Mike Teavee just as much as Bill or Lanette or fuckin’ Silph Co.”

Glancing away, Mike hunched his shoulders a little, turning pink again. “...that’s my name, by the way. Mike.”

He flushed more at the girl calling him kind, before awkwardly nodding and starting to lead the way back down the road.

“Hello Mike, my name is Ava,” Ava smiled, still managing to glide across the floor even as she hurried to match Mike’s pace, “Ava Mariah.”

-

Mike and Ava didn’t talk about much at first. Both just taking curious glances at each other and making small talk that didn’t lead to much. Ava didn’t have much to talk about beyond assuring Mike her feet didn’t actually hurt any, despite being barefoot, and Mike not wanting to talk much about his home beyond mentioning it wasn’t a place worth visiting. 

Then, the woods started to thin, and they started to see their first signs of other people as they approached a village. A few adults, sure, but a lot of children. Kids of various ages all running around together in groups or pairs, some playing with pokemon and a few hanging around porches or staring into the display windows of stores, window shopping. 

There were so many kids that Ava wondered aloud if they had stumbled onto some major school district. “Isn’t there meant to be some grand academy somewhere on this…” Ava frowned, “Continent? Though, I’m not sure how I know that. Perhaps it’s simply an easy guess? Most civilizations construct grand places of learning, almost as much as monuments to learning as they are to house students in their pursuits. Though, I’m certain I’m thinking of a specific academy in general. They train trainers.”

Despite being very thankful (privately) to be back in a town, Mike grew visibly cagier as he and Ava walked in from the outskirts of Pinna Parkland, keeping his gaze low and focused in a harsh glare, ready to burn anyone that had to make the effort to make eye contact. His shoulders rose high and his ears tilted back, though Mike didn’t comment until Ava mused about schools. 

“Naranja Academy?” he guessed, the name easy in terms of the largest pokemon academy around, though there were plenty of smaller trainer schools. “I’ve heard that the city around it was literally built just for the academy.”

After a moment, Mike shrugged. “Could just be general knowledge--everyone’s heard of Naranja. But maybe you were a student? They have these big projects that the students do while traveling all around the region. It wouldn’t be the craziest thing if that’s what you were doing.”

Taking a nervous glance around the children of Pinna Parkland, though, Mike shook his head a little before looking down again. “All the brats running around here aren’t because of any fancy school, though. The Gym Leader here is famous for the orphanage she helps run. And Pinna Parkland is known as a really safe place to stay if you’ve just started on your journey, since it’s so kid-friendly.”

A runaway’s paradise, he’d also heard it called. Not that he was really planning to stay. He was there to stock up, beat the Gym Leader, and continue on. Maybe see what their local library had to offer. 

“A student… perhaps? I think I may be educated. Perhaps even aggravatingly so,” Ava said, that small, mild amusement in her face again, “It’s a bit strange trying to get to know yourself. Even more so when you find the results to be a bit silly. Thank you for not testing me on my memory, by the way. A very common reaction to an episode by someone who’s never experienced one firsthand before is to immediately want to disprove the mental distortion isn’t truly happening. There’s many reasons for that, but the main one is often that people would rather disprove something that they don’t understand, for a first instinct. It’s much easier to poke holes in a situation to dismiss it than it is to learn or study it.”

“So, I appreciate you not trying to ‘trick’ me into admitting I have memories, or argue away that my innate concepts of knowledge inherently prove memories,” Ava said, glancing at him, “I’d have understood if you had wanted to. But I appreciate that you didn’t.”

Mike let out a half-aggravated snort, though it wasn’t directed at Ava. “Brains aren’t just one thing. One big aggregate cloud of knowledge and experiences and emotions and memories and everything. They’re a lot of little things, with a ton of specialization and overlap and stuff people don’t even really understand yet, all working together. Just because you know things doesn’t mean you have memories attached, or memories in general.”

“You said you can’t remember anything, and asking someone to remember what they’ve forgotten, or list out every little fucking thing they know is a useless task,” he scoffed. “And if you were trying to trick me for some reason? You could’ve tried to take me out before, without the whole charade. Rotom doesn’t like staying in its ball anyway, so it’s not like you could take it while I was sleeping or something.”

(...a brain was…a lot of things. Signals…code. But Ava’s problem wasn’t a bad code, and…Mike wasn’t even sure it was a lack of one. How could he…?)

An oddly pensive look came over Mike’s face. 

“Ah. It seems you’re also educated. Perhaps equally aggravatingly so.” Ava smirked lightly, before looking at Mike’s pokemon, who had fluttered up and around him at hearing its name being called. “Rotom’s quite cute. How long have you had it?”

Mike smirked a little too at that, though he wouldn’t call it aggravating. Or maybe only in the sense that everything he learned just made him want to know more, ever aware of the limits of his knowledge. All the more reason to be where he was. 

Glancing up at Rotom, Mike sighed a little. “A little over a week, now. I’ve heard that some regions have so many Rotom they use ‘em for everything from PCs to bike mods, but this is the first one I’ve ever seen.” Grinning a little fiercely, Mike met his Rotom’s gaze, the pokemon doing a little excited spin in the air. “I’m hoping its Ghost-typing will do us some favors against this gym. Can’t complain about an advantage getting our first badge.”

“Tsk, you’re going to challenge Maki Harukawa as your first gym badge?” said a voice from behind them, sounding a bit incredulous, “What, you just have no sense of scaling?”

“Glen, don’t be mean,” said a soft voice, before laughing lightly, Piper smiling warmly as the centaur and girl both looked back to see a gaggle of children staring at them, “But, he has a point. Do you actually know what you’re up against? This is literally the fighting gym. And you want to claim it as your first big fight?”

Ava gave the children a calm look. “Let’s know the difference between good advice and being discouraging. Gyms are open for anyone to challenge, regardless of experience or preparation. There’s no harm in attempting a gym, and it’s unkind to dissuade someone from something where there’s no real consequence.”

“Embarrassing yourself is a consequence,” Glen said dryly.

Jolting, Mike turned, looking at the…pack of kids staring back, and while his frown turned into a bit of a sneer, he started to sweat. He gave Ava a small glance before scowling at the other kids. “Oh no, I’m so damn intimidated. Guess I’ll just have to walk Palkia-knows how many damn hundred miles to the next gym, all to assuage some braggart's idea of the ideal gym order.”

“Mind your business, asshat,” he scoffed. “All gyms are balanced to the challenger’s number of badges. If no one challenges Maki’s,” (...why did that feel weird?) “Gym first, then that just means she has less experience battling at this level. Even more of an advantage to me, then.” 

Glen just crossed his arms and scowled a bit. “Big sis is Maki Harukawa. Looking for situations she’s not prepped in just means you’re too naive to be challenging her. Nothing but skill works against her.”

Ava tilted her head a bit, seeing the irritation on Glen’s face, the way the other kids kept glancing at him, but not calming him beyond Piper’s light chastising, and all staring at them. This could just be a matter of town pride, but… “Is there some reason you don’t want us to bother the gym leader today?”

Glen scowled, about to tell her off, when one of the kids behind him– Tyrone– piped up sadly, “Big sis has been hiking through the woods every day for a while now, trying to convince some assholes to let her help them. She’s been really tired for a while now, I think it’s wearing down on her.”

“Tyrone,” Glen snapped at him, before sighing, “That’s not anyone’s business but big sis’s. It’s not her fault they’re determined to die out there! Don’t spread rumors about it.” Glen snapped at them, glaring, “If those dumbasses die, it’s not her fault. She’s a great big sis, and she’s basically doing all of this alone. She doesn’t need to be battling every rando who stops by just because legally she has to.”

Ava put her hands together, considering that. “...that’s entirely understandable, and it’s equally understandable you wish to look out for her. It seems like she means a lot to you. But Maki Harukawa likely knows her own limits. Legally she has to accept a battle, but logically, she can tell us to come back another day, and we’d be quite unkind to insist otherwise. We’re not, so really it’s just a matter of letting us talk to her and work it out between us. You don’t need to intercept us.”

Mike glowered at Glen, rearing up to tell the fucking idiot off once again…but Ava beat him to it. Though…he wouldn’t really call what she did telling off. And it actually took him a second, but…huh. Aggravatingly educated, she said. 

Looking a bit bored, hearing that the leader had some personal business that these kids were sticking their noses into, the primary thing that stuck out to Mike was…a loophole. Something that made his eyes gleam as he latched onto it. It could just be these dumbasses playing white Bisharp, but…if Maki Harukawa was neglecting Pokemon League rules? If she was turning away challengers due to personal reasons, and not due cause, or she was closing the gym more often than the required minimum hours…that was cause for League interference. For her to get her title stripped, or be replaced, and Mike in particular to get a badge through discriminatory recompense, and considering he wasn’t aiming to be a champion or anything as dumb as that, he didn’t care how he got his badges--

Mike twitched a little as Ava declared that the two of them weren’t unkind. He had half a mind to ask when she started speaking for both of them, but…

(...but it was Maki’s revenue as a Gym Leader that mostly paid for the orphanage in Pinna Parkland, he knew. Her prestige that kept eyes on it, and likely kept it running well. That made it so even Mike all the way out in boonie Edahu Town knew that Pinna Parkland was a safe place to go if you had nowhere else, or even if just where you were wasn’t good.)

(If she was removed from her leader position…all of that wouldn’t disappear overnight. But there was no telling if the next Gym Leader would be as focused on the orphanage. Or if the League wouldn’t just close the gym altogether and open one in a different town.)

(...was all that worth just…a badge to him? And he could get the badge just as easily through the traditional method.)

“Hey!” Mike growled, getting truly testy. “Who fucking decided I was even going to challenge the gym today, huh?! What fucking arrogance, dunderhead--maybe that posturing for someone else’s ego that you’re basing your own off of is really needed if idiots just literally walk into town and immediately go to the gym. You have nothing to do with my challenge, unless you have the guts to open up your own gym, so fuck off!”

Throwing the bird at the group of kids, Mike turned back, headed back towards the local Pokemon Center as he had been going towards initially, Rotom pausing in the air behind him to wave at the kids with one of its prongs before floating after Mike.

Several of the kids sputtered, Glen calling out, “Hey, you fucking–”

“Please don’t mind him, we haven’t eaten yet today,” Ava smiled, her calm tone doing a bit of a tonal whiplash, tilting her head as she brushed her hair back of her shoulder, “If you’ll excuse us, he is right in that there’s no reason to have delayed or waylaid us, not truly. I won’t ask for an apology, but I will assume upon reflection you’ll understand why he was angry. Do give it some thought. Have a good day.”

Nodding politely, Ava hurried off to follow Mike.

That was a bit of an exercise, though, and after a bit Ava had to call, “Mike! Mike, you’re a bit faster than me right now! Have some pity on two feets?”

…he hadn’t expected Ava to follow after him. 

Why should she? He’d gotten her directions to a place way safer than the middle of nowhere, and…that was that. Their business done. She was lost and he was a guy with a map, case solved. And now she did know that he wasn’t really kind.

Mike slowed his pace until it looked like Ava could easily keep up. 

“Twice as many legs doesn’t really mean I’m twice as fast,” he grumbled, his fists in his pockets.

“I’ll be sure to explain that to my calves while they’re burning to keep up,” Ava promised, taking a deep breath as she slowed down her hurrying pace, lowering the ends of her dress as she panted. “Oh, sometimes my sense of aesthetic is so wildly impractical. I feel like my hair gives even fur a run for its money on keeping a body warm. I really should put it up when I’m traveling.”

Done fussing, she kept pace with him, looking him over for a bit. “...would you like to talk about it? I have a feeling I may be a bit of a skilled listener. Though, I may feel compelled to offer commentary.”

Impractical, but…uh…

Mike shrugged, burrowing himself more into his jacket. “We’re in a good place to make adjustments, then. Yanno, hairties. Shoes. Little things.” Not that Mike knew a whole lot about shoes, but… (He knew enough.)

Glancing over warily, Mike gave Ava a tepid glare. “Talk about what? What just happened? You were there, unless you’ve suddenly developed short-term memory loss too.”

“Did I offend you in asking?” Ava asked, peeking at Mike from below long lashes. She could see the curves of them in her vision, her eyes lidded like that, and it occurred to her she might be wearing makeup. She wasn’t sure though, she’d need a mirror to truly check, if she didn’t want to drag her perfectly manicured nails down her cheeks. “I asked in earnest. I worried you might be upset. I’d argue it’s a valid concern. Seeing as how upset you are.”

“And I questioned in earnest,” Mike bit out, grabbing fistfulls of the inside fabric of his pockets. “You didn’t clarify, so how the hell am I supposed to know what you’re asking about?!”

“And I’m not upset!” Mike huffed, his tail flicking. “That was just annoying. C’mon, we’re almost at the Pokemon Center. We can ask for lodging, and even if it didn’t look hurt to me earlier, you should probably ask the resident nurse to heal Gothitelle just in case.”

Hmm. It seemed like Mike might need a break. Ava would hold back for now. Especially considering he was back to talking in terms of ‘we’, rather than running off without a look back. That was ideal for Ava, both to spend more time with him, and to also not be barefoot and alone and lost in a strange town in some random part of the world.

“You’re right, I expect. For all we know, I might need to see a healer myself, actually. I could have been mugged and bashed in the head. It’d explain the amnesia and my lack of shoes. Perhaps they were very nice shoes,” Ava said lightly, “I do seem to spend quite a bit on my clothes.”

The Pokemon Center was bright when they entered it, though the lights were all tinted a soft, warm green. A quick glance at a poster easily and boldly explained that all medical centers had been upgraded to green lighting to reduce migraine strains from mental bruising! Another brilliant– and well funded– upgrade from the Illumination Medical Corporation! 

At the counter was a Clefable, which wasn’t surprising. The Illumination Medical Corp. had a specialized training regime specifically for pokemon who wanted to make an independent living as healers. While technically an independent pokemon was a ‘wild’ pokemon, and wild pokemon tended to live in separate pokemon societies, the healers at Pokemon Centers got around this distinction by all of them technically being claimed as being trained by the Illumination Medical Corp itself. The few humans assigned to the otherwise pokemon-run medical facilities mostly in administration, signing for things the pokemon couldn’t.

There were growing talks of reassigning what it meant to be a ‘wild’ pokemon that chose to live within society. It was said some huge legislative changes were basically coming out within the next year or so. It’d be a big societal change, but one everyone was ready for, most of the population having been advocating for it for a while now. It was mostly just taking time to make sure the transition would be smooth.

But, until that day, programs like Illumination Medical Corp got around the laws by taking legal responsibility for their pokemon’s independence. A complicated arrangement, but one that so far worked for everyone, as the Clefable smiled wide at the two visitors, before a Chansey scurried over, handing the two of them a tablet where they could request what they needed from the facility, the two pokemon waiting patiently for the forms.

“That would give the hypothetical muggers at least some moral lines, then,” Mike grunted, “Since they’d’ve left your clothes. Attacking someone and giving them a potentially lethal head wound is all in the name of a living, but Reshiram forbid that they leave a girl naked.”

Mike’s shoulders relaxed a bit as they got inside the Pokemon Center. He didn’t really have a basis to; it was rare, but Centers still could throw people out if they were deemed a threat to the people and pokemon in the center. But…you couldn’t hold a battle in a Center, and in the absence of that above case, they would take in anyone who came through the doors, providing medical service, board, and even simple foodstuffs. And…at least most of the Centers he’d seen since leaving Edahu? A lot of them were mainly run by pokemon. 

Taking the tablet from the Chansey with a quiet ‘thank you’, Mike started filling out his requests. A heal for Rotom, board, and…oh, this place had Poffins. Mike didn’t mind just straight up berries, but Poffins did tend to be a little more filling. 

Returning the form, Mike sighed as he pulled his pokeball out, starting the negotiations. 

“Look, I know you don’t like going in, but this is how the Center machines work, Rotom,” Mike sighed, trying to keep his voice low, even as he frowned at the slightly louder buzzing from Rotom. “You might feel okay from the potion, but we both know they’re only quick fixes. It’s only for a few seconds, while the nurses help you out, then you can be out as much as you like, okay?”

Ava looked at the potential food, making her own selections– she probably liked that. This sounded good– before considering her own pokemon as she watched Mike negotiate with his pokemon. Hmmm… that was probably wise. She’d take good advice when she saw it.

So, pulling out her pokeball, she clicked the center and watched her appear. Gothitelle looking down at her. Honestly. The sheer nerve of having to look at a pokemon she simply must have picked because it looked like herself. Did her self-love know no restraint?

She passed Gothitelle the tablet. “Please pick what you’d like to eat for the next few days. Do not be concerned by the price. I’ll work it out.”

Clefable waved at her, before passing her a pamphlet. Ah, of course the actual medical stuff came at no charge. That would help. 

Gothitelle looked it over, picked a few items, before handing the tablet back. She went back into the pokeball, and Ava handed both the tablet and the pokeball to the Chancey, who bowed before heading off. The Clefable patiently looked at Mike.

It was an odd look for Mike. He was visibly straining, like the kid who had yelled at the group outside was seconds from a tantrum…but he was restraining himself. His voice never raised or sharp, as he spoke to Rotom, though it did get a little huffy and rough. Mike’s body was tense, but he never even gestured violently at the pokemon. And, eventually, with a bout of buzzing that sounded suspiciously like whining, Rotom went back into its pokeball. With a small sigh, Mike gently handed it over to the nurse Clefable, offering a nod and what was probably supposed to be a polite smile. 

And as Mike had promised? The nurse pokemon put their pokeballs into the Center machine, and with a brief jingle their ‘mon were handed back. Rotom immediately popped back out of its ball and promptly stuffed itself into the back of Mike’s jacket, prompting a muffled squeal that Mike would vehemently deny, though he didn’t bother flattening any parts of his hair that suddenly spiked up…from the ever so slightly different angles where it had been already spiked up naturally. 

Sighing, Mike accepted a room key from the Chansey with another quiet thanks before he looked around. Shifting his weight before glancing at Ava. “...I was gonna go check out the library. Are…you gonna get checked out yourself?”

“I think I might benefit from some shopping for shoes,” Ava admitted, pocketing her pokeball, “And then, yes, I suppose I’ll stop by a healer and see if I do have some sort of traumatic brain injury. It’s not out of the realm of possibility, though I do feel fine.”

“Shall we get breakfast together tomorrow?” Ava asked him.

Mike nodded a bit, hearing Ava’s plans, before he blinked. …wait, that wasn’t right, was it? He blinked again, looking up at Ava, who seemed perfectly pleased to wait for an answer, for a normal question she’d asked. 

Turning pink, Mike quickly looked away and shrugged. “Sure, why not. No point deliberately avoiding each other, I guess. See…you then.”

Ava smiled. “See you then.”

-

…something was wrong. 

Kyle couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Mime Jr. didn’t seem to have a care in the world, as long as he at least pretended to watch the dance party it had been putting on for the last hour, and Phantump seemed perfectly pleased curled up in his arms. The little guy had fallen asleep about 15 minutes ago. 

(Something told Kyle that the fact that he could put a finger on anything was part of the problem.)

He glanced down, looking at his hands. One supporting Phantump’s body, the other…just his hand. A few scars from being a dumbass. The three tiny birthmarks not quite in a straight line going up from his wrist. Just…

“Mi-mime!”

Kyle glanced up with an apologetic smile, Mime Jr. keeping the huffy look with its arms akimbo for a moment longer before seeming to judge that Kyle really was sorry. And then the dance party was back on. 

…something was wrong, but… At least these two were happy.

-

Kaito technically had an office, but everyone knew it was more of a glorified storage space for his paperwork. Especially on these warm summer days? Kaito had a tendency to jump from a few familiar spots every day, carting his work around with him in a backpack he tended to wear all day. 

He liked to sit outside the most, sitting on the outdoor eating areas. They had umbrellas for when it rained, and firepits for the colder seasons, but even if it had none of those things, Kaito would probably have ended up on the outdoor eating patios either way. He just found it easier to focus in the open, especially if there were people nearby, eating or chatting or walking around. Sitting in silence tended to make him drift too far into his own head to focus on the paperwork, and sitting in the gardens took that same problem and amplified it, though in a way that was soothing.

Working in the office was tough. Kaito got bored, and that boredom distracted him from what he needed to do. Someone had recommended trying a study once, to see if the cozier, more library-like atmosphere might focus him, but when he had tried it, somehow that had been even worse. Not only bored and lost in the quiet, but with this undertone of… anxiety. A certainty that he was doing something wrong that he couldn’t shake no matter how much he reasoned or chastised himself. It had gotten so bad that he had started dissociating, his own thoughts echoing in his head, and since then he had mostly just made it a rule for himself to work outside.

That was alright. It had the benefit of keeping him around people, Kaito looking up as he heard another call, grinning and giving an acknowledging nod as some friends of his spotted him, off to get their own breakfasts. They gave him a wave, but didn’t head over, recognizing all the paperwork scattered around his plates meant he was working. Despite being pretty friendly with everyone who lived in the area, as the CEO of Illumination, most people knew to leave Kaito to his work.

That included his pokemon employees, which meant when Clefable– honestly, his right hand man– trotted over to bring him an envelope, he knew it had to be important for Clefable to want to take him away from his other work. 

Looking down at the note, written in Clefable’s swirly handwriting (despite some effort to train him, Clefable probably was never going to be able to speak, like some pokemon had managed to learn, but he could write. Kaito didn’t find Clefable’s inability to talk much of a hindrance in the guy though, Clefable more than able to work around it.) Kaito frowned. “Ah geez…” Kaito muttered, sipping his coffee, elbow on one of the expansion reports he was trying to decide if he was going to approve or not. “Kirumi wants me to call the family, huh? It’s always bad news if she’s the one reaching out, rather than them. Sounds like I pissed someone off… wonder what I did,” Kaito said, rolling his eyes as he put the envelope down, looking to Clefable, “Well, that can wait till this afternoon. Thanks, man. Anything I need to move around on my calendar to make room for a call?”

Clefable took out their tablet, opening it up and bringing up Kaito’s calendar, looking through it, before pointing to a meeting he had that day, suggesting he could replace a future leisure event and push the meeting till then– “No!” Kaito said, seeing what the event was, before turning red. Shaking his head and saying in a more even tone, “No, I… I’ve already pushed that twice now, Clefable. I’m not missing the show this time.”

Clefable frowned, before moving the calendar back a few times. Showing him that for having pushed the event twice, he had also been to see this exact same show five times now. 

Kaito blushed, looking away. “Y-yeah? So!? It’s a good show! I’m allowed! Besides, I hear this next show is special. The ringleader is uh…” Kaito grinned dreamily, “Supposed to be starring in a new act. Can’t miss that, can I? I’m a, uh… y’know. A real fan.”

Clefable rolled his eyes at Kaito, before patting him on the shoulder. Pat-pat. Fine. He’d find another opening in his schedule.

“Perfect, you’re a lifesaver!” Kaito grinned at the pokemon, watching him scurry off, before pulling out a small little ticket that he carried around. The ticket having a picture of its star performer: Leggero Fortuna. 

Kaito was a… big fan.

Big fan.

-

Mike was going to have breakfast with Ava, like they’d said. But he’d barely started getting ready before, in an attempt to not be a colossal weirdo, he’d brought the device with him and got settled in a little out of the way nook, eating bites of his breakfast poffins here and there while inspecting it and trying not to just stare at the door for Ava. Like a weirdo. 

Rotom had already snuck away two poffins, and they’d barely been there.

Ava came down with an updated getup.

Her hair was tied back into a long, bouncy ponytail, tied by a red ribbon. She had replaced her long, intricate dress for what she had deemed would be easier travel clothes… in her own style. A poofy gray silk button up with a high, long collar to protect her from the sun, and poofy black shorts to make it easier to walk, all above stylized black boots all laced with red ribbons. 

Pulling out her stopwatch, she peeked at it, before spotting Mike and smiling approvingly. Pocketing it, she headed over, sitting down with him as she said, “I apologize, putting myself together took longer than I expected it would. Have you been waiting long?”

Mike started to shake his head, already saying no before he looked up, what he’d meant to just be a glance getting stuck as his eyes widened, his voice dying in his throat. …wow. Ava had really… Don’t be weird.

Clearing his throat and looking back down, focusing in on the device, Mike made an indistinct hum. “N-not really. Got everything you needed, yesterday? You do look more ready for travel.”

“I believe so, yes. I was surprised to see I had a bank account in my name, and more than enough coin in that account,” Ava said, platting from the table food, offered by the Illumination boarding. “And yet, I wasn’t able to find anything more out through that. No records of when it was opened, which region, no previous withdrawals. Someone went to great effort to make sure my funds were a lockbox mystery.”

Taking a sip from the orange juice she had poured, she added in, “It’s occurred to me I might be complacent, in my own amnesia. The healers say I’m personally healthy, no sign of injuries. No sign of any past injuries or illness either. I’m in perfect health. With no sign of injury, of external factors, perhaps I’ve simply gone mad.” She ate some fruit, before shrugging. “It certainly could be worse, as far as bouts of madness goes.”

“Hmm,” Mike hummed, taking that all in with a curious, slightly worried look. It did take dedication to simply wipe someone’s existence from the world…and even more so to leave evidence, but for that evidence to be self-contained. A bank account, but nothing more than money and a name. No co-signers, no indicative region, no purchases to show glimpses of what the person holding that account might’ve been like. Nothing on Ava’s person other than personal style and a pokemon that couldn’t exactly just tell her what happened. 

“I…guess,” Mike mumbled, fingers turning over the device almost idly. “There are stories about certain pokemon wiping memories if they’re startled, or doing it on purpose through a deal someone made. If you did make a deal, who’s to know if going looking for what happened is exactly the opposite of what the version of you that made the deal would want.”

“...but I guess that doesn’t really matter, even outside of that only being a hypothetical,” he shrugged. “What do you want to do now?”

“I’m not sure,” Ava said, before immediately rectifying, “I think I’d like to stay with you, if you’d allow it.”

“I agree with you, there is a possibility that, if I was complicit in my own memory wipe, then yes, not only would it be against what I wanted, but also I’d imagine that, if I were to wipe my own memory in some sort of deal, I also imagine I’d have taken great pains to sabotage my attempts to sabotage myself… and since I imagine that, I can assume my previous self thought that as well,” Ava said, tilting her head, “And in truth, I don’t entirely care about respecting her wishes. But, I also know how dangerously close to obsession I could become, if I make my number one priority uncovering a truth that possibly my number one priority used to be hiding from myself.”

“And I have no desire to stress myself out into poor mental health habits pursuing what will very likely be a long term goal as a short term emergency,” Ava said, “So, I need to give myself other things to do. Other projects to work on, alongside uncovering who I am. And, you seem like someone who is going places and doing things. Perhaps assisting you will be fun. A good way to help me manage my obsession levels.”

“...if you’d enjoy my company, of course,” Ava said, smiling lightly, “If not, I can find other ways. You would not leave me hopeless.”

Though it seemed like a natural progression, Mike still couldn’t stop the befuddled, off-guard look that crossed his face. Just getting Ava to the next town wasn’t something he felt like he needed any sort of compensation for, and…well, she’d seen it yesterday. He wasn’t exactly a great travel companion. And yet…

And yet she hadn’t even looked…shocked, by what happened yesterday. And…she’d sort of taken his side, even. But she didn’t seem like she expected gratitude. Even not being a trainer, with a fully evolved pokemon like Gothitelle it wasn’t like Ava needed his protection. And now she had her own goals, even if that goal was just to find something else to do with her time while the mystery of her memories unfurled. 

…why him, though. This was a mistake. This…

“I mean, if you want to,” Mike shrugged, looking at the table between them. “Guess I should let you know I’m heading to Carbosi City or Usott as, like, an overarching goal, for now. Usott’s closer, so while going to Carbosi City as an overall thing is, like, you know, there’s plenty to do in Usott so I’d probably end up staying there a while. So you know.”

“Sounds like a plan then,” Ava agreed, eating some of her grits, “It’s a bit exciting, isn’t it? Traveling? Do you think you’ll take on the gym challenges? I know there’s certain travel benefits for minors to have a few badges in your pocket, but do you think you’ll do more than one or two?”

“I’m planning on trying all the ones on the way,” Mike confirmed, putting the device down for a moment to actually eat some breakfast before Rotom stole it all. “Like…why not, right? I’m not some battle-brain that’s dead-set on becoming the champion, but getting four or five badges opens up a lot of stock you can get from marts, and it’s easier to get through road checkpoints if you have a few. Since people equate badges to being able to handle yourself in survival situations.” Mike rolled his eyes a little. 

Something occurred to Mike, though it made him flush and look down at his plate. “Ah, actually… If you’re gonna come along… Would you mind filming my challenges? If you’re gonna come watch them, I guess.” 

“It’s also a good networking strategy,” Ava pointed out, “People tend to trust or at least respect people who have badges in their regions. Makes you seem like you’ve put time and investment into training in their areas. People appreciate that.”

Ava smirked as she pointed out, “Might cause more defensiveness in new places the more well known you are though. You don’t strike me as someone who’d enjoy being famous, so yes, perhaps championship isn’t the best path forward for you.”

Though, at his question, Ava startled, genuinely surprised. “Film them? Certainly, I wouldn’t mind, if you’ll teach me how to use the equipment I’d need to use. May I ask why you want to though? Perhaps I missed the mark and you do wish to be well known?”

“Well, it at least is a good indication you aren’t a criminal,” Mike smirked, “Which does garner some trust too.” It had been a while since he’d read about some sting operation in a gym, or someone being sent out on their ass, but at least these days League affiliates didn’t take kindly to pokemon-snatchers. If you had a poke-napping bounty on your head, you’d get Gym Leaders coming after you, and not the other way around. 

Shrugging a little indifferently at the town-pride defensiveness, Mike frowned and started poking at the device again. “It’s easy, you’ll pick it up fast. And…I mean, I wouldn’t mind being famous--just not for battling. No, I, uh…” He fiddled with some of the buttons. “I like rewatching my matches to figure out how I could’ve done better, or how my opponent pulled something off. There’s a different mindset between battling and watching a battle--I can’t learn everything I need to just from the memory of what I decided in split-second decisions.”

“Ooooh, that’s quite ambitious,” Ava praised, eyes lighting up in interest, “And look at that. The taste of blueberries return. Strange. Perhaps someone is eating them on their waffles nearby.”

“But, yes, of course,” Ava agreed, “I’d be happy to. I think it’d be exciting. I suppose I can consider myself a… cinematographer? No, not quite. Camera operator, I suppose. Perhaps I’ll enjoy it or perhaps I’ll find it tiring. Either way, it’s one step closer to creating an identity for myself.”

Mike blushed a bit and looked down, Rotom stealing some berries this time. Though he did look around before humming. “...maybe you have a form of synesthesia? Two isn’t really a pattern, and I’ve never heard of synesthesia triggering with…perceptions of concepts as they apply to other people? But I don’t see any blueberries around.”

Nodding a little, he pulled out his phone and showed it to Ava. “We can do some tests if you want, but basically?” He flipped to the camera app. “Tap the red button, keep stuff in-frame. …uh, which would be everything you can see on the screen.”

“Not that I’m gonna challenge the gym today, probably.” Mike shrugged. “Or if I did, it’d just be to schedule something with the leader, since she’s oh-so busy. I’m hoping to find out more about her team, so I can strategize for it.”

His furry brow furrowing, Mike squinted as he explained, “She uses primarily Fighting-type, and actually does, unlike some gyms in this region. And as a first badge battle, she wouldn’t be able to use something like a ring target…but that wouldn’t stop her from using Lock-On or Foresight. Those would be set-up moves, so that means a free move for me, and it would mean one less attack to account for, but if any of her pokemon have the speed for it, it’d just mean she’d have to take one hit before I have trouble coming my way. A Lock-On into Superpower, though that would be too high level for this bracket, is dangerous…”

“I heard around town that she has an Urshifu too, but no one seemed to know which discipline it was. Single-Strike Urshifu would be a problem for us…”

Ava nodded, listening to him explain… before looking down at her hand in slight surprise. She had just been thinking this was the sort of the thing she ought to take notes on, and had found herself just… tapping. On the table. Like somehow that was an answer to that thought. 

Hm.

Considering the… nervous habit? She didn’t feel nervous, it had just felt natural. But considering the new habit, she filed that away, crossing her hands together to stop herself from tapping, as she admitted, “I’ll have to take your word for all of that. Shockingly enough, it appears my education is not in battling. Which does go against the odd fact that not only do I have a fully evolved pokemon, but she’s arguably a rare and powerful one as well. Strange. Perhaps she wasn’t raised by me, but a gift? Or perhaps she evolved outside of direct training. Evolution just by the act of living.”

She peered over at Rotom, flittering about and eating its berries, and cooed to it, “What do you grow up into, little one? You might be very young still, to be so small… though, I suppose we all are.” She paused at that, notably uncertain. “...I suppose.”

Mike gave a little ‘huh’, similarly curious about the same things Ava brought up, to the point he just…forgot to get defensive about his style of strategy. The other kids in Edahu town weren’t exactly ‘hurr durr do an attack until it faints’, but Mike’s style of overly-analytical, comprehensive strategy tended to be a point of mockery. Unearned, in his eyes, but…well, people didn’t care about that kind of strategy in fights between people.

“It’s just thinking a little deeper about type match-ups, really,” he shrugged, before giving Rotom a half-amused look. (And giving Ava a slightly confused look at her hesitation.) “Rotom doesn’t evolve, but they’re some of the cool types of pokemon that can change their form, like Shaymin or Giratina.” Was it telling that Mike compared his partner to two legendaries? Maybe.

“Rotom can possess electrical objects, like it did with my phone before, though only some are conducive for battling, it seems,” Mike explained. “People don’t really know why yet, though. But, for example, if Rotom possesses an electric fan? Then it becomes Electric-Flying, instead of Electric-Ghost, and can learn from a new moveset too.”

Mike smirked a little. “In some ways, Rotom’s way more versatile than even multi-stage evolutionary lines.”

Ah, then perhaps the Rotom was older than it looked. Despite its cute and small appearance.

Hm.

“What a lucky partner you’ve made,” Ava complimented, taking note at Mike’s obvious pride, “It’s extremely impressive. I can’t wait to see how you end up assisting it. They’re not my most keen interest, I think…” Ava frowned, a little confused at what she meant by that. Because what she had wanted to say was it wasn’t her ‘specialty’, but hadn’t known how to explain what she meant by that, “But I think the relationship between trainers and pokemon are fascinating. Both for its highs and its low points. I tend to find the relationship between families or couples more of a direct focus, but…”

Ava trailed off, her mind filling with confusing ideas. That she found relationships far more interesting, but addiction more important. Which was an odd way to put that. Why would her attention towards how people handled addiction be ‘important’? To whom? 

“...I’m sorry, I’m not sure how to finish that sentence,” Ava admitted, “I think that’s the first time so far where my lack of memories has tripped up my thought process. I might be able to speak more clearly on it later. But, for now!” Ava clapped her hands together once, considering Mike. “I am officially your traveling companion! How do you want to tackle today? Consider me at your service, since I’ve already accomplished my desire to get myself a more appropriate wardrobe and traveling pack.”

Mike’s smile faded as he regarded Rotom. It was a…unique partnership, at least. He’d gotten Rotom out of that ancient computer, and for now Rotom was sticking with him since Mike only ever asked Rotom to get into something when it was its ball to get healed. It was…a partnership that allowed the two of them some freedom. And that was enough for now. 

Looking up, Mike tilted his head a little at Ava, not really sure where she was going either. He got the concept of people-watching enough, but…he’d never really heard anyone describe relationships, as a concept and practice outside yourself, as fascinating. But as she seemed to get tripped up, he just shrugged and let it be. Ava liked the bonds between people. Maybe she wanted to be a counselor or something. Some people could definitely use a hand understanding the difference between friendship and love, if the number of abandoned Espeon, Umbreon, and Sylveons out there was any indication. 

Just balking a little at Ava’s enthusiasm, Mike was quick to regain himself with a little nod. “Alright, I want to swing by the gym first. If Maki Harukawa really is leaving the gym every day, then hopefully the League affiliate there, or a secretary or someone can take down that I’ll want a challenge soon.” …and hopefully he wouldn’t have to track her down himself. Mike would be very happy not to have to go hiking while he wasn’t between towns, thank you very much. 

“After that, I’m going to try and find out more about her team, if not battling style. I’m not exactly bursting with cash, so if Rotom and I need to plan out a different move set, we’ll probably have to go looking for TM ingredients.” Mike grimaced a bit. “Hopefully it won’t come to that, even if it’s extra training.”

“That sounds like a clear set of directives, perfect,” Ava said, glancing down at her breakfast. It was good, but she couldn’t really eat anymore, and she was still a bit hungry. Hm. That was alright, she supposed. She probably just had a small stomach and how good the food was was convincing her saliva glands that she still was craving food. Just conflicting body urges. “I still have some coin to work with, though I would caution we hold onto it in case we need emergency funds in our travels. It’s enough to survive, but not indulge much more than I already have. Anyway, I think I’m done. Shall we get going?”

Mike nodded in agreement. If Ava paid for everything he needed, it would feel uncomfortably like he’d just agreed to travel with her just for her bank account, regardless of the fact that that hadn’t been his actual decision process. And otherwise… “For the stuff there’s other options for, it’s better to hold onto cash for the stuff there isn’t. Even if TM hunting is a pain.”

Giving Rotom one last Oran berry from his plate, Mike hopped up onto his hooves with a small stretch. “Yeah, let’s go. Hopefully there isn’t an impassioned obstacle course of kids before we can even see the gym door.”

-

There wasn’t, but at the same time, seeing Maki Harukawa leave the dojo with a massive backpack full of supplies wasn’t ideal either. 

Maki Harukawa had two wildly different reputations, depending on who you were talking to. For some, she was a saint. A woman who had grown up in an orphanage that was not only underfunded, but actually in the process of shutting down just when Maki herself was turning 17. And while Maki had a promising future as a trainer regardless, she gave herself a time limit to go and get qualified for her gym leader status in less than one year, getting it when she was 18 and coming back to use her winnings and reputation to fund the orphanage again, saving the kids from having to be separated into going to orphanages around the continent.  A truly heroic story of a sister going above and beyond to save the children she had grown up with.

Her other reputation was that she was a ruthless fighter. The pressure and time limit of needing to save her orphanage had created a trainer type who put down her opponents brutally and quickly. It was said the quickest multi-pokemon battle she ever had had been one minute and forty seconds, and most of that time had been the other trainer fumbling to get their balls out. 

She was efficient, and she trained her pokemon to be efficient. And some of that determined efficiency was obvious on her now, as she glanced at the two children, before asking, “If you’re looking for a place to stay, go inside. There’s a woman at the counter who can start the process. Welcome to Sunny Side, you’re safe here.” Before she headed down the steps off the dojo balcony and started walking off.

Huh. Mike had thought she’d already be gone by dawn. Maybe that kid was right about her being tired. 

“Does she schedule your gym challenges too?” Mike called, only minorly annoyed, and certainly not irked enough about Maki immediately leaving to try and stop her. “Not today, but I want to make sure I can actually catch you on a day you’re here.”

(It didn’t occur to Mike at all to question if this woman was Maki Harukawa. Of course she was.)

“Mm,” Maki hummed, “Yeah. Gym’s closed for two weeks. See you then.”

Mike’s expression dropped. 

Two weeks?! (Ohh she was testing his resolve not to ruin countless people’s lives for his convenience.)

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” he snapped, that resolve not extended to throwing a bitch fit over it. “What in Giratina’s domain is taking so long in the damn woods that it’s taking two weeks?!”

“The stupid treehouse kids lost three of their own and only just got the courage to tell me,” Maki said grimly, “Going to go get them…”

She paused, looking back at the two children. “You need a badge for something important? Someone dying? Emergency funds?”

Ava said nothing, but watched Maki and Mike. The air tasted interesting. It was like there was a scent coming off of Maki. It smelled like…coffee. But a bitter, burnt coffee. The kind that was like acid on the tongue.

(It tasted like stress.)

…well, okay, the bitchfit resolve was tempered by people fucking dying. He wasn’t heartless. 

…still. How stupid. What could be so scary that you’d sleep out in a treehouse, deal with your companions dying, and then only tell the local gym leader? 

Letting out an aggravated sigh, Mike (carefully. These damn steps were just a little too narrow to turn around on with hooves) turned around to head back down the stairs. “No. Fine. See you in t--Rotom.”

Again, Mike’s phone flew from his pocket, narrowly avoiding his hands to catch the device before it flew over to Maki, pulling up a map on the surrounding area. The map scrolled up towards the nearby woods, and a GPS ping surrounded the area, before it stilled, Rotom looking up at Maki imploringly.

A frustrated huff in the back of his throat, Mike worked on getting down the stairs more quickly, trying not to stumble over his hooves. 

Maki stared at the Rotom warily, before looking at the image on the phone, confirming that this was the same mountain she was heading to. She knew the three were supposed to be exploring the mountain for a ‘better village spot’, as the kids in the treehouses had explained, but saying someone was on a mountain doesn’t narrow it down all that much. Mountains were big. And this pokemon was saying it knew exactly where they were…

“...” Maki looked at the pokemon, the phone, and then at the two children. Watching Mike struggle with the stairs. “There’s a ramp around the side of the dojo,” she told him unhelpfully, Mike already almost down, “Do you two hike much?”

“For some specialized training, we certainly do.” Ava smiled. “Though of course we’re just happy to help. Will your trip take two weeks now that you know where they are?”

“Assuming the trace is accurate, and updates if they move, and is available to reference?” Maki said, peering at the location of the trio, “Three days. They didn’t get far up apparently, which likely means they’re lost. Ideally. They could be injured… Your pokemon will be helpful. Assuming you come with. I wouldn’t ask you to separate from your pokemon.”

“Some personalized training from the fighting gym leader is far from a small payment,” Ava whispered to Mike. “It could make your life easier in the long term.”

Mike gave Maki a flat look as he made it back onto flat ground, holding out his hand for Rotom to float back to, muttering to his pokemon about such things as ‘stop just showing people my phone’ and ‘if you make me fall down a damn set of stairs we are only eating berries’. But as he tapped at the map Rotom had brought up, looking at what his pokemon had actually done…

Mike’s brow furrowed as he gave Rotom a questioning look, Rotom only making the phone give off a few baleful beeps. 

…Arceus damnit, he was going to hike up a damn mountain, wasn’t he. 

Giving a deep sigh, he gave Maki a tense look. “Rotom managed to find the electrical feedback of, likely, something they’re holding, so as long as they don’t throw whatever it is into a bush, it should be accurate and consistently traceable.”

“...they’re not moving fast, so Rotom’s not staying in my phone the whole time,” Mike demanded, no room for negotiation on that part. “And training or no, I want to see which pokemon you use for a zero badge match.”

Belatedly, he glanced to Ava. “...did you leave anything at the Center?”

“I did, but I think I may be quick,” Ava said, “I can run back and get my pack–”

Maki shook her head, adjusting her pack on her shoulders. “You just saved me weeks of searching, I can delay an hour. Go get enough clothes for three days, don’t worry about other supplies, I’ll adjust my pack for extra people,” Maki said, heading back up to the dojo, “Be back in the hour. Then we’re heading out.”

…maybe it wasn’t just fatigue. Maki being the kind of person that…would leave mid-morning, making sure she was prepared for something dangerous. Would consider stopping that dangerous mission for someone who might look immediately safe, but checked if there was a different sort of danger. Who’d delay an hour for better chances.

Mike…may have misjudged her. 

Giving Maki a nod, Mike turned towards the Pokemon Center with Ava. “See you then.”

-

An hour later, and Mike and Ava were back in front of the gym (stairs not even partway climbed this time), Mike hunched in his hoodie with his hands buried in the pockets, face red while his tail flicked…and a new shirt folded up in his pack. 

Ava, in turn, was wearing a cute, black backpack, decorated by a series of colorful stitching through its edges, and in the center of the flap was a cute, black and white bear, one side with sharpened teeth and the other smiling sweetly. There had been a few pieces of merchandise with the same happy, smiling bear. It was one of the mascots for the pokemon breeding safaris, though as far as Ava was aware the bear itself wasn’t an actual pokemon that existed in the wild. She didn’t know the story behind the mascot, but she thought it was cute.

“So, this should be interesting,” Ava mused, before admitting, “Though, I don’t know if I’m ‘strong’ enough for a hike. I suppose we’ll find out by trial through fire, whether prolonged walking is something my body’s trained at all for.”

Looking over Mike, she asked, “How do you think you’ll do?”

Mike shrugged, hoofing at the ground lightly. “Fine enough, I guess. Can’t say I’ve ever gone up a mountain, but I’ve traveled this far fine.” It wasn’t that Mike couldn’t be all sporty and stuff, he didn’t exactly get winded running around or anything, he just hated it. All the endorphins and shit people talked about getting through exercise were bullshit, Mike was never more miserable than when he had to be active for hours and hours. 

But. To travel, you needed to walk places, unless you were flush and were okay missing everything on the routes. Which, aside from pokemon to battle and potentially catch, tended to include all sorts of things that people had dropped, which meant fewer potions and balls and assorted things Mike would have to buy later. So he put on his fucking big boy shoes and got walking. 

Still didn’t mean he liked it.

“Bummer you don’t have a Tauros or a Sneasler or something that might let you ride them,” Mike mused, looking around for Maki. “If it turns out this isn’t your jam.”

“Hmm, perhaps that will be my priority then, if I were to ever capture another pokemon,” Ava said, glancing up as she heard the sound of the front door sliding open, then thumping close, “Perhaps a Ponyta, though I’m not sure how practical riding on a back of fire actually is. I wonder if that was an evolutionary retaliation to keep people from wanting to capture and ride them, back in the old days. I don’t know much about that sort of science, it’s pure speculation from an amateur.”

Maki had walked to the bottom of the stairs, and was staring at Ava. Ava smiled lightly back up at her, and the look of mild confusion on Maki’s face deepened. “Is there an issue, Maki?” Ava asked.

“How old are you?” Maki asked point-blank.

“I’m not sure, if I’m honest.” Ava said, “Perhaps 12? But I’m just guessing.”

“...fine.” Maki said, adjusting the somewhat larger pack on her shoulders apparently not feeling inclined to unpack the supplies she would need for two weeks, but still inclined to add in more for additional bodies just in case. “Come on, we should head out. We’re not stopping when the sun sets, if I can help it, so pace yourselves. A slow and steady pace will get us there faster.”

“We are in your care, Maki.” Ava said, trailing behind her as Maki headed off with certainty in a specific direction, “Can I ask, do you know the kids we’re searching for?”

“Mm,” Maki hummed in a way that probably meant yes, “I’ve been tracking this little gaggle of morons through the forest ever since one of the sunny side kids tipped me off to knowing where some of the stolen food was going. A group of preteens ran from an orphanage the next region over and came this way for sanctuary, but apparently by the time they got to the outskirts of my town, had decided they liked the independence of living in the woods… nevermind the fact that they’ve only traveled in late spring and early summer, and that they’re still stealing food from nearby villages despite having the most possible foliage around to harvest from. Little idiots are going to freeze to death out there…”

“So you’ve been going out to try to lure them into the village properly?” Ava asked.

“Lure’s how it started, maybe. Now I’m just going out there trying to capture them and drag them back. I’ll give them this, they’re good at setting up defenses once they realized I was done talking about this.” Maki shrugged, bags under her eyes as they headed further into the woods, out of town, “I’d be impressed if I didn’t want to set their trees on fire by this point. But I noticed three of them that I usually saw around were gone, and the other kids admitted that the three had headed off to find a better area to create defenses around in the mountain. And that they were only supposed to scout for at most two days before being back. That was six days ago. The little… damn…”

Maki grumbled little curses and insults under her breath, and Ava tasted more black coffee in the air. Maki was very worried about the lost children. She likely blamed herself for not being more relentless or ruthless in her attempts to bring the kids safely into the village. She was likely frustrated that she couldn’t be running the orphanages and managing the dojo and doing her battles and taking care of these kids all somehow in the same body, and despite doing her best, still blamed herself for losing the threads trying to do it all herself.

Maki was the girl who had brute forced her way into being a gym leader and had put the weight of all of her siblings getting to stay together on her own back, and had won. Ava wondered what that sort of accomplishment and responsibility did to a person, after it was all over. What a burden it must be, to really feel like you could do the impossible, and thus should. Maki probably needed more help than she was willing to ask for.

…or Ava was making too many snap judgments after literally just meeting this woman. That was possible too.

Mike wrinkled his nose in a bit of distaste. He wasn’t, like, half-Ponyta, of course--Centaurs were a completely different species from both humans and any type of pokemon, regardless of how much they might look like some. But, still, having similar structure? Mike couldn’t imagine letting anyone ride on his back. If Ponyta and Rapidash had evolved fire to keep people off them, then good on them. 

Meeting Maki’s gaze as she walked out of the dojo, Mike frowned a bit at the look she was giving Ava. Sure, she was more on the petite-side, but they’d already established that she didn’t know if she was up for the hike. Age had nothing to do with it. But like everything else, it didn’t seem to bother or offend Ava in the slightest…though Mike gave Maki a weirded out look, that she only asked Ava her age. 

Perhaps 12, huh? That’d make her a little older than him. 

Following after Maki, Rotom popping up in his phone again to re-establish the GPS ping--it hadn’t moved--Mike listened to the sordid tale of the kids making a civilization in the woods. And he couldn’t help the increasingly dry look on his face. “...wow. I didn’t think you could get anymore unprepared than brats who beg to start their journeys early, but look at this. I’ve been proven wrong.”

Maki grit her teeth, clenching her hands… before she let out a small huff of air through her nose. “They’re just competent enough, which is the issue. I’ve been impressed a few times. Their tree house structure is crude but functional. They do know how to harvest a bit, just not enough to feed all of them. They have pokemon that they’ve managed to train well, and they are…”

Another long, frustrated huff through her nose, “very good at boobie traps.”

“You sound affectionate, Maki.” Ava observed, “Moreso, you sound like you respect them a bit.”

“I could see myself trying the same stupid thing at their age, if it had come between my siblings being separated and trying to make it in the woods,” Maki said dryly, “And their three ringleaders are the same little idiots who ran to the mountains. Likely they didn’t want to ask the others to take that risk, so they decided to do it themselves after prepping for my next weeks worth of visits. It’s not smart, but it is brave. I can respect the intent to take care of your own family.”

“I suppose ultimately it’s just a shame that they didn’t trust you then.” Ava said, “I wonder why not? Your reputation proceeds you, even if you don’t seem the most warm person.”

“...I don’t actually know,” Maki admitted, “For the first few days, I thought it’d be easy to convince them to come to town, they half looked like they wanted to be convinced. I figured I’d just visit every day and give them time to adjust. Then one day randomly, it was like they were at war, and they refused to talk to me again. No idea what changed.”

“Well, perhaps you can ask them when we find them.” Ava said. “People rarely do things randomly. If you weren’t there for the inciting incident that caused them to turn against you, my guess is there was some sort of misunderstanding. One you can’t be expected to reason against if they won’t tell you what it was. You shouldn’t blame yourself for that, you’re not a mind reader.”

“We’ll decide what I can and can’t blame myself for once we find them.” Maki said, the trees growing thick around them, “For now, let’s just focus on that.”

“...oh! But about Mike’s training?”

“...” Maki glanced over her shoulder, looking Mike over, “What’s your team roster?”

Just competent enough to fool themselves into believing they could make it. And while Mike still thought they were dumbasses…he could admit that that was a situation that was way easier to see outside of it than within. If the situation was made real and in front of them, he doubted those kids would really cast some of their own into death just for whatever made them want this kind of foolish ‘freedom’. But with death a hypothetical a long ways off and with the chance to be overcome, it was easy to get cocky and believe you were stronger than snow. Or that stealing supplemental food from towns was always viable. Or that stealing clothes would be enough. Or that you were smart enough with a first aid kit to help with flu, pneumonia, hypothermia, lesions, lacerations… Oh, but you just wouldn’t get sick or hurt in the first place, right?

Idiotic. But Mike could see the thought process. 

The mystery of what shut the kids off to Maki’s offer, though, was more intriguing. But…he supposed Ava was right, in that theorizing wouldn’t get them far, and that they’d actually need to ask to find out what was going on. 

Mike mostly stayed quiet, taking all of that in, until Ava brought up one of his ends of their bargain. Meeting Maki’s gaze, he answered, “Rotom.”

“...” Maki waited a bit for the list to go on, and when it didn’t said, “It’s not impossible to be a successful pokemon trainer with just one pokemon, but it’s an irresponsible thing to try. It’s too much stress and damage on Rotom. It needs a team around it for support.”

Mike nodded, glowering a little at the obvious fact…but to the careful observer? There was a tension that went through his shoulders, and his tail flicked forcefully. A certain taste of cornbread dipped in an aux jus, perhaps. 

“Just haven’t caught any others yet,” Mike grumbled. “I started a week ago.”

“I see.” Maki said, looking back forward, “There’s no shame in being new. Do you have a history of pokemon training in your family?”

Mike’s ears flicked back. “No.” His mom had a Leafeon, but…she didn’t exactly train it, so Mike wasn’t counting it. Unless knowing how to use Sleep Powder really well was a battle skill.

“But, he has an incredible arsenal of practical data knowledge,” Ava piped in, tasting the air and getting the sense that Mike might be feeling defensive, “I’ve heard him strategize the concepts of upcoming battles, and while I have no way of saying it was correct, since I’m not learned in battle strategies myself, it did sound reasonably involved. I was impressed.”

“Is that so?” Maki said, looking over her shoulders again at Mike, “Think about battles a lot?”

Glaring at the ground, Mike nodded. “Watched League battles a lot growing up. The approach is all different than someone just battling during recess or something.” And if he couldn’t learn by experience, then analyzing what he watched was the next best thing. Picking apart old showcases and viral battles, pouring through every encyclopedia he could get his hands on… When the pokedex project went live, Mike didn’t sleep for days, pouring over the few entries people put in (...and improving the backroom software). 

Really, he owed a lot of his knowledge and newer strategies these days to whoever the fuck A.D. was. They seemed to make new entries or addendums nearly every day, and Mike loved reading through their findings every morning. They…really seemed like the kind of person people talked about being a ‘friend to all pokemon’. 

“Hmm,” Maki hummed, “...when we rest later, I’d like to put you through a practical exercise. You’ll think it’s annoying and that I’m hazing you, but I genuinely think it preps for the best type of pokemon trainers. It’ll help focus the type of battle styles you really want to pursue.”

“If it’ll help, I’ll take it,” Mike grumbled with a shrug. “If nothing else, then to see how you approach battle. It’s more comprehensive than I’d get asking around town what your team is.”

Rotom did a little loop-de-loop in the air, waving its prongs almost like it was shadow-boxing. And, really…Mike couldn’t help but smile a little at the vigor. At least one of them was ready. 

-

The sun was starting to set, and Ava asked, “Does it always take you this long to get to their treehouse?”

“We passed their treehouse,” Maki said, as they put down their packs, letting the bag settle down as she stretched her shoulders out in the grassy field they were in. “We’re going to the treehouses when we have the three runaways. But for now we went around them. It’s a quicker path to the mountain, which we should hit in another three hours of walking.” Maki said, pointing to the distance, “It’s there.”

Ava peered in the distance, peering through the shimmering colors of the sunset… “Oh! That gray isn’t the sky, it is the mountain,” She realized, having spect a small tower on the horizon and realizing the mountain was the horizon. “Oh, that’s intimidating.”

“Which is hopefully why they didn’t climb very high,” Maki said, gazing at the distant mountain, before looking to Mike, passing over a bottled shake to him, “Here. I want you to drink this. It’s a healing potion mixed with power berries. It’ll rejuvenate you for the exercise.”

So. Mike wasn’t winded or anything. But…well, anyone who wasn’t a psychopath would be tired after walking all day. The easy, consistent pace was the same way he traveled, but Mike had found out his first day on the road that while he regularly pulled all-nighters at home, pulling an all-nighter while walking was a different beast, and not one he had any interest in slaying. 

And so it was with some despair Mike looked out towards the grey horizon that was the literal mountain they were heading to, whining and flopping on his side. Though he easily sat back up to look skeptically at the bottle Maki handed him, giving it a curious sniff before he gave her a Look. “...you drink potions.”

Maki stared Mike down, before pulling out a pure healing potion, red and obvious, before popping it open and taking a sip. “There’s some things you have to unlearn as a pokemon trainer,” She explained, “And frankly, it’s things everyone’s going to have to unlearn in a few years, when the laws are re-written. Thing you need to learn number one: pokemon and non-pokemon physiology? Is nowhere near as different as we’ve always wanted it to be.”

Taking out her pokeball, she flicked it out. And spinning on his head, out game a Hitmontop, the pokemon quickly looking around, accessing the situation, before looking back to Maki. “This is Mike. He’s a new trainer, only at it for a week. We’re showing him what battles are like.” Maki explained to him.

Hitmontop nodded determinedly, before looking back at Mike. Standing tall and ready.

Mike gave Maki another skeptical look, before taking a testing sip of the potion. The berries helped, definitely--Mike didn’t think he had the best palette, but he knew the taste of Occa berries enough to recognize the sweet and spicy flavor in the potion--but it was still a very foreign taste. 

However, between drinking a potion himself, Maki making a point that pokemon and people weren’t that different, and her telling Hitmontop to show him what battles were like…

A shock of cold, immediate (lemon gremolata-like) fear, went through Mike, his eyes widening and his ears were pinned down and back. While he quickly hopped to his hooves, it was almost like there was a disconnect between body and mind, as his inner monologue rapid-fire spat out:

Hitmontop is pure fighting-type, spins, bludgeons and friction hits, trying to knock off balance, still had claws, avoid feet if can, cuts are harder to explain, some still fight with fists, but should be easier to dodge, not a matter of just taking punches while avoiding kicks, punches would only be thrown in sure-hit circumstances, think think think, GYRO BALL then outspeed? But if plan first, it can use Sucker Punch, um um um um, Dig, Hitmontop can learn Dig, if you can’t see then look down–

Ava stepped in front of Mike, smiling lightly at Maki, “Pardon. I think I need to protest.”

Maki crossed her arms, giving Ava an unimpressed look, “You’re standing in the way of his training. Something you wouldn’t do for a pokemon, I imagine.”

“You’d imagine wrong,” Ava said, crossing her hands in front of herself, standing taller as she explained, “If I saw you attacking a pokemon that was clearly overwhelmed and afraid, yes, I do think I’d intervene in that case as well.”

“Pokemon often don’t get the opportunity to safely express fear,” Maki said, “And even when people can recognize their fear, they still very often don’t get the opportunity to stop. Too many trainers go into battles expecting entirely untrained, unprepped pokemon to throw themselves bodily into frightening battles with pokemon three times their size, unwavering and with no self preservation instincts. The best way to learn how to start training pokemon is to recognize what that process is actually like.”

“Maybe, but Mike is an intelligent and thoughtful individual,” Ava said, tasting the lemon radiating through the air, so thick that it felt… full. On her tongue. Filling… “He doesn’t need a demonstration reinforced by violence.”

Maki stared at Ava… before looking over her shoulder at Mike, “You came to challenge my gym after a week with Rotom. In that week, what have you done to actually prepare Rotom for the reality of fighting? Outside of theory.”

--probably don’t have to worry about Endeavor, not really the type to use FBE strategies, end fast, speed issue, figure out speed issue, if faster than Counter’s a problem but then Gyro Ball--

Mike sucked in an embarrassingly shallow breath, eyes still jittering enough to show that his efforts for staving off the impending panic attack were…lacking. Talk didn’t mean fighting, though, so talk, talk, say something DAMNIT!

“T-training,” Mike got out, sounding more winded than he did from their hike. “On the routes while we walk.”

Rotom buzzed, concerned, around Mike’s head, before starting to pull his hood up over his head, trying to burrow the both of them in Mike’s hoodie. 

“What does training look like to you–”

“Pardon, excuse us Maki. I believe Mike might need a break.” Ava said, watching Rotom try to create space for itself and its stammer, heaving trainer. “Please excuse us.”

Maki watched as Ava went to Mike, and whispered to him, “If you can handle it, take my hand. We’re going to take a walk down the field. Get some space and air. You don’t have to pull yourself out of your hood. Just follow my lead.”

Mike wanted to scream. He wasn’t a coward, and he wasn’t a baby, and if a fight was what they wanted, then Mike would fight. It didn’t matter who his opponent was, pokemon, person, he’d take them all on, and…and it didn’t matter how hurt he got, because no one cared, and it didn’t matter how loud it got or how much damage there was, because it’d all be blamed on him anyway, and…

Somehow, there was a hand in his, and soft frequencies of buzzing in his ears, almost like a song, and…Mike was walking somewhere… He huffed, trying to get his breath back. 

Ava gently guided him down the field, a bit from the camp which Maki decided to take the time to look through her pack some more. Ava kept them walking until the lemon tasted lessened a bit, then a little more… “Would you like to sit down?” She asked Mike, “It’s a soft patch of grass. It’s dry.”

Mike looked out of his hoodie down at the grass, finding himself loafing down onto it before he consciously made any decision to. Breath still felt thick, and he felt…raw, like he needed to watch for everything, but…

“...what are you doing?” he breathlessly asked Ava.

“I’m not sure,” Ava said, sitting down with him, “Do you want me to keep a hold of your hand? Or let go?”

Mike looked up a little, looking at their hands. Thinking of…

Not quick or unkindly, Mike gently let go of Ava’s hand, bringing both of his close to himself. Before glasses were removed and set on the grass, and hands were pressed against his face, a frustrating snorting noise coming from inside the hoodie. 

How fucking embarrassing. 

Step fucking one of actually being trained by a gym leader and Mike had…fucking run away. And for what, it wasn’t like whatever that Hitmontop could do to him would be worse than any other damn thing. It wasn’t like it was one of the scarier elemental types. 

Ava let his hand go, resting them on her lap as she watched Mike for a moment. Quiet as she assessed him. He was… embarrassed. Defeated and angry about it. Isolated.

“...you know, there’s no failing in reacting strongly to something like this,” Ava said, “I think anyone would have been afraid, which I believe was Maki’s point. To have you empathize with the reality that your pokemon might be afraid, if not properly trained. And to perhaps hold back from pushing your pokemon past their limits. It’s an admirable point, told in a way meant to frighten and overwhelm you. That’s the goal.”

“So your fear was the intended effect,” Ava said, her tone even and calm– perhaps even a tad more neutral than she usually spoke– as she explained, “And there is nothing shameful in being afraid when someone is trying to frighten you. However, the other aspect of it… how you express that fear? I’d like to talk to you about that, if you’d let me.”

Mike shook his head a little, gripping the edges of his hood. He could feel Rotom nuzzle in closer to the back of his neck, making his skin and fur prickle with static electricity. Of course battling could be scary. That’s why not everyone was a trainer. Pokemon bonded through battling, sure, but just like people, not every pokemon wanted to. That’s why kids who left their hometown, caught five pokemon for a full team on their way to the first gym town, and tried to act like there was no way they’d lose a 2 or 3 v. 6 were idiots. There was no trust, no consideration, and some of their new pokemon perhaps had never done more than butting heads or spraying a little water. And then putting them up against veterans, even at a badge adjusted level…

Mike already knew that, it was just… 

“...should be used to it,” he heaved. “Stupid to be scared, ‘s just pain…”

“Fear is one of those things that, unfortunately, thrives on irrationality,” Ava said, “It really doesn’t matter if it’s ‘stupid’, which from an outside perspective looking in, it can be. Some fears are so entirely outlandish that no one not experiencing the fear itself can even understand it as a concept. Your own rational part of your brain can be entirely dismissive of it. But your fear? Your fear does not care. That is simply not how fear works.”

“And, unfortunately, getting ‘used to’ fear is a rare and mostly misunderstood concept as well,” Ava said softly, “Most people never lose their fears, no matter what. They just find ways to cope with them. And coping tends to require experiences to learn how to cope well…though, upon reflection? I’m not sure how you reacted wasn’t a type of coping. You went into a battle stance, you looked active and aware. Too much so, maybe. It looked like a coping mechanism… thoroughly practiced.”

(Do you have a phobia?)

(It doesn’t matter if it’s irrational; in the moment, it just makes sense.)

(If something happens, find me.)

Mike let out a…slightly more even breath, his arms not really relaxing, but becoming less tense. He could feel Rotom moving around his hoodie, and before long an orange horn poked out from his collar. 

“...practiced, yeah,” Mike said quietly. “...we should go back. Even if we are resting, we shouldn’t take too long finding those dummies.”

“We can go if you insist,” Ava said, “But we should go back knowing what you want from the rest of this exchange with the gym leader. Maki is the intense type, she might try to insist on the training. We need to practice some clear communication to established guidelines to how she can treat you. She cannot be expected to know your limits if you do not tell her.”

“First of all,” Ava said, “If she attempts to draw you into a battle again? As in you, yourself? What will you communicate to her?”

“That I want some legal distinctions,” Mike muttered, pulling his hood down, but leaving the zipper up. Rotom looked cozy hanging out in the collar. “If she just wanted to make a point…it’s one I already know. If there’s something more to this kind of battle, then…I already told her I wanted to learn.”

“It’s fine,” Mike bit out, getting up from the ground.

Ava knew, long term, it wasn’t. But for now? It probably actually was, as she got to her feet, wiping the grass off her shorts. Mike had ultimately needed a moment to compose himself. Hopefully the next exchange would be cleaner, both parties coming into it more informed.

Though, when Ava returned with Mike, she said to Maki, “You know, dramatic pacing in your communication isn’t actually helpful.”

“Dramatic wasn’t the point. He got as much warning as the average pokemon does, that they’re about to head into battle. That’s part of it.” Maki said, finishing putting together three bowls of food, passing one to Hitmontop, before putting the other two bowls into the grass.

Then, pulling out two more pokeballs, out came Zangoose, who immediately made a little roaring sound that might have been intimidating… had it not been her clearly stretching. And Urshifu, who immediately looked around to access, before both of their gazes fell onto Maki. Waiting for information.

“Dinner time. Eat up, we’re almost at the mountain.” Maki informed them, watching Urshifu immediately sit down and reach for his bowl to eat, while Zangoose yawned, laying out on the grass to stretch, clearly wanting to sleep– “Eat. I’m going to sleep as soon as I reach the base of the mountain to make sure I’m ready to find the kids tomorrow, which means I’m not pulling you out and waiting around for you to feel like it then. I don’t care if you’re hungry. Put food inside of you.”

Zangoose growled lightly, but Maki stared her down and the pokemon huffed, grabbing her bowl and eating. Giving her a clear look of ‘there? Happy??’

Ava knew she should feed her pokemon as well, but she waited to see how Mike and Maki handled each other first.

Mike frowned a little. Maybe that was the kind of warning you’d get from wild encounters, but then that was the same warning a person would get too. What kind of crackpot wouldn’t tell their pokemon that they were heading to a gym, or starting a battle?

While Mike intensely watched as Maki took out her other pokemon for food, there was something…eerie about how they waited to take their cues from her. And while her reasoning to Zangoose (a normal type on a fighting team? Normal types could use quite a lot of fighting moves…) was sound…he really didn’t get it. The trust between them must really be something, if Zangoose took being talked to like that. 

(She was talking about helping me.)

Looking down at Rotom--still snuggly, though the way it kept opening an eye to look at Maki wasn’t slick at all--Mike figured he’d prepare some food anyway, if this was the time they were getting. 

“...when a pokemon injures a pokemon, it’s considered just part of battling, or the course of nature,” Mike started after a moment, pulling some poffins he’d saved from the Pokemon center out onto a rimmed plate. “When a pokemon injures a person, most of the time it’s brushed off as an accident. When a person injures a pokemon, it’s abuse or assault.”

He gave Maki a tense, almost challenging look. “...I need admissible proof that you’re not gonna sue me if you want me to battle your pokemon.”

Maki was cutting up an apple for herself, the knife slicing through the soft skin of the fruit onto a napkin… before she looked up. Tired. The lines beneath her eyes bruising purple, before she glanced at Ava, “If you have pokemon, feed them now. Don’t trust yourself in four hours, once camp is set, to do it. You’ll be exhausted, and pokeballs have terrible ways of putting pokemon out of mind. Make sure it eats.”

“...understood,” Ava said, not wishing to insist she had intended too. Just reaching into her pack– 

“No, here.” Maki said, finishing cutting the apple, before pulling out a few protein bars, passing it to her, “You can feed them this, I’m going to hold off eating anyway. I have to prove to your trainer here that I’m not setting him up for some nefarious scheme.”

Ava took the food, and Maki got up to stretch, the knife still in her hand. Though, when Ava pulled out her pokemon, Maki’s eyes widened slightly at the Gothitelle, looking uncertainly at Ava, “...hm.”

Going out into the field, Maki sighed, spinning the knife fitfully between her fingers. “I don’t actually recommend this for every pokemon/trainer relationship. Some matchups don’t work well for this. But I believe the first person a pokemon should battle as a training should be their trainer. You and your pokemon will learn the most about each other, quickest, seeing how you handle training battles together, and if there’s something wrong with the bond between you two, the injuries will show that.”

“Plus,” Maki said, spinning the knife some more, “It shows the burden isn’t always one-sided. You maybe can’t fight pokemon in real battles, with actual stakes. Pokemon are generally much stronger than us, we went to them for protection for a reason. Training battles is the closest we can come to being in it with them. Any trainer too afraid to battle their own pokemon hasn’t done the bonding or training necessary yet.”

“Alright, that’s enough scolding.” Maki sighed, closing her eyes for a moment before opening them, “I’d like to battle your Rotom. See what it can do, basic attack wise.”

Mike gave Maki a strange look. It was internally consistent for her, but all he’d ever heard growing up and on TV was that if a pokemon and a person were fighting, something horrible was going on. The fact that Maki expected that it would happen was incredibly cynical. Though not absurd. 

Looking down at Rotom, Mike was met with its circular eyes, still cozy and peeking out of his collar. Mike tilted his head towards Maki, and Rotom seemed to consider her. Mike fight Hitmontop, or Rotom fight Maki…

Smooshing up against Mike’s cheek as it popped out of his hoodie, Rotom crackled and did a little spin in the air, waving its prongs like it was shadow boxing again. A faint smile passed over Mike’s face before it faded and he brought out his phone, pressing record and quickly showing Maki, Rotom, and the time on his watch. “Mike Teavee here, consenting to this pokemon v. person battle. No legal action will be taken.”

Then, with that recording made, he looked up at Maki curiously. “Are we both battling you, or just Rotom?”

Maki… smirked. Her tired expression genuinely amused, before she looked at Mike with a small frown, “Hmmm…two against one? Might be a bit much… what do you three think?”

And there was something amused in her expression, as she glanced at her watching pokemon, who were still easely going through their food. Hitmontop’s eyes were literally sparkling with interest, clearly eager to see the fight play out as it gave her a thumbs up. Urshifu just nodded easily, unsurprised and unconcerned, while Zangoose snickered, bordered on cackling, before pointing at Mike and Rotom, signing across her chest ‘together’, then point at Maki and, snickering again, running her thumb across her throat.

“Always love the support, Zangoose.” Maki said dryly, before looking to Mike and Rotom. Resting the knife next to her hip and relaxing her shoulders, “Alright. Let’s go tournament rules, they’re designed to be safer than a battle in the wild. Turn-based, three second intervals.”

Maki’s eyes flashed, “Your turn.”

Mike snorted a little, and widened his stance. He’d…sort of been asking if he would be giving direction to Rotom, like a standard battle, but between what the purpose of this exercise was, and Maki’s pokemon’s reactions…it seemed like he would be getting in the middle of it too. Hopefully she was just as practiced with the knife as she was regular battling. 

And as ‘go’ was declared--

“Rotom, use Astonish!” Mike called, already moving forward, trusting Rotom’s speed to far outclass his own. He’d read that Ghost moves still worked on people--a care guide he’d come across warning people raising the Gengar line that friendly Haunter would likely end up paralyzing you a few times--so a turn-one Astonish would hit, and cause a flinch, taking away Maki’s first turn. 

He had to decide quickly if it was more important to hope for a paralysis from using Thunder Shock, also doing damage, or to focus on getting stacks of Double Team to protect Rotom from harm. While he didn’t want to seriously hurt Maki…trying to draw out the fight seemed like a good way to get his ass kicked by her pulling out something unexpected in irritation. He didn’t have the clout to flaunt, here. 

All this ran through Mike’s mind as he closed the distance on his turn, quickly, turning on his front legs to kick back before retreating. 

Maki’s vision lit up with with sparks, and she looked away, automatically flinching her body as she brought her arms up to her head, protecting it while she was caught off guard. And, gritting her teeth, she clenched her abs at the kick that jammed up into her gut, bracing her stance to not fall backwards as she lowered her hands, blinking the sparks away. Her turn disappearing as she swayed in her vision, 1-2-3–

“Thunder Shock!” Direct action, not hoping on chances to win on ‘flukes’ through Confuse Ray or Double Team. If Mike were more confident in his own power, he’d have Rotom playing more of a supportive roll, but…Maki would see that easily, and target Rotom. Like this…they were in it together. 

Readying himself again, mentally preparing for Maki’s attack this time--since he wasn’t going to bet his actions on a 10% paralysis prock, and then for a 25% chance for it to stun Maki for a turn--Mike got ready to charge up for a second hit. 

Maki grit her teeth for a moment, before forcing her mouth open so she wouldn’t crack them as electric shock rocked through her body, “H’ah!”

Then, smoking slightly, Maki’s body slumped for a moment, her knees knocking together in the only way to keep her up, before readjusting her legs beneath her… before she lifted her head, eyes red and focused. 

The way the rules worked, each participant only had a brief amount of time to do their attack, and that time wasn’t usually enough to do two attacks in a row. Also, there was the small problem of not being entirely sure what the two of them could handle when she sort of needed them both functioning. The pokemon was currently a smartphone she needed to find the kids, and the kid’s first introduction to possible pain hadn’t shown him to be reliable through it. Half the point of these training exercises were to start coping with how difficult training really was, and deciding early on how much trouble you really wanted to put your pokemon through, if you couldn’t handle it yourself… but Maki just didn’t have time for that sort of lesson right now.

So, rethinking her options, Maki flicked her wrist, the knife embedding into the ground. And she leapt at Mike, clenching her fists… and flicking her middle finger against her thumb, she gave him a devastating flick on his nose. 

Like, it was going to be fine. But it would still hurt, as Maki kicked backwards, giving herself distance between the two for their attack.

Ava, in turn, raised an eyebrow, sipping on some tea with Gothitelle. Hmm. 

Mike didn’t have any way of knowing exactly how much ‘oomph’ Maki was going to put into her attack (he wasn’t kicking with all his might, though even a light hoofed kick was still pretty damn painful) so he braced himself for the worst, trying not to hold his breath or tense up too much and--

Mike blinked, hand automatically going to cover his smarting noise, a small, offended grunt coming from him… Before an angry, humiliated blush started blooming around his nose, blue eyes heating up with a furious glare. 

She was fucking with him?! Oh, she thought she was so good, huh?! Barely even humor the kid with training, just--

As rage started to fume over Mike’s mind, he launched into his next kick, substantially harder than the last, as he snapped for Rotom’s next turn, “Confuse Ray!” 

Ava frowned, sipping at her tea at Mike’s reaction– and perhaps more importantly– retaliation. Interesting… though she felt no need to intervene as Maki was soundlessly knocked back an inch at the next kick, too discombobulated by the confuse ray to brace fo the attack. There was a tension and redness in her face, but Maki didn’t make a sound and she didn’t fall, and more importantly, none of her pokemon looked concerned. Ava wasn’t going to intervene when the experts weren’t batting an eye.

Maki blinked hard, trying to force her eyes to focus. Leaning down to where her knife was lodged in the dirt, for a moment it looked like maybe she had changed her mind… before she twisted the knife to loosen a clump of the dirt, bringing up the clump rather then the knife, making a split decision, throwing the lump of dirt at Rotom’s screen.

Another Thunder Shock--no reason to double up on confusion until it wore off, and even building up his anger Mike could recognize that dirt wasn’t a big deal, so he didn’t bother setting up Double Team, even if his goal was a little more in line with making the battle annoying for Maki. However, as he got ready for his next turn…

Rotom shook off the dirt and a sound clip of a woman saying, “--filthy--” played. However, at the voice, Mike hesitated, a complex mix of confused and frustrated and…traces of other things running through him. 

Maki’s teeth grit as her body seized up again, unable to see past the flashing lights of the electricity coursing through her body. Her limbs, specifically if her hands and neck, both twisted in unnatural ways, and this time when the shock ended, she collapsed to a knee, her nose starting to bleed.

The world was spinning…

Glaring at the two– well, sort of, she was more trying to see them then anything– Maki had a brief moment where she wasn’t entirely sure what they were all doing. She knew they were sparr–battling? Battling? And that she was supposed to take it easy, but… she couldn’t remember why.

Ava noticed that now one of Maki’s pokemon looked a little worried, the large Urshifu leaning forward out of concern, while Zangoose laughed and Hitmontop just looked more fired up. Tasting the air, she got the sense the two smaller pokemon were convinced Maki was putting on an act as she swayed standing, while the larger pokemon knew when his trainer had been genuinely caught off guard. 

Maki focused on Mike and lunged forward… only to trip on the knife lodged into the dirt, forgetting it was there as she slipped on it, crumbling to her knees and letting out a small grunt of pain as she collapsed onto her elbows, just barely saving herself from faceplanting. The fall like a blow against her, though Maki pushed herself up, forcing herself to stand even if she briefly looked like she’d fall backwards.

Ava said nothing, though her eyes narrowed slightly at Mike, something complicated radiating off of him at the soft voice Rotom called out with. Hmmm… maybe this was becoming an issue… no. She had to trust the experts. Especially ones who believed sincerely that Some Lessons Were Hard.

(...who believed that?)

Some of the anger crept back as Maki ate shit, a small, cruel smirk pushing the uncertainty and frustration from Mike’s face. Confusion was an annoying status effect, with an even more annoying proclivity to lead to self-harm. Mike hadn’t really had many reasons to ever find it funny before, but this was a pretty good one. 

Taking his turn, kicking, and setting up another Thunder Shock, Mike called out, “You should call it before you KO, unless you wanted to actually go to sleep now.”

Maki peered blearily at Mike, hearing him say… something. She wasn’t sure what. She wiped her palm on her nose, unknowingly smearing blood across her face. She couldn’t really remember entirely what she was doing. Definitely sparring one of the kids. She thought? She probably needed to put him down quickly. 

She lunged forward, determined to put the ‘Tour child on his back, dizzily reminding herself she had to be careful in the turn, grab the back legs and slowly turn his back so that you didn’t damage the legs or back– “Hrn.”

Maki just straight up tripped on her own ankles this time, collapsing on the ground with a heavy thud, skidding into the grass. Her head thumped against the ground a bit, and there was a cut on her hairline that bled lightly as she sat up, panting as she watched the ground spin… before warily getting up. Taking a step back, preparing for the next attack.

Ava said nothing.

(I wasn’t sure if you just wanted to destroy magazines)

Again, Mike hesitated, and as Maki fell again, it was…a little less funny, and more just…

Mike took Maki in, bleeding from her nose and head, her center of balance low from necessity, panting and getting up, just (because you can’t stay down). The anger, the analysis, the humiliation, the thrill…it all faded as Mike put his hand up, holding two fingers together. 

“I resign.”

Ava took a small, relieved breath, before sipping her tea some more. 

Maki blearily stared at them, confused as she stood up, about to tackle again… when Urshifu hurried up, running over quicker than his large body could suggest, catching her by the shoulders and holding her back. Maki shot a frustrated glare at the pokemon… before recognizing him, letting herself relax in his grip as she stared at the ground. Watching the ground spin for a moment, then another… before the confusion faded away. Maki remembering what she was doing.

Ah, right. Lessons.

She vomited. 

She didn’t have to. She just didn’t fight the nausea. Mr. Nidai somewhere in the back of her mind playing up his own injuries as she pushed Urshifu back, to stand on her own, swaying a bit… before asking Mike as fresh blood poured down her chin, “Okay… so here’s what your strategy did.”

Blinking tiredly, Maki shakily reached down, and undid her boots. Flopping onto her butt, she pulled off her boots, then her socks, before showing Mike the little black marks on the bottom of her feet, then the scorch marks on her palms, “Elect…tricity escaped from these four points… so every time you zap…” Maki closed her eyes, swaying a bit, before opening them again, “Every time you zap someone… have you ever heard that the more intense the electricity, the slower they get throughout the entire fight? This–” she pointed to the burn marks on her feet, “Is why. That’s why that statistic exists.”

Mike watched Maki tensely for a moment, Rotom floating back to nestle into his hoodie again, before he walked over to dig in his bag for a moment, taking out a Cheri berry. …and some poffins. 

Sitting down next to Maki as she showed him her electrical burns (his fingers stung, for a moment) he nodded and offered the berry as Rotom started to munch through poffins. “Also the lingering electric charge in a body,” Mike added. “Every living thing, even Ground-type pokemon, already have some amount of electrical charge in their bodies, but getting an excess from Electric-type attacks overloads the system and sends conflicting messages from your brain. Like with eyesight, your brain automatically corrects it, but the time it takes to do so slows you down. With enough charge, like from natural electricity, it blows right past what your brain can compensate for, so that’s why lightning kills people and Electric-type attacks don’t.”

He gave Maki a slightly flat look. “...if you just wanted to make sure I know what injuries are like, you could’ve just said that instead of having Rotom and I beat you up.”

“I wanted you to learn limits,” Maki sighed, taking the berry and popping it into her mouth, swallowing it down before saying, “And I was right to worry. You have a temper. You could kill someone someday.”

Mike gaze only got flatter as his ears twitched. “So could literally anyone.”

Maki shook her head, wiping her wrist against her palm again, “There’s different danger levels for different temperments. And you escalated way more than you needed to, almost immediately. That sort of loss of control is bad enough for just you, but you have pokemon depending on you to keep your head. Both the pokemon you fight and your own. Dismissing my concern with ‘everyone does it’ just puts the pokemon you interact with in greater danger. Specifically from you.”

A chilled, spicy soup. 

There was a certain tenseness that went through Mike’s body as his jaw tightened. His fists balling at his sides as his ears turned back, his glare just…daring. Challenging Maki. 

Rotom paused as it finished a poffin, and cuddled up to Mike again, spiking out the sides of his hair before it cuddled into his collar. Though Mike sat stiff. Just…waiting.

Maki pressed her sleeve against her nose, waiting for the bleeding to stop, before looking up in mild surprise as Zangoose came over, holding a bandage and another health potion. She snickered as she threw the potion into Maki’s chest, Maki huffing as she caught it, before Zangoose undid one of the sticky bandages, slapping it onto Maki’s temple where she was bleeding. “Ow.” Maki said dryly, while Zangoose laughed at her again. “Laugh it up now. You still can’t beat me in the obstacle course.”

Zangoose sputtered, hissing a bit, but chilled out when Maki reached up to pet Zangoose’s head, scratching around her ears. Zangoose purred a bit, though some of Maki’s blood got into its fur. Oh well.

Maki sighed… before looking at Mike, “I’m not going to train you. You don’t have the temperament for it. I can’t help you. But in exchange for helping me with the kids, I’ll let you know what a zero badge round with me is like. You’ll fight Hitmontop. Just Hitmontop. Even if you have more pokemon by then, it’ll just be the one pokemon I’ll use. And I’ll always concede before I make you knock him out. Unless I can trust the other trainer? I don’t do knock-out battles. Not anymore. Unless the stakes are high, I don’t trust any trainer that does.”

Standing up, Maki looked at her three pokemon, sipping at her health potion. Her wounds didn’t go away, like it could for some pokemon with their lighter wounds, but the bleeding in her nose stopped, and her stance looked stronger as she said to them, “You three ready?”

Zangoose and Hitmontop nodded. Urshifu shook his head. 

“Sure, but it’s a long walk.” Maki shrugged, putting Zangoose and Hitmontop into their balls, but leaving Urshifu out, “Let’s get ready to go.”

Mike sighed a little, grumbling about how, great, glad their break was a wonderful use of time…but Maki did still keep the least of their bargain he’d asked for. They’d be up against Hitmontop, then. That was a plan he could work around with, and even more if he got to see any of Hitmontop’s moves while they were out. Though, he gave Maki a weirded out look as she claimed she called battles before a KO. 

That was…certainly not regulation. Mike couldn’t think of any battle he hadn’t seen go to KO, and that was just because he hadn’t come across any Abra in the wild that would teleport away. But…that did mean he likely wouldn’t have to worry about Endeavor. Maki wasn’t the type to utilize a focus sash or Sturdy to win something on the brink. She was a straightforward battler, not an annoying one. 

(Of course, he’d just about shown her Rotom’s whole arsenal but…well. They’d make a plan together. Even knowing all the pieces on the board didn’t mean you could avoid what was coming.)

…at least she wasn’t saying she was gonna call the police on him. 

Sighing, Mike got up to get his bag again, pausing by Ava. “You okay to keep going?”

Ava brought Gothitelle back into her pokeball, having cleaned up her tea and gotten her pack put back together, “I am. Though, perhaps it might be wise for me and you to linger back. To give us a chance to speak?”

“Sure, that’ll give me a chance to soothe the worry-wart here.” Maki said, looking up at her pokemon, who was still glaring sternly down at her, “I’m fine… alright, come on. What are you worried about?”

Ava watched as, slowly, the movements uncertain and pausing between signs, like Urshifu wasn’t entirely confident in it, Urshifu started to sign to her. 

“Interesting,” Ava whispered, watching Maki and her pokemon head off, before looking to Mike, “...that was a rough battle to watch. Are you okay?”

…ah. Well, he shouldn’t be surprised. Maybe Ava had a tougher skin than some people, but…well, Mike was Mike. And if even the Fighting Gym Leader thought he was a lost cause…

Lingering behind Maki and Urshifu as they started out again, Mike put his hands in his pockets and shrugged a little, staring straight ahead. “What happens when people are in battles. I’m fine, she barely even did anything to me or Rotom.”

“I suppose I mean it was less challenging physically for you, and more you looked distressed.” Ava said, walking in step with him, “There were a few moments I wanted to intervene, but I thought stepping in might do more harm then good, and that I should let you see the process through. Better to know what the experience would equal, then stop it and leave you emotionally stunted.”

Quickly, Mike side-eyed Ava with a baffled look, before he trained his eyes back on ahead, his shoulders hunching up a bit. “It was just a fight, I wasn’t distressed.” However, Mike quickly looked down, his eyes narrowing as his voice grew quieter. “...did you want to intervene when I did?”

“Of course. It’s not fun to see your friend looking distressed. I would have liked to ask if you were alright, but I didn’t want you to think I didn’t think you could handle it,” Ava said, tilting her head, her ponytail swinging behind her head as she said, “I also wanted to intervene when it looked like you might seriously harm Maki. But I wanted to trust you all for that as well. That was harder though.”

“And that’s not a comment on your ‘temperment’, regardless of what Maki thinks,” Ava said softly, “She has some ideals that, frankly, I do find admirable… but those ideals are unrealistic. Humans can’t handle pokemon attacks the way other pokemon can. Yes, she’s right, in the sense that there are probably too many trainers out there who think their pokemon are invincible, and don’t think about what their moves really mean for the pokemon being hit by them… saying that the best way to learn is to see how those moves affect humans is unrealistic. Pokemon are more durable than humans. And putting you in a position where you could have accidentally killed her, just to stress that pokemon need mercy? It was… a bit irresponsible. For both your sake and hers. It wouldn’t have been your fault if you had seriously hurt her, she put you in a terrible position.”

…friend??? 

Mike didn’t turn to look at Ava again, but his eyes widened as he was mentally bowled over by that statement. Said so…matter-of-fact and casually, followed by…genuine regard for his feelings, but not in any sort of pitying way… Extending…trust. Mike and Rotom had beaten Maki bloody, and while Ava was worried, she…trusted them.

Again, a flush started to warm up Mike’s cheeks, but this one was very different from the one mid-battle. 

Maki said Mike could kill someone. Ava had trusted him not to, even when things looked horrible. There was a…weird feeling in his chest. Like a warm bubble, almost, but…unlike a lot of the feelings that he didn’t know how to place, this one didn’t…make him want to hit anything. 

Hunching into his hoodie more, Mike just flushed more as Ava told him he’d been put in an unfair situation, and his tail swung out to the side. “...I don’t attack people,” he said, defensively, but…not aggressive. Just warily, like he thought that he was expected to defend himself, despite the lack of accusation in Ava’s voice. “And while it’s normal to do wild KOs during, like, route training,” that was, of course, the end of a wild battle, the wild pokemon down and unable to fight, but having enough in them to run back wherever they’d been hanging out before, “Rotom and I haven’t just been decimating every route we walk through. We need to get stronger, and just fighting aggressive pokemon isn’t enough for that, but it’s not like I chase down any pokemon who don’t want to fight.”

“Hmmm…” Ava peered ahead at Maki, who was talking low to her pokemon, little whispered responses to the slow, stuttering signing. Maki with her eyes dipped down, while her pokemon gave her a concerned look, “...Maki Harukawa is famous for getting her championship and gym badge in record time. In only a year. I… don’t know how I know this, but I recall that the first six months she got the most of it done, ripping through region after region. And then after six months, when she only had three regions left, suddenly she was moving slow. And that six months in was when she challenged the electric gym leader at the time, Nekomaru Nidai, gave up his gym to travel with her.”

“...perhaps, in her rush to finish her goals in time, these were lessons she needed.” Ava mused, watching as Maki sighed, shaking her head at something Urshifu signed, “And it makes her more aware of signs of who she was in the first six months, in others. When we’re actively trying to improve, we tend to become more sensitive to the faults we’re guarding against, in others. She sees your ability to hurt people, because it’s something she has had to work on for herself.”

Mike nodded a little, the story coming to mind with the prompting. He vaguely remembered that you couldn’t watch any televised gym battle for ages, there, without someone mentioning that Maki had just cleared the area, or panning over to the badge-holder plaques and her name freshly engraved. He couldn’t recall ever actually seeing one of her battles, though. Given her pace, she likely hadn’t had the time to wait to be filmed. 

Looking ahead at Maki and Urshifu for a moment, Mike’s jaw tightened before he looked to the side, looking through the trees. 

“...I don’t do it on purpose,” Mike grumbled out, his voice at the barest of audible volumes. 

“I didn’t think you did,” Ava said softly, “...but Maki is right. You did escalate. And it did seem like a retaliation for what was arguably a minor offense. Do you want to talk about how you were feeling, in that moment? Between the nose flick and the second shock?”

Mike hunched more, grinding his teeth as he fisted the fabric in his pockets. Wanting to say no, it was none of Ava’s business. 

(She called them friends.)

(She’d seen him mean and violent, and she called them friends. She trusted in him to take a step back from her own impulses.)

Without really meaning to, he mumbled, “She was mocking me. She wasn’t even trying to make it a battle, despite all the bullshit she said before.” Despite all that talk about pain and facing things without warning, and having him fight Hitmontop. The bravado of making the battle two on one, seeing that he was taking it seriously, if not a fucking fight to the death, and she…she was laughing at him. 

Mike snorted a bit, anger starting to rile him up again just thinking about it.

“I suppose that could arguably be what she was doing. And in the moment, while you’re feeling those feelings, it doesn’t really matter what her intent was. You thought it was mockery, so that was the situation you were in, and that’s ultimately what matters,” Ava mused, tapping her finger lightly on her thigh, “...so, with that established. That you were reacting to being mocked… was mockery worth shocking a human, not once, but twice? I know she was asking for it. But looking back at it now, does that still feel like the response you should have settled on?”

Mike did glance at Ava at that, after a moment saying unsurely, “...we were battling.”

Having Rotom use Thunder Shock wasn’t Mike lashing out. That was just…his battle strategy. Arguably, asking Rotom to use Confuse Ray was him being more vindictive--drawing the battle out with status effects, rather than coming right at Maki--and…looking back, he had kicked her harder after the mockery, which was lashing out…but not shocking her. That was just what they were doing. Mike wouldn’t have thought it was overkill for Hitmontop to spam using Triple Kick on him or anything. 

(...as much as it would’ve really hurt, but…that had been the point of it all. Non-pokemon couldn’t battle without expecting the pain that came from using moves.)

“Perhaps,” Ava said softly, “But there was more context than just that. It was two against one. A pokemon against a human. A human that had shown she wasn’t intending to hurt you. Context matters. You weren’t just battling.”

Pausing, she considered whether she should bring this up… before musing, “Was it just Maki’s actions and the battle that made you want to escalate? There was a moment where Rotom said something. It wasn’t much of anything, but it seemed to distract you, briefly. ‘Dirty’?”

Mike looked down, glaring at the ground. He didn’t like being mocked, and he certainly didn’t appreciate being tricked. If Maki had said all that bullshit and gotten all dramatic just to see if he’d actually battle when told they were going to battle? What idiotic bullshit…

Fine, he wouldn’t even want to be trained by someone who tried to teach through mindgames anyway.

At what Ava brought up next, Mike scowled before shaking his head. “...it just surprised me. I didn’t think I had any videos of her, so I wasn’t sure where Rotom got the sound clip.” Glancing around for a moment, noticing the lack of electric sprite hanging out in his hood, Mike let go of an irritated sigh. “Jerk’s probably back sleeping off dinner in my phone.”

“I think Rotom earned the rest,” Ava smiled lightly, “...you referred to a ‘her’, but didn’t specify who. Did you want to share? I can’t guess.”

Well, yeah, and it wasn’t like Mike was going to wake it up. Still. Little jerk couldn’t answer for his crimes. 

(It had only been a week, but maybe that thing people said about how the bond between people and pokemon could have certain effects really was true.)

Rolling his eyes, there was a certain feigned nonchalance in Mike’s explanation. “That voice clip was of my mom. Like I said, I don’t have any videos of her so…I don’t know how Rotom managed to do that.” 

“Hmmm… I know far less about technology than you do,” Ava admitted, “But I do know something about memories… oh, that’s interesting,” Ava said, tilting her head slightly in small wonder, “I know a lot about memories. I think I may have studied it a little bit, at some point. There’s another point in my past life’s favor, for having done this to myself. Anyway, perhaps if you ever once had recordings of your mother, Rotom might have remembered it from possessing the phone’s ‘body’, as it were?”

“... which, if that was the case, does make me wonder why you might have deleted any recordings you once had of your mother,” Ava said, looking at Mike a bit, “Maybe some, to clear up space, but… all?”

Mike raised an eyebrow at the wonder and emphasis in Ava’s voice. Another point for her previous self having done the whole amnesia thing on purpose…and maybe another point towards her studying psychology or counseling. Unpacking memories was a big therapy thing, he had a guess. 

Though some memories were better left trashed. 

Wrinkling his nose, Mike scowled and kicked at the grass as he stepped forward. “Maybe if I made a pocket recording or something, but I delete those pretty quickly. Why would I want any video of her? There’d be more entertainment recording paint dry.”

“...” Ava paused for a moment, trusting Mike to stop and wait for her as she knelt down, adjusting her sock inside her boot to more comfortably protect the back of her legs. It was both necessary, and a nice moment to let her think.

Should she pursue this? 

She knew that sometimes it was unkind, to poke at emotional wounds. Especially for something as selfish as your own interest. It wasn’t something she felt like she could recommend to anyone else, and might be something she would advise specifically against. A cruelty.

And, to be clear, her interest was primarily nosiness. She wished to get to know Mike a bit more, but found his moments of insecurity and uncertainty one of the more intriguing things about him. Which felt unkind. And none of her business.

…but at the same time, it wasn’t purely nosiness at what was bothering him, that had her interest. She also just liked the boy. He was kind, in his own ways, and was more thoughtful than she thought Maki was giving him credit for. Sure, yes, he most certainly had a temper, and yes, that temper probably was a danger to others. But who you were when you weren’t incensed by rage also mattered. And when Mike wasn’t angry, he seemed to care for the people around him quite a bit. 

Which made his dismissal of his mother almost… out of character, for Ava. At least the version of Mike she thought she was getting to know.

Which meant something was wrong. And wouldn’t a good friend wish to help?

…ah, curses. She was nosy. 

Standing up, Ava walked with Mike and said, “I wasn’t surprised to see you traveling at your age. 10 is fairly normal to start pokemon training. So, it didn’t occur to me you might have been running from something…”

Mike slowed to a stop as he realized Ava was stopping, tamping his hooves in restless impatience but not saying anything to hurry her. Pants, socks, shoes…they all seemed like a stupid amount of hassle to him. So he wasn’t surprised or incensed by the fact that a biped would need to adjust those parts of their clothes. 

However, his expression darkened as she straightened back up and continued their conversation. “I’m 11. And I’m not running from anything. Wanting to leave my hometown is just a bonus to getting started training, it’s not my prime fucking motivator.”

“You are 11,” Ava agreed, nodding, “Which means you could have left a year ago, and no one could have said anything about it. Why now, but not then?”

Mike opened his mouth and even got a note of a word out before he clenched his jaw tight, hands fisting in his pockets. Letting go of a harsh stream of air through his nose, he gritted out, “Just wanted more time to prepare. Lot of idiots leave home for the first time as soon as they’re 10 and quickly find out that the world isn’t just home but bigger. I wasn’t gonna be one of them.”

It wasn’t bad reasoning. Even if people would basically look at him the same as a 10-year-old, a year of preparation really would make a significant difference. It wasn’t bad reasoning, just not his.

Ava took a breath, and tasted the air… A lie. Odd that lies tasted like cookies. 

…wait. Did lies taste like anything?

It had felt like a natural thought, but Ava frowned at it a bit. What had Mike said? Synesthesia? Perhaps specifically Lexical-Gustatory Synesthesia. What a curious thing to have. Potentially. Assuming she just wasn’t smelling someone’s cookies somewhere.

“You do seem the type to prepare,” Ava said honestly. Even if it wasn’t the truth, that didn’t mean Mike had entirely lied. Probably he had come out more prepared now than if he had left a year ago. “...you know, I’m not coming into this with the mentality that it’s a shame you don’t like your mother. Some parents don’t deserve our love, or even a kind word. That is not something they are entitled to.”

“But I only ask because it seemed to bother you,” Ava said softly, “And… well, I suppose what I’m really saying, is that if you do wish to talk to someone about it, I’m here.”

Mike hunched more in his hoodie. Sure, some parents didn’t deserve shit. But Doris was just…useless, other than making sure there was a roof over their heads and food in the kitchen. She wasn’t… It wasn’t like she…

(...it was so easy to get a pokemon that knew Sleep Powder or Spore or Snore or Sing… It was…normal for parents to knock their kids out when they wouldn’t sleep, right?)

(It was normal for everyone to hate you when you weren’t normal, right?)

Mike frowned more fiercely, quiet for a little while as they walked, before he said, maybe a little more aggressively than he’d intended, “You called us friends. Why.”

Ava, in response to his fierceness, actually just smiled lightly. Giving Mike a bit of an amused side-eye, as she said lightly, “I’ll answer, but I’m curious why do you think? There’s really only ever one reason I call someone a friend.”

Mike scowled at the ground, pink dusting his cheeks. It felt a little like Ava was making fun of him…but not in the bad way that made him feel miniscule and brainless and like he wanted to crush someone into dirt. Just…light amusement with his thinking. “Because you feel like we’re friends. But I don’t get why you think that.”

Ava laughed lightly, resting her fingertips against her bottom lip as she lightly giggled, before nodding. “You are correct, yes. It’s because I feel like we’re friends. And as for why…”

Looking up at the passing light of the trees, she tapped her lower lip some more, that same desire to tap when her mind felt busy still there. “Well, you were very kind to me when you did not have to be. And you were accommodating when no one made you. And in the act of self-interest, both of those traits are very alluring friendship material.”

“But, beyond that? You are also very kind to your pokemon, and I agree with our guide there on that point: how a person treats pokemon says a lot about them,” Ava said, nodding towards Maki up ahead, who was now walking quietly with her pokemon, the two seeming to just be enjoying each others company, “And the way you do says you are kind to those you have power or influence over. That you likely don’t even consider it that way, which is its own sort of kindness. The way you handled the children who accosted us was patient, when they really were being very rude. The way you were kind to Maki when you saw she was worried for others’ safety, ready to wait two weeks, and then ready to help as soon as you realized you could. Even the battle, when you weren’t angry, showed mercy and restraint. Kindness…”

Ava lowered her hands, shrugging. “I suppose I just like you because you are kind. And I wish to be your friend… why?” she asked, tilting her head, looking at him with her large, red eyes, “Do you not consider me a friend?”

Mike had expected the gratitude from their meeting. He really didn’t feel like he’d done anything--he’d even tried to just walk past Ava, and… Maybe it was something he didn’t have to do, but it felt weird not even asking if she was okay when she mentioned she was lost and didn’t remember anything. He couldn’t say if someone would get used to it over time, but it was scary being attacked by wild pokemon who were pissed to see a human walk by (or over-excited seeing a potential battle-buddy). It was slammed into every kid’s head not to walk into tall grass until you had a pokemon of your own to help protect you, so… It had been reasonable to ask. 

But every other reason she gave? The fact that she considered that there were other reasons? Mike flushed brighter and brighter as she went on, hunching into his hoodie. Kindness… Like she’d said before. And he thought he’d conclusively proven that wrong, but…

“I’m really…not,” Mike mumbled, feeling like his face was on fire. And he’d been about to say that…he wasn’t really sure if he considered her a friend, because he’d never had any before, but that…didn’t feel quite…right. A slightly confused feeling coming over him at that thought, Mike amended, “...I don’t really have a lot of friends. You’re not too bad, I guess.”

“...” Ava smiled. It crinkled her eyes up a little. “Why?”

Mike shot her an unamused look from the corner of his glasses, though the effect was severely dampened by how pink his face was. And the fact that the glance was barely there before he looked down again. “...you’re interesting. The whole mystery around your memories, I guess, but you’re really smart and observant. So you have interesting comments about a lot of things, and it’s a surprise for both of us.”

Somehow growing pinker, Mike shrank more, his tone growing almost pouty from how embarrassing it was to say, “...you trusted me.”

“I did,” Ava agreed, “I trusted you quite a bit. I suppose I didn’t have to. I could have sought help elsewhere, once we got to the town… ah, but then I would have lost my own interesting companion. Who seems to know quite a bit about pokemon, and technology, and how the mind works, at least in the very most technical sense…”

Ava smirked, nudging Mike lightly with her shoulder. “If not particularly good at how minds work, emotionally speaking.”

“It seems like that’s your forte anyway. Me having that skill would just be overlap.”

The words were out of Mike’s mouth before he could really think about it, but once those synapses fired? Mike’s face blazed, and he pulled his hood up and cinched the drawstrings closed, before putting his palms over the opening just for good measure. 

Why did he say that, that was so stupid AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Ava was far too amused, and maybe borderline smug, as Mike seemed to burrow into his hoodie. Not actually shouting, but that little growl clearly showing he was holding back doing so. Fun.

Maki glanced over her shoulder, frowning at the two of them. Despite the beating she had taken earlier, she already looked remarkably better. All the weakness gone from her walk, though there was still a light bruise from where she had fallen onto the side of her face. Apparently at some point she had managed to wipe the blood off her face, anyway. “Why are you two lagging behind so much? Are you losing steam?”

“No, Maki, do not be concerned with us,” Ava called up, still smirking lightly in amusement, “We’ll manage to get to the mountain. We’re just talking.”

“Hmm.” Maki hummed, before looking up at Urshifu. “What about you? Tired?”

Urshifu shook his head, growling his name. 

“I’m curious,” Ava admitted, “Does it take a while to evolve an Urshifu? You two seem very comfortable with each other. You seemed very strict before, with the other two around.”

“Strict?” Maki asked, sounding confused for a moment, “...oh. We’re working, right now. You have to expect more professionalism, when you’re working. Especially this type of work. Where people’s lives hinge on it.”

Stupid stupid stupid so what if others’ emotions were confusing?! He understood enough to get by! And he understood enough that talking about basic living skills like emotional intelligence like they were type-coverages just didn’t make sense and was a super stupid thing to say GAH

It took a bit for Mike to even peek out of his hoodie, still steaming and fuming, though he did consider the woman and pokemon in front of them. Mike…didn’t know exactly how it worked. Cubfu’s evolution was one of those things that pokemon scientists were still studying. But the broad strokes of it said that it was a rare multifactor evolution, that required not just a strong bond between pokemon and trainer, but a certain level of skill as well, specifically in a fighting discipline. 

…but that wasn’t exactly the heart of the question Ava had asked, so Mike didn’t bother getting into it, and instead asked, “...does that actually make things more efficient for you?”

“Is that so surprising?” Maki asked, looking back at Mike again, “You seem like a science nerd. Do you not find yourself needing a specific environment when you’re working?”

Ava raised an eyebrow. “Science nerd? Interesting language choice, Maki. Do you know someone else as deeply entrenched in a STEM art?”

“Two people. They’re both nerds too. Though one of them has the audacity to be a theater nerd as well, which is two points against him,” Maki said. That, and he had the audacity to not just ask out the other theater nerd Maki knew, while doing stupid, cringe things like waxing poetic that he could ‘trapeze up to the stars themselves if he wanted too, Maki-roll’. Ugh.

(...even in a paradise, that was a battle Maki couldn’t win. Kaito would always love her dearly. But his gaze would always fixate on Kokichi. Perhaps Maki could have won against Shuichi, maybe. But Kokichi? No one stood a chance.)

Mike shrugged a little. There were environments he preferred working in, sure, but the only ‘big’ thing he could think of was…being alone. Which didn’t really necessitate any attitude shifts from him. Other than that? Giratina, he’d been working on roadsides the last few days, so if that didn’t point to adaptability, he didn’t know what else did. 

Considering what Maki said for a moment, Mike guessed, “Other gym leaders? The CEO of IMC is a gym leader, and I don’t know who would be a STEM focus if he isn’t.” (Maybe it was telling that Mike immediately assumed people in the same work group, and not the fact that Maki could possibly just have normal friends.) Sighing, Mike brought a hand out of his pocket to adjust his hat. “No offense, but I am not looking forward to that challenge when I get there.”

“You’re right, but not for the reason you think you are. Kaito doesn’t have a mind for medical science, he hires other people to do that. He doesn’t even really have a mind for business. He’s just exceptionally good at finding the right people, and spends most of his time organizing them. He’s a manager more than anything else.” Maki shrugged. 

It wasn’t necessarily a fault in him, that Kaito wasn’t an expert in anything that kept IMC afloat. He had just had the money to hire the most competent people he could find and the drive to get them to work together. It wasn’t like Kaito was just profiting off their labors. Basically every copper that went into IMC got put into making more IMC’s, including creating the facilities and hiring the staff and funding the school. The way Maki heard it these days, Kaito was practically living at his headquarters, if not actually living there, now that he had officially moved away from his family. A sentiment Maki felt was a little foolish. She enjoyed being able to leave work every day to retreat to her home. It was nice to feel like sometimes she could just stop working. 

When she discussed it with Kaito, he admitted that it just felt like a matter of course that he’d live in the same building he worked in, though he wasn’t sure why he had decided that. It makes me feel like someone’s approving, he had written to Maki over text, Like they’d appreciate me doing that.

Who?

…I don’t know. Maybe whoever I’m destined to be with? I heard a rumor once that the clown gym leader lives in his gym.

You wish it was as easy as destiny. You realize you’re more a stalker than anything by this point, right? You have no chance with him. Date Shuichi instead.

HA HA HA HA MAKI YOU’RE SO FUNNY

Oh yeah I forgot, sucks to suck I guess

He’ll come around someday!! And bully to you, otherwise I am perfectly happy with my imaginary relationship to the super hot clown guy who does not know I exist, thaaaaank you very much. 

You’re the clown.

“He’s an astronomer. Has a masters in it. Space nerd,” Maki explained, “But beyond helping out space pokemon, there’s nothing super practical to do with that. So he went into medicine instead. Also, don’t be afraid of Kaito. It’ll inflate his ego, I don’t want to deal with his bragging that some kid thought he’d be a challenge.”

“Maki, be kind,” Ava chastised lightly, “It’s good that Kaito has things he’s proud of, there’s no need to undercut him when you know how deeply it can affect him.”

“What would you know about it?” Maki asked, turning around on her heels, walking backwards as she peered with some suspicion at Ava, “You know Kaito?”

“Oh…” Ava blinked, “...perhaps?”

Mike’s eyebrows raised in surprise, hearing Kaito wasn’t the auteur of the Illumination Medical Corp, but they soon furrowed, wondering…why that was so surprising to him. Sure, maybe there were a lot of people out there who built infrastructure around their own passion, but…for running a business? And one as huge as the IMC…like, yeah. It made sense for the CEO to focus on organization and management, and not any actual medical knowledge. Why…would he think that…

In fact, the IMC seemed to be one of the more competently run businesses that Mike could think of, likely because of that reason. And there hadn’t been any big scandals like the Aether Foundation or Macro Cosmos, where their heads turned out to be huge psychos dead set on destroying the planet or something. 

…weird.

Mike gave Maki a more skeptical look as she explained about Kaito’s actual science skills. “I’d think that any Gym Leader would have to do some sort of re-evaluation if no trainer thought that they’d be a challenge at any given point. Gyms are supposed to be challenging.”

Ava’s counter was…markedly more personal, though, and he gave her a confused look before humming thoughtfully, pushing up his glasses. “...maybe you’re from Grand Pan? It’s no Naranja Academy, but I’ve heard there are some pretty good schools there, in no small part due to the IMC. That…would mean you went pretty far from home, then.”

Mike shrugged a little, giving Ava a half-questioning look. “I guess we could ask Gym Leader Kaito when we get there.”

“Yes, that makes sense. We’ll do that,” Ava said, still mulling over what she had said as well. She had felt so confident about it. To the point where she had felt lightly frustrated, hearing Maki undercut Kaito for feeling proud of something. A type of exasperation that came from repetition. 

But that would mean she knew Maki. And Maki seemed like she had no idea who Ava was, and Ava believed her confusion. So… well, maybe Kaito had talked to her about Maki? That… might make sense.

It’d be an odd thing to confide in a 12-year-old about though.

“Was Kaito leader of the fairy gym when you were doing your badge hunting, Maki? Is that how you know him?” Ava asked, mostly farming for information in case it was helpful when she got to that region.

“No, he was too young to be a gym leader back then. He was apprenticing under his mentor, Meruko, after failing out of his family’s gym, and he went out to fight for his own badges when he started traveling to look for people for his medical center idea. We happened to be on the same path and ended up traveling together for a while, me, him and my brother. Not unlike you two, I suppose.”

Mike nodded a bit, though…very much unlike Maki, he had no intention of one day being a gym leader himself. He enjoyed battling, sure, but definitely not enough to do it as a job, and not enough to want to foster battling expertise in others. 

“There are a few current gym leaders that would be in your ‘generation’, I think,” Mike mulled, tipping his head back a little to catch glimpses of the darkening sky from beyond the tree leaves. “You, Kaito… I think the Poison and Clown-type leaders came up around the same time too. Gym Leader Souda at least looks like your age…” Mike gave Maki an off-handed look over. “...Water Gym traded hands only a bit ago, right? So…probably younger than you?”

“The water gym’s situation is complicated, but, yes,” Maki said, looking forward, “The psychic gym as well. You’re right, most everyone else is the previous generation, if not the one before.”

“And Urshifu?” Ava asked, looking at the large pokemon, who looked warily back at her. “I was curious before, how long he’s been with you.”

“Hmmm… either of you know sign?” Maki asked.

“Of course,” Ava said. 

“Yeah, makes sense, basically everyone does. It was a learning process for me,” Maki said, looking to her pokemon, “Want to tell them yourself?”

Urshifu nodded slightly, still keeping a steady pace as he looked back at them. Slowly, he signed out Met Maki at Isles. Maki compete with three dojos to prove Master Fighter. Maki pokemon, Urshifu hesitated, looking to Maki. Who just nodded. Not keep up with her. Need to stop. Maki fight for replacement. Me.

“That must have been quite a high amount of responsibility to put on you,” Ava said, “Did the rest of the team accept you?”

“The rest of my pokemon quit,” Maki said simply, “That’s why I fought in the dojos. Figured it was the pokemon’s fault that they couldn’t keep up, and that I just needed a better pokemon. Turns out it was me. Thankfully I met people who figured that out about me before I burnt Urshifu here out too.”

Urshifu frowned, looking to her, signing slowly, I no leave you.

“Which would have been even worse,” Maki said, “Thank god my mentor beat some shit out of me, so I didn’t end up beating the shit out of you.”

It wasn’t that weird for the majority of Gym Leaders to be young adults. In the broadest strokes…they tended to be the kind of people who had the time and energy to maintain a gym and think up appropriate (mostly) challenges and…often keep up with a second career too. It tended to be either young adults or people who’d had the same gym forever. 

Nodding to indicate he knew sign--enough, anyway--Mike looked to Urshifu curiously. Isles… That could mean a few places, honestly. And all seemed…pretty crazy to travel to. The Orange Isles, the Isle of Armor, Yellow Rock Isle… Plenty of other actual islands, too, if he was translating that wrong. 

But soon enough, that wasn’t the part of the story his mind grabbed onto. Mike frowned a bit, hearing that Maki’s other pokemon quit. That Maki had blamed them, even if she now saw the issues with that thinking. 

(There was a tension in his shoulders, a souring in his gut. Having a bunch of pokemon, and pushing them away with dojo training. Treating a pokemon like a replacement, though it didn’t seem like Urshifu was upset by it any. Having pokemon so loyal they’d stick through it, even…)

(...a bond with pokemon was so…special. How could anyone bear to throw it away for anything once they had it?)

“Did you two end up completing the dojo training?” Mike asked, a little warily. Not…entirely sure he wanted to know the full story, after hearing part.

“We did,” Maki said, “In record time. Like everything I did back then.”

And Maki looked to the ground and spat. 

“...you can forgive yourself for making hard choices, Maki,” Ava said softly, crossing her arms behind her back, “You didn’t make them out of cruelty. People were counting on you, it felt like a necessity. And you’re actively improving and redeeming those choices you made. You can’t dismiss yourself as monstrous, for being pushed into monstrous decisions. It’s not fair to you.”

“You talk like a therapist, kid,” Maki said dryly. 

“Are you seeing one?” Ava asked.

“Does right this second count? You have the job. There, I’m therapized, everyone can stop telling me to get therapy.”

Yeah, that seemed about right.

Mike gave Ava another curious look before he snorted a little at Maki. “I don’t think it counts from someone who doesn’t have a license. Or having one session, unless instead of ‘therapized’, your conclusion is that your therapist sucks for you.”

“And annoyingly educated or no,” Mike glanced to Ava with a little smirk, “I really doubt you have a license. If you do, then I think I have some damn meetings to make if you ever remember who gave you the cred.”

Ava laughed lightly, “Well, who knows. Perhaps I’m a child prodigy? Though, you’re correct, even if I was, anyone giving me a license would be woefully naive. Children need to be taken care of, not put in charge of the care of others.”

“...I wonder if I have any family worried about me,” Ava said, looking up into the sky, “...I feel like the answer is no. But I can’t really know.”

“If you’re an orphan, kid, there’s always room in my town,” Maki said, turning back towards the mountain, which somehow really was getting bigger and bigger the more they traveled, proving they’d get there eventually, “The kids are all morons, but all children are. You’d fit right in.”

“Are you not much of a fan of children, Maki?” Ava asked, smirking lightly, “That’s a bit odd, considering what you’ve made your life's work.”

“I love those kids. I’ll like the adults they’ll eventually become,” Maki said dryly, “Like you two. I’m sure you’ll make fantastic adults someday. Shame about the ‘being a kid’ thing now.”

Urshifu chuckled a bit next to her. Little growling hurf-hurf-hurf’s. 

Mike wrinkled his nose a little and nodded, though the pensive tone Ava followed up with seemed to affect him as well, though where she turned to the sky, he looked around the forest around them. He thought he saw some Spinerak off in the distance, likely starting their own days as the sun set. 

…did it matter if there were people out there missing Ava, if she couldn’t remember them to miss them too? Somehow it felt…wrong, that she would be a person alone in the world. Ava was thoughtful, and friendly, with a wit that made her fun. It felt like there should be plenty of people out there to miss her. 

(...he had a feeling most people were relieved he was gone.)

“Too bad we can’t just spring up with fully-formed, immutable personalities,” Mike drawled, rolling his eyes a little. “Sucks having to go through a journey of learning.”

There was surely another sarcastic comment on Mike’s tongue, but it died and faded into the recesses of his mind as he heard tell-tale beeps coming from his phone, Rotom floating up in it after a moment with the GPS map brought up. Mike looked over the map, at first just dully seeing that they were still going in the right direction, before he frowned. “...looks like they’re moving. Heading towards us, actually.” 

Maki’s eyes widened a little, hurrying back to look at Mike’s phone, seeing the same little signs he was. “...they must be trying to head back. Maybe they’re finally not lost.”

“What’s the play, Maki?” Ava asked, suddenly looking oddly serious, some of that light, easy joy gone from her face, “Children in distress are notoriously fickle. They need a sense of control or they’ll wrestle it away for themselves, but you can’t forget that that control is a double-edged sword. If you allow them to walk past us and return to their friends, they’ll likely survive the trip, but they won’t learn they can depend on you, and that will isolate them the next time they and their friends need help.”

“I…” Maki squinted at Ava, before nodding, “Yeah, I know. The plan is to confront them and then walk them back. Maybe yell at the little morons–”

“Does that work for you?” Ava asked incredulously.

“I find taking over a town and bending it to my will around them is usually what works.” Maki said dryly, “Most of the time kids are coming to me, ever since I’ve taken over the orphanage. Persuading kids to come has been… a different kind of challenge.” She admitted.

“...” Ava glanced at Mike, before looking back to Maki, “You’ve been talking to these kids for a long time now. Perhaps you should let us give it a shot? Talk to them as peers?”

Maki raised an eyebrow… before pointedly looking at Mike, “...the both of you?”

“Mike can be very articulate, when he’s motivated.” Ava smiled.

Maybe finally not lost, maybe close enough to tell which way was down the mountain and thinking that was good enough to try and figure out how to get back. Maybe electrical interference, though Mike was going to keep that theory close to the chest until it was impossible to do so, considering Maki had only asked them to come because of a reliable tracker. Though…he kind of doubted she’d leave them to the wilderness now that they were there. 

Giving Ava a similarly squinty look to Maki, Mike just…listened to the plan, this part not part of his bargain…until, again Ava made it so. For a moment, he just gave her an incredulous look--she wanted them to convince those morons to come to town!?--before giving Maki a bit of a stink-eye at her lack of confidence. 

…sure, it was a pretty accurate judgment of his persuasive abilities, but, what? He couldn’t do it?! Just fuck off…

(Even if the plan that came to mind to him too was to yell at them.)

Crossing his arms, he gave both girls an unimpressed look, before settling on Maki. “...not having to go after them all the time would keep you at the gym more. Hypothetically.”

Ava smiled at Mike. “Ah, yes. Truly the practical choice, for the pokemon trainer. Certainly not another,” Ava laughed lightly, “act of kindness.”

Maki looked back and forth between the kids… before looking at her pokemon. “You’ve always been better at stuff like this. You’re the reason we have Zangoose. What do you think?”

Urshife hesitated–he clearly didn’t always know what to say, when Maki looked to him, like he wasn’t expecting it–before he nodded. Pokemon to pokemon.

“Kid to kid. Got it.” Maki sighed, turning on her heels, “Alright, I’ll take your lead then, kids. But just know you count among the ‘don’t give them enough rope to hang themselves with’ mentality. You're just kids too. I’m the adult. Mess around and I’ll do things to your ears you didn’t know could be done.”

“I’m not against new piercings, I suppose.” Ava murmured.

-

“Move slow,” Tim reminded Cali, as she limped between him and Kimiko, “We don’t want to make it worse.”

“It’s not even sprained, I’m telling ya! It just–oof– twinges a bit!” Cali insisted, refusing to put any real pressure on her ankle even as she argued, “I’m fine, I can walk! I just needed to sit for another day.”

“We were running out of food, Cali. Timmy and I went looking but…” Kimiko looked to Tim, who sighed. 

“It just wasn’t happening. We were lucky Yamper found what she did yesterday. If we can’t find our way back to the forest?” Tim frowned, looking in the direction he hoped their treehouse was in. “...we’re probably going to be hungry tonight. Unless we get lucky again.”

“We can be hungry for a night! We know how to be hungry!” Cali shouted, “We’ve got this!”

Hopping around her feet, Plusle mimicked her, cheering as well, while beside her Minun looked worried, glancing up at Cali, and her ankle, before reaching out to cling to Cali’s good leg, hugging it. 

“Hey, it’s okay! I’m okay!” Cali beamed down at the pokemon, before looking to Kimiko, “Kimi, tell her I’m okay.”

“Well, I know you’re okay… now, Cali,” Kimiko frowned, “But if we get lost…”

“...w-well! Well…” Cali hesitated… before she took a deep breath, “Then, if we get lost? You guys can go ahead and come back for me later! When you find the town!”

“No.” Tim said.

“...I mean, I’ll be fine, I’ll just sit somewhere and–”

“No, Cali,” Kimiko agreed softly, “No.”

“...yeah, okay.” Cali said, her lower lip wobbling, “I’m sorry guys.”

“Don’t be. We’ll make it. We just have to keep– Yamper? YAMPER!”

But Yamper was suddenly off. Bolting into the woods, barking loudly, little electric sounds bouncing off its fur. 

“What do I do?” Tim asked, looking mildly panicked, “Should I run after her!?”

“U-uh, maybe!?” Cali said, sounding uncertain, “But Yamper doesn’t usually do stuff like this, maybe she has a reason? And hopefully it’s not chasing a Sentrit?!”

“Oooh!” Kimiko gasped, seeing a thunder shock light up the sky, “Is she… battling or…”

And then another thundershock, farther out. And another. And another. Like the thunder shocks were signals to each other, saying Here! Right Here! 

And then, for a moment, it was silent…

And then Tim and Minun and Plusle all suddenly stepped ahead, creating a small wall in front of Cali, who was held up by Kimiko, as suddenly a damn giant pokemon suddenly roared out of the woods… and stopped. Panting as it looked down at them… before looking over it’s shoulder. Roaring.

And out came Maki, Ava and Mike. Yamper running circles around them, a little electric pokemon spinning around the boy. Both sparkling with residual electricity. 

“...oh, Cali, you little moron, what did you do to yourself?” Maki muttered, assessing the three kids for a moment before, seeing Cali was notably injured, heading to her first. “Come here, let’s see.”

“Oh, Maki, how did you–oop! W-what are you looking for?” Cali asked, as Maki grabbed her face. Turning it right, then left, then up and down.

“You’re dehydrated and have been in pain for a few days now, enough to redden the veins around your nose and eyes.” Maki observed, “Alright, now sit down, let’s see your foot.”

Tim relaxed a little. He couldn’t help it. It almost felt like instinct… and practically hearing his friends jeer at him for looking for a ‘babysitter’, as Vriska had started calling adults who might help them, he suddenly said, “How did you find us? Were you stalking us?”

“Stalking’s an interesting word for rescuing, sure.” Maki said, taking off Cali’s boot and looking her ankle over.

Mike had startled a little, seeing the Yamper that had dashed from the treeline…but not because it had been a surprise. Even before they had been able to hear the barks, sparks of electrical discharge had streaked up into the sky, and Rotom had joined in right after the first one. No, he had just…never seen a Yamper before. As far as he knew, they only lived farther north and farther west than he had ever been, and it wasn’t like a lot of trainers came through Edahu town. He’d just been entranced, as Urshifu dashed forward and they all followed, finally breaking out into a clearing with…three kids and two pokemon. 

One injured kid, and…well, it was dumb to label every Plusle and Minun out there as a pair, but they did tend to gravitate towards each other.

Slowing down as Maki strode over to the injured girl, Mike looked over how Rotom was darting happily over the Yamper, and waved its prongs at the Plusle and Minun. It was probably excited to see other electric types… Taking in the scene for a moment, Mike looked over at the redhead. “Where’d you meet Yamper?” he…demanded, more than asked, though that demand was a deep vein of curiosity.

“Up your butt,” Tim said, at the exact same time that Kimiko said, “We saved them from Team Rocket!”

“Timothy, did you do this bandage?” Maki asked, looking at Cali’s ankle. 

“...yes.” Tim said.

“It’s good,” Maki said approvingly, “But you should have rebound it an hour ago.”

“Hello,” Ava greeted, smiling lightly as Tim and Kimiko looked to her, Cali distracted by Maki’s attention. “My name is Ava Mariah, and this here is Mike Teavee. We’re here to help Maki bring you safely back to your friends, and Mike here is largely why we were able to find you. Him and Rotom, I mean.”

“...okay?” Tim said warily. “Narc.”

Mike rolled his eyes a little, though…if the Team Rocket stuff held any weight? That would explain the diaspora. And was pretty cool. He’d heard a lot of Team Rocket was disjointed, scattered to the wind since their boss had been arrested, and what little he’d heard about their crimes since… He didn’t think it was possible for anyone to get more pathetic. So it was cool if anyone managed to save some of the pokemon that Rocket had put into its underground trade. 

(...not that Mike was tooting his own horn or anything, but he was…nooooooot aiming to get himself arrested.)

Sighing a little at Ava’s overly polite introductions… Mike wasn’t sure. He didn’t feel furious or anything. But before he could think--

“Well maybe if you fucking moron cucks were a little less selfish, we’d all be out of the woods tonight, huh? Guess no one gets what they want today.”

There was a beat of silence. Maki glared at Urshifu, who shrugged helplessly back at her. Ava’s small, warm smile didn’t so much as waver. 

Tim, Cali and Kimiko all looked at each other… before it was Kimiko that finally asked, “What’s a cuck?”

“Sort of sounds like one of those words the others make up,” Tim tried to reason out, “Like a ‘nook’?”

“No, maybe he meant cock?” Cali offered, looking to Mike, “Did you mean we’re fucking moron cocks?”

“Hey, if you think that suits you better.” Mike smirked.

“I bet he doesn’t know what it means either. Everyone knows ‘nook’ isn’t a word. People just make up bad words.” Cali whispered to Maki.

“Don’t ask him again, he probably does know what it means and I don’t feel like dealing with that today.” Maki said, putting Cali’s shoe around her belt, tying it to herself, as she explain, “I’m keeping this, it’ll only hurt you more to carry it around your ankles. Urshifu, you carry her. We’re heading back.”

“We’re still not going with you.” Tim said, “We’re going to start our own village.”

“Well, then that’s unfortunate for Cali, since I’m still taking her.” Maki said, getting up.

“Ah! I’m getting kidnapped!” Cali said, not sounding that upset, her voice lilting in delight when the massive pokemon picked her up. 

“Oh, oh! Can I get kidnapped too~” Kimiko gushed, looking up at the large pokemon with sparkling eyes. 

Urshifu looked uncertain for a moment, before picking up Kimiko next. The two girls looking thrilling, as their respective pokemon climbed up the large pokemon as well, both sitting cheerfully on his shoulders. 

“Traitors.” Tim told them. Only a little jealous at the giant bear pokemon holding them. He reached down to mindlessly pat Yamper, who nudged into his leg, before looking at Mike and Ava, “What do you guys want anyway.”

“To follow Maki back to civilization,” Ava said, turning her heels, “And to talk to you while we go.”

Mike rolled his eyes again at the redhead’s stated ambition but just lingered back. The girls’ delight at being kidnapped (we’re trying to wean him off of kidnapping) just proving to him more how bad of an idea the whole ‘kids in the forest’ thing was. Shaking his head, he reached into his pack and brought out the device, pressing the button he’d actually managed to figure out. The one that just made the damn thing a flashlight, since it was starting to get dark enough roots would be easy to trip over. And they already had one foot injury too many in the group. 

Turning along with Ava, Mike gave Timothy a bored look. “What the fuck are you all so damn scared about out here anyway?”

“Who said we were scared?” Tim asked, watching his feet, taking the cue of the light to pay attention. That dip in the mountain had caught Cali’s ankle, sure, but if could have caught any of theirs, None of them had seen it.

“Isolation is usually a result of fear,” Ava said, walking on the other side of Timothy, noticing Maki glance at them but stay silent. Sticking to their deal, essentially. “Fear of the people outside your own community, specifically. Though… that’s not universally all it can be. Sometimes people isolate themselves out of fear of what their community might do otherwise.”

“Our friends aren’t keeping us hostage, if that’s what you’re saying,” Tim said dryly, “We’re just… not going to let anyone tell us where we have to live from now on. They were going to separate all of us, and that’s why we ran for fighting gym, sure. But it occurred to us when we were almost there that no one can make us do anything if we just… didn’t surrender us to a town.”

“Surrender?” Ava said, “That’s an interesting word for you to use. Do you consider yourselves a militia?”

“We don’t consider ourselves anything. We’re just not going to be controlled.” Tim said.

“Wow, you’re so brave,” Mike said, voice more arid than a desert. “Truly, the freest life, one living in the damn wilderness when we live in a society that actively encourages infants to go on a perpetual camping trip. What a brilliant idea.”

“Well,” he sighed, “We heard you three were looking for a new village location. What style of jointing are you planning on? You friends with a Coalossal and a Sandslash? Of course, I’m sure you planned for it, considering the metals needed for plumbing. What sort of FCR you looking at for the livestock around here?”

“Ugh,” Mike suddenly complained, tipping his head back, like it was such a pain. “Couldn’t catch me dead without cell service. Even if you did make a tower, there wouldn’t be a damn service provider that would sell to you until one of you turns 20. Though, considering your cute widdle kid-topia, I wouldn’t be surprised if you’d kick ‘em out by their ass the second the birthday candles are out. Wholly ideological groups tend to do that the second someone no longer fits those ideals.”

“That’s not… we wouldn’t kick someone out for being too old, we just…” Tim frowned, uncertain, “...we’d get all of that stuff from the town.”

“From the mountain?” Ava asked, before smiling lightly at Tim’s frustrated glance, “I’m not trying to tease. But this is a long journey, from the town to the mountain, as Mike and I learned today walking it. If you want to make use of the towns resources, might it be wise to do it within the town?”

“...you can’t trust the adults,” Tim said, “They just change everything. On whims. Sure, maybe it’s safe to live there today, but it was safe to live in our old orphanage a few months ago, and then it wasn’t, and tomorrow it might not be again. And there’s no… rhyme or reason to any of it. It’s all just random.”

There it was. The real fear. That the decisions of people more powerful than you would leave you helpless, without any warning. Not a dumb fear, but how they’d chosen to cope with it was…

“Damn, that’s what I should’ve asked instead,” Mike sighed, before glancing over to Maki. “You know, that’s actually pretty impressive. Last I knew, I didn’t think Hitmontop could learn Metronome, but the sheer force of you being an arbitrary age making it happen, just to continue the adult-randomness agenda… Some bullshit power from Arceus, for real. Guess Rotom and I really do need more training.”

“Now, now, Mike, let’s not belittle his fears,” Ava said gently, before catching Tim’s attention, “But Mike has a point that he is trying to make. If sometimes things feel random from the adults in your life? Try to remember that said adults in your life aren’t infallible, and aren’t always in control of how things go themselves. No one is.”

“That said,” Ava frowned, “Someone should have warned you and your friends what was happening, and had a better plan put in place than you were likely given. If it felt random, then no one kept you informed, and that is something you can resent. Children need to be cared for, but keeping them ignorant to things that affect them tends to just build feelings of helplessness and resentment. That’s what has happened to you. You are reacting the best way you can to a random and unpredictable world, because you were sabotaged in your attempts to understand it.”

“But, consider this now,” Ava said, reaching over to lightly touch Tim’s shoulder, “Maki Harukawa… now, she’s not perfect. And asking her to be is a terrible burden. But she is someone who has proven that something she values is children getting to keep their homes. Their stabilities. You heard the legend, that’s why you went to that town. Maki can be counted on to protect what children have… and.”

Ava looked over to Maki, who was grimly keeping lead, probably unsure how to say anything now that it was time to talk about ‘The Great’ Maki Harukawa. “She’s honest. Not always. Not entirely. But she doesn’t lie needlessly. I bet that’s partly why she hasn’t coaxed you all to leave the trees yet. Brutal honesty isn’t always the most comforting thing. What did she tell you?”

“...that…” Tim paused, recalling, “That we’d figure out the bedding and rooming situation when we got there. That we’d have to go to school and because we’re different ages it’d be different schools. That she didn’t care why we didn’t want to go, and then asking us if we wanted to die.”

Ava laughed lightly, and Maki’s ears burned red as Ava said, “Not very reassuring at all. And maybe not entirely what you wanted. But she didn’t say you’d be separated in the town. She didn’t say you’d be randomly kicked out in the future. She didn’t say you’d have to shut up and not ask any questions. Just that you’d all figure it out when you got safely to town. And you know she’s not the type to give comforting lies. So you can trust that there’s nothing unexpected coming, not while she has anything to say about it.”

Mike huffed softly and held the light steady, tracing his fingers over the other buttons. He hadn’t been trying to belittle that fear. He just…was making a point about deliberate randomness. It wasn’t silly to be scared about things happening suddenly and without explanation. It was silly to say that all adults did random stuff according to their whims. It was pretty self-important, since it left out the fact that everyone did stuff according to their whims. That was what free will was. 

He didn’t necessarily think Tim’s distrust of adults was wrong either. But…

Mike gave Maki a flat look, as Tim told them the incredibly enticing offer she’d given them before. Sighing, he just shook his head. “...you all really thought that fighting nature, the epidemics of starvation, exposure, and the freaking law, would be easier than fighting her?” A little incredulously, Mike pointed at Maki, before steadying the light. “You’d all rather figure out how to be construction workers, farmers, and a militia, than make good faith arguments against a woman whose literal job it is to be beaten by children.”

Timothy raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean? Her job isn’t meant to be beaten by children.”

“It sort of is,” Maki admitted ahead of him, shrugging, “Most people hunting for their gym badges are kids around your age, Timothy. And badges aren’t meant to be impossible to get. Lots of kids and teenagers come to my gym to earn one, and do. It’s expected. I’m usually just happy if I can convince the kids passing through to treat their pokemon like they’re not living punching bags. That’s all I really want out of my gym. Otherwise I’d just give the badges away.” Maki shrugged.

Tim blinked owlishly at her. “...really?”

“Really. I usually just keep trainers around long enough till I can determine if they’re being good to their pokemon. Then it’s usually just an easy battle and then sending them on their way.” Maki said, “I don’t really care who knows it either. Any gym that’s trying to make their gym impossible to beat has the wrong priorities. I’m just more blatant about my second agendas.”

“Oh… okay.” Tim said, “...can I have a gym badge? I’m nice to my pokemon.”

“Beat me in a pokemon battle and we’ll see.”

“Are you interested in being a pokemon trainer, Tim?” Ava asked.

Tim shrugged. “I’ve only just turned 10, I haven’t thought about it much…” Tim peered ahead at his pokemon, who was ruffling at something in a bush. “Hey, uh… you. Mike,” Tim said, looking to the ‘Taur, “Could you shine your weird flashlight at Yamper? See what she’s gotten into?”

“Is it weird?” Ava asked, glancing at Mike’s flashlight, “What’s weird about it?”

Tim shrugged. “It’s square. Maybe military tech?”

Well, not all leaders were as lax about it as Maki--and, yeah. Mike was classifying ‘not being a complete dickhead to your pokemon’ as lax--but that was the point of gyms. Some leaders had been high level competitive battlers, but more important in the gym leader role was…fostering expertise in new trainers. Being benchmarks for trainers to see how they were measuring up in battle-sense and raising their pokemon; benchmarks that were meant to be surpassed. That was why you could battle a gym as many times as you wanted, and that losing a battle didn’t set you back on the gym circuit. It was meant to be a learning experience. 

And while a lot of people washed out after a few badges, that was just because after the initial few, that learning experience was geared towards professional battling. The first few gyms were trials to see your bond with pokemon, if you understood the basics of battling, if you would be alright just with your team out in the world. The later ones increasingly became about pro-battling, and that was why you needed eight badges to challenge the Pokemon League. To be the most pro you could be. 

Gym leaders were meant to be beaten. Only the best could beat the Elite Four and Champion. 

…being a trainer was a good way to not feel ‘controlled’...though, again. That wasn’t the big thing. 

Nodding slightly, Mike swept the light beam over towards Yamper, before he snorted softly. “I’d hope the military was using something cooler than this. Or at least with more utility. There’s almost no good way to hold this and make full use of the light.”

Ava raised an eyebrow at that, before looking at Mike’s flashlight more fully. Oh, yeah, look at that. The whole frontside was light, there was no way to hold it without blocking the light a little bit, unless you were willing to hold it by your fingertips. 

“What a curious little device… is it a flashlight?” Ava asked.

“What else could it be?” Tim said, frowning as he saw Yamper was enraptured by a Sentret, who was similarly curious about her, the two staring at each other in awe. “Yamper, leave it alone. Come here.”

Yamper ran back to Tim, Tim patting her on the head, before he admitted, “I don’t know if the others will go for it. The town. Almost everyone else is older than us. They just want to wait it out until they’re 20.”

“The oldest among you is 15.” Maki scoffed, “Sure, five years in the woods. Honestly… and they let their youngest go do the scouting.”

“Cali and Kimiko and I volunteered,” Tim said, chest swelling a bit, a deepening, defensive look of pride on his face, “We’re just as grown as them.”

“And~” Kimiko called back, giggling, “They’re alllll kinda… stupid~”

“I miss Bianka,” Cali sighed, closing her eyes, “She got adopted though. She used to be the smart one. Now Kanaya is our smart one. And Kanaya just talks like a book, she’s not actually all that smart.”

The kids were close… but apparently not ‘not make fun of each other behind their backs’ type of close, Tim sighing with a nod while Kimiko giggled again. Interesting, Ava thought. Cali, Kimiko, and Tim might have scouted for more reasons than wanting to find a new base. Perhap Kidtopia wasn’t actually getting along that well.

Mike shrugged a little, the only train of thought he was willing to share being similar to Tim’s. At least for one button, it was a flashlight, and…that was the only one that was really useful to him on any sort of regular basis. Even if it was really awkward to hold. 

He’d figure out the rest of it, he was sure. It was just a matter of time. 

Giving the Sentret a look--guard duty for your friends tonight, huh?--they continued on their way, and Mike couldn’t help rolling his eyes more at the actual age ranges Maki gave. Okay, he could really see where the idea had taken off. Teenagers were absolutely full of themselves enough to believe that they could make a new village. 

“So not grown at all,” Mike grumbled in the face of Tim’s pride, though he gave the girls a slightly curious look at the shittalk they gave the others. Thinking about what all he’d been told about the kids (the fact that Maki had referred to these three as the leaders, though they were the youngest by a number of years, the fact that they’d volunteered, not wanting anyone else to get hurt…and the older kids let them…and the fact that the feelings of coming back with Maki hadn’t changed from these three, but others…) “What are the odds the rest of your crew have done absolutely nothing while you’ve been away?”

Cali grooooaned, while Tim recited grimly, “Karkat would have tried to organize things. He thinks he’s the leader. But no one listens to him, and Vriska, Eridan, and Sollux would have specifically gone out of their ways to either not do what he said or do the opposite. Gamzee would try to help, but Gamzee drinks a lot and if he’s a few bottles in his help would have made things worse,” Tim sighed, continuing on, “Kanaya talks a big game about getting things done, but what she’s actually going to do is try to manage what Vriska is doing, even though Vriska only calms down when no one pays attention to her. So the more Kanaya is going to try to manage her, the more out of control Vriska is gonna be, which means if they’ve gotten anything done, it's that Vriska, Tavros, and Sollux managed to steal stuff from the town.”

“Nothing we need,” Cali sighed, “Just… stuff.”

“Meanwhile, maybe Aradia’s managed to build more of the treehouse with Equius? But that’s only if Equius isn’t in one of his weird… moods. And if he is, they’re fighting instead and nothing’s getting done.”

“Feferi and Nepeta probably managed to harvest some food,” Kimiko pointed out, “...if they remembered to.”

“Let’s be honest, we went to the mountains because it’s just a matter of time before they burn down the treehouse,” Cali admitted, “They can’t break a mountain.”

“Hmm…” Ava paused, imagining all of that… before saying, “Maki, I can understand now why you thought dragging them to town would be the only way to get them there. These are teenagers in the throes of teenage hormones, it sounds. Just grown enough to feel like adults, but with no real life experience yet to back it up. They’re likely in their rebellious, challenging phase. So, I have a suggestion.”

“What’s that?” Maki said dryly, “Explain to them what puberty is and tell them I understand?”

“No,” Ava smiled, “I think you should challenge all of them to pokemon battles, and the deal is if you win they move to the town.”

“...why do you think that would work?” Maki asked.

“Because they’re in a stage of their life where they’re very attracted to drama and stakes,” Ava explained, “They’ll do it just because it’ll feel like something they’d see on television. It’ll excite them.”

“...hm.” Maki hummed. Thinking about it.

While the specifics were unique…yupp. That seemed about right. A group of teens with some skills, enough to keep the whole group from feeling completely adrift in uselessness, but…caught up in their own interpersonal drama and illusions of self-sufficiency to actually possibly manage anything. All pointing to the conclusion that…they’d either end up in the town like wet Skitty, or they’d get someone killed. The three youngest were just young enough to see some reason, but…well, they were easily influenced. And if the group had all grown up together, then even moreso. 

Glancing over, Mike considered Ava’s idea for a moment, before nodding. “Oh yeah. It’s dramatic, and for the more ego-driven ones, I bet they’d jump at the chance to try and humiliate a gym leader, especially one like you. And for the ones that think they’re more practical, if you raise the stakes to if you lose you stop ‘bothering’ them, then that’d pull them in.”

Thinking about it more, Mike glanced over to the other kids. “Are any of you trainers?”

Tim looked to Cali and Kimiko, who both immediately pointed at him. “He is.”

Tim flushed, embarrassed as he looked at the ground. “Not… really. Yamper and I just end up dealing with the wild pokemon most out of us. It’s my job.”

“Not the older kids, with their pokemon?” Maki asked. 

“A lot of their pokemon refuse to battle when they don’t feel like it,” Cali explained, “Kimiko and I help with ours, too, but we usually don’t have to. Tim and Yamper basically always have it.”

Maki looked at the boy with a notably approving eye. “The protector, then?”

Tim shrugged a little. Still staring at the ground, ears burning.

…Mike had meant, like…officially, but this was still an answer. He glanced over at Yamper, then at Tim, nodding a little. (Refusing to acknowledge the…warm, sort of excited feeling that made him want to ask if they could battle. Now, and likely for, like, days, wasn’t the time. And it wasn’t like Tim would want to battle him anyway.)

With a little hum, Mike smirked. “Well, if no one’s registered with the League? Then no one can demand to battle you as a gym battle, so you can agree to any damn rule set you want. So it seems like a pretty solid plan to me.”

Glancing up at the girls on Urshifu’s shoulders again, Mike…hesitated, before blurting out, “Do Plusle and Minun know Helping Hand?”

Cali and Kimiko frowned… before both looked to their pokemon. “Do you?” Cali asked.

Both the pokemon beamed happily, before the two started to spin and dance lightly on Urshifu’s shoulders. And above them, glowing hands started to form.

“...yes~” Kimiko said proudly, like she had known all along, “They do.”

…well, if they’d only gotten their pokemon recently, and hadn’t had a chance to go to a Pokemon Center…

Mike snorted in mild amusement, seeing the pair pokemon dance and display their move, before he gave the girls a nod. “It’s pretty recent findings, actually, but there’s been studies done on the effects of Helping Hand outside of battle, and on non-pokemon. It’s not a replacement for a potion, or actual medical help, but if you end up getting lost or hurt out in the wild, Helping Hand has been shown to give a boost in…everything. It could be the difference in getting someone to a Pokemon Center or healer’s office, and having to wait for help. Though unlike actual healing moves like Pollen Puff or Life Dew, or, yanno, it doesn’t actually heal you. It’s more like taking an effective pain killer, or getting a boost of adrenaline. So if you’re bleeding out, it’d still be better to wait for help than try to move and make it worse.”

The words had come out in a rapid stream, soft little clicks coming from where Mike was lightly tapping his flashlight’s buttons as he talked, before he finally took a breath, turning away in…mild embarrassment once he realized just how much he’d said. “...so, you know. Good thing to keep in mind.”

“What!?” Cali gasped, before looking up at her pokemon, “I didn’t know you could do that!? That’s so cool!”

“Did you know you could do that?” Kimiko asked hers, who gave her a little ‘o’ surprised face. Apparently the two pokemon hadn’t realized themselves how helpful that ability was. Another aspect of pokemon training being teaching the pokemon what they were actually capable of.

Tim gave Mike a curious look at all of that… before saying, “Oh. You’re smart, huh? Like, smart-smart.”

Still looking away, Tim’s comment was the only part of all…this that wasn’t embarrassing, and Mike gave a nod. “I’m a genius. Though you don’t have to be to read the news.”

Though, it was more likely you would be the type of person to read new scientific papers and blog posts if you were the type to go searching for knowledge. Mike hadn’t just been clowning on the others before--he would not accept not having cell service. And he wouldn’t exactly lend his services for hacking into the tower networks to get connections unmetered and for free…for free. 

“It’s a good bit of advice,” Maki agreed, “Hey, kids. Has anyone ever given you the ‘your physiology isn’t actually all that different from pokemon’ talk yet?”

“Um…” Tim said.

“I don’t care, you’re getting it again,” Maki said, before starting, “So, there’s this annoying belief that dates way back, that pokemon are actually invulnerable. Well, that’s a load of…”

Maki kept going, and Ava smiled lightly, shooting Mike an amused look as she shrugged. They had a long walk back. Guess they were going to hear this lecture again.

Mike sighed and exaggeratedly rolled his eyes back at Ava, a hint of a smile on his lips. Refusing to think about just how friendly the exchange was.

-

Hmmm… there was an uptick in Team Rocket reports, which was odd. Team Rocket was basically a dead gang, by this point, their leader arrested a decade ago and their organization almost completely dismantled. Most Team Rocket members that were still active were literally just independent criminals now who still wanted to feel a part of something bigger than themselves. Holding onto their small… ‘community’, for lack of better words. They were almost pathetic, in how harmless they were.

But these two jewelry thieves… it wasn’t Shuichi’s case, sure, but he couldn’t help but inspect the latest newspaper photos of the two masked women. One with long, brown hair and dark, black eyes bordered by light brown skin, the other with bright, blond hair and bright, blue eyes, light pink skin. 

Their outfits changed every heist they pulled, each outfit elaborately designed and clearly themed around the heist they were pulling– sparkling shimmers for the diamond they had snatched, deep reds for the ruby statue, elaborate dresses layered with feathers for the fancy paintings of birds– but they clearly liked to lean into the visual contrast between them, the outfits always matching but directly contrasting each other. Clearly branding themselves as a pair… and always, always, with some sort of R on their outfits. Sometimes hidden, sometimes blatant. But the R recognizable on sight.

Team Rocket.

Shuichi picked up his phone to start a mailing list, about to message The Jenny’s looking for files on old Team Rocket members that were never captured… when he huffed a small, amused sound. His silenced phone lighting up with notifications.

Hey man! Bro, handsome, haha, whatever you’re cool with being called today! Sexy? Haha, jk, unless??

Hah, sorry! Was thinking about you. Miss you! 

How’s the case with the charmander going?

I really really hope your phone is on silent and I’m not just harassing you right now. 

Different vibe, screaming into the void if you don’t feel like talking, and screaming into the void because you haven’t seen these yet.

I’m gonna assume you’d have scolded me by now if you were just ignoring me and I was blowing up your phone, so, silenced it is! 

I saw that picture of you in the press! You looked so cool. I didn’t realize when you told me that you chased down that guy that you meant chased him down a cliff though!? You already told me you were fine, but you, like, are fine?? Right?

Well, either way, you looked sexy as hell in that photo. 

I should stop blowing up your phone, you’re busy and I don’t want to be too much.

You should text me back soon though! 

I miss you!

Okay I’m gonna stop blowing up your phone riiiiiight

Now.

And that had been the last text, a few hours ago. Wow, the morning really had just rushed by. Shuichi checked to see when the first text had been sent and rolled his eyes with a small smile. Kaito literally texting all of that in a rush of twenty minutes. Kaito was so smitten, it could get a little silly.

…Shuichi didn’t exactly… hate that. Kaito had been a relentless flirt back when they were traveling together too, so he was used to Kaito randomly messaging him when something reminded Kaito of his crush. But he did feel a little bad sometimes, knowing how sincere the flirting was. Kaito would date Shuichi in a heartbeat, if Shuichi would let him. And Shuichi couldn’t help but feel he was leading Kaito on in some way, staying friends with him after turning him down. Not because he didn’t have feelings for Kaito, but because he did. And Shuichi knew Kaito knew it.

But, well…Shuichi had a detective agency to grow and a gym to run. He just had things in his life he had to focus on right now, and as much as he loved Kaito, Kaito was a huge time commitment even just as friends. Shuichi just wasn’t ready to date him. Not until he had things in his career where he wanted them.

…it’d be nice, though, if Kaito still wanted to date later. 

And hoping for that, and feeling bad for hoping for that, but also kinda excited about it, Shuichi texted back Hi Kaito. You were right, my phone was silenced. Don’t worry, I still like the messages. It’s nice to hear from you :) 

And he waited five seconds for a ping back, Kaito responding with !!! Yay! You’re here!

Shuichi smiled.

-

It was…fine! Everything was fine. Totally, completely fine. 

Being a pokemon trainer was…incredible! And every Etrig was an incredible trainer, so…Josie would be too. His father had made that very clear. He would become Champion, even, all on his first gym circuit, succeeding where his brother hadn’t, and…and Josie would be another name in the Etrig legacy, ready to pass down all the same lessons to his own kids one day. 

His future was already signed, sealed, delivered, so…no need to worry, everything was fi--

“DREEEEEGONNNN!”

Josie jolted, quickly covering his mouth as he ducked behind a rock, eyes widening as he looked around the…painfully open landscape around him. Rocks, maybe a barren tree or two, shallow dunes… Not many good hiding places, really. Not that hiding ever really worked ou--

“Hydraaaaa~”

“A-ah!” Josie jumped back a couple steps as a fanged maw appeared right next to him…followed by another. And then another. “H-hydreigon…h-hey, um… Didn’t notice you there, buddy. Um…” Josie glanced around nervously, trying to step back again without being noticed. “I…guess you and Mick are around here too, huh? What a coincide--ough!”

Josie coughed out a grunt, stumbling back but staying up as Hydreigon headbutted him, slowly stomping forward. “Good dragon,” he coughed, “I missed you too.”

“Look, I’m sure we’d all like a nice family reunion, but…I’ve got places to be, you know?” Josie even tried a small grin there, still sidling back…all until his foot hit a loose pile of sand, and Josie flailed slightly, trying to keep upright. 

But that sudden movement was it, and the Hydreigon charged forward, knocking two of its heads into Josie’s chest and sending him flying out until he hit a rocky outcropping in the sand. Skidding a bit, Josie tried to make sense of the world, when he heard the familiar sound of a pokeball opening. Horror washing over his face, he shakily tried to get up, seeing a blur of orange and yellow. 

“Flareon, no,” Josie whispered, but it was all he could get out before being forced back to the ground. Hydreigon’s wings flapped menacingly, stirring some of the sand around, blurring Josie’s vision even more, as it planted a heavy foot on the 10-year-old’s head. 

“Hydreigon,” Josie started to plead, his voice going higher, “I-I haven’t even gotten any badges, I-I’m not doing anything! I’ll stay out of Mick’s way, I promise, I know it isn’t fair, just, please--! 

Josie drew in a sharp breath of gritty air as he felt the pressure increase, could feel Hydreigon growling through the vibrations in its body. “Please, just--!”

“Ee-ON!”

Eyes widening in horror, Josie screamed, “DON’T!” as he felt the air heat up nearby. The pressure on his head feeling…impossible. A weird pressure behind his eyes, making them feel like they were going to pop out, a cracking sound in his ears…

And then a pink, sparkly beam enveloped everything. 

Kaito had been planning to nap on one of the shallow dunes, and had even found the side of one to lay down on, warm and content and feeling a little lazy now that the workday was over and Shuichi had finally gotten back to him. Hell, by the time the noise had started, Kaito might have actually nodded off a little, though it had really only just felt like he had just laid down, poking his head above the edge of the sand ridge and frowning at what he saw. 

Kaito tended to move quickly when he saw there was danger. It could be the best and worst reaction, because he really didn’t think much when he was reacting to danger, just letting his body move as he scrambled up, letting out Clefable as he glanced down at the kid and his small pokemon, and the massive pokemon that was attacking him. 

(Definitely not a wild pokemon. Kaito would know if this pokemon lived in this region, it definitely wasn’t a Grand Pan pokemon.)

“Moonbeam,” Kaito told Clefable. “I’m going for the kid, try to keep your distance,” he told him, before sliding down the dune, running across the sand as he grabbed another pokemon, calling out, “Lumineon! Ice the dragon!”

Lumineon came out, and after quickly spinning around to access its environment, focused on the dragon-type pokemon and took a deep breath, before a beam of blue light crashed into the dragon pokemon next, between it and the Moonbeam knocking the thing off its side and pushing the weight off the kid.  

It was wholly instinctual, the way Josie shuddered at the terrible cry that came from the dragon above him, not a conscious reaction to what was going on around him. Because…he couldn’t tell. His face felt too hot, and his ears were ringing, and everything was a blur…

(Get up, boy.)

(Stay down you useless piece of shit!)

Shakily, Josie tried to push himself up, flinching at the second familiar cry he heard, only to see a mess of red on a humanoid figure coming towards him. And… And…

And Josie tried to be strong. He never blamed his brother for the situation they were in. It wasn’t Micklaighn’s fault so…Josie tried to be strong. To smile and brush off the bruises, and…and never fight it, but…

A frightened sound came from the young boy’s mouth, tremors going through his whole body, as he cried, “Mick, stop!”

Immediately Flareon dashed in front of Josie, getting between him and the man, giving a warning growl. Full attention, now that Hydreigon had flown off with a last screech.

Kaito skidded in the sand, causing a small spray of it as he dug his boots into the slide, stopping himself before he collided into the Flareon. Ooof, look at that heat. He could see the vapor trails of it rising above the Flareon’s growling mouth, lovely transparent streams of it rising into the air. It was Kaito’s favorite thing about the desert, the heat vapor strings, and the pokemon was radiating it. Gorgeous.

Kaito hoped it wouldn’t burn him alive in a second or two, and he waited with a slightly held breath, staring down a potential Fire Blast. One… two… three…

…okay, cool! Not on fire! Totally manageable from here, as Kaito grinned, putting up his hands. “Kaito!” he corrected, taking a step back, hands still up, keeping his body language obvious not just for the kid and his pokemon, but his own pokemon, who were likely watching this behind him, trying to decide when they should intercept their trainer potentially being set on fire. Everything was fiiiiine, let’s all stay caaaaaaalm. “Kaito Momota! Don’t actually know a Mick! No ‘Mick’s around here.”

Josie panted, trying to breathe and push himself up, but it wasn’t quite…working right. His limbs too weak and shaking to ever stabilize him upright, and his head spinning too much to understand that. He tasted metal on his tongue as he tried to get his eyes to focus. 

…the…person? In front of him was talking, but…it didn’t sound like Mick, really… And…and where did Hydreigon go? Where…?

Slowly Flareon began to step back, never letting Kaito out of its sight, even as it got to Josie. Gently curling its tail around the side of his head, in case he fell, and pressing its body against him. 

And while the desert was already uncomfortably warm, and Flareon’s body heat really couldn’t have made it any better, Josie haltingly reached out, curling his small body into Flareon, slightly. A quiet, pained, frightened sound leaving him. 

Kaito’s grin didn’t waiver, even seeing very real signs of what was very possibly heat exhaustion on top of whatever that attacking three-headed dragon did, as he said, “Hey, fun fact! Did you know the very first Illumination Medical Center on the whole continent is near here? Not even a twenty minute walk that way.” Kaito nodded his head further into the mountain boxed-in desert region, narrow enough that most people dismissed the entire area as simply a pathway divergent for Route 111. Especially back before the fairy gym was recognized as a real gym here, the Clefable population an unknown factor to everyone who had never had a reason to visit the out of the way desert. 

He stressed all that in case the kid was one of the ones who came from an area that still hadn’t entirely heard in the last five years that the desert area actually had things in it, most maps pre-IMC just having the area mapped out with just its name, no additional details, like the gym location or the city nestled in the middle, partly underground to protect its people from the sun. 

So he repeated carefully, “An easy, 15 minute walk, that way. There’s a medical center, and beneath it a city, where we have lots of cool things to eat. Literally cool things. I bet you’ve never had a proper ice cone in your life. A real one, not the lame syrup ones the other regions do. I’m talking yogurts and fruit toppings, sugar crystals. You’d love it, kid…” 

Kaito risked taking a step forward, offering, “If you let me help you, I can get you there in no time.”

Everything still sounded pretty garbled, but…medical center? Something felt wrong, Josie…he needed help. Even if help always meant worse stuff later on. But…he was a trainer now. His father still called in every now and then, but it was even less frequent than it had been at home, and…even champions still took their pokemon to Pokemon Centers. Even the best battlers still had to heal, so…maybe…

Josie peeked over Flareon at the…guy talking to him, blinking disjointedly as he tried to get his vision to focus, the tears from the sand in his eyes certainly not helping.

Not Father. Not Mick. Just…

Giving a small, frightened sniffle, Josie nodded his head slightly (wincing at the burn of pain that flared from it) and tried more deliberately to get up. 

Kaito nodded, echoing Josie when he saw the kid nod, before looking pointedly at Flareon, keeping his hands open and visible as he stepped closer. “You want to go? Great! Flareon, can I pick up your guy here? I’m not taking him away from you, we’re all going to the medical center. He’s safe with me…”

Keeping a careful eye on Flareon, Kaito reached for Josie above it. 

Flareon gave Kaito a deep stink-eye, keeping a steady, focused gaze on him the entire time…though, gently, it walked around Josie, slowly moving out of the way until it was only spotting Josie’s head. Watching carefully to make sure Kaito didn’t drop him. 

Quietly, just whispers on the wind, Josie murmured, “Thank you.”

Kaito picked up Josie–Kaito knew it was tradition, but fuck, 10-year-olds were small, he couldn’t imagine how parents let these little guys run off for their big pokemon adventures, Kaito was pretty sure he’d freak in their position–and grabbing his pokeball to call Lunimeon back, leaving Clefable out to watch his back as he rested the kid against his chest and headed towards the city, he said lightly, “No worries kid. This is the easy part. Let’s get you safe, alright?”

And he headed off. 

-

So, here was how the city of Grand Pan–what it was usually called, either that or NGP, as no one ever felt like calling it by its full name, New Grand Panjandrum–was actually structured. 

There was a small series of buildings on the surface of the sand that, if one was being very lenient about what the definition of a ‘city’ was, could be called a city. It was a small circle of tall, broken stone buildings that only weren’t classified as ruins because, well, people still lived in them. These buildings were all focused on pokemon or traveling goods, the city structuring itself as a settlement that people traveling route 111 or, worse, who had gotten lost in the small desert, could go to as a small oasis to recover and gain new supplies. 

With that practice in mind, the short dome-like building in the center of the city, which doubled as the Fairy Gym, was a natural spot to start working on the idea of a community center that specialized as a pokemon medical center, since anyone who needed that oasis tended to also need that specific type of help. And, well, if the travelers couldn’t afford a proper hotel, then there was always room at the medical center, so long as you didn’t mind if that room was simply a cot pressed against a wall if things were too busy and they didn’t have a proper room and bed to give. There was always room to safely sleep, if nothing else.

Priestess Meruko would often assure Kaito in the early days that even if it wasn’t everything he wanted to give people who came to his centers, sometimes a safe place to sleep really was all they needed. It wasn’t a failing if he had nothing else to offer. Anything helped. 

So that was the oasis on top of the sand, and honestly what most people saw, if they ever visited at all. Most people only wanted the gym and the center, and then got out of the dangerous, barren, uncomfortable desert area as soon as they could. There was nothing else here.

Which Kaito thought was a shame, because he loved the underground city. He couldn’t understand how people could be too nervous to go down the dark, underground paths, when he assured them, no, really, it’s a city of stars.

The underground city was a massive underground cavern that, according to Priestess Meruko, the Clefables and Zubats had made a home first. “Clefables were stranded here, a long time ago,” she had explained to a stunned younger Kaito, showing him his new home, “and the cavern pokemon saw their plight and took them in. Cavern pokemon don’t need much, so Clefables after a time started changing things to suit themselves, and one of the things they cultivated was the crystals in the ceilings, infusing them with moonbeams till they started to glow and twinkle. The moonbeams warm the Clefables without affecting the cavern pokemon, and the lights remind them of home.”

Desert people–or, people who had been pushed out of the surrounding regions for one reason or another–ended up in the cavern as time went on, building their settlement above and assimilating to the cavern pokemon. Within the cavern, more stone buildings were carved out of the literal ground, the people digging down to create their buildings, lit with warm lanterns that weren’t strong enough to reach to the ceiling of the caverns where the Zubats rested during the day, before the bats all headed out of the caverns at night in a big swarm, out into the desert to hunt. Sometimes the Clefables left with them at night, off to do their own private rituals beneath the star-lit skies, usually on the bright full moons. 

Other fairy pokemon not native to the region started migrating to the cavern where the ecosystem changed in their own native regions. A few dark pokemon species and non-native cavern species as well. Then stone pokemon started showing up, like Carbink and Diancie, and his priestess believed that they weren’t migrants, but just new types of pokemon, born and bred from the new intermingling of pokemon and environments. 

Kaito knew he was biased. But he thought he lived in the most beautiful region in the world. He couldn’t understand how people came and went and didn’t fall in love with this place, as he followed Clefable down into the underground city, intent on bringing the kid to a doctor.

Pokemon Centers could treat human injuries too, of course. But they weren’t speciality facilities for that–not yet, dammit–and the human medical center was just below the Illumination Medical Center anyway. You had to go into the medical center to get to the opening down into the city, so Kaito had headed in, nodded to the receptionist Clefables, before heading down, aiming for the doctors’ building.

“Seiko!” Kaito called, opening the door and heading inside, looking around, “Hey, I’ve got a pokemon attack and I think heatstroke? Anyone around!?”

Flareon looked around suspiciously, keeping by Kaito’s side, as they descended into the ground, subconsciously integrating more embers into its fur, making the fire-type glow slightly as the sun faded away. Going where you couldn’t see the outdoors was usually a bad sign…but Flareon’s glow wasn’t even needed. Everything shown brightly under the subterranean sky. 

As Kaito called, there were some thumps and the sounds of things moving, before the quick clacks of footsteps…and a comforting, floral aroma. “I’m here,” Seiko called back, taking a look at the charge in Kaito’s arms before nodding slightly, a Petilil bobbing in its hovering in worry while an Audino covered its mouth with its paws. “Please b-bring them this way, Kaito, we have a free cot…”

Audino scampered ahead of them, and Seiko took a look over the child, taking in the scrunched eyes (so conscious), and…that they didn’t call out, so she asked Kaito, “Did you find them up top? Do you know wh-what kind of pokemon attack?”

“...Hydreigon,” Josie whispered. 

Seiko’s eyebrows rose for a moment, before she exchanged a look with Petilil. 

While they talked, Clefable quickly went to Audino and started explaining quickly everything he had seen take place topside, able to communicate easily with the other pokemon. Clefable then pointed to the Flareon, introducing it as the boy’s pokemon, before leaning in and whispering that careful, it was a little protective and twitchy.

“I did, yeah, about fifteen minutes towards route 111,” Kaito explained, putting Josie carefully down on the cot and stepping back, giving the doc space to work, “Fighting… yeah, that. Hydredgen? Whatever he said, that. Never saw this kind of pokemon before, three-headed dragon, definitely not a local. Worse, it was attacking the kid. Basically ignored his pokemon, it was pointed. Not wildlike behavior.”

Audino nodded, looking worried but professional as Clefable filled him in, his big ears tilting this way and that as they listened for the boy’s vitals as well. He gave a small wave to the (particularly young…) Flareon, though the Flareon just ignored them, keeping its eyes on the humans as it hopped up on the cot by Josie’s feet, almost daring anyone to make an objection. 

As Audino started filling out a chart for Josie on a tablet, Seiko peeking over and conferring with her partner quietly, she started taking the vitals Audino couldn’t hear, quietly warning Josie of what she was doing. Though at Kaito’s summary he sucked in a small breath. 

“...know Hydreigon. Likes to play,” Josie murmured.

Though that just made Seiko frown more. “...I’d say this goes beyond playful roughhousing, young man.”

Things were quiet, for a bit. Seiko assessing Josie’s head injury--thankfully not much more than a bruise. His disorientation was more just from pain and overheating, shock making him uncoordinated, rather than anything actually broken--and getting him a drink from Petilil’s leaves, getting him hydrating and cooling down. It had even gotten to the point where Flareon felt alright lying down, though it kept a careful eye on anyone who came near Josie’s cot. 

And…eventually, it was just Josie and Kaito (and their pokemon, of course) again, Seiko stepping out for a moment now that Josie just needed time. 

More focused than before, a cool compress on his head, Josie looked over the pokemon in the room, before offering a slightly unsure smile to Clefable. “...that attack before was from you, right? That moved Hydreigon away. Um…thanks.”

“Clefable!” Clefable assured proudly, and tugging on Kaito’s pants until Kaito realized what he was asking for, passing him a tablet, he quickly typed in, Of course! Hydreigon not look like playing though : (

Reading over Clefable’s head, Kaito nodded along with him. “Yeah, kid, you said you knew that pokemon? Because it looked like it was trying to pop your head like a grape. And it wasn’t just us that thought it looked dangerous,” Kaito said, pointedly looking at Flareon. 

Josie’s smile faded a bit, falling back into nervous hesitation. But it was Flareon meeting Kaito’s gaze, then pinning a serious one on Josie that got him to nod slightly, looking away. 

“Hydreigon…is my brother’s pokemon. I’ve known it since I was a toddler, basically,” Josie explained, his voice trailing off a little. “It just…gets a little…over-excited. Sometimes.”

Flareon huffed and turned its head, surveying the room again. Josie just wilted, guilt coloring his expression as he looked at his pokemon. 

Kaito frowned, considering that… before asking with some concern, “Did your brother teach it to play with you like that?”

And then he realized, “Is that Mick?”

“...mhmm,” Josie confirmed, looking away, seeming to shrink into the cot. “Um. Micklaighn. Is his actual name. Though, uh… I don’t know if it was…taught so much…” Josie shrugged a little. “We’re trainers. Have to go through tough training and…all that.”

The lines under Kaito’s eyes–he never really could get rid of them, no matter how much rest he got these days–deepened a little at that, even as he smiled sympathetically. “Ah, a training family. Hmm, yeah, those can be… something!”

Taking out a pokeball, Kaito clicked it and out came Kangaskhan. “Hey, the baby sleeping?” he asked her, though Baby poked her head out, looking curiously at Kaito as he grinned, “Aww, baby’s up. Good. Hey, Kangaskhan, Clefable’s gonna fill you in, but I want you two to talk to some of the sentries and search the region. If we have a pokemon that thinks it's fun to attack kids, I want eyes on it while it’s in this area. It and its trainer are watched while they’re here, make sure the sentries know.”

Clefable and Kangaskhan both nodded, before heading off. Clefable talking to the taller pokemon as they headed out of the doctors building.

“...it’s nothing personal against your family,” Kaito tried to reassure, letting his expression melt back to gentle as he looked back at the kid. “There’s so few people ever in this region that we have the benefit of being able to keep an eye on people who might… not play well, here. You wouldn’t believe how many pokemon mafioso come here thinking this’ll be an easy place to hide a headquarters,” Kaito said, rolling his eyes. “If your brother's pokemon plays rough with other trainers? I’d rather not leave it alone in the desert to make a mistake among the sands. Not where one strong wind storm could bury an injured person.”

Oh, this guy…got it? It…sounded like he really got it…

Fear started to creep up into Josie’s heart, but that was nothing compared to Kaito telling his pokemon to…to keep a search out for Mick. Like a criminal. “W-wait, no!” Josie tried to get up, to…do something, even if physically stopping the Clefable and Kangaskhan wasn’t even an option in his mind, but he was quickly stopped by Flareon almost pouncing on his chest, pinning him with a steely stare, if not a quiet chatter. Josie looked at Flareon helplessly for a moment before relaxing back on the cot, turning a desperate look onto Kaito. 

“I-it’s fine, it was my fault, really!” Josie pleaded. “I tripped back, that’s why it looked so bad; it’s not Mick’s fault!”

“It doesn’t really matter whose fault it is,” Kaito said, something stern coming over him, “It’s a large pokemon that, for whatever reason, could have seriously hurt a young trainer out in my sands. And if a kid gets seriously hurt out here, or dies, do you know whose fault that becomes? It becomes Grand Pan’s fault. And our community is already struggling to be taken seriously as a region. We can’t convince the rest of the world that this place is worth visiting, training in, investing resources, if the world thinks we’re a bunch of cavemen idiots with nothing to contribute and not even good cell service, that kids disappear or die in.”

“So I’m sorry if it hurts his pride, but we keep an eye on dangers out here. Regardless of who it is,” Kaito said, shoulders square… before he let them fall a bit, shrugging. “And, trust me, I get it. If I put a watch on my brother if he visited? My parents would threaten to disown me for shame… for like…” Kaito grinned, shrugging as he rolled his eyes, “The billionth time.”

Josie’s eyes widened in panic as Kaito…well. Laid down the law. Making it more than just siblings roughhousing, making it more than just a family issue--making it a city issue. A regional issue. Looking at just the effect, and not the cause. An issue in…Kaito’s…

Josie’s face went pale, as he almost offhandedly noted, “...oh… You’re the Fairy Gym Leader, aren’t you.”

Again, it was pretty much only the fact that Flareon had taken up his chest as a bed that Josie didn’t bolt. 

Kaito startled, before he laughed sheepishly, scratching his cheek a bit. “Oh! I didn’t mention that? Sorry, that’s my bad, I didn’t give my whole spiel! Okay, so!”

Standing up with a flourish, Kaito adjusted his maroon sand-cape–which he wore when he felt like hanging out in the sand and sun, and also because it was awesome looking--flourishing it behind him as he thumbed himself in the chest. “I am Kaito Momota! Illuminary of the Stars! Gym Leader for Fairies both Beneath the Sands and Planets Far! Desert Patron of Medicine and Hospitality! Annnnd,” Kaito grinned, chest swelling, “Priest of Atua! At your service!”

“...you look less than thrilled,” Kaito noted. “Is it still the brother thing?”

Josie nodded weakly, fixing his cold compress to keep it from slipping off his head as he took in the gym leader’s introduction. The gym leader that saved him and… Was that alright? Gym leaders were supposed to take care of their communities, and it was something they were respected for. Being just another person a part of that was…fine, right?

“No, I…” Josie took a breath before giving Kaito a performative grin. “I, uh… I’m supposed to challenge you soon, I guess. Since…I’m here. And you’re here.” After a moment, Josie shuffled slightly, smiling at Flareon’s stink-eye, and reached into a pocket, pulling out his trainer card and displaying it to Kaito. 

Josie Etrig

Official Recognized Trainer of the Dimina Region

0 Badges Obtained

Kaito took the card, looking it over as he sat back down… before he grinned. “Awwwww, you’re brand new! I never get new kids! Even the older trainers never come to me first, what the heck are you even doing here, kid?”

Laughing, Kaito handed the card back as he asked, “How long have you been traveling, then? From where…”

Something pinged in his mind. A training family named ‘Etrig’? “Wait, we’re not talking Matthieu Etrig, are we? That training family?”

Er, yeah, now having been walking through it, Josie could hazard a guess there weren’t a lot of new trainers whose first thought would be to tackle the desert. Still, he only gave Kaito a half-shrug, about to say some vague things about traveling around…

Before his jaw shut with a click, a half-formed wince going through his face as Josie nodded. “Yeah, Matthieu Etrig’s my dad.” The man only not champion because shoring up the northern defenses was more important to the region as a whole, people said. The Ice Wall of Dimina. There had been a lot of talented trainers in the decades past, and his father wasn’t exactly one for exhibition matches, but the intrigue of a powerhouse that didn’t stick around always made people salivate that much more, theorizing if they could beat Matthieu Etrig if he’d taken the title. 

The man whose first kid nearly swept the Elite Four at the age of 10, though he never beat the champion. A shame, people said. Especially since Mick had never managed to take the title since. And now that Josie was old enough for society to accept him as a trainer, surely he would follow in his father’s footsteps, and there’d be a new champion in a matter of months…

Yeah. That training family.

“Ooooh… terrifying,” Kaito grinned, “Your brother then is that Etrig. Went sweeping through the gyms. Before my time, all of that, though I remember hearing my family talking about it. Incredible at pokemon battles, your brother, fantastic trainer…”

Kaito tilted his head a bit, scratching the back of his neck.  “...he really should know better, then. Now I’m even more glad I’m sending eyes after him. What the heck is a guy like that doing in my region? We’re out of the way for everything. Unless…”

Kaito looked at the kid, frowning. He could understand the impulse of being worried about a loved one and following them in their early training adventure, but… hmm.

“Well, that’s all other people. As much influence over us as our families can have, we’re ultimately our own people at the end of the day,” Kaito shrugged, before grinning wide, “So! Are you going to challenge me!? Cause that’s super exciting if yes! I’ve never done a zero badge fight as a gym leader before, it sounds like a good time! I’m usually a late, middle of the road gym, where the trainers start getting real stiff-lipped about it, close enough to the end that they get real serious about it. Those battles are marathons man, three pokemon can take a while.”

Josie nodded again, giving Kaito a more curious look. He…supposed it would be different, hearing it from gym leaders, even from ones that weren’t on the circuit when Mick was doing his challenge. “...he really is brilliant,” Josie said softly, his shoulders relaxing just a little. 

It was true. Micklaighn was a brilliant trainer. Just…it seemed no one ever mentioned that part, only ever lingering on the fact that he hadn’t beaten the champion. Sure, plenty of trainers didn’t even make it past five or six gyms, but an Etrig? And especially with his father’s successes and notoriety… People just…seemed to forget that beating the Elite Four was a crazy impressive feat, and his brother’s failure to finish the last bit was…all he ever was to people.

Families only having so much influence? What a joke. People saw the red hair, heard Etrig, and…that’s all who Josie and Mick were. 

Josie shrugged a little at Kaito pondering Mick’s motives, before listening to Kaito’s excitement over his upcoming challenge. He supposed he couldn’t put it off forever… Petting around Flareon’s ruff, Josie smiled softly. “Even watching them, it can feel that way. But, uh, yeah. I’m challenging you. Seeing some of your team up close, though, I think Flareon and I have a tough challenge ahead, huh, bud?”

Looking pleased at the pets, Flareon gave Kaito a once over before huffing, turning up its nose in the air. Its ears twitched, happy, at the soft laugh that display garnered from Josie.

Kaito snorted at Flareon’s clear dismissal before he shrugged. “I won’t hand you the match, you’ll work for it! But a zero badge fight? Well…” Kaito grinned, reaching out to ruffle the kid’s head, “Just remember at the end of the day? Pokemon training, the battles, the gym badges, the Fantastic Four, allll of this? It’s mostly for fun, kid. Sure, maybe once upon a time it was all something more serious, and people still like to treat it like it's the most important thing, but…”

Kaito shrugged, leaning back. “Outside of certain careers? And even with that theory that mass pokemon training is vital to our relationship with pokemon. Pokemon training is just a fun game you’re playing with your pokemon. A bonding activity, like, at most. Anyone who tries to explain to you that it’s anything more grand than that just has too much of their self-worth wrapped up in it. So…” Kaito grinned, “I hope you’ll find me a fun challenge!”

Josie tried not to flinch at the head ruffle. He didn’t really succeed, though he did succeed in making sure Flareon’s warning was only a small wrist nip. Giving his partner a look, he scooted Flareon up more, so he could fully cuddle the pokemon. 

…sure. Maybe it was just for fun for some people. 

Still, Josie smiled back at Kaito, even if there was something too heavy and tired for a kid’s gaze in his eyes. “I’m looking forward to it. Though I won’t complain if you go a little easy on me,” he cheekily grinned. “I’ll never tell, if you wanted to keep your reputation up.”

“Pffff, what? Admit it, you’re hustling me… Josie?” Kaito recalled, “Is that how you say it aloud, Josie? Pfff, you’re gonna act all cute and harmless and have Flareon there suplex all my pokemon in a row! I won’t even have the other pokemon on the field, it’s just gonna grab my pokeballs, force them out, and suplex all of them! Just to prove a point. Look at those beady, pretty little eyes.”

Kaito leaned close to Flareon, risking pointing a finger near it. “You’re a little brute, aren’t you. You can’t wait to fight your first gym battle, ya bruiser.” 

Josie just grinned more and shrugged. It mattered more for matches that were televised, or widely attended (he was…not looking forward to the Clown Gym) but…a win was a win. The badge and marking on your trainer card didn’t say anything about how you won them. 

“Flareon,” Flareon haughtily said, nipping close to Kaito’s finger, just to give him an amused look and a flick of its bushy tail. 

Huffing a small laugh, Josie petted down its body more. “Flareon’s been excited for us to get here, you’re not wrong. I had to make a big case not to go hunting down Maractus in the desert while we walked.”

“Aww, what did my Maracti do to you, huh? They’re my sweet little dancers, they’re not hurting anyone,” Kaito scolded Flareon lightly, pulling his hand back a bit. “Alright, well, your challenge is accepted! But, if you’re not one of the trainers determined never to spend a night in the city that they’re challenging for a badge, how about we do it tomorrow, and you spend today drinking water and getting some rest. We can get you a room at the medical center, if you don’t feel like dishing out for a hotel room here.”

Kaito lit up. “And you should look around my city! Grand Pan is gorgeous, and it’s pretty safe too! The benefit of not a ton of people all living on top of each other, our crime rate is pretty low. Maybe just don’t go deeper into the cavern, past the city limits. Wild pokemon out there, in the dark, rocky flooring. The city is the safest place to be, it’s just getting in and out of it that’s challenging.” Kaito shrugged. “But you’re here already! Be a tourist, enjoy!”

Josie agreed easily, feeling some relief. He was absolutely taking the scenic route for his gym challenge--the fact that he was in Grand Pan at all for his first badge was evidence enough for that. Honestly, if Kaito said he was busy and could only fit in a challenge, like…next week? Oh well~ Guess Josie had no choice but to sightsee~ But…tomorrow was alright. 

“I’d appreciate the room,” Josie said softly. He was feeling more steady, but…well. If Flareon was still feeling this protective, then maybe he should actually listen for once. 

Nodding a little, Josie glanced down, evidently feeling a little shy or unsure, as he asked, “...I heard that most buildings down here were carved out from the cavern rock itself? And, like…all the architectural art too? Arches and lattices and stuff… And the Clefairy make all the gems in the ceiling glow too, right?”

“Oh noooo, you actually asked me about the city,” Kaito lit up, practically swelling with desire as he said, “I am about to talk your ear off, you have no idea. Okay, okay, so.”

And Kaito enthusiastically started to explain the history of the city, his eyes alight with pride and enthusiasm. He was knowledgeable, though he didn’t tend to get lost in the weeds explaining the little details of how it all worked. He spoke of the city like it was a story he was retelling, some grand legend that he had fallen in love with, the people and pokemon of the past equally grand characters in that tale. 

He also had a curious habit of saying ‘me’, ‘mine’, and ‘my’ when he referred to parts of the city, including the people and pokemon in it, and its history. It was both possessive and clearly adoring. A declaration of ownership, if the love of something could let you possess it. Kaito clearly had difficulty differentiating the two concepts, as he suddenly gushed, “Isn’t my city amazing!? God, I wish I could have grown up here… it’s so beautiful. I love it here.”

Josie…well. He absolutely soaked the story right up, taking in every detail or grand statement Kaito thought to include in his gushing, only ever interrupting to ask for more details about what it sounded like when the Zubat all rushed back into the cave mouth, or if that big, accidental crater was available for tourists to go see themselves. The kid coming alive more than he had been since Kaito found him, enraptured by…a living story. 

(Haha, young adventurer! Well, if you liked that story so much, wait until you hear about the time your moms and I went searching for the last remains of the Gunpla empire, buried deep in bluffs that couldn’t decide if they wanted to be glaciers or desert cliffs, so they traded every thousand years…)

[Josie loved stories, sometimes the sillier the better, as long as the effort put into the world you were building was sincere. It had been apt, then, that his mothers and aunt were so adept at creating fantastic worlds. And in this nightmare without them…a child forged in icy fact craved the warmth of a good story. Of something clearly adored.]

“You’re making it hard to stick around here,” Josie chuckled, petting Flareon idly as he still marveled over everything Kaito had told him. “Though I think I’ll appreciate everything more when I know I won’t fall over walking out of here.”

Josie went quiet for a moment, still enraptured…before he considered something. Giving Kaito a look like…he wasn’t quite sure if he should ask, but… “...even as amazing as it sounds…was it hard moving here? From where you were.”

“Was it hard?” Kaito echoed, considering the kid. Little red-head kid. Kaito recalled that was a family trait. Josie’s dad had had vibrant red hair too. 

Poor kid. Maybe some trainer families were okay, but so many were just miserable bundles of impossible expectations and generational guilt. Needing to live up to your parents’, parents’, parents’ dreams. It was a rough life to live…

(Had it been hard?)

(In a lot of ways, it had been easy. Kaito hadn’t had a choice. He was lucky he had somewhere to go, some purpose or use left in his family. The family owned property in the desert that was being used as a gym that hadn’t even really been recognized yet. Kaito had been sent to either help update the gym enough to get it officially recognized, or to just… disappear into the desert ruins. No longer a burden on his family. It was easy to live a life, walk a path, that someone else had pushed onto you. You just followed the direction they pointed in and walked.)

(In a lot of ways, it had been the hardest thing Kaito had ever done. Learning to live in the desert had been hard. Learning to live with new limitations was hard. Learning to live with new people, people who somewhat resented your presence, as many had when the ‘landlord’s’ son had shown up, was hard. Kaito had felt isolated for a long time, had stumbled so much and so often that he had eventually developed the idea that he wasn’t just a failure to his family, he was a failure as a person. Some monstrous creature that could never assimilate with good, normal people: too stupid, too different, too inherently evil, that it didn’t really matter where he was. He’d still always be… Kaito. And there was no escaping that.)

(...but Priestess Meruko hadn’t given up on him. And it took time. More time than Kaito could have ever wanted. But things had improved. And Kaito learned to fit in, until it got to a point where it didn’t feel like he was ‘trying’ to fit in. He just felt like he was a part of things. And no one seemed mad at him. And even if they were mad, Kaito’s life didn’t live or die on those approvals anymore. Sometimes people wouldn’t like him. Sometimes people would be pissed at him. He learned to be okay with that. It had been freeing, letting go needing to be liked. And it had been easier to get along with people once he had.)

(It had been so hard and painfully effortless and Kaito wouldn’t change it if he could. He liked his new life. He could never go back to his family.)

“There were challenges, sure, but… here’s how I like to think about it,” Kaito said, “Staying home? Back where I grew up. Would have also been challenging. Going somewhere else? Would have been challenging. Traveling and going back? Challenging. I don’t know anyone, in any situation, who didn’t feel challenged by something in the path they took. You can’t escape challenge. But… for me? I liked where I ended up. So it was worth the challenges.”

“...” Kaito considered the kid, before saying, “I know you’re going to be running off to continue your adventure after you wipe the floor with me, kid. But if you like my city? You should consider this place a nice place to rest, when you need it, okay? We have the space. And I can show you how to safely navigate the desert to get here quicker. It’s challenging, but…” Kaito grinned, “Well, I’m biased. But I think Grand Pan is worth it.”

Josie nodded slowly, considering all that. His hand slowing on Flareon, but Flareon just considering him. 

…nothing was ever hard. Josie was…lucky. His family was respected, their name renowned. His father knew the challenges of being out in the world, and made sure Josie would be prepared for them. He took to battling easily, concepts and strategies quick to comprehend and come up with. Pokemon tended to like him, so it was never hard bonding or coaxing one. 

Josie had set out on his journey and had been doing not much more than a leisurely vacation of it all. It all was so…easy. He was lucky. Every struggle was something he brought on himself, just…trying to even the odds a little. Because it didn’t seem fair that everything was so easy for him, when for others…it really wasn’t. When Mick had had to basically teach himself anything beyond basic strategy, had to earn the trust of a team himself. When…even coming to a city that sounded like it was right out of a storybook had its own challenges for Kaito. 

In a world of challenges, Josie just got to skate right by. And that’s how you really knew the world wasn’t fair. 

Josie smiled softly at the offer given to him. “I think I’ll take you up on that. I’m not exactly in any hurry, and…well, there are pokemon in these caves you can’t find anywhere else in Dimina, so I don’t think anyone else could blame me for dawdling either. And, uh,” Josie laughed sheepishly, “I think being able to travel the desert more safely is a very good reason to take my time too.”

Kaito lit up. “Great! It’s a deal then! I am going to teach you so much desert shit, you’re gonna love it! Desert stuff is awesome!”

“Alright, let me run off and make sure we have a more long term space to set you up in,” Kaito said, standing up and about to ruffle Josie’s hair again, before glancing warily at Flareon and deciding to keep his hand back this time, “Get some rest, okay? If you need anything and need help, anyone will answer your questions, but Clefables are the lifeblood of the city, alright, you need something and see a Clefable? Ask them first, they know this cavern and desert better than anyone, guarantee it.”

Heading to the door, Kaito gave a two-finger salute to the kid on his way out. “See you at the gym tomorrow! Bright and early! Don’t keep me waiting!”

“See you, Kaito, thank you,” Josie waved, before relaxing back against the cot. He felt Flareon nudge his hand after a moment, and he reached over for the drink the doctor had given him, sipping through the rest of it. Though, that didn’t seem to be the extent of his pokemon’s questions.

“Yeah, I know, bright and early kinda sucks,” Josie sighed, chuckling in lighthearted dismay. “But…it’ll be okay. And…finally getting one badge might cool the old man’s head a bit, right?”

Flareon leveled a dry glare on Josie. 

“...fat chance of that, huh.” Sighing again, Josie leaned back even more onto the cot pillows, putting a hand gingerly against his head. Expression tight. 

“...Flareon?”

“...I don’t know why he’s here,” Josie whispered, fear creeping into his voice even at that bare volume. “Just…coincidence? It’s not like anyone knew where he went when Dad kicked him out… I’m not… I-I’m just going to fail out of the challenge, once Dad loses interest, Mick doesn’t have to… He knows I wouldn’t have anything to do with battling if I had a choice.”

Rumbling, Flareon licked lightly at Josie’s cheek, and the boy held his friend closer. “...we’ll be okay,” he promised, whispering. 

-

Dad, Daddy, and Dada weren’t actually far. They were right there. Everyone was right there. Dragon. Bigger Miyako. Even Weird Toy and Empty Head were here, all hanging out with Miyako. Far from being alone, Miyako’s world had never been more crowded. 

But she found she didn’t mind it much. She was having fun. 

She drifted lazily through the air, her tail flicking behind her as she soared over the land. The tail had been the fairy's idea. Amaina also having fun flying around as a pokemon, and having made a fun new onesie, just for Miya~

Miyako fluttered through the sky, and because she liked to make the sound, mewled out, “Mew~”

It was fun. And she hadn’t been doing it long, not yet. Not to the point where she felt a craving to be held by Dada, to giggle with Daddy, to run with Dad. It had really only been maybe ten minutes, and Miyako was still just enjoying looking around. No real concept of the time passing by for everyone else in the dream.

Later, Amaina would check on Miyako and ask her if she wanted to play more with the people downstairs. Of course Amaina would. But that would be later. For now, she flew.

-

Kokichi scrolled through his phone, eyebrows set a little lower and closer together than they usually were for such a low-energy activity. …and it still was, despite the fact that Kokichi was braced on his forearms, his legs dangled back in an arc over his head, making a perfect resting spot for Jesteon to join him. No matter how Kokichi contorted, stretching his body out, Jesteon always seemed to be perfectly balanced. They had put a lot of work into that. 

“Set on giving yourself early wrinkles again, I see,” Denji commented as they walked into the green room, Furfrou sporting a new styling and giving a nod to Jesteon, who gave a clinkling flick of the tail in greeting back. 

Rolling his eyes, Kokichi turned slightly, broadening his torso and turning his hips to spread his legs into a plank, Jesteon easily following. “This case is really something--did you see the blurb on the news? It was a high-speed chase down a cliff. We only do that shit with safety nets.”

Smirking, Denji started setting up their dressing station. “Right, that’s the part you’re enraptured by. Not the headshot of your dear detective that was in all the papers.”

Kokichi flushed, giving his sibling a glare. “Shuuichi isn’t my anything, we’ve met, like, once.”

“Mm, because you haven’t figured out a good enough case that wouldn’t be solved in five minutes to lure him here again.”

“Oh, shut up…” Kokichi muttered, flipping his body to balance on his back, freeing his arms to cover his flushed face. Jesteon laughing with a purred little, “Je-je-je-je~” as he perched on the bottoms of Kokichi’s feet.

-

Delfino Plaza wasn’t…the biggest city out there, but Kyle was still feeling a little…overwhelmed. The amount of people hustling and bustling about in the city was definitely more than Toneido Town, the buildings were bigger, the canals every other street that spelled imminent disaster were…new. It was a lot, for a small town boy. 

Though, in fairness, Kyle had a few other things that were overwhelming too, so…it wasn’t just the city. Most pressing on his list currently was finding a place to stay the night. Or…several nights, maybe. Kyle had a feeling the way light shot through the incredibly un-uniform buildings would change how the whole city looked dramatically depending on the time of day, and he was already itching to get lucky enough to have his notepad out on a windy day, just to try and capture even a fraction of the scene it must be with all the tapestries flapping in the wind. 

But. First things first. A place to sleep. Then…

“...ggggrrrOUGHGle.”

Kyle blinked in alarm, before he sighed. A place to sleep, then food, definitely. 

Stretching his neck he looked to the side, asking, “We shoul’ get some grub. What are ye in th’ mood for, Mime...Jr.?” 

Kyle blinked. Blinked again. Spun around in a little circle that probably looked very dumb, as he confirmed that there was no tiny clown pokemon by his side. 

Immediately Kyle felt his heart start to furiously pound, his vision starting to narrow. “Mime Jr.?!”

Shuichi sipped at his coffee, sitting outside his favorite cafe, looking over his journal. He really shouldn’t be drinking coffee at that exact moment, honestly. The sky was turning orange and pink as evening edged on closer to sunset, and Shuichi technically didn’t have any work that night that couldn’t wait until morning…

…but he had wanted some pumpkin latte, dammit, and he was ready to live with the consequences. 

He was hoping to spend another hour there, thinking over cases, but he heard a sound of alarm and glanced up, a young man looking frantic as his eyes searched around the feet of the people around him with the sort of intensity that only someone who’s lost a toddler or a pokemon would. 

Ah. Duty calls, he supposes. 

Getting up, Shuichi hurried over, smiling reassuringly. “Excuse me, you look flustered. Are you looking for someone?”

(Your fault, your fault, your fault)

“H-have ye seen a Mime Jr. about?” Kyle asked quickly, barely sparing the man who came up to him a glance, still looking around, as if it was really that easy to catch a glimpse of blue or pink, or hear that sing-song voice. Just in case, Kyle held his hands apart, detailing, “Only two feet tall, li’l thing, Clown-Fairy type, um, pink and blue?”

“Clown-type… ah, you came from this direction, yes?” Shuichi said, looking back down the street, “Keep your eyes open, but I bet you anything you didn’t notice the candy shop you passed by. It’s just around the corner, why don’t we go check.”

Shuichi led the way, and indeed, not far ahead was the candy shop. Heading to the window, Shuichi peered inside, and saw: “Is the Mime Jr. in there gawking at the circus fliers they have up yours?” he asked, suspecting he knew the answer.

Candy shop? Ah, well, she did like sweets…

(What kid didn’t?)

Frantically following the man, keeping his eyes low to keep an eye out for Mime Jr. Kyle made a stressed sound, murmuring, “Know I should keep a better eye on ‘er, it’s a big city an’ I ken she likes to explore… Just took my eye off for a sec’nd, but I know better, if anything’s ‘appened to ‘er…”

However, it wasn’t long before the aforementioned candy shop came into view, and a huge gust of air left Kyle as if he’d been punched, quickly dashing inside the shop. From the window, there was the view of Kyle nearly collapsing to his knees, hugging Mime Jr. in relief, while she wriggled to get out of the hold. Seeming to almost chastise Kyle, before a Phantump popped out from Kyle’s pocket, already crying big, shadowy globs of aether tears. That seemed to get their worry across, and the Mime Jr. looked down, ashamed…for all of two seconds, before she pointed to the posters. Kyle looked up, nodding…before jumping almost a foot in alarm, staring wide-eyed at the store clerk, before he turned red and quickly left the shop, pokemon under each of his arms. 

Finally properly looking at the man who’d helped him, Kyle gave an embarrassed, shallow bow. “Er, thank ya, quite a lot.”

Shuichi smiled lightly, watching the scene. Shame for the scare, but Shuichi was glad it had just been a brief scare. Likely the young man would have found her eventually himself, just retracing his steps. But Shuichi was glad he had been able to quicken the process.

Shuichi was a little surprised at the bow, before nodding his head politely back. “Of course. Best case scenario for missing young ones is they got starry eyed at some passing shop. For missing cases within the last hour of them being missing, it’s almost always that. Which is very common by the way, you shouldn’t give yourself such a hard time about it. Kids wander off,” Shuichi smiled at the pokemon, “That includes young pokemon.”

Glancing over at the posters, Shuichi hummed approvingly, “At least she has good taste. I imagine she’s making an argument to visit the circus gym the next town over? It’s a quick train ride from here, I’ve been once myself. It’s a good time…oh, my name is Shuichi, by the way.” Shuichi nodded his head again. “Pleasure to meet you…?”

Sighing, honestly still trying to calm his heart (it was just a…weird feeling. Unnerving.), Kyle nodded, though he couldn’t help the worried look he cast at Mime Jr. and Phantump. Young kids and pokemon wandered off, yes, but…just because it happened, and that was normal, didn’t mean that horrible things couldn’t happen to them. They could just be looking at an interesting shop…or they could get kidnapped, or get stuck in some small space they’d misjudged, or…

He was their t…trainer. If anything happened to them, it was his fault. 

Naturally starting to cradle Phantump, as the ghost got comfortable in Kyle’s arms, Kyle blinked in mild surprise before smiling slightly at Mime Jr., the purple bands of his braces showing off slightly. “I guess we’re gonna be heading over soon, then. Though…not today, okay?” he gently told Mime Jr. “We jus’ got t’ town, you’d be too tucked by the time we got there anyway.”

“Ah, Kyle,” Kyle nodded back to Shuuichi. “And…really, thank ya ag--”

“GGGROUGLEGRO…” Kyle turned red, before clearing his throat. “...again.”

Shuichi’s eyebrows raised ever so slightly… before he smiled lightly. “Could I invite you out to dinner? You said you were new to the city, and as useful as the medical center can be, I personally think their food is bland. The man who approves their menus has this weird bias against spices, it gets a bit silly. Could I entice you to a meal?”

Kyle flushed a little more, his hands twitching, before he seemed to remember his duty to the pokemon supported by each of them. “A-ah, I mean… That’d be wicked kind of ye, but I wouldn’ want to put ye out or anything…”

“Mi-mi-mi!!” Mime Jr. excitedly exclaimed, nodding as she wriggled enough for Kyle to have to scramble a little to keep supporting her…right towards Shuuichi, all according to plan. She held a little nubby hand out towards Shuuichi, an approving look in her beady eyes.

Shuichi smirked a little, taking the little nub gently between his fingers and shaking her hand. “Excellent, we’re in agreement. Come along then, I know this lovely noodle shop that I’m quite fond of. If you enjoy heat, get the 4, it’s wonderful.”

And, assuming Kyle would follow, Shuichi headed off. 

There was a brief, strange moment, while his back was turned to them, that it looked like Shuichi had a tail. Long and black, like he was a reptile beneath his clothes… but after a second the tail slithered back up into his coat, disappearing beneath the hem.

Just sighing through his embarrassment--a recommended meal was a help, but Kyle was at least trying not to seem like some lost kid in a city--Kyle started to follow Shuuichi. Pausing, at least mentally, at the…illusion? Before he hummed softly. 

It wasn’t the weirdest thing to have pokemon that liked hanging out in your clothes. Not…one that big, if Kyle could extrapolate from the brief look, but…hm. Maybe he’d get another clue during dinner. 

The noodle shop was like a slap in the face of delicious smells, and it nearly bowled Kyle over right at the door. Somehow he managed to keep it together, though it felt like he was drooling just…way too much. He did like spice, so the recommendation seemed enticing, but…

Propping up Mime Jr. and Phantump, Kyle spoke softly to them, “What looks good t’ you two? Ya can pick anythin’, no worries.” 

Shuichi took a seat at the booth, putting his order into the table tablet and letting Kyle and his pokemon look over their menu. Beneath his clothes he felt his pokemon shift and start to pool in circles beneath his feet, taking the opportunity to coil up in a new position now that Shuichi wasn’t walking around. 

He was sure to order plain noodles for Seviper, who much like the ‘Illuminary of the Stars’, wasn’t a big spice fan.

“You’re very sweet with them,” Shuichi observed, watching Kyle patiently wait for the two pokemon to seemingly debate and discuss with him and each other what they wanted to eat. The impression Shuichi got was that it was imperative to Mime Jr. that none of them eat the same thing, and hadn’t entirely sold that to Phantump yet. “How long have you been training them?”

“Oh?” Kyle looked up from the very heated debate--his word tended to be overrun anyway, though…some of that was just bias, as Phantump and Mime Jr. pretty much always looked to him for the final say on things--before looking a little bashful. And…a little unsure. “A while, now. Um…” 

More uncertainty shadowed over Kyle’s face. “...eight? Years, I think. Though, ah…”

Sheepishness overruled the uncertainty. “Training’s a bit of a stretch. ‘M no’ a trainer--jus’ raisin’ these wee ones.”

“Oh, lovely. An adopter,” Shuichi said approvingly, “My friend Maki would love you. She has a lot of strong feelings about the idea that pokemon can only join civilization if they serve some sort of purpose. She has a lot of strong feelings about pokemon in general. Caring for two simply because they need to be cared for would be a highly noble goal, for her.”

It hadn’t been when Shuichi had first met her. Before he had become her ‘brother’ after a particularly dangerous week in the tundra, Kaito and Shuichi had mostly followed Maki around out of what they would realize later was a misguided belief that she always knew exactly what to do. All three of them on their own for the first time, Kaito and Shuichi had gravitated towards Maki, the only one of them who never seemed to falter or hesitate, and stuck with her until she had met the man who would become her mentor, who proceeded to take her away and beat into her head for a month that, no, she wasn’t invincible, and no, neither were her pokemon.

When Kaito and Shuichi had next been allowed to travel with her, the two doing their own specialized training in that busy month, Maki had been a different person. And, admittedly, she had made them see the light on some of their own pokemon biases in that process. They had let her treat her pokemon like that, after all. They had just assumed her brutality was a sign of how much better a trainer she was, than them. The results had always suggested so.

They ended up traveling together for a few years, after Maki had gotten the badges she needed and saved her orphanage. Each year, in retrospect, had seemed to focus on one of them getting the things they needed to set up their own gym. Kaito had come next, inheriting the gym from his mentor finally. Then Shuichi, also inheriting his gym from his mentor, though he had actually grown up with his mentor. Technically his step-mother in all but actual law, since his mother was notoriously lazy about actually getting a marriage certificate put together.

Maki was still regularly training with Mr. Nidai even now, the two visiting each other for training sessions and major workout events. And the occasional ‘pilgrimage’, which was what Mr. Nidai called the vacations he managed to trick her into going on. Every year, Maki got stronger and stronger opinions about pokemon’s place in society. She was a bit radicalized, to be honest. Shuichi got the impression that if Maki had had any real idea who she’d have to punch to ensure pokemon were always treated like equal members of society, she’d have gone to punch that person already. Repeatedly. With extreme prejudice.

“8 years ago though… you’d have been fairly young yourself, when you first took them on,” Shuichi observed, nodding gratefully as his food was brought over. Putting the plain noodles under the table, where a small hsss of pleasure could be heard.

Adopter… Something about that didn’t feel right. Not that people couldn’t feel a type of parental love towards pokemon in their care, but…for his situation specifically. Mime Jr. and Phantump didn’t feel like his kids, they felt more like…

(Little siblings.)

But Shuuichi was obviously approving of that concept, so Kyle just smiled awkwardly with a small nod, making room for Phantump to sit in his lap while Mime Jr. hopped up onto the corner of the table--after a look from Kyle--and started to spin-dance while they waited for their food. “Dunnae if I’d call it noble, ‘xactly. I dunnae ‘d I do without these two, honestly.”

Not that he was…all that sure what he was doing now. But caring for his pokemon was as good a goal as any for day to day things, he thought. 

“I mean, ‘m 17, so…yea?” Kyle shrugged, something about that timeline…not slotting right in his head either, but…it had to be right, right? “But ye go’ li’l 10-year-olds runnin’ ‘bout with more ‘mon than a PC could hol’ so I think ‘m doin’ alright, just wi’f these two.”

Looking down at the table in mild surprise as he heard the hiss, Kyle snorted in soft amusement as he set up the various plates and bowls, breaking up the sweet and sour potstickers into bite-sized pieces for Mime Jr., and giving the smallest size of chopsticks to Phantump to help him slurp up the sesame noodles in his own bowl. Kyle sheepishly took out the vertical bands in his braces before digging into Shuuichi’s recommendation, which he’d ordered for himself, and…

Well, the only correct description would be to say that Kyle was having an experience. It was like the teen had stumbled onto Arceus itself, the way his eyes widened in rapture, and…even started to tear up a little, before he dug into the food with gusto.

Shuichi marveled at the expression a bit… before he laughed lightly. “You know, this is only funny because of the coincidence, but the only other person I’ve ever seen have such a visceral reaction to food was the same person young Mime Jr. here was ogling over at the candy store. It’s something you and the performer Leggero Fortuna have in common.”

“May I ask which region you’re from?” Shuichi asked. “Your accent reminds me a little of his as well, at certain times. Perhaps you were neighbors.”

It was only then that Kyle seemed to re-remember that he was eating with more people than his pokemon, and he paused, coloring lightly as he thumped his chest a few times, swallowing his latest mouthful. Covering his mouth, he mumbled an embarrassed, “Sorry…”

Taking a sip of water (and, damn, had water ever been so refreshing?), Kyle slowed his roll. “‘M from Toneido Town, up north,” he explained, before a little skepticism colored his expression. “If it’s Fortuna’s circus, then…tha’s the Clown gym too, right? I guess people coul’ move, but…Usott’s quite a bit away, ‘n’t it?”

Tilting his head a little, Kyle eyed Shuuichi curiously. “You know ‘im more personally, then, than jus’ goin’ to a performance?”

“It’s unlikely, I agree. Probably just similar accents then,” Shuichi guessed, before nodding a bit. “Oh, yes. But also not really. He asked me for some assistance with a case in his gym, which ended smoothly, thankfully. I only knew him for a few days, but he made quite an impression, I’m sure you’ll enjoy his performance. He’s also very nice, so if your pokemon end up clambering to meet him, I wouldn’t hesitate. He’s delightful,” Shuichi said, voice fond.

“As for the performance itself…” Shuichi paused, before shrugging, “I’m sure it was good. I was working, so I really only half watched it. But people rave about it, I imagine it’s worth all the hype. I have a friend who adores it. He goes to see it almost religiously, any time there’s any sort of update announced, new tricks, that sort of thing. Never misses a new performance.”

“What about you?” Shuichi asked, “In the sense of what do you enjoy doing? If you’re not here to challenge the gym, what brings you to the city?”

…hm. Not known personally personally, but…quite fond. Perhaps some bias in the assessment of Fortuna’s personality, then, but…well, Kyle had never heard a bad thing about the Clown leader. His circus was a marvel, he was kind to challengers. Though he imagined that being part of a circus performance was its own challenge, for some. 

…a case in his gym…

“Oh,” Kyle said, before scratching his cheek a little sheepishly. “Shuuichi… I din’ put it together… My bad.” That was embarrassing…but in Kyle’s defense, they were just talking about a leader that plastered his face all over the region, and Shuuichi…didn’t. 

And…maybe it was due to putting it together that Shuuichi was Detective Shuuichi, or maybe just because the man had been kind to him, but…Kyle looked down, uncertainty coloring him again as he checked over his pokemon, making sure they were alright. Mime Jr. seemed happily occupied, but Phantump looked back up at him, a soft question of well-being in his eyes. 

“I’m…no’ entirely sure, ‘f I’m honest,” Kyle said softly. “‘Mean, I like drawin’, so that’s what I’ve been doin’, but…I’m not really sure…” He went quiet for a moment. This wasn’t…exactly right, but… “...how I got here? Or where ‘m supposed to be goin’.”

“Somethin’ just feels…off.”

“Don’t apologize, I tend to not bring it up unless asked. Keeps me relatively private, and also adds a flavor of mystery to me I’m not entirely opposed to.” Shuichi smiled lightly. A little amused with Kyle’s fluster.

Though, what he said next… “Art’s a perfectly fine reason to go anywhere, but what do you mean, you’re not sure how you got here?” Shuichi asked, a little concerned now, “In what sense?”

Kyle fussed a bit with his chopsticks, adjusting one of his wristbands. Not really sure he…wanted to tell a stranger this, even if he was a detective. It wasn’t like Kyle had hired him or anything…

“...I remember where ‘m from, my name, stuff from ‘m childhood,” Kyle said, insecurity and uncertainty practically radiating from him, “‘N I remember what we did yesterday ‘n all…”

“But I don’...remember ever settin’ out? Or why I did? Or…how I came ‘cross these two,” Kyle nodded to his pokemon, Mime Jr.’s stare back almost too unbothered, while Phantump snuggled into Kyle’s lap more, “Or…what ‘m supposed to be doin’. S’like I just…was on a route one day ‘n kept goin’ forward.”

“Hmm… that’s alarming,” Shuichi admitted, looking over the two pokemon in question. “Not to be accusatory, but do either of your pokemon have any memory based abilities?”

Mime Jr. huffed, putting her hands on her hips, but Kyle just frowned a little, shaking his head. “Phantump knows Confuse Ray, bu’ that’s jus’ disorientation, no’ anythin’ wi’f memories. ‘N…”

He sighed. “Look, I don’...wanna bother ye much. ‘N I dunnae how to explain it either, really. Something just feels…” Kyle’s gaze landed on his hands again. “...off.”

“Considering you didn’t come here to seek me out specifically, I actually think you’ve gotten fairly lucky, just now,” Shuichi frowned, “I won’t say taking on a new case won’t be a bother. It would be. But letting an amnesiac wander off with no help feels cruel. Especially when I’m literally specially trained to deal with that sort of problem. I’m sorry, but I think I’d actually have to insist on helping. At least come back with me to my office to get down your information, that way if I do find anything I’ll be able to interpret what it is.”

“And if something feels off physically? Have you been to see a doctor yet?” Shuichi asked, sighing, “I feel like a nag. But these really are things you should do.”

Kyle blushed a bit, but…after a moment, a small smile came to his lips, and he shook his head a little. “...ya’ken? I dunna peg m’self as a pessimist, but…I jus’ thought that you’re an odd one. Declarin’ a burden bu’ takin’ it on as a matter ‘a course. Huh…”

Still a little bemused with the kindness that Kyle found to be exceptionally kind, he sighed and nodded. “Yeh, wen’...well, I think when things first started feelin’ off. Clean bill ‘a health,” Mostly, “So I could cross off gettin’ a beam t’ the noggin.”

The teen glanced down for another moment. “...called ‘m Da’. In a rush as always, bu’...’e di’n seem t’ notice anythin’ was off. ‘E tol’ me t’ see a doc too.”

“Which you’ve done,” Shuichi sighed, crossing his arms as he considered all of that, “...if you don’t remember why you came, and you’re just sort of going with the flow, at the moment, what’s the plan for the immediate future? Are you going to return home?”

Kyle hesitantly shrugged, though his eyes narrowed a little. More tellingly, though, was how Phantump put his stump on the edge of the table, pouting, and how Mime Jr. huffed, doing a little spin before returning to her food. 

“I…dun’ think so,” Kyle said slowly. “Confusin’ as it is, it’s been… nice. Like seein’ different cities, and these two seem to enjoy explorin’ too. Figure that if I was doin’ some’fin really important, m’ Da’ would’a told me, so…wi’f nothing pressin’?” Kyle shrugged again. “It’s kinda nice jus’...livin’.”

“You’re surprisingly optimistic about your situation,” Shuichi said, both a little curious about it and a little… envious, as he smiled sheepishly. “I think in your situation I’d be losing my mind a bit. I don’t even like being normally forgetful, I think losing large chunks of memories would really weigh on me. You’re sure you feel okay?”

Kyle laughed softly, adjusting one of his wristbands. “I think I might have more of an issue if I was a famous detective running an agency m’self, ‘long wi’f bein’ a gym leader. Ye got’a lo’ to keep track of. Me?” Kyle looked between Mime Jr. and Phantump with a fond, warm look. “I think…as long as these two are happy, I’d be fine in any such sor’. I remember ‘ow t’ feed us ‘n get a good place t’ sleep, how t’ navigate around. Nothin’ else jus’ feels that important.”

Phantump looked up with a happy, appreciative smile, snuggling back before he continued slurping up noodles.

“I see… Well, I still insist you come down to the office with me and let me take down your information,” Shuichi said, tucking into his food again, feeling a little… longing? Seeing the Phantump snuggle into Kyle’s side. He wasn’t sure why he felt like that. 

Shuichi had never been the type to think about children, even idly. Truthfully, he wasn’t sure if he was suited for fatherhood at all. But lately? Seeing children being cute made Shuichi feel funky. Like he was missing out on something. Ah, perhaps just his body playing tricks on him as he got older.

He lightly pet his pokemon with his ankle beneath the table, venting some of that idle desire to take care of something, as he insisted, “It might not bother you any, but if there is a danger in it, it’s better for you to know than to be ignorant. I’ll take your information, and give your case to one of my apprentices. They’ll look into it for the next few weeks, and I’ll send you any information they find. Agreed?”

“Agreed.” Kyle easily nodded, before smiling softly. “As much as it dun’ feel like some overwhelmin’ terror t’ me, I wouldn’ mind finding out what I’m missing, if someone figures it out. I’d feel righ’ the arse ‘f I was leaving summun in th’ lurch. Think tha’s the part ‘m most worried ‘bout, t’ be honest.”

Finished with her food, Mime Jr. had started looking under the table, eyes gleaming with what she saw. Resting around the edge of it on her stomach, she started making little sparkles with her hands--not an attack, but meant to entertain the thriving audience underneath. 

Keeping a closer eye on her this time, Kyle raised an eyebrow before taking a peek himself. 

Seviper had an advantage of always looking a little amused just by his coloring, but his tail swishing along with Mime Jr.’s movements betrayed that he was genuinely invested in the performance. His head swaying back and forth after a moment as he watched her sparkle dance. 

A curious little collar around his neck, sparkling with an opal gem.

Shuichi peeked beneath the table and smiled lightly. “That’s Seviper. Don’t mind him, he’s just not much of a fan of the pokeball. I think he’s just a bit spoiled with body heat, more than anything, and I’ve gone to somewhat ridiculous lengths to allow it. If you know anything about Sevipers, I’m assuming you noticed the size…”

Kyle smiled and gently patted Mime Jr.’s back, giving her some mid-performance praise. (...and reassurance that he’d right her if she slipped over the edge of the table. He didn’t think that it was something she worried about, but it was good to have, regardless.)

(...kids should be able to get into antics freely, always knowing that there would be someone there to catch them if they fell.)

“I see,” Kyle said, amused. “Di’ figure you were one ‘a them more eccentric types when I saw a glimpse of his tail, but think I’d be a righ’ hypocrite to say anythin’ about indulging your pokemon.”

Letting Mime Jr. take center stage, he gave Shuuichi a nod, going back to his own noodles so he wasn’t the only one holding everyone back. But…damn, they were good… “I like th’ gem. Nice accessorizin’.”

“It’s lovely, isn’t it? More than that, it’s magical,” Shuichi said, before amending, “‘Magical’ in the sense that no one’s entirely sure how or why it works yet. But it can shrink a pokemon to half its size. I’ve heard it’s done the same to a human, once, but I looked into it and I think that’s actually just a superstition. An annoying amount of magical artifacts don’t affect people at all, which is very…” Shuichi sighed, “Dull.”

Shuichi liked magic. 

He liked playing with it. Finding interesting ways to influence magic to do interesting, useful things. It scratched the same itch in his brain that case working and pokemon battling did, in that it required Shuichi to think long and hard about something, and after some time and work, something amazing would occur.  

“When I heard of it, I went to some pains to acquire it for Seviper here. All because he enjoys traveling and body heat,” Shuichi sighed, rolling his eyes fondly. “I spoil him. Without the collar, he’s over eight feet long and thicker than me by a bit. Basically, not easily carried. It was only meant to be occasionally when I started, but now he’s so fond of it that he refuses to take the collar off unless we’re battling. Spoiled pokemon,” Shuichi fondly accused, while Seviper glanced back at him, flicking out his tongue in innocent ‘who? Me?’.

Kyle’s eyes widened a little and…and, well, it was amazing. And he was impressed. But something felt more like…professional interest, than the wonder over something magic. “That’s pretty incredible… Rare ye hear about anythin’ magic that ‘n’t turned immediately into a new fad. Woul’ put things like Mega Stones or Tera Orbs or Z-Crystals int’a the same category, but for those ye go’ folks nearly changin’ th’ whole economic system ‘r battle flow of a region where ye gott’em. Fascinatin’...”

“Very cute, though,” Kyle huffed a soft laugh, taking another peek down at the shrunken Seviper. “N tha’ seems like a more clever way t’ get past ball-only zones too.”

Shuichi looked away, saying, “I would neeeever… sneak Seviper through a ball-only zone. That would be…” Shuichi sipped his drink, “Illegal.”

He sipped his drink again… before smirking. “If far more moral. Honestly… ‘pokemon free’ zones. Ridiculous.”

Kyle matched the smirk. “Would never accuse you of such, Detective.”

Though he shook his head a little. “Don’ get it, really. Get some fowks bein’ scared ‘a certain pokemon, but…they’re out here livin’ the same as us. A pokemon-free zone could jus’ be yer own house, same as ye could make it a person-free zone.” Patting Mime Jr.’s back again, Kyle grinned. “Think this lass would like it ‘f she ne’ver had to use her ball at all…though hidin’ under clothes don’ work as well for us.”

Thankfully Mime Jr. was small enough to be in the category of pokemon that were allowed out even on crowded transit, and that was the biggest issue they’d run into so far.

“You hear more and more about pokemon resisting returning to balls. It used to be rare, I hear,” Shuichi mused, pulling out his pokeball and considering it, “I’ve often wondered what it must be like in here. I’ve heard different explanations from different sources. Considering how many pokemon don’t seem to mind it, the one I most believe is that it’s the equivalent of going to sleep. Though, one scientist insists these pokeballs actually lead to alternative pocket dimensions where the pokemon spend time together. Another said they become extremely small and just spend their time floating inside. None of them ever seem distressed from being in a pokeball. Just displeased at worst. Still, I do wish I could see it for myself.”

Kyle nodded, having had similar thoughts himself. Though… “I dunnae if it’s always consistent?” he said, a little unsure since…well, that would be a bizarre thing to market. However, there were stories and evidence of pokemon being aware of what was going on outside their balls--every anecdote about a pokemon popping out themselves when their trainer was in danger supported that--but…

Looking down, he regarded Phantump. “Lad says he just naps in his ball, so that’s the answer I know straight ‘way. S’ why ‘e doesn’t mind it as much, since it’s a good place t’ sleep.”

Peeking back up at Kyle, Phantump gave Shuuichi a shy glance before nodding, then reaching for one of the waters with a straw, which Kyle easily brought over for him.

“Yes, I’ve heard that too. That the pokemon themselves give differing accounts of what happens inside the pokeballs. I asked my friend Maki to ask her pokemon what happened, and one of her more… cheeky ones swore up and down that she just became Maki when she was in the ball. Maki thought she was mistranslating for a while before we realized Zangoose must have been toying with her.” Shuichi smirked, shaking his head a bit. “You’d think Zangoose would be easier to train. I had never heard of a pokemon barging their way into a gym before to demand to be trained by the leader. Yet you’d think Zangoose was bullied into it, by the way they snark at her.”

“Your Phantump seems far sweeter,” Shuichi said softly, giving the small pokemon a pleasant smile, “You know, I’m sure others have already offered, but if he ever wishes to evolve, you could trade him with me, and I’d trade him right back. I know evolutions that require being sent away are particularly hard on pokemon and their trainers. You can consider me someone who won’t take advantage, if you ever have the desire.”

Kyle snorted, chuckling a bit. “Yannae, I wou’n be surprised if a pokemon wi’f telepathy actually managed that, but ‘d give props to Zangoose for tha’ fool.” It was common enough for people to consider it a good sign in a trainer if the pokemon they encountered wanted to join them, but a pokemon going to a gym of their own accord to demand inclusion? That was definitely a rarer story. It sounded like Zangoose had a very strong personality. 

Phantump looked up at Shuuichi for a moment, his big orange eyes glowing brightly, before he curled into Kyle’s side more, holding onto his vest. Shaking his head fondly, Kyle just cradled the small ghost, rubbing his back. “We appreciate th’ offer, though Phantump likes bein’ a Phantump well an’ good. Think the li’l bug jus’ doesn’t wanna give up me bein’ able to pick him up, hm?”

It was obviously a teasing tone, though Phantump just looked up with a pout before pressing in even more to Kyle’s sweater vest. 

Smiling warmly, Kyle gave Shuuichi a small shrug. “Know i’s common for fowks wi’f Trevanent, t’ get ‘em settled in a forest after evo. Wouldn’ hold Phantump back, if that’s what ‘e wanted, an’ tol’ ‘em that I woul’n’ kick ‘im out either if it wasn’t, but ‘e hasn’t wanted t’ evolve. Mime Jr. either, though it hasn’t been an option f’ ‘er yet.”

“Ah, I can’t recall, if I ever knew. What does a Mime Jr. need to evolve?” Shuichi asked  curiously.

“Battle experience while knowin’ Mimic,” Kyle hummed. Having heard her name, Mime Jr. picked herself up from the side of the table and popped up to attention, in a flurry making her hat go rumpled and askew to mimic Kyle’s hair, while adjusting her posture to match his. Out of nowhere she busted out a paperclip and bent it to go in her mouth. Kyle just rolled his eyes, which Mime Jr. did as well. “...the actual move ‘a which she don’ learn til way on. ‘F ya know the ‘level theory’, think it’s at level 32 or summat.”

Shuichi laughed, before clapping politely. “That was very impressive. You have yourself a real performer here.” 

Leaning closer, Shuichi asked Mime Jr., “Do you know any… um, I suppose I’m not sure what I’m asking… tricks? Like, magic tricks? Or anything like that?”

Mime Jr. beamed a real metal-mouth smile, and, well, how could Kyle resist joining in on the applause. “She really is. I’d say dancin’s her specialty, but Mime Jr.’s a real renaissance ‘mon.”

Lighting up as Shuuichi asked for more, Mime Jr. nodded eagerly, before quickly turning to Kyle, bading him to lean in. After a covert exchange--one price of which seemed to be Mime Jr. agreeing to spit the paperclip back out--she bounced across the table, waving her arms with little sparkles, as if debuting. 

With wide, obvious movements, she gestured along one arm, then the other, then lifted the little ear flaps of her hat before giving a little, ‘no, uh-uh,’ gesture. All of a sudden, she gasped, before bonking herself on her head. How could she have forgotten?! Gesturing for Shuuichi to bend down closer, Mime Jr. reached up to the brim of his hat, just over and behind his ear, and pulled out a 100 PokeDollar coin. 

With a shocked, delighted face, Mime Jr. danced around, throwing the coin up to spin on her nubby hand as she spun in the opposite direction, showing it off with a very ‘ta-da’-like, “ Mi-Miiiiiime!”

Shuichi’s expression lit up with delight, genuinely impressed as he clapped. “Wow, that was astounding, actually. Bravo!”

Sure, yes, it was a simple trick when you took away the flair… but the flair was the trick, as far as Shuichi cared. She had a showmanship that was enticing. “You’re really going to love the circus, I think. It’s a lot of things like that, the showmanship is truly impressive.You’d fit right in, Mime Jr.” Shuichi praised.

Kyle watched on fondly as Mime Jr. performed her trick. It was something that they had practiced together on the road when Kyle needed a break from walking. He always had money on him by necessity, and that was the only prop needed, so it had been simple to get started. Mime Jr. had gotten the slight of hand down pretty quickly, but she kept wanting to improve the pizzazz of it all, and Kyle was always happy to be a test audience. 

(“Kyle, come watch! I’ll make this coin disappear in front of your very eyes!”

“Beth, I’m busy, I need to finish this before Da’ comes home.”

“You’re hardly even doing anything! It’ll just take a second, please please please?”

“Later, Beth. Go show Vincent.”

“Uuuuugh, but he’s no fun! He just cries all the time! Kyle, pleeeeeease!”

“Would you just piss off for a bit?! No one cares about your stupid trick!”

“WHY’D I EVEN ASK YOU, YOU’RE THE WORST!!!”)

Kyle looked down, startled by the tugging on his vest and the worried look on Phantump’s face. Before Kyle could even start to ask what was wrong, a few drops of water plopped onto Phantump’s wood, and Kyle looked up in confusion, though…he couldn’t see any leaks…

Shuichi smiled fondly at the energetic little pokemon… before he glanced up. Knowing something was wrong even before he saw it, the small sound of breath betraying Kyle was crying to Shuichi before Kyle even noticed himself. 

“...are you alright?” Shuichi asked softly, “Should we leave?”

“A-ah…” Kyle…vocalized, more than said, touching a wet cheek and looking at the dampness on his fingers like he couldn’t really…comprehend what was happening. There was another shaky breath from him before he looked up, Mime Jr. frowning as she offered a napkin. 

Taking it, Kyle started to wipe his face, shaking his head a little. “...’m alright, sorry. Dun’...nae what happened.”

“It’s fine, here,” Shuichi said, pulling out a handkerchief and handing it to Kyle, “...you really did see a doctor, yes? If you’re simply placating me, I want to stress you really should go. Sometimes memories don’t disappear due to outside forces, sometimes it’s… well, trauma.”

Embarrassedly accepting the handkerchief, Kyle still tried to temper the majority of his calming sniffles with the paper restaurant napkin. “I di’ for real, yea.” Kyle nodded, taking deeper breaths to calm himself down. Smiling with grim embarrassment, he snorted, “Would be pre’ scary for somethin’ tha’ heav’ly traumatic t’ leave me jus’ on a roadside. Though could’n’ say I know much ‘bout all that stuff.”

“Sometimes terrible things happen,” Shuichi said softly, “...but, if the doctors didn’t find any physical signs of trauma? It does limit what could have happened, if that makes it any easier to think about. And, perhaps nothing happened at all. You just seemed… overwhelmed, for a moment there. Which was why I asked.”

Kyle nodded a bit, taking one last deep breath before he brought the handkerchief back down, his eyes a little red but no more tears were forthcoming. “I really dunnae what happened. Sorry for stealin’ yer show, Mime Jr.” he laughed sheepishly. 

However, Mime Jr. just huffed, reaching up to smoosh his cheeks a bit until Kyle grimaced, gently moving her hands away. “Ey, you can do that more when I fin’ly get these off. Don’ wan’ cut up m’ mouth now tha’ ‘m eatin’.”

Shuichi gave a little sigh, shaking his head. “I do not envy your braces. You know, I never actually knew anyone growing up who had braces? I’ve heard they’re a hassle.”

“Ya’ve heard right,” Kyle sighed, carefully making sure he didn’t have any cheek left in metal. “All sorts ‘a faff wi’f ‘em. Worst of all, ‘spposed to not eat popcorn since th’ kernels can break off bits of ‘em. An’ they’re one ‘a the worst things t’ clean out. S’like life’s bettin’ against me.”

Shuichi snorted, “Well, you’re young still, you’ll grow out of them. And when you do, you can have all the popcorn you can handle. I bet you’ll make yourself sick of popcorn within the first month. I did the same thing with coffee after I was…”

Shuichi paused, confused… before shaking his head. “Right, I took a break from coffee for a while, let myself back on it, and drank it so much that I just retreated to tea again afterwards. Too much of a good thing.”

Not that Shuichi could remember why he took a break… maybe for his health? That sounded right. 

“Anyway, you’ve been done eating for a while,” Shuichi said, pushing his bowl aside, “I already put my card on the tablet, the meal is on me. You can pay me back by coming down to my office with me.”

Yeah, Kyle couldn’t wait to get them off. It felt like it’d been an eternity already. 

Kyle laughed softly. “Feel like over-indulgin’ in coffee’d give ye more trouble than just a distaste. But I’ll take th’ warnin’.” Even if he didn’t think he could ever get tired of popcorn. If he accepted the hassle with it from braces, Kyle doubted anything could spurn that love. 

Looking a little sheepish, but grateful, Kyle gave Shuuichi another shallow bow, Mime Jr. mimicking it this time. “Really ‘ppeciate it. Alright, you two, let’s get ready t’ go.” And while the parallels had already been drawn, the way Kyle cleaned his pokemon’s faces and got them situated really was like caring for young kids.

-

The detective agency/pokemon gym was surprisingly busy. 

Shuichi didn’t work alone, it turned out. Yes, he personally was a detective, but part of his success as a detective was finding other detectives and bringing them in as detectives and pokemon trainers. Shuichi distributing cases and sending his people to investigate things that maybe no one had called them for, but Shuichi wanted one of his people on anyway. 

He had a lot of detectives. While some were just normal people, as Shuichi would define them, there were more and more who were the…eccentric types. 

The lawyer who inexplicably decided to be a detective one random day was one of the wilder examples, though Shuichi liked him well enough for his sincere enthusiasm for ensuring no one was wrongly accused of murder, as Phoenix Wright greeted them from the desk, “Hey, bossman! Bringing me a case!?”

“No, he’s not your specialty,” Shuichi said, heading past him to his office, “Let Kitty know I might have something for her later though, if she wants to speak to him herself. Anything I need to know today?”

“Nope! All quiet!” Phoenix called, Shuichi nodding to himself as he opened the door to his office for Kyle. “Get me a new murder soon! Getting antsy!”

“Like I can just conjure murders for him,” Shuichi said, rolling his eyes.

Kyle marveled at the Poison Gym. Or…the Saihara Detective Agency. While the level of hustle and bustle matched the rest of Delfino Plaza, it was like its own microcosm in the gym, but just with a…paperwork and detail-oriented flavor. There was something particularly…Kyle wasn’t sure. Nostalgic wasn’t right, especially since the only job he’d ever had was far more mechanical, but…maybe like a sense of home, without it actually relating to any he’d had. 

Though, amid the buzz, he was sure to keep Mime Jr. securely in his arms. No wandering off here, even if she would have an easier time amid posion-types. 

Kyle was a little bemused at one of the detective’s enthusiasm (we’re ghost hunters!! Let’s kick spectral ass!) before he followed Shuuichi into his office. “Least ya deffy have someone t’ take those cases. Better to have help and expertise rearin’ t’ go, then havin’ to scramble for someone to take a case, I’d think.”

“So…” Kyle said softly, looking around the office a bit. Very professional. “Shoul’ I just fill out a sheet, or…answer questions?”

Shuichi went to sit at his desk, offering Kyle a seat on the other side of it. He knew some detectives preferred to sit by the people they were interviewing, keeping them calm and comfortable, but Shuichi likes to think he added some sense of stability and reliability in his professionalism. Like the other person could trust him to know what he was doing, as he opened his journal and clicked open his pen.

“Let me have you just answer some questions. Let’s start with the basics though: what’s your full name, and have you ever had any aliases? How old are you? In what region did you grow up?”

Nodding, Kyle took a seat and opened his arms to let Mime Jr. have full reign of his lap. And maybe a little outside of it, though he gave her a Look to not mess with the detective’s things. The Look worked…some of the time, but Kyle was hoping that Mime Jr. was endeared enough to Shuuichi already to…at least not mess with things out of a mischievous nature. 

“Kyle Essei, ‘n that’s th’ only name ‘ve had, ‘m 17 an’ from Toneido Town.” Tilting his head a little in thought, he added, “Lived there ‘long as I can remember, no’ movin’ ‘round or anything…though I don’ remember when or why I left.”

Shuichi penned those answers in, though if Kyle looked at his notes, they’d seem oddly short and disjointed. Like a math problem. “Can you tell me, as much as you can recall, the last day before you woke up on the road?”

Kyle nodded again, getting ready to explain the last full day he remembered…

…

The teen’s expression fell into confusion, never having really…asked himself when that last day actually was. His brows pulled in more as he covered his mouth, growing a little more concerned than he had been explaining it to Shuuichi earlier. 

“...well. Okay,” he murmured to himself. “Called Da’ like a week ago, so…that was prolly when I noticed things bein’ off. Give or take a day or two. But…before that… Um…” Fussing with his bangs a little, he gave Shuuichi a mildly worried look. “I think…I may’ve misled ye. Less like I literally woke up on the road and more like…I was jus’ goin’ through life, when I realized I didn’t remember…why? Or…”

Kyle sighed. “...remember workin’ in the shop back home. As, like, ‘round this age. But…havin’ never left home doesn’t feel right either. Bu’ ‘m not a trainer, so it’s not like I left on a journey. But…I don’t…”

He leveled a frustrated look into the wood of Shuuichi’s desk, before giving the man a more apologetic look. “...I don’ remember, sorry.”

Shuichi’s pen hovered above the journal. Waiting to see what Kyle would settle on. Trying to interpret what he was saying.

And looking down at his equation, Shuichi wrote next to Kyle’s recent history ∞

“Okay, that’s alright,” Shuichi assured Kyle, “We already knew you lost time. Perhaps the time you lost was simply more… fluid, is the word I’d use for what you just described. Like a watercolor smearing across a page, rather than a page being ripped out. Does that make sense?”

“Think so,” Kyle nodded slowly. “It’s not like…I dunnae, I’m just missin’ every’fin ‘tween Wednesday an’ Sunday. ‘S more like, if I try to think back on when some’fin happened, or my motives for doin’ some’fin or bein’ somewhere I just…can’ place anything.”

After a moment, Kyle snorted. “Like ‘m a character th’ writers didn’ think of a backstory to, so ev’rythin’s just hand-waved. General events happened, but there’s no consistency or timeline.”

“My friend Kaito would say he always kept an eye on those character types in stories,” Shuichi said gently, “Because the longer the author held off on filling them in, the more inspired they tended to be, when they finally have their ‘aha’ moment with them. And it always made them fascinating.”

Shuichi couldn’t remember when Kaito told him that… but he was certain he had.

(When they were young, and Kaito had dived into stories of saints, and fiction, to ignore the terrible reality of losing his inheritance.)

“My point being, once you do remember who you were, in the bits you’ve forgotten. Or if you manage to discover it without ever getting those memories back… I’m sure it’ll be something worth knowing,” Shuichi said, before looking back to his journal, “Sorry, I don’t know how comforting that is. What about the day you woke up? How well do you remember that?”

Kyle chuckled softly. “Cannae tell ye if it’s good writin’, but yer friend is right in that it’s interesting. Dunnae if I’m that interestin’ either, but wouldn’ complain’ ‘bout gettin’ m’ nog’ set back right again.”

There was that adage about how some things were better left forgotten, but…Kyle really doubted there was something so sinister about his travels around Dimina. Maybe there had once been some spark in him for greatness but…he hadn’t been lying about what he told Shuuichi earlier. As long as he could keep having good times with Phantump and Mime Jr., Kyle was happy. 

“Dunnae if I could really pin down the day either, but…I do remember this moment of…clarity?” Kyle pondered, trying to explain it. “Was at m’ campsite, jus’...well, li’l over a day outside of Noqi Bay, ‘n I was just…sittin’. Phantump was nappin’, an’ Mime Jr. was dancin’, an’ I just realized somethin’ felt…wrong. Checked m’self if I was dizzy or dehydrated ‘r anythin’, an’ when we got t’ the town tha’s when I went t’ the doctor, but…” 

Kyle shrugged. “No’ really excitin’.”

“So, you woke up not even just in a new place, but actively doing things. In the middle of the day.” Shuichi frowned. “...like some bout of confusion had been cleared, maybe? But what would have lasted that long? Confusion attacks aren’t that long… you’d need someone willing to repeat it, over and over.”

Shuichi leaned back, tapping his pen beneath his lower lip. “...your father. Is he your only family?”

Like confusion had cleared? Kyle’s eyes widened slightly, that frame of thinking…actually working really well with some of his experience. Not the longevity, and affecting things that had been parts of his memory for a long time, but…the experiences he was having with all of it fit…weirdly well. But even a powerful pokemon like a trained Gardevoir using a full-power Psychic on him shouldn’t do all this…

Pondering that, Kyle startled slightly, blinking before he hummed. “Ah, yea. M’ ma died when V (Vi-vi was little) - I was li’l. Got an honorary uncle, but for blood, ‘s jus’ me an’ Da’. Think we might have cousins ‘r somethin’ out there, bu’ I don’ know ‘em.”

“Right,” Shuichi said, “What kind of pokemon lived in your household with you? His pokemon?”

“Diggersby ‘n, well, for most ‘a my life, Golet, though ‘e’s a Golurk now,” Kyle answered. Though…it was funny. For a moment, Ninetails was on his tongue, but…his dad didn’t have a Ninetails. Still, just for a moment, Kyle could picture one so well…

Letting that weirdness go, Kyle snorted, pushing one of his sleeves up higher. “M’ Da’ does mechanic work ‘n Toneido. Makes somma ‘is own stuff too, but we mostly do repairs. Diggersby helps out wi’f somma th’ bigger projects…’n she takes it very seriously.” With a self-deprecating laugh, Kyle pointed out a wide scar on his upper forearm. “Learned real early on no’ t’ mess about in th’ shop. Still feel bad ‘bout th’ scare I gave ‘er.”

(...a much kinder version of the story, in this dream.)

“I’m not an expert on every pokemon in the world, so I’ll have someone follow up on that, but as far as I’m aware neither Diggersby nor Golet would have anything that affects the mind too much,” Shuichi mused, noting it down in his journal. “How about any family friends? Any adults you grew up around that weren’t family but were a consistent part of your life?”

It was depressing, but when it came to being abused through a pokemon ability, it was usually someone you knew long term, if not grew up with. Or if not, still a close family member like a spouse. Abuse through pokemon abilities just tended to require a certain amount of inherited trust, or at the very least societal pressure, to keep the other person around.

Actually, speaking of spouse, “Are you currently in a relationship?”

Kyle nodded, concurring. “Know there are some ghost moves out there that can do some fuck stuff, bu’ I’m not sure Golet or Golurk can use ‘em.” And…considering his father’s absolute disinterest when Kyle called, he really doubted that Charles would want to make him even more useless than the old bastard already thought he was. 

“M’ Uncle Greg, ‘n ‘e has a gaggle ‘a Teddiursa ‘n Ursaring. His Ursaluna jus’ kept poppin’ up wi’f eggs, ‘n Uncle Greg di’n have th’ heart t’ do anythin’ but raise the li’l bugs ‘imself.” Kyle smiled a soft, fond expression before he thought to himself. “His daughter Lottie ‘as a Mr. Mime, the Fairy-Clown kind, ‘n a Banette. They’re no’ above a bit ‘a mischief, bu’ Lottie an’ I grew up together, she’s like a sister t’ me. I…really can’t see her doin’ some’fin like this.”

While it was probably a routine question just as mundane as any about his family, Kyle was taken off guard by the question about his relationship status, and a blush started to bloom on his face. Entirely not helped by the little laughs Mime Jr. was making no effort to stifle. “E-er, uh, no…”

“Hmmm, I’ll have them look into the Teddiursa evolution too…” Shuichi mused, noting down the other family members. He didn’t mention the Mr. Mime, but still wrote it down. It was important to note all possible avenues, even if they seemed unlikely.

“Nothing wrong with being single,” Shuichi mused, “I’ve dated very little myself, so I have no room to judge. Though… and this is entirely a professional question, I’m not poking out of curiosity. Is there someone you’re almost in a relationship with? Someone you’re close enough with that it seems like a possibility to them?”

Kyle wound a finger around his wristband and sighed, not particularly happy about it, but agreeing, “Yea, there’s some weird myths abou’ Ursaluna out there. Know somma th’ point yer asking abou’ is ‘cuz ‘oh, they’d never do that’ sentiments are exactly the shock factor fowks get ‘cuz it really is fam’ly a lo’. Still…Uncle Greg’s abou’ as cuddly as a stuffed bear ‘imself.”

Blushing a little more, Kyle shifted his shoulders, shaking his head a little. “Ah, no t’ that either…”

(Maybe there could’ve been something. Those last few years had just been misery for Kyle, but…some of those smiles? The little moments, snickering over dumb jokes, the moments where just for a second Kyle had felt just like a normal kid? Maybe there had been something there. Something that could’ve bloomed into something more.)

(Finding Remy’s body in the river certainly made it so they would never find out.)

He didn’t start crying, but there was another deep haze of melancholy that fell over Kyle’s slightly unfocused expression. 

Shuichi noticed the shift in his expression, the sadness. Kyle was holding something back from him. Shuichi wasn’t a therapist, and one aspect of that is most peoples secrets weren’t handed to him. They were just things he discovered as he looked into them more.

Well, if it was relevant to Kyle’s case, Shuichi would find it. If not? It wasn’t Shuichi’s business. 

Looking over his notes, Shuichi considered a few more questions. Perhaps what Kyle’s education had been like, though because of the nature of 10 year olds often running off onto cross-country adventures, school was always shaky, as far as relevance goes. Maybe any strange persons looking into Kyle that Kyle remembered hearing about? Maybe…

“This is going to seem like a silly question,” Shuichi admitted, “But if you had to accuse someone of bombarding you with confusion abilities–which we haven’t yet determined is even what happened to you–if I gave you no choice and said I needed a name… who would you say?”

Kyle sighed a bit, pulling himself back into the conversation. “Maybe no’ silly, but certainly hittin’ me with a hard one…damn.” 

Who, if he had to pick anyone, would want Kyle…to forget things? Was that the right question, ultimately? Given that they didn’t know the purpose or the method, they only had his symptoms, which was the amnesia, so…who would want to give him amnesia? Someone covering their ass from something he saw, or…

“Feels too convenient to say any criminals gettin’ rid of a witness, an’ Team Rocket ‘n’t all that subtle these days, in most cases…” Kyle mumbled, trying to sort out his thoughts. “So then who stands to gain…?”

Kyle frowned more. “...maybe some’fin like my da’ tryin’ to get me to stay out traveling, but…I dun’ really want t’ go back anyway. ‘E wouldn’ have t’ do some’fin this drastic jus’ t’ get rid of me.”

“That’s fine, no detective even pretending at an investigation could justify not looking into your father either way.” Shuichi said, jotting that down, “Your answer doesn’t really change anything then. And, perhaps no one did this on purpose at all. It’s certainly possible this was an accident, no malevolence at all.”

“But, there’s a saying I tend to adhere too when it comes to investigations,” Shuichi said, looking sternly at Kyle, “Where’s the danger? You look at the most dangerous possibility first, rule it out or take care of it, and then move on to the rest. Any other possibility can wait for the time it takes to ensure you know where the danger is.”

“And either way, past all of this, none of it should terribly inconvenience you,” Shuichi said, relaxing his expression, “We’ll look into the names we have, we’ll check the area you woke up in, see if we can’t trace back yourself a ways before you ‘woke up’ and see if you were acting oddly to anyone you met. We may not end up finding any signs of you being targeted, and if that’s the case, we’ll send you the information we do find, we’ll keep working on it, slower, once the danger has passed, and someday we might have more concrete information for you.” Shuichi said, “Does that sound alright?”

That was a pretty good way of deciding how to approach an investigation, actually. Sure, the ultimate goal was the truth, whether you gave that information to anyone or not, but systematically striking down every option with only that single guiding light was…well, dangerous and inefficient, for what job detectives were actually trying to do. It was a person-centric job, and if something was threatening that person in some unlikely or strange way, systematically digging for the truth could leave them in grave danger. Taking a few leaps to ensure that they were safe first, before going through the rest of the options was…smart. And also…

“That all sounds great, actually,” Kyle said, smiling a bit sheepishly. “Know ye said all that before abou’ it bein’ your duty an’ all, but…thank you, Shuuichi. You really dunna ha’f t’ go through all this on my behalf, but you’re choosin’ to so…thanks.”

“Mi-mime!” Mime Jr. chimed in, doing a little curtsey to Shuuichi on Kyle’s lap. 

Shuichi smiled lightly, pleased, though he tried very hard to humbly shrug, “As I said, it was a good bit of luck you stumbled onto me. If the universe will throw us together either way, I may as well help.”

“Alright, let’s get through a few more questions…”

-

“...yeah, okay. Yeah, I love you too. We’ll be safe, I promise. Have a good show! Arven and I will try to catch the reviews online later. Heh, yeah, we’ll come to one in person next time we head back to Usott. I know, tell Papà too. Love you. Mhmm, yeah. Bye, Babbo. Ciao.”

Ending the call, Doppio just took a breath, looking over to the Pyroar pride Arven was still observing a bit away--he’d specifically stepped away to take the call from his dad, but, still, he was glad he hadn’t disturbed them any--before rejoining his boyfriend. Smiling sheepishly, he gave Mabossiff a fond pet on the head before gratefully taking back his binoculars from Indeedee. “My dads say ‘hi’ to everyone. Babbo’s getting worried about us eating enough again, so we’re getting another care package at the next Pokemon Center we stop in,” he whispered.

“Pffff, I’ll never get how you have the patience for all the phone calls. I think I’ve called mine, what, once since we’ve gotten out here?” Arven snorted, adjusting the camera as large as his head a bit before peeking into it again, “And no, randomly running into one of mom’s excavations doesn’t count. I was not expecting to see her there.”

Mabossiff just huffed happily, licking Doppio’s hand. Tail wagging happily. Hello, family! 

“Check it out. The Litleo’s woke up while you were taking the call,” Arven said, pointing down to where the cubs of the pack had started playing together, “I’m getting some pretty good shots, it could help the guys back at the lab figure out how early their manes start to burn. Looks pretty early to me, even the smallest one seems to have some flame.”

“They just worry,” Doppio said, smiling softly. “And Babbo likes knowing what we’re up to more than just figuring it out from what Pokedex entries we’ve last updated. I like hearing about how the circus is going too, even if Cugino Mel gives us the down-low every time we send lab samples in. It was kinda fun seeing your mom out in the field, though. I didn’t think you were exaggerating her fashion sense, but…wow.”

Making an interested sound, Doppio followed Arven’s indication, a delighted smile breaking through his face as he saw all the little Litleo cubs tussling around with each other. So cute… They’d gotten lucky to find a litter so young--and that the adults didn’t seem to mind the nosy onlookers several yards away. 

Taking in the scene, Doppio started typing his findings into his tablet, Indeedee peering over and subtly correcting spelling and shorthand. After the Staryu incident, they’d all decided that Doppio needed to start typing instead of just writing everything in a notebook that no one else would be able to read. It had been a bit of a learning process, but it did make converting data a lot easier. 

“This could be good indication about when the sexual dimorphism starts too,” Doppio hummed. “I really don’t buy that there’s no sign until evolution at all. Even Burmy have slight differences.”

“I’ve heard a theory that sexual organs might not develop at all until the evolutionary period, but… the last time we thought that, then the big ‘caterpie’ revelation.” Arven shrugged, not needing to explain further. The caterpie revelation had rocked the pokemon biology world. It was almost cliche, to bring it up by this point. 

“Here, let me put this down for a moment, I’m getting a crick in my neck.” Arven sighed, putting down the camera and sitting up, stretching a bit, before smirking at Doppio, “You look nice today. The sun’s been good to you.”

Doppio nodded easily. Pokemon biology was fascinating, and if you ever had the hubris to take an assumption as law, just remembering the Caterpie Revelation was enough to humble you. Thus, their project. He and Arven would likely never uncover every mystery around pokemon, but they’d make a damn big dent in them. 

Still taking notes as Arven sat back, Doppio blinked before smiling sheepishly, moving his bangs behind an ear. “Yeah? Not starting to just look like a shiny southern Raichu?” Doppio laughed softly. “I know going south doesn’t do too many favors for you and Mabosstiff, but you look happier now that we’re down from Coron Mountain too.”

Doppio smirked a little. “Unless you’re just happy we’re not running into northern Mr. Mime all the time now.”

Arven had been smiling lightly throughout all of that, admiring his boyfriends olive skin in the sun… before his face scrunched up, “I swear, Aceto, that was all the same Mr. Mime. It was following us! For miles!”

Arven squinted around suspiciously, looking for any signs of the creepy pokemon. It didn’t seem to have followed them out of the mountains, but Arven was still on the lookout.

Then he felt a buzzing in his pocket, and pulling out his phone, he sighed. Speaking of stalkers… “I swear, this guy calls me more than my own parents.” 

Flicking on his phone, he rolled his eyes at Doppio, as he said, “Yeah? …yep, I answered this time. Yep, I’m still alive. Yep, Aceto’s still alive… we were in the mountains! The service sucks the higher up you go! No, I wasn’t ignoring you–did you need something? Oh, you got the photos? Good. Yeah, we’re actually looking at a pack of Pyroar… Kaito, what is it you think we do? Go up to them and just stick out heads in their mouths, time it to see how long till they bite? Yes, we’re being safe.”

Honestly, you pass out and nearly die in the desert one time, and the gym leader seems to decide it’s his personal responsibility to make sure you get out of every difficult region now. 

Arven was quiet, nodding on the phone, “Mmhm… mhm… hey, Aceto,” Arven said, “Kaito wants any info we have on Hydreigon pokemon, anything that hasn’t gotten into the pokedex yet. Apparently he had a scare with one yesterday. We have any notes on those?”

Arven paused, listening to the phone, “Also, Kaito says hi.”

Doppio snickered softly, though he had a fond look on his face the whole time. He took Arven’s fears and concerns seriously and had stepped up to shoo the curious clown pokemon away while they worked but…he did find it a little funny. That he was dating a guy terrified of clowns when Doppio’s parents worked at a circus. It was even more baffling the reverant respect Arven had for Kokichi--or Leggero Fortuna, as he was more widely known--when, arguably, the gym leader was the most clown-y person in the whole circus. 

Quieting his laughs as it was Arven’s turn to take a call, Doppio raised an eyebrow curiously before sighing, turning to take stock of the Pyroar pride while Arven was distracted. (Geez. Even in a dream he thought of Kaito being overbearing.)

Humming softly as Indeedee softly tapped his shoulder, pointing out some behavior that he’d noticed, Doppio dutifully took down notes before Arven called his name again. And…of everything Kaito could ask, that was a…strange one. 

Raising his eyebrows, Doppio closed his current tab and looked through their organization system for Hydreigon. “He ran into a Hydreigon? In the desert? That’s…rare if nothing else…”

“...I say hi back,” Doppio sighed.

Getting to the right page, Doppio quickly read through their notes. “Um… They don’t tend to be as immediately friendly as the median of pokemon, though they’re way more friendly than wild Buneary. Despite that, though, they’re pretty destructive, but not just towards anything in the vicinity. Further research is needed, but considering Hydreigon usually target things that move, there have been some theories about the kind of eyesight it has. Um… They tend to spend time high up in the sky, and will start attacks by dive-bombing and ambushing a target, then each of its heads will take turns attacking until the target is defeated. They’ve shown quite a bit of wariness, or even fear towards Noivern at night, though, and won’t pick those fights.”

“...that’s about it for behavioral stuff,” Doppio hummed, before looking up in concern. “Is everyone okay?”

Arven had pointed the phone at Doppio for all of that, taking it back to his ear, “You get all of that? Yes, he said hi, did you get all of the–okay, yeah.”

Arven paused, listening for a bit, frowning, before saying to Doppio, “Apparently Kaito caught one attacking a kid. A new trainer. But, get this, it wasn’t wild. He wanted to see if they had a history of getting out of control, even if fully trained. Anyway, Kaito–yeah? No, yeah, if it’s not wild, unfortunately there’s not a lot we can tell you. You’d want to talk to someone who’s bred or trained them. Have you tried searching for trainers on the web… okay, you seriously need to update your cities internet connection towers then, you should at least be able to open search engines…”

Arven sighed, thumping the phone against his forehead a bit, before looking entirely defeated, he said, “Yes, fine, I’ll look it up for you, okay? Yes… yes, I just said I would? Stop trying to convince me, yes, fine, I will look into it. I’ll text you– no, I will text you. Because we’re nowhere near your area, that’s why. Okay. Okay. Yeah, sure, I’ll send you the pics, they’re cute. Alright, bye… no… okay… bye.”

Arven sighed, turning off the phone. “I swear, it’s like all of the sudden I have a weird uncle. Kaito wanted me to tell you that he knows I’m joking but to not actually put your head in their mouths, by the way.”

Doppio’s eyebrows knit at what the ‘scary situation’ actually was. It wasn’t even strange to hear about pokemon attacking people, especially trainers. Scary, sure, but that was why little kids who didn’t have their own pokemon couldn’t travel on their own. It was just a fact of being out in abundant nature--it was inevitable you’d walk into a pokemon’s territory, or startle them, or look like just the right kind of strong opponent to test strength against. 

But a pokemon that wasn’t wild? Doppio knew that Kaito was actually more of an expert on that topic than he or Arven would ever be, the legal agreements of what being a wild pokemon was, or joining up with a trainer, and what sort of responsibilities that meant. And…at least vaguely, Doppio knew that Hydreigon were notoriously difficult to raise, and rare to find in the wild, so if a trainer had a Hydreigon, that meant they definitely had raised it so…for it to attack a new trainer to the point Kaito felt the need to check with them about it? Sure, that wasn’t the highest bar, but…

Doppio sighed, giving Indeedee a grateful look as his partner gently held his hand, patting it to try and soothe his worries. 

“I think that new trainer he found suddenly has a new weird uncle too,” Doppio mused, half-smiling, before rolling his eyes. “Gosh… It’s like he forgets we’re professionals.” The smile soon faded as he gave their group a concerned look. “...that’s…bad if there’s a trainer’s Hydreigon out there, attacking trainers. Knowing Kaito, he’s already put a watch out there for it, but…any trainers going to Grand Pan for the gym should be careful.”

“Oh, undoubtedly. He fussed at us for, what was it, two weeks? Before we convinced him we were healthy enough to walk back out of the desert? And here I would have thought a desert leader would have been hardcore, like, the badass, do or die type. Throwing kids in the desert, whoever comes back gets to stay in the city? But nope. He’s the only guy on the continent who isn’t aware kids start taking care of themselves at 10.” Arven said, rolling his eyes again. “The new kid doesn’t stand a chance.”

“And yeah, I’m sure he’s taking care of it. I bet it won’t even be the last time we hear about it, I bet it becomes a rumor by the time we get to the next town. Alright… let me do some quick searching online for him. Though, tell me if the cubs start battling each other with abilities, I have to see it.” Arven said, sitting down and tapping through his phone, “Alright, trainers that specialize in Hydreigon…”

Doppio sighed, tilting his head and squishing his cheek against Indeedee’s horn a bit. Their time in Grand Pan had been…something. Though he did understand Kaito’s attitude. They’d seen for themselves how small the community there had been, and with limited people in an environment that’d chew you up and spit you out if you gave it half a chance, it made it that much more important to look after each other. And for the guy who was the head of the company whose basis was looking after people…Doppio wasn’t that surprised. 

Unhappy, but unsurprised. He’d even caved and took the scolding from his own parents, just to get them on the line to tell Kaito that he couldn’t keep him and Arven in Grand Pan forever. It had been embarrassing to meet up with Papà when they were barely an hour out of the city when they finally left, out of one fussing person’s hands and into another, but…well, Doppio was happy to see his dad. It was the one part of traveling he did think he struggled with, though being with Arven helped a lot. 

Doppio hoped that kid’s parents were prepared to negotiate for their kid’s release. 

“On it,” Doppio hummed, picking up his binoculars again. “...aw, they’re still just wrestling, but one of the male Pyroar have joined in. He’s getting destroyed by the cubs.”

“Heh,” Arven laughed lightly, glancing up to squint over at the pack, before looking down at his phone. Hmmm… off continent. Only raised in a lab environment, no, no… the kid who almost deviated the elite four maybe… oh, no, she’d be perfect. 

Texting Katsuki’s information to Kaito, Arven waited a moment, before Kaito sent him back a gif of a cute girl squeeing. Kaito both loved gifs and didn’t entirely know how to use them. He just liked attractive animated people dancing around more than anything. That and cute animals acting like people.

It was a weird relationship, but Arven found himself oddly fond of the old freak. He sent a quick thumbs up back, before pocketing his phone. “Alright, let me see if I can get a good shot of that.” He said, picking up his camera again, laying down and focusing. 

Mabossiff, seeing his boy laying down, decided now was as good a time for a nap as any, and laid himself out on Arven’s back. “Oof.” Arven oof’d.”Mabossif, you’re heavy.”

It was really sweet… There was enough anecdotal evidence that it had never been a huge surprise to people, but it was rare to see parental relationships like this in wild pokemon. There were so many species that tended to be more solitary, at least when it came to their own species, and with the wide event of, what their best guess was pokemon leaving eggs in people’s belongings to be raised by people, it was hard to really see what community looked like to a pokemon. But little by little…there was still enough to capture. 

Laughing quietly at Mabosstiff’s idea of community, Doppio reached over to give the dog pokemon some good scratches behind his ears. “Nap time, huh, big guy? Well, Arven is a wonderful pillow.”

“Don’t encourage him, he’s going to think I’ll keep laying here just to let him sleep,” Arven pouted, adjusting the camera, taking a few more pictures, “You have until I’m done with this pack, old man.”

Mabosstiff shifted onto his side, tail wagging as he enjoyed being pets.

Arven liked his life. His parents were… distant, sure, but Arven didn’t have strong feelings about either of them. They existed and he saw them sometimes and it was enough to know they were out there and loved him. 

But more than anything, he loved traveling with Doppio. Going around and watching pokemon in their natural habitats, updating the pokedex, him and Doppio out in the world. He knew Doppio was making a bit of a sacrifice, that his boyfriend missed his family when they were both out too long. But for Arven? Doppio and Mabosstiff were all he really needed. Everything else was just… nice.

(Arven couldn’t contemplate what having a real family was like. He honestly couldn’t even really imagine it. A lifetime of growing up alone in a quiet house full of ancient dead peoples things had filled Arven with longing that he didn’t understand how to fulfill. Doppio, Chief, and surprisingly Kaito, so far had been the closest he had ever managed. He literally couldn’t imagine more.)

Doppio smirked a little and went back to his notes, conferring over them with Indeedee. As if Arven didn’t regularly take extra photos just to give Mabosstiff an extra minute. Though Doppio was no better, really. If it weren’t for Arven and Indeedee keeping them on track, Doppio could happily lay under Mabosstiff for an eternity.

(...maybe he was missing Chief, alright?)

Continuing their survey, Doppio gasped softly in delight, handing Indeedee the binoculars so he could get a good look. “Look, I think that cub is trying to use Ember!”

Arven’s head shot up, widening his vision to spot what Doppio saw, before he went back to the camera, adjust its view to find it. “Oh, wow! Wow! Oh, that’s one of the smaller ones too. It’s mane has grown in a bit, maybe the mane doesn’t need to be fully grown before they can start tapping into the fire?”

Arven took photos as he theorized, refocusing over and over as the cub tried to roar a bit of flame. One attempts. Another… flame!! 

“I got it!” Arven said excitedly, “I got the picture!”

“It…might make sense that the mane might be, like…excess power? Like heat and flame already build up in the Litleo, but it’s containable, until they grow and it grows, then the mane shows the difference in that power?” Doppio tapped away, taking note of their theories, before--

“Aw, yes! Bravo, leonetto!” he quietly cheered, before giving Arven an excited look. “I can’t wait to see how it came out! You should definitely send that one to Kaito, and I bet your mom would appreciate it too. It’s always so hard getting fire on camera.”

Arven laughed, double checking the digital, ensuring he really did get the flame, before proudly showing it to Doppio, “I will, they’ll love it. Wow…” Arven’s smiled widened, looking over the photo, “Wow.”

-

“GERARD!”

Fiora’s voice already tended to be loud, but in the gym that looked more like a half-submerged cavern than a river-rapids course at a theme park at the moment, her voice echoed through the building. There was something of a physical challenge to the gym, having to pick your way through different streams to find the right way to the leader, dead ends facing you with testing gym trainer battles, and Fiora actually thought that part was rather fun. And fitting with the gym theme. 

However, even for a gym trainer, navigating the rapids in the dark was an entirely different challenge. They hadn’t neglected their electricity bills, Fiora knew. If anything, between Eden, Gerard, and herself, all their paperwork was immaculate. So that dearly begged the question, why were the lights out? 

“GERARD VESTRA, I HAVE WORDS FOR YOU! MEET ME POSTHASTE!”

Hopping between the elevated boardwalk planks, Fiora followed Polteageist’s slightly glowing ghost orbs, the only source of light she could see on the whole level. 

“How your screeching hasn’t deafened your own ears is, and will always be, utterly baffling to me.” Gerard scowled, sitting at the edge of a beautifully decorated round pool island. At least, it’d be decorated beautifully in the light, admittedly. It was mostly just bumpy oval tiles in the dark, as Gerard let his legs and feet soak in the water. “And why should I meet you? Come find me, if you want words with me so badly, woman.”

Gerard could see Fiora’s walk around the pathways easily enough, her pokemon showing her off like a lantern. But he knew he and Umbreon were a bit trickier to spot in the inky black.

“Because I’m looking for you, you impossible--UGH!” Fiora threw her hands up in frustration for a moment before continuing to stomp along after Polteageist. Though, at least Gerard was actually responding to her, and if he was so much a simpering coward not to meet her face…

“We need to confer with Eden about the gym design choices,” she started, trying to keep an eye out for any sinisterly glowing eyes in the dark. “I am willing to concede that my aesthetic choices are not for everyone, but dead-drop waterfalls are enough of a safety concern regularly. I have no issue helping trainers onto the next path, but Sirfetch’d should not be presented with having to escort every single one!”

“That is the day-to-day. It is something I was going to bring up with both of you during our next meeting.” Fiora took a steadying breath. It didn’t work. “But in case you have suddenly embraced your nature and became a Noivern overnight, it is pitch black in here! Did our breakers trip?!”

“Have you heard about the rocks at the top of Grand Pan city? The underground one?” Gerard said, petting Umbreon’s head a little, “The stones at the top of the cavern are imbued by moonbeams. It takes some concentration and dedication, apparently, to store enough moon energy to make the stones light, but it’s apparently easier to focus the light in the… ah, there we go.”

Umbreon howled, a high pitched yipping sound. And the ceiling, at least around the area where the gym badge battle was meant to occur, started to glow a soft, gray-ish yellow. The ceiling dotted with little moons, that reflected and shimmered on the water’s surface below. 

Gerard smirked, entirely smug as he looked at Fiora, who was clearer in the still dim moonlight. “Well? Think I could convince Eden of its merits?”

More than hearing about them, Fiora had seen the Clefables’ moonstones in Grand Pan--a fact she was fairly sure Gerard knew. The Fairy Gym hadn’t been established yet when either of them had done their first runs of the circuit, but it hadn’t been that long after that it had at least opened. And in her attempts to train to finally get further in the challenge than Eden, Fiora had gone past the usual eight badges and had challenged the Fairy Gym. 

Her focus at the time aside…Grand Pan was certainly a marvel of a sight, and not least because of the gemstones in the ceiling. 

An effect that was…a mediocre imitation done here. Though not without its own merit. 

Turning to make her way over to Gerard, now that he and Umbreon had revealed themselves, Fiora took in the gently glowing spotlight…and crossed her arms with a small smile. “You know you could, there is no need for false modesty.”

“However, plunging the rest of the gym into darkness for this effect, however romantic, is a major safety hazard. Not to mention a bit disparate towards the water-theming.” Finally joining him on the battle platform, Fiora looked down on Gerard with a frown. “...which would be far less of an issue if you officially took over the leadership role, Gerard. Remind me of the last time Eden even battled a challenger?”

“She’s been busy,” Gerard said, refusing to pout openly about the fact that, yes, the glowing stones weren’t entirely practical here… or even long lasting. Already they were fading a bit. Gerard figured they probably only had maybe twenty minutes of light, really. Umbreon was good, but she wasn’t ‘equivalent of a lifetime community of Clefairy’ good. “As her most trusted gym trainer, it’s my job and privilege to fill in, for as long as she needs.”

“...though, admittedly,” Gerard frowned, looking ahead, the distant marble statue of Eden half submerged in the darkness, “I did think I wouldn’t get this privilege for… so long. And it’s not that I don’t think this would make an excellent dark gym, it very clearly would.” He gestured to, indeed, all that darkness. “...but it would be unkind of me, to suggest to Eden I take her gym. I am her friend, not just her most capable and effective trainer.”

Fiora sighed, running her fingers lightly through her bangs before, with the last bit of light left other than Polteageist (who was determinedly trying to offer a lid-full of tea to Umbreon, ever the delightful host), she slipped into the pool by Gerard’s side, crossing her arms on the platform. It had taken some adjusting to get used to wearing swimwear during all work hours, but there was something fun about slipping into the water without issue whenever she wanted. 

“I know she is busy. And I do not mean this disrespectfully--a leader is not shackled to their gym, and to propose that it be Eden’s sole dedication in life is absurd, when there is so much more she is working for,” Fiora said softly, “But it does need to be a priority.”

“She is barely ever here, Gerard. I believe in her dream of changing the League and what a pokemon gym can even look like as well, but for the duties we all must attend to in the present?” Fiora sighed. “I do not think it would be an unkindness, to open up about what this reality truly looks like. Perhaps it would even open up more opportunities for the two of you, to commit to a new dynamic. It would be more honest to others as well.”

“What new dynamic could I possibly hope for?” Gerard asked, giving Fiora a somewhat dry look. “Please don’t tell me someone’s sold you on the idea that I’m infatuated with Eden. I’m…” Gerard stared down at Fiora for a moment, before looking away, scoffing, “not. I respect her dearly. It’s not a romantic feeling.”

Fiora smiled softly, sheepish at the faux pas. “No one has been whispering in my ears, I assure you, and I of all people would not be swayed by vapid gossip encircling your and Eden’s love life. While I would be rather hurt to find out you two have been dating for all the years we’ve known each other and I never knew, I know that is not the case.”

Propping her chin up with a hand as she treaded water, Fiora clarified, “I mean…” She sighed. “If you were to officially become the gym leader, no longer continually making excuses to challengers about Eden’s absence, if she no longer tried to spread herself into multiple positions… My personal biases towards your battle style aside, I believe your skills could flourish if you dedicated yourself towards leadership, and Eden could aim her focus more fully onto the League. Truly setting your efforts onto the paths you want, and not the ones you have been bound by.”

Fiora paused for a moment, glancing up at the slight silhouette of Gerard she could barely see in Polteageist’s glow. “...I would still be proud to be a trainer of this gym, whether it is run by you or Eden. We all want to make this place something special, and truly challenge those who walk past its doors. That dream does not die within me should you officially be at the helm.”

Gerard had difficulty with soft expressions. Even if he hadn’t been a severe sort of personality, his face would always present him as a severe sort of person. Hard lines in the cheeks and sunken eyes refusing long bouts of playfulness or warmth in him, purely by design.

But, for how little he could express it well, his expression did soften. To the point of mild embarrassment, Gerard looking away in a moment of fluster. “You have an elegance in speech that I do envy, at times,” he admitted.

“...it’s not a decision I can make alone,” Gerard sighed, “I’d have to speak to Eden. I’d hate for her to think it was some sort of… condemnation on her.”

Fiora laughed softly. “It still does unnerve me to hear any sort of compliment from you…but regardless, thank you. For any envy, though, you are capable of such silver words yourself; it’s not a skill that remains out of reach on a basis of luck.” Maybe she couldn’t exactly speak on the difficulties of eloquence, since there was little Fiora ever found exceptionally difficult, but it really wasn’t natural talent. That wasn’t something she had either. 

Though, admittedly, growing up in an incredibly formal household might have something to do with it. 

“Of course,” Fiora nodded, kicking her legs lightly under the water. “I was not implying that you should instate a take-over. But we both know that for all her stubbornness, Eden is not the sort to be taken over by ego and pride, and…it is you, Gerard. You do not want to condemn her, so she will see that intent in you, I know it. Who better to have an honest conversation with, than a dearest friend?”

“Mmm, perhaps,” Gerard agreed, “...or, perhaps, her second closest friend should bring it up.” 

Gerard hummed, like he was deeply considering it, before snapping his finger in an ‘aha’ moment. “Yes, that would be much more efficient. Excellent, Fiora, I will expect an update on the situation post-haste. There’s a good second to the second in command,” Gerard praised, reaching over to pat Fiora’s hand, “You will do well, I am certain.”

Fiora gave Gerard a dry look. “If I were not so frightfully aware of how close you teeter towards scoliosis every time I see you, I would question where last you left your spine.”

But naturally she’d do well. She did like to think of herself and Gerard more as…partners, twin jewels of Eden’s will, though their strengths gave them separate duties. And Fiora would never shirk her own. 

“Turn the lights back on, Gerard, and I will go locate Eden. Perhaps I will be able to coax her away from work with a well-deserved afternoon tea break.” Shaking her head a little at him, Fiora called for Polteageist and started swimming away, trusting herself more in navigating the waterways within them while the lights were still out. 

Gerard smiled, watching Fiora’s silhouette swim away in the darkness. Lovely… before he got up, looking around.

“...how am I supposed to find anything, it’s pitch black in here,” Gerard muttered. Shuffling his way back to the light switches. 

-

It had all been, at the end of the day, very silly. 

At least, that was Maki’s opinion. The teenagers were still treating her like she was the most hardcore thing they had ever seen, after she had not only, one after another, beaten all of them in pokemon battles, but then in a sudden fit of out of control bloodrage from the tall teen, promptly beaten the shit out of Gamzee too when he had literally run into the pokemon battle himself to defend his (poorly trained) pokemon himself. 

Gamzee had left that situation with a black eye, a broken arm, and Maki’s open fascination with him. Strong-arming him to come to the dojo to learn to train pokemon properly. He was also probably going to end up on some medication, but the therapist Ava had highly advocated for with him would need more time to decide what exactly he was self-medicating on drugs and alcohol to control.

It was maybe the best thing that could have happened for him. And the teens, seeing their most hopeless friend improving, were more willing to take guidance from the local gym leader, settling into the town.

Cali’s ankle had needed a brace, but with painkillers she was already improving, and would likely be fine within another few days. Now that they weren’t both pseudo following the teens while also pseudo leading them, the kids were more relaxed, running wild in the town, until Maki had sat the three down and, after testing their resolve with pokemon, essentially demanded all three of them think about becoming trainers too. 

“I have to think about the future of my gym,” Maki said, glaring down at the three kids, “None of the kids currently in the orphanage have the temperament for professional pokemon training. You three? You take to hard work like it's a given. You don’t hesitate. You listen. I can train that.”

“Don’t we have to have a bunch of gym badges before you’re allowed to become a trainer at a gym?” Tim asked, feeling much more comfortable around Maki now that the teens weren’t constantly talking in his ear. He liked her, honestly. She was intense, but it was in a reassuring way, “We don’t have anything like that.”

“Right,” Maki said, crossing her arms, “Go get some.”

-

The upside, and the fact that Mike kept repeating in his head when his impatience started to flare, was that it took far less than two weeks. If Rotom hadn’t piped up and they hadn’t joined Maki out into the woods and hadn’t come up with a plan to get all the kids into town, it would’ve taken at minimum two weeks, then however long Maki would’ve spent trying to convince the kids on her own. For the options available, things were moving at the most optimum pace. 

But it still took fucking for-ev-er.

Sure, Mike took that time to raid the local library and landmarks more, but battling all those kids without putting her pokemon in danger of fatigue (not that any of the fights were particularly challenging, that Mike saw), plus helping that kid with the substance abuse issues (Mike had been…very quiet during all of that) then settling matters with the three that were moderately less idiotic took aaaaages, and by the time Maki was ready to battle a legitimate challenger?

He’d learned enough from her to know she would neither be looking for or impressed with a good battle, but if anything, Mike didn’t want to be boring. Stacking up Double Teams, on top of his ghost-typing nullification, would’ve made for an infuriating battle if Maki was going to take it to a knock out. As it was, Rotom didn’t take any damage at all. 

And, with a smug smirk and a shiny new badge in hand, Mike headed down the dojo ramp, briefly looking over the footage Ava had taken. “Told you you’d pick it up quickly. This looks perfect, Ava, thanks.”

Still scrolling through, he asked, “Do you want to spend another night here and set out in the morning, or think we could get out today?”

“Thank you. Admittedly, I did worry it’d be harder to follow the ‘action’, as it were, but you all didn’t actually move that much. Though, watch this upcoming bit, hold on, it’s a bit funny…” 

Hitmontop, in the middle of one of his spins that was, again, not going to land, in the middle of the spin shifted his arm a bit. And if you rewound a few times and let your eyes adjust? It was very clear he had flipped Rotom off at some point in the spin. Frustrated none of his hits were landing.

Ava giggled when she saw Mike had picked up on what she was talking about, “You saw it? I thought it was a bit cute. And I say we could leave to…day?”

Timothy, Cali, and Kimiko had cut off their path. Cali pounding her hand into her fist, Kimiko smiling, and Tim standing center, Yamper panting happily at his feet as Tim said, “So you got a badge, huh…”

“He did, yes,” Ava smiled, “We were just debating if we were leaving today or tomorrow. I’ve heard you three are traveling too. Interesting, for Maki to worry about you living in the woods and then sending you immediately out, but I suppose going from town to town is still safer than trying to live in nature permanently.”

“I suppose so, yeah,” Tim said, before looking sternly at Mike. “...I want to battle you.”

Mike raised an eyebrow, wondering what could’ve happened… To be honest, there wasn’t a lot of on-going or adjustable strategy from that fight--he and Maki had more or less been on the same page, and like how she said all her gym battles turned out to be, it was more of a formality. So what would--

“Srrrrk!” Mike snorted, laughing along with Ava. “That’s awesome. Makes me almost wish we got to see more from Hitmontop, if he’s got a sense of humor like that. Pff, something tells me that’s not exactly ‘professionality on the job.”

Mike was in good humor, ears perked in enjoyment, but it was only Ava’s voice trailing off that got him to look up from his phone, seeing, just as when they got into town, a barrier of children blocking them from going out. His smile fading, Mike took in the posse wall…before raising his eyebrows a little in interest. 

(...Tim actually wanted to battle him?)

“Sure,” Mike shrugged, starting to walk again, heading more to the side of the gym. “You good, Rotom?” 

Popping out from Mike’s phone, Rotom danced around, performing several twirls in Tim and Yamper’s direction. 

“Yamper,” Tim said, looking down at his pokemon, who barked cheerfully, “It’s all you.”

Yamper yipped a bit, before scurrying ahead of Tim a bit. Sticking out her tongue and growling, trying to look intimidating… before getting distracted, noticing her tail and starting to yip at that, spinning in circles to chase it. 

“Focus, Yamper! The enemy is in front of you!” Cali shouted.

“You’ve got this Yamper! You and Tim are gonna kill them dead~” Kimiko assured them.

“Uh, we’re not going to kill anyone,” Tim said. “I just want to see how I compare to the kid who just beat Maki, when none of our friends could. You must be impressive,” Tim said, looking back to Mike. Appraising him.

Getting a good feeling, Mike entrusted his phone to Ava once again, taking his place with a smirk as Rotom floated into the ‘arena’, giving Yamper an excited wave. It hadn’t gotten a lot of time, but Rotom still had curiously gone up to the other electric types, Yamper, Minun, and Plusle, while the gauntlet of other battles had been going on. Very cool bunch. Good charges. 

Looking back at Tim cooly, Mike smirked. “If that’s the conclusion you’ve drawn. Though I’ll remind you that when we asked, the only person Kimiko and Cali said was a trainer was you.” 

The both of them ready, Mike knew it was predictable at this point…but not to Tim, unless he’d been watching the gym battle. “Rotom, Astonish!”

-

While being fair to Maki, considering her very different purpose in the battle, the battle against Tim was significantly more difficult. Mike didn’t have one of the best type-advantages you could have, for one, and while neither of their pokemon had Volt Absorb, electricity versus electricity was still a battle of attrition. With a bit more flavor, though. 

With the electric moves being little but chip fodder, it became more of a game of Rotom stacking up Double Teams, like in the gym battle, and hoping to whittle down Yamper with Thunder Shocks before Yamper could get off enough Tail Whips and super effective Bites to take Rotom down in one (or few) blows. 

…to be honest? With the type advantage, if Tim had focused on just using Bite without setting up the Tail Whips, Mike…might’ve lost. 

But as it was?

Mike grinned across the ‘arena’, crossing his arms and lifting a hoof back. “Looks like you really didn’t kill anyone.” Then…in a more odd look, more hesitance in how Mike leaned back a little, his smile reading more ‘shy’ than ‘cocky’... “...good battle.”

“Nngh. Gah!” Tim gasped, before–somewhat dramatically–collapsing down onto one knee, like he himself had been beaten badly in the lost battle, while Kimiko and Cali both gasped in shock at this result… before Tim opened up his arms, encouraging a considerably more bruised and dazed Yamper to come scampering right back into his hold. “There, there. You did your best, girl.”

Standing back up, holding Yamper, Tim sighed, petting her back a little… before nodding. “Good game. Shoot, I feel like maybe if I had stopped trying to be fancy with it and just focused on simple attacks… Well, at least I know where I’m at now, skill-wise. I can work with this.” 

Looking determinedly at Mike, Tim said, “Next time our paths cross? I’m going to be good enough to beat you. Don’t count me out just yet, Mike.”

“Are you planning to aim directly for the next town’s gym?” Ava asked with a small smile.

“Uh… yes,” Tim admitted.

“Then we’ll get a chance to battle again sooner than you think. And don’t forget you don’t have to challenge us to a battle to hang out with us,” Ava reminded him gently, Tim looking away with a somewhat embarrassed shuffle. “We’ll see you three in the next town. Be sure to train well!” Then she leaned into Mike and whispered, “Wish your new friend well, Mike.”

While he was still awkward in front of the other kids, Mike’s smile did soften as Rotom (moving slower, the visible electrical current around the sprite jolting out more unpredictably) floated back to him, and Mike put out a hand for Rotom to comfortably rest above. “Good job, Rotom. You’re on a roll today, huh? Feels good…”

They had gotten some treats for the road before heading out--with the gym challenge winnings, it was easily doable. So after snack time, Rotom could take a well-deserved rest in…well, wherever it wanted. Mike’s phone or his jacket or wherever. 

Feeling excited, hearing Tim pick up on the exact mistakes Mike had been worried about, he met his determined look with an expectant one, giving a nod. “Wasn’t planning on it. It’s no fun if you give up after one try.”

Ava brought a little more reality to their parting, though, and Mike gave her a slightly affronted look at the whisper, his face heating up--also at the whisper--before he abruptly looked away, pulling the brim of his hat down a bit. “Yeah, see you three. Don’t make us wait up for you; I’m gonna fuckin’ blow if somehow the next gym leader has a multi-day delay for personal responsibilities.”

“...bye,” he awkwardly finished, starting to walk away…though slower than the last time he’d stomped off, keeping in mind Ava’s complaints. 

“Oh, uh, bye,” Tim said, watching Mike go… before calling out, “Hey. Did you ever figure out how to hold the med flashlight?”

It was instinct to blush more and gripe about how he could hold it fine, but…

Mike stopped, looking back at Tim in confusion. “...med flashlight? What about it is…medical?”

(...weirdly enough, he was asking it as a legitimate question. Something pinging, however faintly, in his mind to not just brush it off entirely.)

Tim frowned, scratching his chin a little as he looked down at his feet. “...um… its square shape. I realized it later, that’s a military design. They’re meant to be held in square pouches. And the way the light’s fashioned, like, those little weird squares on the edge of the lightbulb itself? That means it flashes, turns brighter, dims. Um… don’t they do that to dilate eyes?”

Tim frowned, looking uncertainly around the dirt… before flushing, shaking his head. “I don’t know, it’s just stupid movies I used to watch when I was little. The medics would carry around stuff that looks a little like your flashlight. Though yours is just weird. Came to mind, is all.” 

Mike had dismissed it as a military design when Tim had brought it up before, but…if it was that shape for a specific pouch… And…flashing to dilate eyes… Well, the light certainly didn’t have the lumens to actually be an outlawed weapon (and if Mike did have an illegal weapon, he’d want something cooler than a fucking flashlight), but…you could still do some funky stuff with a person’s brain with flashing lights…

A pensive, thoughtful expression crossed over Mike’s face at that thought. 

“Hm, guess I need to get a pouch for it,” Mike drawled, before giving Tim a nod. “Thanks for the heads up.”

Ava and Mike passed the trio down the road, who, needing to heal Yamper, went back towards the town they were all trying to walk out of. Because of that, they’d be hours behind Ava and Mike. Mike, for this moment, getting the lead.

“Hmmm, that was interesting,” Ava said, looking over her shoulder at the disappearing trio, before smirking lightly at Mike, “...are you familiar at all with the beliefs of the Atuan religion? There’s a bit about one of their concepts of ‘relationships’ that’s come to mind to me, for no particular reason.”

She paused, before drawling, “Noooone at allll.”

Hearing Rotom munching in his hood (Mike internally sighed, hoping he wouldn’t flip it up only to get covered in crumbs), Mike sent Ava a dirty look. He…wasn’t familiar with Atua, but instead of saying that, he just snapped, “I’m not looking to bang Tim just because we had a good battle.”

“You are mostly not going to bang Timothy because you’re roughly three years before the thought will seriously occur to you, on average of when people first start experiencing what one would call traditional ‘lust’ rather than simple puberty,” Ava said, before smirking slightly, “After those three years, all bets are off, but I’m not going to assume to know what your type will be that long from now.”

“But, no, what I meant to say was that one aspect of relationships that I’ve always found a bit fascinating from the Atuan perspective, was a relationship based around aggression,” Ava said, “Some people claim it to be a relationship of enemies, or hatred, but I think how I interpreted it–when at some point the girl I was was apparently fascinated with thinking about relationships, if even half of the random trivia I seem to know about them has any merit– is that it's a relationship based around the idea of getting stronger and better and more capable, all in the pursuit of impressing one specific person who is attempting to be the best in the same pursuit. A relationship based on rivalry, so to speak. At least, that was the only version of that relationship I could entirely endorse as ‘healthy’.”

“That said,” Ava said primly, placing her hands together for a moment, “...oooooh, someone has a riiiivaaaaaal.”

Aaaaaand, in the interest of saving face in one aspect, he’d entirely fallen into a much more embarrassing one. Withering on four hooves, Mike burned and only just resisted the urge to cover his ears. Ugh.

Though…he did listen to what she had to say, and could only give her a huffy, melted look before he faced the road again. “...I want to get better than everyone, not just Tim,” Mike started out protesting. “And not even at battling, though, for that? He’s not a bad opponent. Maybe it’s a rivalry, whatever, but if it works out that we can both keep testing our progress against each other, there’s no point in, like…avoiding each other if we’re going to head to all the same towns.”

“...speaking of,” Mike grumbled, just trying to ramble past that. Bringing out his phone, he brought up his map, leaning towards Ava so she could see the screen as well. “We should probably head towards Bianco Hills, for the Steel Gym. It’s not the closest gym, but it’s easier to get to the city from this direction, and battling against steel’s defense at higher skill levels is a pain.”

He sighed softly. “...still. Even if I did find an oven Rotom’s compatible with…Maki does have a point I should start building a team for Rotom to rely on and support. Not having to put everything on it does open up a lot of strategies for us…” While it was a direction Mike was facing, there was still tasty trepidation coming off him in waves.

God, Ava was hungry.

It wasn’t a real hunger though. She knew that. She knew that both physically, because they had just eaten breakfast and it had been perfectly filling, but it also… wasn’t a real hunger. Because…

(Not a lot of time had actually passed.)

But the hunger, even not real, and even not real, was still… there. Like a craving that suggested hunger in the back of Ava’s mind. Like something in her was starting to drool in need. 

(Because even if physically she was perfectly fine, asleep in her bed, having fed entirely well that day… in her mind, she was sure so much time had passed. In a strange way, both only a few days and a lifetime had already passed. And this lifetime was spent in a beautiful, lovely, barren wasteland. With only the smallest suggestions of food put in front of her.)

(A demon could not truly survive in a paradise.)

(It went against what sustained them.)

She’d probably ask if they could stop and eat some of their rations soon, if food was already on her mind. “You don’t sound all that enthused on the idea,” Ava noted, “I suppose new pokemon are a big responsibility, and you don’t actually wish to be a long-term trainer. Are you nervous about getting more pokemon?”

“I’m not nervous,” Mike said quickly, glaring at the road. “Yeah, they’re a big responsibility, but even complete normies can take care of two or three pokemon just fine. While it’d be cool if Rotom and I could take on all the gyms we need, just the two of us, it just becomes more of a dick-measuring contest at that point, pointless bravado, than any actual effective procedure. Making a bigger team is all part of it.”

“I just…” Mike swallowed, his mouth suddenly feeling dry. His voice fading before he flared his nose a little. “Whatever. Don’t worry about it.”

“Ah, the most reassuring four words a person can possibly put together,” Ava said lightly, “Don’t worry about it. Is there truly a phrase more ineffective at what it’s attempting to convey?”

She paused, before sighing, “You don’t have to tell me what’s bothering you. But I more than want to hear about it. I’d actually quite like it if you’d want to tell me if something’s upset you. It would make me happy, to be someone you could rely on.”

“It’s been pretty good in my experience,” Mike grumbled, glaring at the ground. “It gives people the out they’re looking for from performative concern, to just…leave. Hey, they asked and were told to not worry about it. Nothing else to do.”

Mike let out a harsh rush of air. Partly because… 

Look, Ava was nice. She really was kind, in the way she often said, and she took the time to truly listen to the things people said, and more astoundingly, the things they meant. She extended a type of continuous understanding that Mike found baffling, and even more because it in no way made her a doormat. And she was all those things even to him, and…he kind of did want to tell her. 

But unfortunately, that spark of want just made him snap, “Nothing’s bothering me, and I’m not upset. I don’t need to emotionally rely on anyone.”

(Even before the words were out of his mouth, he could see the trap he’d fallen into. An idiotic pitfall, just like those dumbass teenagers.)

Oooh. That eased the itch a little.

Licking the roof of her mouth a little, Ava glanced over at Mike, considering the issue. Hmm, that likely led into why he was reluctant to get a ‘team’ in the first place, at least. But, Mike was the volatile sort. And while pushing more would be more delicious… he was her friend, and what he probably actually needed was a few minutes for the anger to edge off. A small break.

So Ava said, “I understand,” and then was silent for one minute.

Two minutes… three…

Three and a half…

Mike hunched down a bit, Ava’s genuine understanding burning more than any condescending remark. He quickly glanced back at the snoozing Rotom in his hood before sighing. 

“...Maki constructs her gym challenge for the sole goal of making sure trainers are treating their pokemon well,” he said tersely. “...and you said before that the way I treat Rotom is telling, in a good way.”

Mike looked down more, something…not quite defeated softening the tension in his body, but dashes of insecurity doing the same. His voice softened, as he asked, “...do you still think that?”

“I do,” Ava said immediately, not a moment of hesitation, “But with that said, why do you feel like I wouldn’t? I’ve never seen you treat Rotom with anything less than open adoration. It sleeps in your clothes and eats in your hand and delights in your every word and piece of attention. Perhaps you do have a temper towards others. But to your Rotom? I’ve never seen you do anything that would make me so much as raise an eyebrow, let alone feel actual concern.”

Ava glanced over at Mike, her red eyes boring into him, as she said, “I don’t believe you treat it worse when I’m not watching. So why the question?”

While sometimes such observations would make Mike glow with pride, or sneer with superiority, he just…wilted. Glancing back at the pokemon sleeping in his clothes again. It wasn’t something he obsessed over, sure, it didn’t keep him up at night, but…he did hope Rotom was happy. 

Instead of answering clearly, Mike asked, “...do you remember when Maki asked me to fight Hitmontop, and I explained the ways other people and the law treat fights between people and pokemon? How…if a person hurts a pokemon, it’s assault?”

“I do, yes. That fight was… well, a bit upsetting, really. I didn’t enjoy watching you be so aggravated,” Ava admitted, “I found myself wishing Maki would have been a bit more understanding with you. Her ‘test’ seemed to deeply hurt you.”

Mike gave a little grunt of a growl, crossing his arms to bring his hoodie more around himself. “I wasn’t hurt. It was so…nothing.” Then, he let out a little breath. “...if I had fought Hitmontop, it wouldn’t have been the first time I’d’ve fought a pokemon myself,” he quietly admitted. “So her point about understanding what moves mean was even more pointless.”

“Ah,” Ava said softly, “I see.”

Based entirely on the context of the situation–how Mike had reacted to the battle, his reluctance to talk about it, the hushed shame in how he spoke of the event before he had ever met Maki–Ava could make some guesses, roughly, over what had happened. 

It wasn’t likely a wild pokemon attacking a child who had gotten too close to the tall grass. It likely wasn’t Mike being young and stupid and deciding to challenge a pokemon he knew personally and ‘finding out’ how hard it was to be a person in a pokemon battle. The way he spoke about it didn’t match either possibility.

Which left one option, if one wasn’t willing to get creative with the possibilities to the point of being unhelpful. Ah. She saw.

“...being ‘attacked’ by a pokemon isn’t really the same as fighting one,” Ava said, “That would require a level of… reciprocation. Agency in the fight. People dismiss the importance of consent in a fight. If consent wasn’t given? It’s assault.”

“Lot of people just don’t give a shit,” Mike said, his voice subdued and…bitter, his eyes low on the ground, though his arms had relaxed to the point of slipping into his pockets. “Some kid runs over crying, showing off a pokemon with cuts and bruises, and suddenly it ‘doesn’t matter who started the fight’. And only some violent, asshole, monster would beat down on a pokemon. Not even ‘kids will be kids’ at that point, if it was just a scrap between people.”

Though, even in those cases, he was blamed for that too.

“It sounds like a recurring event, then,” Ava said, grasping her hands together. Fighting the urge to tap her finger. “May I take a leap in assuming what happened? Were your peers siccing their pokemon on you?”

Mike kept silent for a while, only giving one tense nod. And that was just…it, for a while, until he spoke up again. That same bitterness in his voice. A deep anger at injustice but…beaten down. Given up. Defeated so many times, that while he knew he was right, and he would never concede that point in his heart, he had just…stopped fighting. A grown resentment. 

“...I wasn’t allowed to get a pokemon from the town. No fucking way I’d ever get one from my mom, but getting one as a right of passage at ten, or someone going out with me to capture my first pokemon right outside of town… I was banned. Said I’d just abuse it, that if it’d been a decade earlier I’d be no better than those Rocket idiots.”

“I never wanted to hurt any pokemon,” Mike insisted, his throat growing tight, before he swallowed, hands fidgeting in his pockets. “But I wasn’t just going to…lie there taking fucking…Water Guns or Embers.”

“It sounds like your peers could have used the hard lesson Maki tried to teach you,” Ava said, running a hand through her ponytail, bringing it over her shoulder and lightly brushing her fingers through it, “People should know, what it’s like to face a pokemon in battle. It would help them understand what they put their pokemon through, yes, but it’d also help them to understand what they’d put other people through. The sheer pressure and fear such assaults cause, how mindless that terror can make even the most capable person…perhaps someday they will. Your village is closest specifically to the ‘treat pokemon well’ gym. Perhaps many of them will end up with a rude awakening, the first gym they venture out to.”

“...Apologies, I’m daydreaming aloud. It’s an attempt to self-soothe. I’m a bit angry, on your behalf,” Ava admitted, twisting her hair between her fingers, “The adults in your life should have intervened, if children were attacking you with their pokemon. It’s abuse to simply allow it. Not to mention purposefully keeping you from getting a pokemon to defend yourself with. That’s…irritating.”

What Maki had done hadn’t hurt. 

What hurt was dragging himself home and propping up his phone on the bathroom sink, medical treatment pages pulled up as he tried to learn how to nurse everything from rashes to electrical burns. (Even now, Mike’s fingers twitched, feeling a phantom ache.) What hurt was being pelted with rocks and doubling over from psychic attacks and knowing that hooves and fists could do nothing. Mike couldn’t do anything…

His eyes widened a little, as he finally looked at Ava again, astonished. 

…she was angry…for him? Not pity. Angry. 

He blinked, looking her over in the same way he would for analysis but…with parameters he didn’t know, before he blushed lightly and looked forward again. Feeling…weirdly warm. 

“It fucking sucked, but…well, I’ve left,” Mike shrugged. “And it’s not like I’m heading back, and I’d be damn gobsmacked if any of those idiots could even make it out of Edahu town without having to scurry back for a heal.”

“I have Rotom now, and our future’s bright, so…no point in looking back.”

“Indeed, it does seem you’ve made the best possible first step,” Ava said, “And I mean that sincerely. Sometimes the problem of trying to fix an abusive situation from within the home is that, by the very nature of what a home is, everything in it has already been structured in support of the abuse. People would not do something every day if it truly inconvenienced them or their desires. Your homelife, your town, and the people in it, had all set up a system–knowingly or not–that made the perpetuation of your abuse easier to maintain than to break away from. And that’s an incredibly unfair advantage towards abusers, in any abusive situation.”

“Leaving the system where the abuse has been set up is often the only reasonable first step,” Ava said, clasping her hands together tightly, her fingers and knuckles whitening a little in her grip for a moment… before she sighed, “But it’s disheartening, that you had to take that step alone, without support. You deserved better than that, Mike. Though, I suppose you did at least have Rotom. And…”

Ava looked over, smiling lightly, red eyes warm like a burning sunset, “I am pleased that eventually you had me, as well. Leaving is only a first step to recovery. I hope to be there for you for the rest of it.”

Mike nodded a little. He had figured a lot of that out a while ago. If you point blank asked a lot of people back home if they condoned child abuse, Mike knew the vast majority would be horrified, if not pissed off by the assumption, and they’d believe that sincerely. But if you made a lot of tests to see who actually could recognize abuse, and further ones to see who would actually act in the presence of it, especially when reminded of all the other factors in their lives…

Ha, well, his life was that test. 

It was just so much easier for most people to…write him off as a violent little shit. Because he was, honestly. If someone saw him with bruises or bandages, well, of course he would’ve gotten hurt one way or another, Mike was that type, no need to question it. Of course he didn’t get along with people, and made a lot of enemies, Mike was rude and antisocial and weird. And you can’t expect everyone to like each other. 

It was easy to never question anything and maintain the status quo. Living in your boring, repetitious little bubble just because keeping things the same meant it wasn’t hurting you. And for every possibility that taking a chance could do something amazing, it wasn’t secure, and for all the stories of greatness and talks of achieving your dreams…most people didn’t actually want that. They wanted security, at any cost. 

Mike had long ago decided he couldn’t stand boredom, but…for all that was within his power to change, the entire structure of Edahu town was a little out of reach. 

Glancing over at Ava, he shrugged a little at her lament that he had to step up himself, blushing a little at the look in her eyes, before his own gaze settled on her hands. Maybe his silence was odd, coming from her sincerity, but…well, Mike had never promised easy conversation. 

“...it’s shitty to comment on people’s habits ‘n shit, so we can pretend I never said anything if I’m wrong, but…” Mike gestured at Ava with his elbow. “You started tapping in thought, before? If the hand holding is just another part of it for you, I’ll shut up, but…”

He flushed more, looking ahead. “I don’t give a shit if you tap, you know. You shouldn’t have to hold yourself still for no reason.”

“Oh,” Ava said, looking down at her hands. Clenched together to stop the tapping, “That’s very sweet, but, I’m not doing that to stop fidgeting, necessarily. It just feels…odd.”

Opening up her hands, she placed her left palm up, tapping her palm with her right index finger. After a moment, a pattern obvious, as she explained, “I’m not sure how to describe it. It’s a bit like… like…” Ava paused, humming, “...you know the vibrations in your throat, when you speak? Imagine speaking, but not being able to hear yourself. Or, knowing that even if others are around, no one else can hear you. Your throat is still vibrating. But no sound comes out. Like a… phantom function, I suppose.”

“That’s what the tapping feels like. Like I’m doing something that was meant to serve a function, but each time I do it, it’s disturbingly obvious that the function isn’t occurring. It’s… alarming, in its own way. I try to stop tapping so that I stop noticing that I’ve…” Ava frowned, staring at her tapping finger, “Lost something. Something that was once second nature to me. It’s…”

She paused again, before deciding to be honest, “A bit frightening, otherwise.”

A pattern, but not…

(It didn’t look like code, really. Sure, it could be one, but if it was, then it’d be simple to the point of useless brevity or frustrating vagueness.)

Pushing up his glasses, Mike incidentally copied Ava’s hum, trying to think about her explanation. A phantom function… But… “Not just to sort thoughts, I’d think,” Mike murmured. “Even if it didn’t work, and the familiarity thought it should, I don’t think something that easy would feel scary. But you do do it when you’re thinking.”

His eyes narrowed a little. “...at least in regards to other people’s circumstances. But what would…” Mike narrowed his eyes even more before sighing. “I know concepts around the process of ‘buying secrets’, like, physically, not just through information trading, is a thing, but I don’t really know much about it beyond that.”

He opened his mouth to suggest ways they could find out, before Mike blinked and glanced over to Ava, looking a little sheepish. “...do…? Er, would you want to know what you did it for? Or just…more stuff better left forgotten?”

“...I’m not sure.” Ava admitted, “I’m not sure if I’ve actually decided my life before I woke up here is ‘better’ left forgotten. I just know that if I pursue it, the madness of wishing to know and holding myself to it could ruin the life I currently have. Acceptance is a big part of loss. I may be trying to brute force it, admittedly.”

Ava seemed surprised at that last part, before she looked down, laughing lightly. A small tinkling of bells. “There’s something about being extremely aware of coping mechanisms and stages of grief and stages of recovery and all of that…you forget that it’s a process. And you can’t skip the process, just because you technically know how it works. Like gaslighting. You don’t become immune to gaslighting, knowing how it works. You just have a better chance of spotting it for what it is. Or mourning. Knowing you’ll feel better eventually? Doesn’t mean you get to sidestep the feeling of grief.”

“And knowing that one aspect of happiness is accepting the loss of previous types of happiness doesn’t mean you are above still feeling that longing for what you had, or fear the unfamiliar.” Ava said, “Intelligence doesn’t make us infallible. At best, we just have names for all of our mistakes. Belief otherwise is just a type of delusion.”

Ah, she hadn’t said that before, right. Just that she didn’t want to consume herself searching for what came before, so that her present would be forfeit to the past. Still, Mike still thought it was a translatable question. He had already begun to think of what it was that Ava’s tapping might’ve been for and…hadn’t asked if that was something she actually wanted to know. He couldn’t lie that it wasn’t catching his curiosity, but…if it was something that scared her, he…didn’t want to force her into that. It wasn’t really a fear that needed to be faced. 

Mike’s eyes widened a little, hearing Ava’s laugh, before he grimaced. Knowing enough to know she had a point, but… 

“Eugh,” he stuck his tongue out, “That’s so duuuuumb. You’d at least hope that intelligence would let you make a different set of mistakes, not just the same damn ones that you happen to be equipped to identify more quickly. At least then you’d get the mystery of it to go through.”

He sighed. “...well, if you ever do wanna figure out the tapping thing more, let me know. There’s way too much downtime between gyms, I could use another project.” 

In that vein though…it wasn’t like getting badges was his only project anyway. Carefully turning to avoid jostling Rotom, Mike reached into his bag and pulled out the…well, medical flashlight. He’d poked and prodded the damn thing countless times, but this time, as he turned it over in his hands, he started looking for anything that would…mount or attach it to a pouch. He supposed it could just slot into a smaller rimmed opening, but…that was pretty poor design…

“I’ll consider it. Give me more time to process the loss. When I find the tapping less alarming, that’s probably the best time for me to actually look into it more,” Ava said, brushing her hair back over her shoulder, letting her ponytail jump and dance behind her as she walked. 

She let Mike look over his flashlight for a while, before feeling like she had left him his thoughts long enough to ask, “It’s curious that you’ve kept that, did you know that? It functions poorly as a flashlight, and being so technology driven, it’s odd that you’d tolerate any tool that’s bad at it’s job. Is it perhaps sentimental?”

“If something’s just a piece of garbage that someone made cheaply just to make profit? Yeah, I wouldn’t waste my time with that,” Mike affirmed. “And this isn’t sentimental. The thing is…I’m not even sure it is a flashlight. There’s purpose and design to it, so it’s not something someone just slapped together. So even if it’s kind of a shitty flashlight, unless it’s your only source of light…it’s interesting.”

“Like…” Mike took a breath, showing the light more to Ava, though he pointed the lens downward. “Look, you have to hold the button for the light to turn on. For a flashlight, that’s really bad design--not only is it an awkward shape just normally, but having to keep pressure on it right at the edge forces you to keep both hands on it, and just around the edges, and even then you’re blocking some of the light. But it turns off immediately if you let go. The dimming range is tiny. And Tim said something interesting--he talked about it flashing, about d-discombobulating. Not having to press the button multiple times for an on/off function, and having the dimming range be quick means--”

The quick, excited speech didn’t give much warning before Mike started finger-mashing the light button, the flashlight starting up a blinding rave pointed at the ground. Like he said, it was nauseatingly effective for flashing. 

“And that’s just that button!” Mike immediately continued. “It’s the second in the line--if the light was the main function, why would it be second?”

Ava mentally noted the tremor in discussing ‘discombobulating’, as she watched the flashing light up the ground beneath them. 

“Interesting,” Ava said, tilting her head a bit, “Perhaps it’s simply the way you just referenced it, how the flashing lights could stun a person, but I’m a little surprised now that Timothy made a mental connection between this item and his military knowledge, for whatever media literacy counts as military knowledge, but still called it a medical device. But when you asked him about it, his explanation seemed a little… conjured on the spot. Like he had to justify to himself why he thought that.”

“But the way you talk about it makes it seem like, if one were to make a military connection, wouldn’t considering it a weapon make more sense?” Ava said, “To blind the enemy? Timothy could simply have been entirely wrong in his guess, but I still find that an odd coincidence. To see a light capable of flashing brightly, and assume ‘medical’, not ‘weapon’.”

“I suppose really what I’m asking is,” Ava said, “Do you think it might be a weapon?”

Mike’s eyebrows drew in, spiking out the fur on his upper face as he adjusted his glasses, holding the light more normally now. “It could be. Blinding a person, yeah, but rapidly flashing bright lights are its own type of weapon. They can make people throw up or gain vertigo or even make someone pass out. Light and sound weapons tend to be pretty underestimated, but they can fuck a person up for life, through methods that they might not even really notice.”

Frowning more, Mike pointed to the third button in the line. “And what makes it even more confusing is that this one triggers a small-scale EMP, which I don’t even know what to make of. The light would be something long-ranged, but with the power the EMP has, that’s a pretty short range, and electro-magnetic waves aren’t really something you can shield yourself from, as mild as p-pointing the bulb away or closing your eyes could do for light. So while it could be a weapon…it’s so ineffe-fective and counterintuitive in its design that, more than just being from someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing, it’s far more likely that it just…wasn’t made to be one.”

“...and I have no idea what this clasp is about,” Mike finished, tapping on the imprinted gold.

“I couldn’t guess,” Ava said, eyes searching Mike’s face, “One habit observation to another: do you tend to stutter when you get excited explaining something?”

Mike blinked before flushing, adjusting his hat as he looked away. But he…at least tried to bite down on the impulse to get defensive, since, as Ava said, he had pointed out one of her habits first. “...maybe.”

“Good, that’s helpful for me to know. I was worried you were nervous. It’s reassuring that you’re simply excited,” Ava said, “Considering we’re going to a steel-based town next, perhaps someone there would recognize the use of the clasp? Going to a town that draws in engineers sounds like it’d be a perfect time to investigate your device, if you wanted to know more about it.”

Mike nodded tersely, still holding back from his embarrassment, even if Ava wasn’t…whatever. Teasing him or…pointing it out obnoxiously. (Making him never want to talk about anything, ever.)

“That’s what I was thinking,” he agreed, once he could get words out again. “I wasn’t expecting much, and I didn’t get it, at least for the device in Pinna Parkland, but if nothing else there should be a lot of mechanical-focused texts ‘n shit in Bianco Hills. I might even make a mock-up of this thing to try and get in the space whoever made it was.”

“Maybe then I’d figure out the first button too,” he mumbled, looking it over with an indiscernible look. Of course he’d pressed it, when he first found it, but… 

…well, he’d dropped it, and it hadn’t worked since, and he didn’t want to mess with the wiring too much to…

(His brain struggled to come up with any reasoning not to press it. But…something just told him he shouldn’t.)

Mike’s gaze went a little unfocused, distant, like he’d trailed off even mentally. 

“Perhaps we shouldn’t play with the flashing lights too much,” Ava cautioned, “We still have a long walk ahead of us, and I’m not immune to headaches.”

Blinking, Mike looked down at the device again before putting it back in his pack. “...yeah. There’s not a whole lot I can do while we’re walking anyway.”

-

Kirumi was a maid, yes. And she considered keeping the home of those who had employed her to be a near sacred duty, one she had committed herself to fully maintaining to the absolute best of her ability, whatever that maintenance ended up looking like in reality. 

Because Kirumi was also hyper-competent, and she had a loose idea of of what a ‘house’ truly was, when it came to ‘housekeeping’, what her sacred duty looked like in practice was maintaining not just the Momota estate, but also ensuring the proper running of the Momota establishments, very specifically the young masters Gym. Her role not just as Byakuya Momota’s maid, but also his personal assistant, top gym trainer, and at times, Gym Leader stand-in. A wave of constant maintenance, management and upkeep that Kirumi was not only entirely capable of, but whole-heartedly reveled in. 

In many ways, she was very much like Shuichi. She took a great amount of pride, in being fundamentally useful. Irreplaceable was a concept of hubris… but deep down, Kirumi knew that’s what she was, and she took great joy in that fact, as she had Roserade rip through another pokemon trainer hopeful who had clearly not done their homework or proper due diligence yet. Sending them away from the gym until they were ready to put in the time to actually train. 

Kirumi did not let in unworthy trainers to test their might against Byakuya. He was already far too busy with more important matters, running the Momota business’, that he didn’t need to be bothered by trainers who couldn’t even get past his gym trainers. 

Did they get complaints. Of course. But some gyms were known to be pure tests of battle skills, and the Psychic Gym was one of the most notoriously difficult on the map. 

Besides, her young master really was working on something very important. Kirumi, after finishing her battle with the lackluster challenger, headed into the basement of the gym, and from that basement, took the elevator to the lower levels. 

Kaito Momota, pretender that he was, was of course not the only Momota looking into the medical field. But while Kaito, in a foolish bid for praise and approval, indulged in the easiest and most basic type of medical center to essentially cure minor boo-boos from pokemon battles and offer lackluster lodgings for traveling trainers, Byakuya was funding real medical science. Cutting edge research that, when it was ready, would truly revolutionize the world, now that he had wrestled control of the Momota fortune away from his dull, worthless parents. 

It filled Kirumi with such pride, being the support–perhaps, if she was beng entirely honest with herself, being the mentor–of such accomplishment, as she headed over to Byakuya as he looked into the glass medical monitor coffin. “The gym is closed for the day, young master.”

Byakuya looked over at her, the reflection of his glasses for a moment betraying something fierce and intelligent in his gaze… before his expression softened, seeing her, “Ah, thank you, Kirumi. I suppose since I was not called for, no potential challengers made it through today. That’s a shame. I’m certain they’ll all do better next time, after seeing your example firsthand.”

Kirumi preened a bit, though she tried to keep her delight at the compliment off her face as she looked down demurely, “Thank you, I suspect so as well. There were a few hopefuls, they just need more time.”

“I’d trust your judgment on that,” Byakuya smiled lighty, before looking back to the coffin, sighing as he pushed up his glasses, “Wish I could feel as confident in this.”

“Still no signs of progress?” Kirumi asked, looking down at the beautiful woman in the glass coffin. 

“Higher brain function is still steady, so I know she’s still in there. But so far no change in heart rhythm, organ functions, no nerve endings suggesting so much as a twitch of her fingers, even as her mind races. By all rights her coma has lasted so long that she should be braindead, but no. It’s like she’s just…” Byakuya frowned, glaring down at the glass, “Sleeping. None of the medical staff can make heads or tails of it.”

“You’ll figure it out, young master. You always do.”

“Well, not me, obviously. My brilliant team will.” Byakuya laughed, glancing over at Kirumi, that warm, kind look over him again as he said, “But I understand the sentiment. Thank you. Your support means the world to me.”

Kirumi bowed her head, “Of course, Byakuya. It’s an honor… not to distract you from something so important–”

“No, no, no worries, our little June Doe here can wait. She’ll have to, I’m afraid, until we make a breakthrough, so I can be called away.” Byakuya said, looking away from the blond, twin-tailed woman, “What can I do for you, Kirumi?”

“Your brother is requesting additional funds… again.” Kirumi sighed, Byakuya chuckling exasperatedly along with her, “Apparently he’s trying to improve the internet service towers for his region and wants to create a financial package together for more cell towers.”

“For the desert?” Byakuya balked, shaking his head as he rubbed his temple, “Oh, honestly, that boy…I know his little pet project keeps him happy and out of trouble, but he really hemorrhages money out there.”

“Shall I have Roserade send him an email that his request is denied?”

“No, I’ll call him. Thank you Kirumi. You do too much for me, go take a rest,” Byakuya smiled, “I’ve got it from here.”

Kirumi smiled back. Reassured. 

-

Dimitri was a new ranger, so he knew he really didn’t have a good idea of the scale of difficulty in missions. But he had found himself both worried and very excited when his third ever mission was being sent to the New Grand Panjandrum, in the desert region. Dimitri had read a story as a child about a desert kingdom, where the conditions were harsh but the landscape was beautiful, and that went double for the people who lived in it, the difficulty in surviving in such a place creating a distinct sort of honor and pride in those who had grown up among it. 

The story had been a fiction, and all of said people had worshiped a giant, fake worm-like pokemon called Gurthwurm, which was a bit silly, but it had captured Dimitri’s imagination as a kid, and he couldn’t help but imagining he’d see one as he roamed the city outskirts, having sent Mareep and Cobalian scouting in two other directions as Dimitri stuck closer to the city. Both of his pokemon set up with walky-talkie collars and trackers, so that if they got into trouble he’d know about it immediately and could come running. 

The gym leader for the desert region wasn’t entirely what Dimitri had imagined either, the man much cheerier than Dimitri might have assumed from one of the leaders of an area that was constantly struggling for resources… but Dimitri liked him. The man’s almost goofy confidence reassuring, in its own way.

Dimitri hoped he would impress him, as he fussed with the balloon that he was about to release into the air.  The balloon set to pop once it reached high enough, the machine attached to it doing a quick scan of the area for larger, flying pokemon, which Dimitri would be able to check once it fell back into the sand. Just gotta finish filling it with the helium pack…

The fact that gym attempts weren’t recorded, like wins were, was Josie’s ultimate saving grace. His father hadn’t called yet, so Josie figured by the time he did, there was quite a while he could spin yarns about preparing for the gym leader while proving he really was in Grand Pan to get away with just…hanging out. Well, as long as he could keep reasonably losing to Kaito, like that morning. 

Josie had felt a little bad at first, to be honest. As he had been planning things, he realized he was working around the assumption that Kaito would just…lose. Sure, first gym leaders were supposed to be easy--they weren’t the toughest gatekeeper, and generally if you’d bonded with your pokemon enough that you two listened to each other, if you understood your pokemon’s moves, if you know type match-ups, you’d be able to win. However, the leaders didn’t just hand out badges. It was still a challenge. 

So…honestly, Josie thought it looked like a very fair loss, and he’d sheepishly laughed, thanking Kaito for the battle and mentioning that he should train more, and everyone left feeling good. And now it left him with the whole of Grand Pan to explore at his leisure. 

Including the desert, which Josie wasn’t exactly rearing to go back into, but he wanted to see at least a little daylight and not become a complete hermit, so, idly eating one of those ice cones that he half-deliriously remembered Kaito mentioning, Josie sat in the shadow of a rock and watched the ranger…fill a balloon.

Josie tilted his head a little. “What are you doing?”

Dimitri startled a little, glancing over his shoulder at the kid. Oh, maybe a local? “Hey there,” he greeted with a small smile, before shifting himself in the sand to show the boy what he was working on more clearly, “It’s a tracking balloon. Have you ever seen one of these before? It’s going to give me an image of all the flying pokemon within fifteen miles of here.”

…ah. Well, Kaito had made plans right in front of him, so…no surprise there. 

While something heavy weighed on Josie’s shoulders, he hummed curiously, still keeping a light grin on his face. “You got called in to keep an eye on Hydreigon, then. Hmmmm, being high enough to see fifteen miles miiiiight be high enough to catch Hydreigon too.”

“Ah, so you’ve heard about that, hm?” Dimitri said, before his eyes noted the two healing scratches going from the boys face down to his neck, other small bruises and rough marks more obvious once Dimitri had caught those, “Wait a minute… you wouldn’t be the kid who got attacked then? Bold of you to be out here again already, I’d have probably stayed inside for at least a week back when I was your age.”

Dimitri looked back down at the balloon, as he admitted, “This by itself isn’t terribly useful, but I’m not the only one out here setting up a balloon either. And it’s more a precaution than anything else. If the Hydreigon is still in the area, the goal is to know where. If it’s not? Then it’s just a matter of keeping an eye out. Better for everyone if it’s moved on, really. Everyone around here, anyway.”

“Maybe I’m just super brave then, huh?” Josie winked, grinning. “Though, if you’d hide for a week, and then became a ranger, maybe my character arc will end up with a whole thing about humility and caution later on.”

Eating his treat for a moment, Josie considered the likelihood of Mick moving on. But it was difficult to theorize that when… “I don’t really know what Mick’s doing out in the desert in the first place. I get why Hydreigon got all excited to see me when it did, but my brother’s got way better things to do than follow me around the region. And I doubt he’d not come say anything for this long if he was.”

Josie’s eyes wandered up, thinking. “...maybe he was looking for fossils or something.”

“Character arc?” Dimitri laughed lightly, shaking his head as he flicked on the blackbox, stepping back to let the balloon go. Watching it rise up, “That’s a fun way of thinking about it. They do say rangers are made up mostly of people with chips on their shoulders. People with something to prove. I suppose being a shy kid could have led me directly here, yes. Good catch.”

Making a large circle in the sand with his foot, Dimitri cautioned Josie away from the circle before sitting in the sand itself, “When the box falls, it should fall in that circle. Unless a massive gust of wind suddenly shows up and moves it off course, we should be fine. And if a massive gush of wind did come, well… hopefully we’ll get lucky and not get bonked on the head.”

Brushing his hair out of his eyes a bit–it really was hot here, which Dimitri had not accounted for in his youthful daydreams–Dimitri glanced at the kid, “Ah, right. We were told it was a trainers pokemon, but we’re still treating it like we would a wild pokemon for now. If your brother is letting it run around without him, attacking people? There’s not much of a difference, from our end. A trainer really should know better.”

Nodding, Josie scooted away from the circle, though he staunchly remained in the shade. Would being under the sun for 20 minutes kill him? Nah, and he was wearing sunscreen, so it wouldn’t burn him either. Would it be absolutely miserable? Absolutely. 

“Hmmm…” Josie hummed, watching the balloon rise. “Sand does seem more pillow-y, but from that high I’m not sure it matters… Does the box ever break when it falls? Though I guess there isn’t much of a better way to get it back, other than sending up a pokemon that likes to fly high to get it.”

Frowning a little, Josie was starting to really regret mentioning to Kaito that Hydreigon was his brother’s pokemon. Delirium or not, he was usually a lot better about talking around that kind of stuff. 

“I mean…it was just me. There’s a difference from Hydreigon going on a rampage or something, and just messing with me.”

“The box is made of strong stuff. The sort of thing you put on an airplane in case it crashes, and you expect it to remain intact,” Dimitri explained, watching the balloon disappear from sight, “It could fall in lava, and I’d call it lost because lava is hard to get through, not because it broke.”

“A pokemon being ‘playful’ is still something to look out for, if it’s seriously harming someone doing it. We wouldn’t tolerate someone ‘playfully’ cutting you up with a knife,” Dimitri reminded the kid, tapping on his own cheeks where Josie’s cuts were, “Would it be different if it did that to someone else?”

“Cool…” Josie mused, still looking up at the speck that he was pretty sure was still the balloon. There was some pretty incredibly hard stuff out there--Bastiodon’s calciferous growths, for one--but…well. He supposed seeing something people were sure wouldn’t break, that confidence making it a field standard, was very cool. 

A little distracted, he just shrugged at the knife point Dimitri made, before looking at him again and more purposefully shrugging. “I mean, yeah? I know Hydreigon, so I at least know what’s going on. It’s not like random people getting jumped by a wild pokemon. I mean…” Josie paused, growing a little unsure. “If Mick was jumping random people, then…he’d be a bandit, not a trainer. And he’s not a criminal.”

“But your brother wasn’t there.” Dimitri reminded him, “So, what did happen? If it’s different because you knew what was going on.”

“Well, Hydreigon used to hang out away from Mick all the time at home,” Josie countered. “So if I got pulled into a surprise game of hide and seek while my brother was out, then…that’s basically the same thing. The bounds are just a little bigger out here.”

Dimitri looked Josie over… before pointedly pointing at his cheeks again. Running his finger over his skin in a long, jagged motion. His voice soft as he said, “You’re smart. You have to see what it looks like, on the outside. That doesn’t look like a game.”

There was something in Josie that wanted to really prove how dumb he could be, to be petulant and insist, well, if it didn’t look like a game, then that was why he was telling everyone it was, so they didn’t get the wrong idea…

But he didn’t know. He usually didn’t trust strangers much, and he didn’t even know this ranger’s name. But something about him, just…

Josie’s gaze fell onto his treat, stirring around the ice and fruit a bit. “...maybe just one other people aren’t playing,” he muttered. “It’s not like I’m trying to convince you or Kaito to stop doing what you’re doing…but it is different. Mick isn’t off making roadside checkpoints or anything; it’s just…me.”

Dimitri winced at that, before saying softly, “That kinda sounds worse, honestly. I don’t know, there’s just… a different type of cruelty, in deciding to only hurt someone close to you. I don’t have any older brothers, but I’m pretty sure when they say they’re are going to pick on you, they mean telling scary stories and making fun of your crushes on people. I don’t think that means being physically attacked by their pokemon.”

“...I’m glad I’ve been called down here to help, if that’s what’s happening.” Dimitri said, “I hope I can make things easier for you.”

Josie’s gaze darkened a bit. “Maybe that’s right normally. But I don’t blame Mick for any of it. It just…makes sense he and his pokemon hate me. I would too in their shoes.” And maybe it was its own type of cruelty that Josie still…played along. Never dawdled when Mick called him over, even if Josie knew exactly what was coming. That he just…wished things could be different between them. He knew wishing wouldn’t do anything, and that just…flaunting his life around his brother brought a type of pain that made Mick’s resentment all the more justified. But…well, Josie really was just that dumb. 

He shrugged a bit. “Things are always easy, but…thanks anyway. This is probably good job experience if nothing else, right?”

Dimitri frowned. “Hates you? Why would it make sense to hate you? You seem like a nice kid, to me… and also, you are a kid. What are you, ten? What is there to hate about you?”

Josie smirked lightly. “And you’ve known me for all of, what, ten minutes? Or am I gonna get treated to a speech about a ranger’s innate sense of judgment? What are you, 18? You have to be a rookie, right? I’d take some creative license with the meaning, and say that ‘innateness’ might need to be honed a little.”

Again, there was a part of Josie that wondered what in Giratina’s name he was doing. He didn’t tell people the truth, and he didn’t go outlining his whole life story to strangers. But…somehow it just…felt natural, with the ranger he had only just met. 

His smirk fading, Josie looked at his shoes. “I stole his inheritance. Just…got born lucky, and with the ‘good kid’ there, Mick basically just…didn’t exist. I’d be mad too.”

Dimitri smiled a little sheepishly, “I am new to this, yes. But I don’t think being a ranger has anything to do with recognizing someone is treating you well. I’m the one who has to sit here and wait for the device to fall. You can leave at any time and there’s nothing I can really do about it. But you’re still here, talking to me. And I think it’s mostly because you’re feeling nice.”

“Inheritance? I’ve never heard that word used outside of storybooks,” Dimitri admitted, “But that sounds like something between your brother and your parents then. That’s not your fault.”

“Oooor maybe it says something more about you, that you think it’s nice of me to stay here talking with you, and that I’m not just pestering you,” Josie lightly countered, mostly having fun with the accusation than trying to make a point. 

Because the more important thing to make a point of, for how important it was to him to argue the realities of his own life with a stranger, was… 

Josie sighed and leaned back against the rock behind them. Staring off into the sandy horizon. “I never asked to be born, so you’re right there. But it’s still understandable. Faced with something completely unfair, out of your hands and not because of anything you did, against, essentially, the powers that be… Wouldn’t you take out that anger and frustration on the one thing you could? I do get it.”

“...” Dimitri paused, thinking it over. Looking at his hands. “...well. Who do you take it out on, then?”

(Random girls that sleep with me. Everyone even slightly kind. It’s a win-win, really. They learn not to be around a cruel failure, and I’m left agonizingly alone. A punishment and lesson in one.)

Josie smirked, the expression more visibly fake than they had been earlier. “Strangers who let themselves be pestered.”

Dimitri smiled lightly, “I don’t really feel pestered. I still think you’re nice.”

It was strange, saying that to a ten year old. It made Dimitri feel younger than he was. Perhaps it was the heat getting to him. Perhaps Josie just reminded Dimitri of the types of kids he hung out with when he was Josie’s age. He had always found himself drawn to what he considered the ‘strong’ kids. The kids others might have dismissed on sight as bullies, too brash or too confident or too beautiful to risk speaking to. 

Maybe it was just something about Dimitri, but no one had ever really been cruel to him, if he had the courage to reach out to them first. He had been teased, sure, for his hobbies and aspirations. But that teasing had never felt like it had gotten to the point of bullying. It had never felt malicious. 

Dimitri, in many ways, had grown up better off than almost everyone around him. A softness in his life that had made him seek out conflict, despite being terribly soft himself. He was drawn to others strength because he envied it. It was hard to prove your own courage, when nothing demanded it of you.

But people liked the softness. Even when he went looking for it, people rarely gave him trouble. For some reason, Dimitri had always been ‘off-limits’. He still didn’t really know why. He supposed he was grateful.

And if he could offer that softness to this kid? Well, even if it wasn’t a part of himself that Dimitri always liked, at least others did seem to genuinely enjoy it. Dimitri offering that softness again, as he said, “Maybe you’ve taken it out on others. But I really only have your word on that. You don’t seem like someone who’d hurt people just because you could. Call it a…” Dimitri shrugged, “moment of faith, in you. From me, I suppose.”

(When he was doing better, Josie was endlessly grateful that his friends had never given up on him. In those moments, he knew it wasn’t just charity and the most gracious of personalities--he’d been there for them the whole time too. Taking up self-appointed duties as the oldest, there to comfort and encourage Irene as she discovered dreams that [at least at first] weren’t supported. Being there as Hugo’s rock, back in his crybaby days, and then as an outlet for the few emotions Hugo let himself express when his brother left. Being one of the few who even noticed Dedan’s stress when his sister got sick, and being willing to share that burden of worry. Encouraging Dimitri to live a little, and taunting his shy friend into finally expressing the more ‘negative’ emotions he had about his father remarrying…even if there weren’t a lot.)

(Josie adored his friends, and that friendship had never been one-way. In some ways…maybe that friendship was really what kept him from following in his birth family’s footsteps. A light and warmth in Josie’s life that had kept him from freezing solid, lost in the dark.)

So instead of calling it a mistake, Josie just smiled softly down at the ground. “...I can’t say I’m really used to that kind of faith. Makes me feel like I’d mess it up immediately just to avoid the pressure.”

“Well, you haven’t yet. And it’s been twenty whole minutes, I think. Double the amount of time we’ve known each other since I first started to have faith in you, so.” Dimitri laughed, shrugging lightly, “Seems like you’re in it for the long haul.”

There was a distant popping sound. Dimitri looked up, listening for the whistle. This was another moment of faith, really. Accidents did happen. Sometimes you could only sit there and hope it didn’t happen to you.

But the box landed with a ph-lunk into the circle, half buried in the sand. And Dimitri stood up, picking up and brushing it off, before holding hid phone close to it, downloading its information, “Alright, let’s take a look…”

Looking at the map of the area the blackbox had taken, rather then pictures, the images were heated silhouettes. Vague shapes of flying pokemon around the area, more obvious the closer you zoomed into the shape. Some smaller bird pokemon were easy to dismiss, but larger pokemon Dimitri looked closer at. Against, mostly flying types. A few oddly shaped ones that were probably fairy types. Hmmm… “What about this large one here,” Dimitri said, showing the silhouette to Josie, “That look familiar?”

“I guess that proves it,” Josie giggled, finding himself far more at ease and…genuinely comforted by the sentiment than he thought he would be. The desert really was a strange place. 

At first, Josie didn’t really know what to make of the sound, but when Dimitri looked up, Josie followed, watching with interest to see what would happen. Which was exactly what you could guess, but it was still interesting, seeing the black box thunk down into the sand, making a little crater, right in the circle Dimitri had made. The guy might be a rookie, but he knew his stuff, it seemed. 

Following Dimitri over, Josie had hoped to maybe get a glimpse…well, not over his shoulder, since the ranger was quite tall, but around his arm, maybe, so it was with the muted delight of surprise that Dimitri just showed off his phone. Josie look in the images with wonder, before he tilted his head a little at the larger silhouette Dimitri pointed out. 

“...well, I really doubt it’s an Iron Jugulis,” Josie joked, before he squinted at the image. “...I don’t think Druddigon can fly that high, and… Well… It could be a Salamence? But…that might be Hydreigon, yeah.”

“I’ll radio my pokemon and go take a look then. If Mick’s there, I can inform him that he either has to report directly to the gym leader, or that he’s not welcome in this region anymore.” Dimitri said, standing up, putting the black box back into his backpack, “Perhaps it sounds harsh, but that’s how the desert region works. We can’t force them to host if there’s been proven signs of danger.”

Dimitri said ‘we’, but he meant the rangers, and more so the larger government. By the very nature of its landlocked area, surrounded on all sides by canyons and mountains, and its deadly terrain, the desert region could essentially banish trainers who came in to make the area even more dangerous, knowingly or unknowingly. A right recognized when the region mostly struggled with poaching issues, back in the day. Trainers feeling invisible, and thus invincible, in the isolated area. 

You were a trouble maker? The desert could kick you out, and they didn’t have to take you back.

Josie sighed quietly, his shoulders drooping. Maybe he could convince Kaito not to banish Mick… He knew his brother wouldn’t appreciate his meddling, but…it was Josie’s fault he was on the government’s radar in the first place. Though, that would only work if Mick was alright talking to Kaito in the first place and didn’t just accept the banishment straight out. Or…tried to resist it…

A stressed look passed over Josie’s face. 

“Maybe…I should go talk to him first…” Josie tentatively put out. “I mean, I wouldn’t want any misunderstandings with him and your pokemon…”

“I understand why you’d want to, but I actually think it’d be better to go without you. Especially if his pokemon only attacks you,” Dimitri reminded him gently, picking up his walkie-talkie, “On that logic, something is less likely to happen if I go alone. Right?”

Josie grimaced, bringing a leg up to re-tie one of his shoelaces. “...I guess so. And…he’d probably get pissed if I got involved anyway… Just…”

Josie looked down, before giving Dimitri a worried look. “Be careful? He’s a really good battler.”

Dimitri nodded at that… and remembering he was a ranger, squared his shoulder, lowering his voice a bit as he realized he should put on his ‘ranger’ persona, giving the kid a thumbs up as he said, “Don’t worry, I can handle him. You can count on me… Oh, uh,” Dimitri realized he hadn’t actually said, and his body language melted into sheepish embarrassment, “I’m Ranger Dimitri, by the way. I haven’t actually gotten your name either.”

Josie offered a weak smile at that. Not wanting to insult Dimitri’s confidence but…well, Micklaighn was very good. Though, he smiled a little brighter at the belated introduction. “Trainer Josie. Thanks for letting me bother you while you’re doing your job, Dimitri.”

And…if nothing else, he hoped he was able to pass on enough of a warning. Josie had never seen Mick take things out on anyone but him, but…they had been pretty isolated up north. Hopefully it really was just a ‘him’ thing.

-

There was water, in Grand Pan. It was another reason the city– a literal spot of oasis– was able to start in the desert. People could technically live where there wasn’t freshwater nearby, but they rarely willingly chose to do so. And like all things in Grand Pan, the reason they could survive was under the city. In the caverns beneath the sand.

In one of the deeper part of the caverns, deep in the dark twisting corners, was an underground lake. Glittering and glowing under moonbead’ rocks like the rest of the cavern, but also lit up by glowing fungi that crept from the waters edges and up the side of the cavern walls. Fungi that glowed light silver, like uneven, jagged steam beams crawling towards a starry sky. A beautiful silver cage.

Considering the imagery it gave Kaito, and the fact that you had to go down a very dark, narrow path only intermittently lit by lanterns, Kaito often made it so that if someone he wasn’t entirely certain he was going to have to intimidate showed up, that they’d have to find him here. Just, you know… by chance. Stumble through the dark and come to the scary cage water area. Feel the cold and the silence. Feel how low beneath the earth you were. Feel how far everything was from you…

And then come talk to him.

Kaito heard the small hums of the clefable–not his clefable, he knew, he’d know his hum anywhere– that was guiding the young man that Kaito had been warned was on his way down the dark tunnel to the freshwater. But even if he hadn’t heard the hum, he’d have heard the heavy footsteps of a large pokemon coming down as well. Ah. Guess Hydreigon wasn’t going to be in a pokeball. Alright then.

Kaito looked up, like he was startled, and waited patiently for Clefable to totter over to him. Holding up a tablet, Kaito glancing through it before he looked at the young man with a small smile, “Oh, so this is Micklaighn Etrig! And I suppose this is the hydreigon I’ve been hearing so much about.” Kaito stood up, putting aside the book he had been reading, grinning with all of his teeth, “Good. We need to have a discussion.”

Mick didn’t say anything immediately back. Either this was a teenager not easily intimidated, or he was one determined to be perceived as such, because his expression was cold, almost disdainful, as he glanced around the cavern lake. 

He wore a long, black button-up coat with a high collar that turned already slim features into a straight line. He looked a great deal like Josie, actually, to the point where it was a bit uncanny. Kaito got the sense that he was staring at what young Josie was definitely going to look like someday, from the slightly upturned cuts of red-hair, to the handsome jawline and the warm eyes undercut by fierce eyebrows. 

Lucky kid. Josie was gonna be a heartbreaker. Hopefully he’d wear his features better than this guy, who ruined his combination of good looks with a rigidness and a tension in his face that turned charming features into hard lines and puffed cheeks. Kaito wanted to warn the kid that he was going to give himself every possible wrinkle before he hit thirty, if he kept squinting his aggression like that, but, well, hopefully the kid would have a friend somewhere able to give him the same good advice. Ideally he’d stop glaring at the world as a rule, but, well, lotion would probably help too. Also not walking around like he had a literal stick rammed up his ass and connecting to his spine, his posture immaculate to the point of being unsettling as the kid just barely held back from sneering, “I’ve been informed you’re trying to banish me from this region. I thought I’d give you an opportunity to explain yourself to me.”

Bold. Reminded him of his brother, during the… well, yeah. Difficult teen years. Kaito was so damn glad Byakuya was more or less passed that now. Nothing worse than talking to someone who was convinced they were better than you in every conceivable way.

Everything was okay. 

Mick hadn’t fought Dimitri! At…least to the point of being banished immediately, so Josie was going to take that as a sign that things had gone okay. And Mick was willing to meet with Kaito, so…that was okay too! Even if Josie hadn’t gotten a chance to talk with Kaito first and ask him not to banish his brother from an entire biome in the region--wouldn’t you know it, being a gym leader and CEO of a region-wide medical conglomerate took up a lot of your time. 

But Kaito was…reasonable, probably, so…it would go alright. Josie didn’t need to do a thing, and in fact, if he did, he’d probably just make it worse. 

He hadn’t been able to take Flareon’s knowing, judging looks for long before he’d made plans. And Josie was glad for the little prep-time he got since…it was a long walk down to wherever Kaito had decided to meet Mick. Absolutely gorgeous, like something out of an old manuscript, really, but…far away. Really, really deep underground, far from any chance of seeing the sun, which…wasn’t the best sign in Josie’s experience, and…at a big lake. That just looking at it made Josie’s insides squirm. 

Though…some of those nerves could be attributed to how stealthily he’d had to be in following his brother down here. Nerves, and… It had been a while since he’d seen Mick. Logically, Josie knew it had only been a few months, not even a year, but…something tugged at his chest, a mix of fear and guilt and longing that felt like it had been…a lot longer than that. Did he always remember his brother looking like that? The coat was new, at least…

Biting the inside of his lip to keep from sighing, hearing Mick demand an explanation from Kaito (or…give him the opportunity to get on with the late explanation), Josie crouched down, giving self-soothing pets to Flareon, who hadn’t taken its eyes off Mick and Hydreigon once since it and Josie had spotted them. 

“I’ll explain it, certainly,” Kaito said, crossing his arms, unimpressed with the teenager (Kaito was very easily guilted. He wasn’t easily intimidated) as he frowned, “And I’ll cut right to the chase, since you look like you’d rather be anywhere else anyway: your pokemon attacked a person. And then, your pokemon attacked me.” Kaito said, adding that in quickly as Mick opened his mouth at the first bit, cutting off whatever outrageous argument Mick was about to offer about who the dragon had attacked, “And honestly, whether it’s poor training or a misunderstanding or deliberate action, it almost doesn’t matter why anymore. That’s two strikes against you, and I don’t arbitrarily offer three.”

“...” Mick waited pointedly, an unsaid ‘are you done’ in the gesture, before he asked, “If I’m out of chances, why was I invited to come speak to you at all?”

“Because I’m a busy-body,” Kaito said honestly, a little amused at the brief confusion that ran through Mick’s expression at that, “If I just banished you and the next time we spoke was you trying to dispute it in court, I’d still probably never get a chance to hear an explanation for why it happened at all. That’s why I invited you hear to speak with me.”

“...” Mick frowned, putting his hands behind him, even as hydreigon leaned forward. All three of its heads making soft, angry reptile sounds as they hovered above Mick’s head, as if Mick’s head was simply a fourth one to their body, their wings spreading behind him as if they were his, while he said calmly, “And if I explain myself, does the banishment get taken off the table?”

“Probably not.” Kaito admitted.

“Then why am I talking to you at all!?” Mick snapped, before sneering, “Where’s the woman? I can’t recall her name, the old gym leader. I battled her when I was 13. I remember her being mildly impressive. She could explain to you who I am.”

Kaito raised an eyebrow, “I know who you are. And Priestess Merry is off enjoying her vacation, for one, and is not Gym Leader anymore, for another. I only need the city council's permission to banish you, and they’ve already given me authority to do it, if I deem it necessary. Which, by this point, I do.”

“...” Mick suddenly seemed to relax. His expression still stern, but softening lightly in exasperation, “...perhaps I’ve approached this badly. For…forgive me, I’ve gotten defensive. I don't enjoy being put on trial. Especially over, yes, a misunderstanding.”

“Good,” Kaito said, having been mostly staring at Hydreigon. The dragon-pokemon’s threatening stance putting Kaito a bit on edge, especially with no pokemon of his out, clefable having shuffled back out of the cave. Most of the clefables weren’t trained in battle, here, so Kaito wouldn’t have wanted her to stay anyway. “Here’s your chance to explain. Why did I have to practically pull your pokemon off your brother?”

“...it is… a bit of bad training, unfortunately.” Mick said slowly, “I knew my brother was in the area, and asked Hydriegon to search him out so I could say hello. Hydriegon, when he was smaller, used to be able to pick my brother up by the shoulders and fly him around. Josie was very fond of it, actually. But Josie has likely gotten bigger since we’ve last seen him, and Hydriegon likely didn’t realize he was too big for him to grab anymore.”

Josie’s eyes widened a little. Hydreigon had attacked Kaito? All he had been able to tell was…Clefable doing a Moonbeam or Dazzling Gleam, and Hydreigon moving away. He…hadn’t known there was more to that fight. No wonder Kaito had been less inclined to take his word to just let it go…

And, fuck, he hoped not to court. If Mick was the one declaring the case, there…really was nothing Josie could do, and…he knew at this point his brother didn’t give a shit about what their dad thought. He hadn’t for a long time, really… But Mick really didn’t deserve the bad press. 

He grimaced, taking in the difference in approach as Kaito identified himself as the local gym leader. Mick hadn’t known, then? It had been pretty public news, when the gym traded hands--tended to be for all gyms. But it wasn’t like he really knew what his brother had been up to over the last year…

Josie held his breath as he listened to Mick’s careful explanation of what happened, nodding a little to himself. Poor training, maybe, but not unexplainable, or not understandable. A lot of pokemon caused incidents because they misjudged their size or power or those of something else. 

…sure, anytime Hydreigon picked him up, even as a Zweilous, had been…terrifying. But there was still something cool to flying. Josie could absolutely back that up. He nodded a little more, trying not to notice the quick stink-eye Flareon gave him. 

“...” Kaito considered Mick a bit… before shaking his head, “I want you out of New Grand Panjandrum. This city is no longer open to you. And I want you out of this desert biome. You're banned from everywhere that isn’t a direct path between route 11 and route 12, with the exception of unless you are in mortal danger and my city is the closest available civilization.”

“Why?” Mick demanded, clenching his hands into fists, Hydreigon growling with all three heads behind him, “It was a misunderstanding!”

“It was a lie,” Kaito said, frowning, “I know what I saw, and it was an attack. I gave you an opportunity to explain why your pokemon attacked someone, and you lied to me instead.”

“You have no proof, you’re just guessing my intentions,” Mick scowled, “If I dispute it, I won’t be satisfied with just taking banishment off my record, I’ll insist you face consequences. I’m one of the best trainers out there right now, you can’t treat me like this. Not without proof!”

“Maybe if Hydreigon there really did just attack your brother, I wouldn’t have proof.” Kaito said, stone-faced, “But it attacked me too. And that’s really all I need.”

What?

Josie’s jaw dropped, and…well. It always seemed to be a cycle with Micklaighn, wasn’t it. 

“But you attacked Hydreigon first!” Josie claimed, stepping out from behind the stone turn he’d been hiding behind, standing tall and…keeping his eyes on Kaito. Not wanting to see the fury on Mick’s face for as long as he could. Ignoring the tug on his pants from Flareon, trying to pull him back, Josie clenched his fists and said, “Hydreigon didn’t even know you were there until Clefable attacked it, and…and you ran in, in front of your pokemon! It’s not Hydreigon’s fault for…for defending itself, if you ran up to it!”

This time, Kaito was actually startled, his large body jolting as his eyes widened, watching the kid run into the cavern, “Woah! Josie, how did you get here?! That path isn’t safe, did you get here alone!?”

Mick, in turn, scowled. That hard, lined look stressing his features as he glared at Josie, while behind him, hydreigon seemed to get larger. One of its heads screeching at Josie as he ran past, the other one clicking menacingly. “Quiet.” Mick whispered at it, the dragon’s noises lowering.

“...Josie, you should go back up the city.” Kaito said, before blanching, looking at the tunnel they had come from, “Oh, but, shoot, not alone, you should… shit. Okay, Mick, you’re going to wait here, and I’m taking him back upstairs, and when I come back we’re talking this through–”

“You heard him. Your Clefable put my Hydreigon in a position of self defense,” Mick said, “You should offer me an apology and drop all of this.”

Kaito glanced down at Flareon, the way pokemon clearly kept trying to stand between Josie and Mick, and then back to the scratches all over Josie, before trying to speak to Josie directly instead, “Kid, I understand wanting to defend your brother, but banishment is a pretty minor consequence for someone who doesn’t live here, all things considered. There’s nothing to defend him from.”

Josie swallowed thickly, but didn’t let himself step back at Hydreigon’s noises. It was a mistake, trying to defend Mick and Hydreigon, something neither of them would appreciate, but…but if Kaito would take it to court on a basis of being attacked himself… It was word against word, and as great a trainer Mick was, Kaito was a gym leader and a CEO of one of the most recognized and approved companies in the region right now, and…

(Josie never wanted things to fall to Ruin.)

“I’m fine, Kaito,” Josie said more quietly, “I got down here alright. I don’t need an escort.” Just barely glancing at Mick from the corner of his vision, Josie took a breath. “Maybe banishment is minor, but…escalation from being attacked yourself, a-and just deciding that he’s lying to you on…no basis can pretty quickly become not so minor.” 

Josie offered a tentative grin. “So I’m just…clearing some stuff up. As the other person that was there.”

“...” Kaito felt his knuckles start to ache. Shit, shit… “Mick. Could I have a word with you over here, for a moment?”

“No.” Mick said. Something borderline smug on his hard features.

Kaito felt his jaw twitch a few times at that. “...if I offer an apology, can I speak to you over here real quick?”

Mick inspected his fingernails. Idly cleaning them with his thumb, “This was hugely offensive. It’d have to be a good apology.”

Do not lose your temper, “I apologize for the misunderstanding, and my refusal to hear out your explanation in good faith. I feel…embarrassed to have handled the situation so poorly. It reflects badly on both my gym and my company. And I apologize.”

Mick, a bit satisfied with that, walked around Josie without looking at him much. The only look a brief, frustrated glare at the boy's direction, seething in its brief moment of impact, as he said aloud, “Stay where you are, hydreigon. Wouldn’t want another misunderstanding. Goodness knows everyone wants to run to the defense of poor little Josie.”

Kaito glanced at Josie, before turning his back on him, whispering to Mick, “I’m not about to traumatize this kid just to fucking prove a point if he’s going to go around gunsblazing to defend you.”

“He’s not defending me, he’s just telling the truth.”

“Shut up. Look, I don’t actually like yelling at a teenager, believe it or not, so just shut up and listen to me.” Kaito scowled, “I already wasn’t going to press charges because you’re just a damn kid at the end of the day and Josie seems to like you, but right the hell now? Charges are back on the table, do you hear me?”

“Then it’ll be a fight in cour–”

“Shut up, actually listen to me. But none of that, the official banishment, charges against you, anything legal? None of that has to happen, if you give me an agreement that, without any legal pressure to do so? You don’t come back here.”

“...what? An unofficial banishment?” Mick frowned. “What’s the point of that?”

“What’s the point…? Why did you think I was trying to banish you in the first place?!” Kaito whisper-shouted.

“To humiliate me publicly.”

“Oh my god…” Kaito growled, pinching the bridge of his eyes, “You are leaving, so that I can be certain that when Josie’s going across my biome, nothing is specifically targeting him. You’re banished so that I can feel comfortable letting the kid come and go through dangerous terrain without one more god damn obstacle. That’s why.”

“Did you think my pokemon was going to kill him?” Mick asked.

“You lost your chance to tell me what was happening, remember?” Kaito scowled, “Now you either agree to my unofficial banishment and leave shaking my damn hand, or I suddenly make this about you either losing your pokemon or going to jail.”

Mick paused. Considering that.

Josie sighed softly, and if he could bring himself to look at Mick at all, he would’ve glanced between him and Kaito with a strained look. He knew how shitty it was for Kaito to have to apologize like that…but he couldn’t help feeling relieved and…feeling like he found some new respect for the gym leader too, that he did. That the peace Kaito valued was worth a little ego. 

He stood still as Mick walked past, and…it was all he could hope that the whispered conversation wasn’t just a version of what was going on before they found out he was listening in. Josie gave Hydreigon a weak, wary smile before half-crouching, petting Flareon as he waited. 

(The truth was…the Etrig family had been awful to Josie. A brother that resented him to the point of murder attempts, a father that only cared about his one son being strong and passing down their family’s legacy, and a mom that felt bad enough about a kid that wasn’t hers, and stuck with a man she had to marry out of circumstance to…let all of that happen. It hadn’t been good.)

(But even so?)

(Seeing even an imaginary version of his brother like this…Josie felt almost sick with longing. Longing for a relationship that had never been there between them, and…for the few moments amid the muck that really had happened. It wasn’t enough to try and pursue a relationship with his brother again, now that they were both adults [or nearly], and the bad had overwhelmingly outweighed the good, but…)

(Fuck, it was still a feeling Josie could have.)

(Amid the years and years of therapy, Josie had come to wonder, sometimes, what could’ve been if they’d been raised in a family that had actually cared about them. Everyone told him to stop thinking like that, but…to Josie, the Etrigs had been just as much a tragedy to Micklaign as it had been to him.)

With his back turned, Josie chanced looking up at his brother. Hoping he hadn’t Ruined more of Mick’s life.

Mick glared at him. Every time their eyes connected, the sheer hatred in him as obvious as the sun.

(Mick couldn’t change. He couldn’t be better. He couldn’t be more than what Josie’s nightmares dictated he be.)

(Unrestrained by the consciousness of others, Mick would grow three heads, and howl, and rip Josie to shreds. Over and over and over.)

(He was only stuck as a teenager, because paradise could not oblige for such a monster.)

But he didn’t want to deal with the courts, at the end of the day, and Josie… wouldn’t be here forever. It was still annoyingly humiliating, to be banished even unofficially. But if it wasn’t going to end up on the news, or on his records, or in his fathers face? 

“Fine.” Mick said, putting up his hand, “Deal.”

Kaito sighed, shaking Mick’s hand… and notably wiping his hand off on his pants once he was done, frowning, “Do I need to have someone escort you out?”

“Not at all. This is an ugly place anyway. There’s nothing worthwhile here.” Mick said, turning away from Kaito, heading over to the tunnel back up to the city. 

He shoulder tapped Josie, just because he was feeling petty. Glaring back at him, as he said, “See you around, Josie. Count on it.” before disappearing into the dark. Hydreigon following heavily behind him.

Josie smiled softly, his eyes averting. If only, if only. 

Seeing Mick and Kaito finish something, and…Mick didn’t look about to blow his top, Josie figured it was fine enough. He let himself be jostled by the shoulder tap, calling a soft, “Bye, Mick. See you,” before waiting until he couldn’t see even the slightest bit of Hydreigon’s bulk in the dark. 

Letting go of a shaky breath, Josie turned back towards Kaito, grinning apologetically. “...Grand Pan is awfully pretty--Mick’s never really been one for aesthetics. Like, uh, this cavern is really something. I bet the lake is indescribable when the Clefairy maintain the ceiling stones.”

Kaito stared at the dark tunnel, making sure the kid actually was leaving… before he forced his expression to relax, looking over at the 10 year old. Geez… poor kid was already trying to mediate. Geez.

Rubbing the back of his neck, massaging the muscles, Kaito looked around… before he grinned back, “Okay, but, seriously, what do the fungi on the walls look like to you? I’ve been told my interpretation is super grim, but I really can’t see how no one else doesn’t immediately see what I see!”

Looking around, Kaito sighed, “...I can take you back upstairs right away if you want, kid. I’d rather you not try to navigate the dark yourself, there’s a lot of water in this particular tunnel and slipping on a wet rock can really hurt you if you land wrong. So I won’t keep you hear if you want to leave… but…” Kaito motioned to wear he had been sitting, “I’d like the chance to talk to you too, if you’re up to it.”

A little more relief relaxed Josie’s stance as Kaito took up the new topic, at least for a little bit. “Grim? Well…” Josie looked around trying to take in the fungal growths with the cavern as a whole, before he huffed a soft laugh. “Don’t just call me a stereotypical northern boy, alright? But they look like early spring icicles to me. When they can get multiple feet long, and they’ve been partially melted and re-frozen so many times that they get all twisted and jagged, rather than a straight column… What do they look like to you?”

As pretty as it was, in a certain way, Josie wasn’t exactly thrilled to stick around in a wet lake cavern who knew how many miles under the surface, but…well, Mick had just left. And while he didn’t think his brother would have too much of an issue getting back up, maybe it would be better to give him more of a head start to…be in places Josie wasn’t. 

“I mean, we can talk, yeah,” Josie agreed, giving Flareon a small pat as he carefully walked over to where Kaito was, not wanting to slip on the slick rock flooring now that it had been pointed out. 

“I’ve always thought it looked like a really uneven cage,” Kaito said, pointing to the outlines of where the fungi didn’t rise any higher, “A cage with no ceiling. Those really specific thin wired cages, where the way they’re twisted together makes little thorns, some so thin that you don’t even realize a thorn is there when you touch it, and then it pricks into you… I know they’re awful, but my home used to have a cage like that. I think it was an antique, and a decoration at that, I don’t think anything was ever supposed to live in it. But I used to think it was really pretty. I remember trying to put a doll into it once, and the doll got ripped up, caught on its edges.”

Kaito paused, before shaking his head, “Sorry about that, I ramble. What I mean to say is I see a cage, but I think it’s pretty anyway. I do like the icicle idea though. I can see that.”

“...Okay, obviously I want to talk to you about what just happened.” Kaito sighed, looking over to the boy, “This is going to sound cruel, but my goal was for Mick to come and go without you ever realizing he was here. I’m sure that’s not comforting to hear, I just want to be straight with you about what I was trying to do.”

Josie tilted his head a little, trying to see it. He guessed he could see some of the vague imagery…but all the details and associations Kaito went on to describe kinda…made it feel a little less than a neat feature of nature, and more like an inkblot test. The method almost arbitrary, but seeing how a person thought invaluable. 

“That is pretty grim,” Josie agreed. “And…even if it is pretty, I dunno if I’d be able to stay in a place where I saw a cage around me. I think it’d freak me out too much.”

Looking down at the soft, displeased whines from Flareon, Josie smiled, seeing his pokemon try to shake its paws, only for them to get wet again as soon as it put one back down to shake another. Snorting, Josie sat down crosslegged, unconcerned about the water, and patted his lap, which Flareon was more than happy to curl up on, barriered from its mortal enemy. 

…well, one of them. 

“I don’t think it’s that cruel…” Josie said slowly, “But it was kind of…doomed to fail. I mean, I was there when Ranger Dimitri found where Mick might’ve been, I identified Hydreigon, so I knew he was coming.”

“Ah, I see. Well, shoot, guess it wasn’t going to work out that way from the start,” Kaito sighed, running a hand through his hair, “Well, that’s alright. It’s not like I could keep you two apart if I wanted too. Even official banishment from here can’t do that, not really. You don’t live here.”

Kaito paused, before saying, “So, here’s what just happened. I asked your brother to respect an… unofficial banishment. He leaves the desert, no paperwork, no record, just knowing he’s not welcome back here. He agreed, so… ideally, that’s the end of that, at least around here. I just want you to know that. You’re welcome here. But he’s not. And that’s official… unofficially.”

Josie smiled ruefully, petting in Flareon’s ruff, his fingers getting pleasantly toasty. Keeping them apart… He supposed Dad kicking Mick out had been a…half-hearted form of that. But considering the journey that Josie was always going to go on, it had just been…momentary. And it wasn’t like their father spent all that much time occupied with Mick anyway, but somehow Josie still felt the additional attention on him. It had been a relief to leave, even if it meant Josie might run into Mick again. 

And now…Grand Pan was like that too. A Mick-free place, because of Josie, that he was barely even going to spend any time in. He wondered if the next place would happen even faster, with the roll he was on. 

“Guess that’s that, then,” Josie hummed, nodding a little. “Considering he already has a Fairy Badge, guess there’s not a lot he’d want to do around here anyway. Not a real sight-seeing guy.”

Josie should just leave things there, not push his luck. But…

He glanced up at Kaito, eyes searching. “...did Hydreigon really attack you? I know I was kind of out of it, but…I don’t remember that. Are you okay?”

Kaito’s lips thinned, clutching his hands together as he twisted his knuckles a bit, “....weeeeeellll… well. ‘Attack’ is maybe the… nooooot most entirely correct answer? But it did roar! In my direction! Very threatening!”

Kaito sighed, “Look, you having to testify that your brother attacked you is shitty and awful and I didn’t want to ask you to do that, from the start. Me saying he attacked me? Cool, awesome, water through my veins on a hot day. And it didn’t really feel like it mattered who was attacked. Someone was attacked. And no, there’s no way what I saw was a pokemon trying to pick someone up. I know what I saw, kid. That thing attacked you.”

For the first time, a flash of frustration tightened Josie’s features. But it was soon gone as he sighed. 

“See, that is the cruel part. I wouldn’t testify at all, I’m not about to sue my brother. But I wouldn’t want anyone else doing it either, especially making up a fake story for it. And it does change, making it you or me. A pokemon I grew up with getting over-excited seeing me is way different than someone targeting and attacking a gym leader. You taking it to court could ruin Mick’s life, getting him banned from battling or getting his pokemon taken away…” 

Regret drew Josie’s eyes down as he loosely hugged around Flareon. “...and what does it matter if he attacked me? As long as it’s not other people…that’s fine. It’s business between us, no one else. No establishment stuff.”

“Ah, see… what we have here is a difference of perspective, not opinion, I think.” Kaito said, shooting the kid a tired side-eye, “See, if you were looking at this situation from my perspective? You’d see something cruel in letting someone who’s nearly fully grown, attack and hurt someone half his size, and then force the victim to defend his attacker. Even me indulging in your perspective? Where that’s a reasonable decision to make? Would be cruel. Because it allows someone to take a beating, and then insist the person who beat them did nothing wrong. And if it wasn’t literally happening to you, kid, I bet you’d see that too.”

“And it matters because that’s shitty and it sucks and I hate it,” Kaito grumbled, “Why should he get to attack you? That’s bullshit.”

Josie let out a frustrated breath. “I don’t like it. But I at least get it. And if it comes between having a few cuts, and Mick losing everything he’s ever worked for, I’ll happily take a beating or two. It’s literally the least I can do, after…freaking ruining his life.”

“Fla!” Flareon protested, glaring at Josie. 

And Josie could only give his pokemon a tense look before sighing. “At least you two are in agreement…”

“Me and Flareon are on the same side? Hell yeah, up top, Flareon!” Kaito encouraged, putting up his hand in a high five… and holding it there, pouting at the pokemon, “Come on, work with me here, I am super an ally if the goal is ‘don’t let people hurt Josie’. Don’t let my random weirdness dissuade you, I am hella competent at this part of it. Down low? Would down low be easier?” Kaito offered, placing his hand low, palm up.

Flareon looked at Kaito’s hand disdainfully, but as he lowered it, Flareon daintily pressed a wetted paw to Kaito’s palm, sniffing quietly. It made Josie laugh softly. “Looks like it’s really starting to warm up to you. Flareon wouldn’t do that for just anyone.”

Fondly, Josie stroked his fingers through Flareon’s fur, feeling warm even in a dank cave. “...I’m a little surprised you never asked, since you’re a self-proclaimed busy-body. Most trainers my age tend to have unevolved pokemon, especially for stone evolutions. Evolution stones aren’t the easiest things to get, in most places.”

“Why I never asked why Flareon’s not an Eevee?” Kaito clarified, feeling very pleased about his little pokemon low five, putting his hands back against the stone as he leaned back, “I don’t know, it didn’t occur to me. Flareon’s aren’t that rare, maybe you met it in the wild? Won it over with your charm?”

“While that’s entirely possible,” Josie winked, before looking back down, “...nah. Dad gave me an Eevee egg when I was 6, to start teaching me the responsibility of having pokemon. It’s a lot harder to hatch eggs when other pokemon aren’t helping you with it, but…that was part of the lesson, I guess. Doing things that are hard because that’s the option you have open to you.”

Flareon huffed a little and rolled over in Josie’s lap, demanding the pets now be belly rubs, and Josie was happy to oblige. 

“After it hatched, Dad gave me a bunch of evolution stones, saying that you never really know when a stone evo pokemon will be ready to change, so…I had to be ready at any moment.” 

It wasn’t a sentiment Josie really…liked, but in the most objective sense, Flareon wasn’t the best competitive pokemon. Its move pool was the most limited of any fire-type, and for that matter it was a mono-type. And while Mick had other pokemon, with Hydreigon as his partner, it would only make sense that Josie would try to train a Sylveon. If he was even capable of that kind of love. 

“When I was 8, I got caught in a snowstorm. Not one of the week or month-long ones, but one that made it impossible to travel, even if I hadn’t gotten lost,” Josie said softly. …Mick had taken him out to the mountain by their house, saying he was going to show Josie some of the rarer mountain pokemon that didn’t just wander into their backyard. They’d walked for hours, Josie doing his best to try and keep up with his brother through the waist-high snow, not wanting to waste this rare moment between them…before Mick had flown off on Hydreigon, leaving him there. 

“I spent too long trying to get back home, and by the time I finally tried to make a snow burrow to wait things out, I was already soaked and freezing,” Josie explained, before he looked down, expression soft. “Flareon, Eevee then, bit the Fire Stone out from my pouch and evolved, curling around me. Barely letting the light fade before keeping things warm around its paws and belly, while trying to keep too much heat from leaking elsewhere and melting the snow around us. I don’t think I would’ve survived if it hadn’t done that.”

Kaito listened to the story, enraptured… before saying softly, “That’s incredible. Shoot, do I have a treat on me? I mean, giving up your entire concept of identity to save your parents life is worth more than a treat, of course, but, hold on… aha!” Kaito said, pulling out of his pockets a small bag, “Pokebeans! Do you like pokebeans, Flareon? Again, not really a reward suitable for a hero, but sometimes being a hero just means that every now and again someone buys your drink at the bar.” 

Kaito offered the bag to Josie to feed Flareon with, “It’s good that you had someone looking out for you. Seriously, that makes me happy… I just wish I could understand why you think you’re some sort of exception, when people don’t look out for you. You know I have to harp on that, right? I haaaave to, it’s so shitty. Everything that happened in the last few days? Fucking awful, kid… can I curse around you? Are you ‘know better than to curse at people in anger’ stage yet? Or if I curse around you is that going to lead to you being really rude to people since you don’t know the difference in how to use that language respectfully or not?”

Josie nodded, his soft, grateful gaze only on Flareon, who was looking quite comfortable, in a cozy lap, getting belly rubs, and about to get treats. Only pink, red, and yellow pokebeans, though, but Josie thought Flareon could be a little picky just fine. Josie owed a lot to his pokemon and while it was a debt he didn’t think he could ever repay…he knew Flareon only considered it a debt in as so much that Josie shouldn’t throw away the life it had saved. And he…tried to honor that. 

Looking back at Kaito, Josie just blinked blankly for a moment before pointing towards the cavern entrance. “I grew up with that, what kind of exposure do you think I have with swear words?”

Kaito squinted, “...nooooone? None? You’ve never heard of a curse word in your life. You don’t even know the concept. You think I’m talking about a witch and a cauldron.”

Josie giggled softly. “Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble, fuck shit damn, bitch and crobble.”

Kaito laughed, loud and boisterous, before grinning, “Alright, fine. But if I hear you curse anyone out, I’m smacking you in the back of the head, that’s your warning… unless they really have it coming. But you gotta use your brain to figure out when it is and isn’t too much.”

“Look, I am a busybody. I want to know… basically everything, about you and your brother and your whole situation,” Kaito admitted, looking back to the water. Josie might find the idea of being inside a sharp, difficult to touch cage as frightening, but for Kaito? He liked it here. It was pretty and calm and quiet… and a cage was only oppressive if it was locked. Otherwise, it was just a different type of home. “But here’s what’s important, okay? And I’ve already told you this once, but I’m saying it again so you don’t misunderstand me. This city? Is a safe place for you. It’s safe partly because it’s so dangerous. There will never be a lot of people here. There will never be easy access in and out. If you take the time to learn how to travel this biome? Then you’ll always have a safe place to go, where people can’t easily follow you.”

“So… if you want. You can stay a while, to learn how to do that,” Kaito said, “If you want, I won’t make you. Hell, you can leave and change your mind later, if you want to. I’m saying you can stay for a while, if you’d like. As long as you like.”

“That’s fair,” Josie laughed quietly. He knew how to swear, sure, but it had never been a particularly virulent part of his speech. (It had never been, but Josie just chose other, more personal things to turn into weapons. In some ways, it might even be kinder if he chose just to use strong language.)

Sighing silently, Josie gently scratched Flareon’s belly, a faint smile on his face. “I mean…I probably should get your badge before I head out. And judging by our battle today, that might take me a little while. So…I guess I’m sticking around, at least for a bit. And heat’s never really suited me, so I’ll take anything that makes getting around here easier.”

…he knew he couldn’t stay forever. But it would be nice, for a little while.

“Good,” Kaito sighed, “...Heh. I’m almost afraid to say anything else. Wouldn’t want to chase you off, being nosy.”

Kaito’s tone was light, like he was joking, but it was a legitimate fear. Kaito could get intense, and he knew it. He had found himself needing to chase friends–sometimes literally–partly because they took more effort to get to know and needed to be chased… but always because they were running from him. It was the constant, in needing to pursue someone. It meant they weren’t walking towards him.

That had been true for so many of Kaito’s relationships that he couldn’t help but feel sometimes that all of his relationships were a series of hunts and chases. Kaito a predator, constantly looking for ways to capture people's attention, affection. It was Kaito’s own fault. He demanded too much, too quickly.

Maybe he was just too impatient. Maybe he didn’t need to know anything about Josie to help him by this point. Maybe Kaito had already done everything he could possibly do to help, and it was out of his hands now.

He didn’t know. He wasn’t good at letting go. “You want me to walk you back now? I know it gets a bit chilly down here.”

“It wooooould be a little mean, giving me a safe place then demanding everything I can give,” Josie said in the same sort of joking tone. “But if you’re just asking, then I can still say no, I guess.”

(Some of it was already there. The bright smiles, the teasing, the deflection. But Josie hadn’t gotten mean, hadn’t talked absolute circles around people until later.)

Looking around the cavern, Josie snorted a little. “Flareon makes that point a little moot, but, yeah, I’ll take you up on that. The Clefable made it pretty easy to follow downward, but a guide couldn’t hurt going back up.”

“Alright, up, up, then!” Kaito said, standing up and stretching, book in hand, “Leeet’s go! Man, I’m gonna go take a nap in the sun next. Get the chill out of my bones. Not everyone has little fire friends all wrapped up around them. Come on, let’s go!”

Leaning over with a grin, Josie nuzzled his face into Flareon’s ruff affectionately, hearing a little ‘fl-urrrp?!’ in response, before returning his companion to its pokeball and getting up, fruitlessly brushing off the damp backside of his pants. “It is pretty fortunate, huh. Definitely its own type of type-advantage.”

Even for non-warmth reasons, though, Josie would be happy to see the sun again. Things just felt better if you could easily see the sky. 

-

It was a pleasant day. The sun was warm. The breeze was… breezing. Leave Mankey alone, it wasn’t a poet. 

It was the kind of day where you fucked around and found out. But then, that was everyday, and so far all Mankey had found out was that traveling trainers were super fun to steal from. As he was sure these two were also going to be.

So, while they were busy chatting together, Mankey hopped onto the long one’s back, shoved its hand into its backpack, grabbed an item at random, and before the smaller one could finish saying, “Oh, goodness.” it was off!! 

(Maybe it was less of an affront to ‘Taurs that were away from their villages, but for most? It was…unimaginable that someone would get on their back. Mike had never seen a horse in his life until he left Edahu, and he had been stunned seeing people ride them. So that was all to explain--)

“WHAT THE FUCK?!?” a voice screeched through the canopy, Mike nearly involuntarily bucking before he hopped around, snorting, and started galloping after…whatever had pounced on him. A small pokemon, probably, but Mike hadn’t seen it, and he didn’t really care as he barreled on after it. 

“Rotom, get ready!” Mike called, before shouting, “COME BACK HERE, ASSHOLE!!”

“Oh dear,” Ava said, sighing as she started to jog lightly behind them. “Well, I’ve learned something new about myself. I am not a fan of running.”

Mankey cackled, waving the small rectangle it had gotten a hold of gleefully, sticking its tongue out at the trainer before dodging. Eyyyyy, what’s the big deal!? Fuck off, little pokemon, don’t make ‘em smack you out of the air!

A Mankey? Just their fucking luck, a pokemon that, as a species, was reported to have anger issues just as bad as his. Wonderful. 

“You don’t even know how to use that anyway, Mankey!” Mike called. “If you wanted something to throw, just get a damn rock!”

While he taunted, though, Mike indicated to Rotom, the sprite jittering with a grin before it let loose a small wall of electricity behind the Mankey. Not trying to hit it, but trying to close off escape routes.

What the ACTUAL fuck!? Welllll, fuck you two, little spinny asshole! Watch, Mankey had its OWN super cool pokemon abilities! Watch this shit! 

Fuuuuuryyyyyy…. SWIPE!!

Mankey hit the ‘wall’ and bounced off it. AHHHHH WHAT THE FUCK!?

Okay, okay, okay, minor setback! 

Looooooooow… KICK!!!

AHHHHHHHHH what is the wall INDESTRUCTIBLE this is BULLSHIT!!

Mankey looked back at the pokemon and its ugly-ass trainer and leered at them. Squeezing the flashlight menacingly in its grips.

“Phew.” Ava huffed, finally catching up. Looking entirely unpleased as she sweated ever so slightly. “I need a tea. And a couch. And a good book. Running is atrocious.”

Mike sneered at the monkey pokemon as it fumed with its own frustrations, taking a few small steps closer. He felt the leer run through him, but stood tall. Rotom could take anything fine--any normal or fighting attacks, which the Mankey had tried against the electric wall, wouldn’t effect it, and…well, Mike wasn’t concerned about himself. 

Hearing Ava come up, he huffed. “It really is. And you made us do it, you little jerk.”

Another step forward, but Mike just held his hand out, not trying to actually loom over or back the Mankey into a corner. “My device, please. I’ll trade you something good for it. You did successfully steal it, even if you botched the getaway, so you may as well get something for your troubles, right?”

Mankey backed away suspiciously from the trainer. A trade? That wasn’t… unappealing. Mankey wasn’t above rolling the dice for something cooler. It was a gambler and risk-taker at heart, and it wasn’t like it had picked the item it had stolen specifically.

Though, it looked down at the devise it had. What did it have? It sort of just looked like a brick. But with glass on it and–

Flash Flash Flash

-

The pokemon of the world did, in fact, have a consciousness. 

The same way that all of the people who ‘weren’t’ did. They were built by the consciousness of others. Given false agency, to be sure, but still a type of independence, in only the way beautiful shadows dancing at the edge of fires could. You couldn’t really predict what the shadows would do, second by second. But they only reflected the fires collective impulse. 

So every pokemon a dreamer encountered was a little affected by the dreamers contributing fire. Creating a sense of ambition and duty in Kirumi and Dimitri’s pokemon. A sense of playfulness and love in Kokichi’s, Arven, and Kyle’s. A sense of protection and solidarity, in Kaito’s, Maki’s, and Mike’s. 

But what fueled the fire was another consciousness. One who was very, very good at being others tiny, big, loud, thoughtful, clingy, POWERFUL, weird little friends.

Mankey looked at the flash and–

-

U_U

O.O

A strange little pokemon suddenly appeared, and landed on its head. 

AHHHHHH WHAT THE FUUUUUCK!?

Mankey, not having expected karma to hit it so directly, gasped as something just suddenly appeared on its back, dropping the device and scrambling around in furious panic. Get it off, get it off, get it off!!

OoO WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Mike’s eyes widened, his breath catching in his throat as Mankey hit a button and the device started to flash. Several curses all fought for space in his mouth, creating a garbled sound of nonsense, as he jolted forward, trying to…he didn’t know! Turn the light away from Mankey, shield its eyes, something--

But Mike hesitated as a new pokemon just…appeared on Mankey, and he stared in astonishment, a questioning noise in his throat before he quickly reached in, turning the flashing lens to the ground. That at least was something he could do, but…

“Meloetta, the Melody Pokemon!” Rotom in Mike’s phone said, activating his Pokedex app. “A legend associated with the Forces of Nature! Melodies sung by Meloetta have the ability to influence the emotions of those who hear the song. Meloetta has multiple forms that change its appearance and type, such as Aria Form and Pirouette Form!”

Mike gaped, barely thinking as he scooped up Meloetta from Mankey’s head, his eyes bugged. Or, well, that wasn’t quite right, he was more thinking: Great Arceus’s hooves what the fuck this is a legendary what the fuck just happened holy shit.

“Oh,” Ava said, peeking around Mike, looking curiously at the new pokemon, “Aren’t you sweet looking.”

OuO Thank you I knooooow

O.O wait

>.>

<.<

O.O ???

The Meloetta flittered up from the Mike’s hand, looking around while behind her Mankey shouted at her, hopping furiously from foot to foot. Ava looked curiously at the Mankey as it stomped it’s foot in fury on the ground, before she nudged Mike, “Perhaps you should follow through on that trade, Mike. The Mankey looks a bit cheated, something nice might calm it down.”

A pokemon didn’t have to be a legendary to speak common, but…the fact that this one did…holy shit. Mike was stuck, stunned, just…watching until Ava nudged him. He started slightly, before stiltedly nodding with a cool and collected, “Y-ea-uh…”

Still looking a bit shaken, Mike searched around in his bag before pulling out a black band and a poffin. He walked over to the pissed Mankey before folding his legs under himself, bringing them closer in height and offering the items. “I wasn’t just trying to buy you with food, though it’s usually nice, right? But if you wanted something more helpful, this is a Focus Sash. It’ll keep you going past a move that’d normally knock you out, but only once before you get some healing.”

Mike smirked a little, still off kilter, but trying to regain some control. “If you’re out here stealing from travelers that you can’t get away from, think it might help you out with the kind of trouble you get into.”

Mankey still looked skeptical and skittish… but its desire for a cool new trinket superceded its paranoia, looking in fascination at the band…while grabbing the poffin and shoving the whole thing into its mouth quickly. Eating it fast, just in case someone tried to take it from it… oh!

That tasted really good. 

Mankey grabbed the sash, but rather then running off, it looked more curiously at Mike. Moving over to him and sniffing him around the legs, going to his hindlegs and curiously tugging his tail. 

“Now, now, that’s a bit rude.” Ava told it. “I know you wouldn’t like your tail pulled. So you understand why it’s rude.”

Mankey stuck its tongue at Ava, before trying to crawl up Mike’s backside. 

Mike…honestly had expected the Mankey to run off. This was probably a pretty shitty day for it, getting flashed in the eyes and having a fucking legendary holy shit land on its head, so…he went stiff as Mankey came closer, sniffing him out. His eye twitching a little as his tail was pulled, and holding together every atom of self-restraint not to reflexively kick a hoof out. Though as Mankey tried to climb on him, Mike started to growl, turning…

Though Rotom was faster, quickly hovering to the side Mankey was crawling up and giving a loud buzz, sticking its tongue out at Mankey. 

“Oi,” Mike warned. “You just threw a fit having Meloetta on your head, why do you think I want you on me?!”

Though, even just saying the legendary’s name refocused Mike’s attention, and he glanced over, making sure it hadn’t vanished. “...you’re not just a Ditto with the weirdest sense of humor, are you?”

Mankey ignored the warnings of both Rotom and Mike, settling on Mike’s butt. Having the audacity to look entirely innocent as it sat there, like it couldn’t possibly fathom it was doing anything wrong. What? Why was everyone annoyed??

Meloetta didn’t realize Mike was talking to her for a moment, still looking around. Though, at the ditto comment, she looked down at Mike… before fluttering to the front of his face. Peering into his eyes. Then looking over at Ava. Then Mike.

O.O

OoO ooooooh this is triiiippyyyyy

o.o;;;

OOO;;; OKAY I’M NOOOOOT FREAKIN’ OUT I AM THE QUEEEEN OF DREAMS IT IS ALLLLL GOOD

O.O;;;

OoO wow okay no I am gooood i’m good 

O.O

OOO;;; I HAVE NEVER SLEPT BEFORE

“You’re not actually asleep now,” Ava told the pokemon, tilting her head slightly, “Also, may I say, I’ve never met a talking pokemon before. I know pokemon can, but I also think I know it’s a bit of a mixed success rate. You are very clearly spoken.”

O-O;;;

OoO okay team GAME PLAN

OOO WE WILL NOT HAVE AN EXISTENTIAL CRISIS FIRST

OoO agreed???

Don’t buck the pokemon off, you’ll hurt it, it isn’t doing anything wrong--

“Rrrrrrrggg,” Mike growled, his tail flicking at the Mankey as his fists shook with repressed action. And legendary or no, hearing riddles from Meloetta was doing nothing to help. 

“What the fuck is this?!” he snapped, very quickly losing his cool. “Why’d you show up when Mankey pressed that button, and…what, y-you’re not Jirachi or Musharna or anything, unless the legends around you are way fucking wrong. Do…”

Mike’s ears twitched, an odd expression going through his face. “Do you need help?”

O.O button??

Meloetta clearly had no idea what the ‘button’ might have to do with her. One second, she was… honestly, most things. And now she was… uuuuuuh, STILL most things. But also one thing. But still one hundred percent a TON OF OTHER THINGS. 

(Amaina was used to being a dream. She was not used to being lost in dreams herself. It had never happened to her before. She had never ‘woken up’ before, not beyond pretending too.)

(But not only was she now woken up… but she was still asleep.)

(Lucid dreaming.)

(But with parts of it still entirely out of her control. Only the piece of her that had been connected to Mankey actually lucid now.)

(It was a lot.)

O.O;;;

OoO Yeah I could use some help thanks

OOO I NEED TO RESCUE THE PRINCESS

“You seem… confused.” Ava said softly, now stepping up. Meloetta looking at her with clear sweat on its little pokemon body, as Ava said gently up to her, “You keep speaking of existentialism. And some of the things you’ve mentioned don’t seem related to each other. Little pokemon, you might be experiencing an ‘episode’. Or maybe not, but if you are, perhaps you should rest with us for a while. See if things become less confusing over time while we look after you.”

O-O;;; 

OoO well your the expert sooooo sure???

And shivering a little, Meloetta went to Mike’s hoody, speaking to Rotom, can I room with you??

It was embarrassing. Childish. Like some dumb story book for babies, that Mike had thought…maybe his device had summoned a legendary pokemon. That certainly looked like what had happened, but…that was dumb. Maybe Meloetta usually got around by teleporting, and was in the area and had just…gotten confused with the flashing. That was more likely, anyway. 

…seemed…really confused. Mankey seemed just happy, but…if Mike had…

Sighing, Mike stood up, giving Mankey a dirty look as he grumbled, “What the fuck am I, a Pokemon taxi? Someone should’ve said I was growing metal feathers…” He could hear Rotom buzzing excitedly, and soon enough there was extra weight in his hood, and Mike could only shake his head as he picked up the abandoned device, giving it a suspicious look before putting it back in his bag. 

“Hey, Expert, Meloetta,” Mike called over, “Are you guys hungry? Since I already gave Mankey food, and we had to fucking run over here…think we should take five?”

“Perhaps that’s wise. Perhaps your new pokemon will feel better once she has food in her stomach.” Ava said, brushing off her legs, looking around for a good spot to lay down a picnic.

OoO I’m not anyone’s pokemon

O.O;;;

OOO ACTUALLY NEVERMIND THAT’S SO ENTIRELY WRONG THAT I CANT STAND BY IT

O.o I am everyone’s pokemon

“We’ll get you some water as well. And you’re correct, I shouldn’t have presumed you’d be Mike’s pokemon. It just seemed that Mankey’s already made up its mind on the subject.” Ava said, looking over at Mankey, who was now laying lazily alongside Mike’s butt. Cleaning out its ears and flicking off the wax into the grass. “Though, you probably should actually ‘catch’ Mankey at some point, Mike, unless you want it climbing all over you the entire journey.”

“What?” Mike had asked, looking at Ava in baffled confusion. 

“What?” he’d asked, as Meloetta claimed a type of bond and partnership to everyone. 

“WHAT?!” he’d squeaked, sweating as he twisted to get a look at Mankey, trying to look at their party, even if the grand majority were on him and very difficult to look at. “Since when - what? Huh?! That’s not… I didn’t…”

Pale, Mike shoved a hand into his ball pouch and thrusted it almost panickedly at Mankey, his stare on the pokemon intense and fixed. 

Mankey glared back. The look entirely challenging. 

“Do you want to stay or not!?” Mike demanded, sweating. 

Mankey snorted, before pointedly turning over. Putting his back to Mike, still lounging on his ass.

“How tsundere.” Ava said, snickering a little, “Reminds me of a trainer I know.”

Mike gave Ava a dirty look before snorting, lightly tossing the ball onto Mankey. He wasn’t expecting it to take, but even for a second it would…well, do whatever pokeballs did to put pokemon inside, and that meant Mankey would be off of his back. And that second would be just enough to pivot his back legs away from that spot. 

Mankey disappeared into the pokemon. The pivot was made. The ball fell onto the ground.

…twitch…twitch…

Ding.

Ava stared at the ball, before glancing over at Mike. “Be honest. How much were you expecting for it to change its mind at the last second?”

Mike stared at the ball. Astonished. A little buzzing song hummed out behind his head. …he…had another pokemon. One that absolutely had more of a choice to come with him than rotting away in a storage room for another eternity. 

“Entirely,” Mike said, picking up the ball with a peculiarly soft expression. Shaking his head a little, he found a good patch of grass to sit in before letting Mankey back out, starting to get out some food. “...well, this solves some of the concerns about the Steel Gym…”

Glancing into his hood, he called, “Hey, Meloetta. We’re headed towards Bianco Hills, any objection to that on your princess quest?”

Mankey stretched out, before contently laying in the grass, starting to sleep. Ava giggled lightly at the relaxed, explosive pokemon. “I suppose I decided to go with you just as impulsively, so I have no room to judge. It’s hard not to want to be around someone who’s kind to you.”

Putting down a picnic blanket, Ava started to lay food out, while Meloetta flew out of Mike’s hood, landing down onto the picnic blanket. 

>.>

<.<

OoO I have nooooooo idea 

OOO SHE IS EVERYWHERE

OoO but so is everyone sooooooo

O.O

OoO i don’t know where to begin

“I have a bit of a quest myself, Meloetta,” Ava said, looking down at the little pokemon, who peered wide eyed up at her, “I’m looking for my memories. And like you, I don’t really know where to start. What I’ve decided is that since I don’t know where to begin, exploring the world around me is as good a start as any. So I’m exploring the world with Mike.”

OoO oh yeah that makes sense

O.O

OoO your memories??

“I woke up on the road, not that many days ago.” Ava explained, opening her thermos and pouring everyone some tea, “No memory of how I got there, or my life before I woke up. A bit alarming, but not as bad as it sounds.”

O.O

OoO I know who you are

“...oh?” Ava said, looking genuinely startled.

OOO YEAH

OoO you’re smart!

O.O Emotionally

“...and?” Ava said.

OoO and what?? You’re smart as HECK. crazy smart!

OuO and pretty

Ava relaxed. “Oh, thank you. I’m glad I’ve made a good first impression, but I really mean more concrete information than that.”

O.O ??? 

Mike just blushed and muttered indistinctly to himself as he put out some of the food they’d gotten from Pinna Parkland, malasadas (he hadn’t been sure about those, but when he was told by the stand owner that they were like donuts, Mike found he approved, especially with the savory ones) and spicy potato wedges with Scovillain sauce, a few rice balls, though since they kept well most he kept in their provisions, and some raw fruit. Kindness… She really kept just saying that, huh. 

Setting Rotom up with a sweet malasada, Mike frowned a little at the…very unhelpful directions Meloetta had--his teleportation theory was looking more likely--though he looked up in shock as the legend said she…knew Ava. Though, uh…

Mike sighed, rolling his eyes lightly. “You’re not wrong, but if you’re just saying you can tell Ava’s character, and not who she was before she lost her memories, that’s a little misleading. She means, like…was Ava in a trainer’s school? Do you know any friends or family she has? Do you know if she made any plans to erase her memories, that sort of stuff.”

Mike fussed with his phone a little. “...also, can I take a picture of you?”

Meloetta had been considering the criteria–friends and family?? Dr. Mariah certainly hadn’t been in school–before she suddenly lit up. Standing up and, with a spin, cheerfully posing for Mike 

OUO GET MY GOOD SIDE!!

Gothitelle joined them, settling in demurely beside Ava, accepting the food offered to her as Meloetta offered Mike several poses, making squealing little musical sounds to accompany each pose. After a certain point, Meloetta just started dancing around the picnic blanket, trusting Mike to continue taking pictures… before she suddenly stopped. 

OoO Does Doppio count?

OoO As a friend??

Normally Mike wouldn’t have bothered to ask, but…Meloetta was a legendary. Sure, she had asked them for help but…Mike didn’t want to extort what was basically a god. If he snapped a pic and then she immediately disappeared…he’d feel shitty. But it seemed like Meloetta wasn’t as purposefully elusive as some legendaries were reported to be, and Mike snapped just…so many pictures. So many, with all the best settings he could guess at, for not being a professional photographer, and when she started dancing he just up and took a video, just…amazed. For everything he had anticipated from his journey, having a picnic with a legendary who was having the time of her life dancing would not have ever even crossed his mind. 

He stopped the recording when she stopped, though, and raised an eyebrow before looking over at Ava. Seeing if there was any recognition on her face. 

Ava… just looked confused. “...vinegar?”

OoO Doppio!

“You’re just naming a food in italian.”

OOO HE’S MORE THAN A FOOD DON’T EAT HIM

QnQ He’s my best friend

“Oh, my apologies. Um…” Ava shrugged, “If you think your friend could help? Perhaps point him out to us if you see him then.”

QOQ NOT IF YOU’RE GONNA EAT HIM

Mike glanced between them, though he started selecting photos to send into the Pokedex forums, feeling…weirdly excited to get to contribute something to the project himself. Tilting his head a little, he asked Meloetta, “If this Doppio guy is your best friend, and you thought it was possible enough he’s friends with Ava to mention it, then…were you friends with Ava too before she lost her memories?”

Mike was…not jealous by that idea. He was talking to a legendary right now, it’d be absurd. But…if Ava was acquainted with legendaries then…that could be more evidence for the ‘she did this to herself’ theory.

O.O

OoO I dunno were we?

Meloetta looked to Ava, waiting for a response. Ava stared curiously at her back. The two just stared at each other. 

“...I don’t remember enough to say so,” Ava said, “Did we… speak?”

OoO sometimes

“I see… is that why you’re here?”

O.O no

“...” Ava glanced over at her pokemon, “Are you familiar with this pokemon?”

Gothitelle shook her head. Before she suddenly spoke directly to Meloetta. You’re confusing my trainer. Would it be easier to speak pokemon to pokemon?

O.O …

OoO you have suuuuuuch pretty eyes she said back in ‘pokemon’.

Gothitelle looked back at Ava and shrugged. She tried.

OoO I’m here to save the princess

OoO;; and i guess everyone else now too

O.O

OoO yeah i could use help with that if the offer staaaaands

“I think pressing her to say exactly how she knows me, or how I might know this ‘Doppio’ person, might be a bit foolish,” Ava said, looking to Mike now, “I don’t think she’s trying to mislead us. I believe she’s speaking as clearly as she can. The sense I’m getting is that she struggles to communicate without the idea that everyone else isn’t able to… I imagine ‘see’ what she’s talking about. You said she’s a legendary pokemon? She might have a higher plane of communication that she’s more accustomed too.”

OoO yeah i can get pretty high sometimes if where i’m at is high

O.O unless you mean physically and that’s more ‘concept’ than anything

O.O

OOO AND IF YOU MEAN IN IMPORTANCE THAN I AM THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA

OoO But only here. And not the kinky kind

QoQ Unfortunately

That…made a good amount of sense, actually. While pokemon and people were able to communicate, it would be a huge mistake to assume that they all perceived the same sorts of things. A pokemon might try to describe what it was like, but Mike would never really know what seeing the world’s auras was like for a Lucario, or the inherent knowledge of magnetic poles like Nosepass, or…even what possessing different objects was like for Rotom. So…if this was Meloetta’s attempts at speaking clearly…

Reduce to the barest meaning. Meloetta was a legendary, so, that importance was obvious. And saving the princess and everyone else… Someone important, but not ‘concept of reality’ important was…well. Maybe not in danger, but needed saving. …physically was ‘concept’ more than anything, and…Meloetta said the princess was everywhere, but so was everyone else… Maybe…people were more of…a flattened concept of…life, that was everywhere to Meloetta, so trying to pinpoint the physicality was…more or less impossible for her. So…

Mike frowned thoughtfully, glancing at the upload bar on his phone before setting it down and grabbing the light from his bag again, giving it a thoughtful look. Then he glanced back up at Meloetta. “...you didn’t really know what this was, or what was going on when you showed up, did you?”

Meloetta looked at the flashlight, tilting her head, before shaking it.

OoO I’m here because Mankey woke up

O.O which just means I woke up

“Perhaps she was…” Ava frowned, “...I can’t really guess. I don’t actually understand what ‘legendaries’ are. Are they rare pokemon, or… I’ve heard they’re meant to be gods. Which seems like quite a statement. Why would a god be resting in the mind of a Mankey?”

OoO I’m everywhere!

O.O but Mankey was where I woke up

Mike frowned a little more. Mankey ‘woke up’?

(Tim called it a medical flashlight…)

“All pokemon are powerful, but legendaries are distinctive in that, mostly, there’s only one of their species, and they have abilities that can shape the world and reality itself,” Mike explained, his brow furrowed as he thought. “Though…Meloetta being…everywhere. Sound is everywhere, sure, but…I think the descriptions of your abilities might be way off. Emotions and sound and everything alive, associated with the forces of nature…”

Mankey woke up…then Meloetta woke up. She said they were asleep…

Mike narrowed his eyes at the device. His thumb hovering over the first button. 

“...do you think you’d wake up again, even if you’re awake now?” he asked slowly.

OoO Yes!

O.O I’m awake, but still… sleeping

O.O only the smallest piece of me is awake

OoO it’s weirdly

O.O

OoO peaceful. It’s nice! I’ve never done this before

O.O but i can’t sleep forever

OoO i dont think any of us would want to

Mike grunted in agreement. “You have to, but it’s such…a waste of time. There’s always so much going on and so much to do and sleeping just takes you away from everything for hours. It’s such Tauros-shit.”

Mike didn’t exactly have the healthiest relationship with sleep. So he didn’t think much before pressing the button. 

-

“HHHHuuuuAG!” Mike almost screamed out his gasp, body jolting in the nest of bedding he’d made on the floor, but he hadn’t even finished inhaling before his eyes drooped closed again. 

-

To the picnicking friends, it would’ve looked like Mike slumped over for a moment as soon as the lights started flashing in his face, before he winced, pulling it away. Eyes scrunched as he put a hand to his head.

“Mike?” Ava frowned, reaching over on instinct like she could steady him, though he was a bit aways from her and seemed to have caught himself already, “Are you okay?”

Mike just shuddered for a moment, before squinting his eyes open, looking…bewildered at the… At his disruptor. With the clasp the weird clown fairy had told him…

“I’m good,” he quickly rasped, “I’m good, I…”

He narrowed his eyes at Meloetta. “...sleeping doesn’t transport your mind into another dimension. It’s provably just hallucinations and sensations in your brain. What…is this?”

Then Mike promptly leaned over to the side--kindly away from the blanket--and heaved up his entire stomach. 

“Oh dear! Well, I suppose it’s better in the grass. Drink some water, Mike.” Ava insisted, pouring some water out of a separate, not-tea thermos. 

O.O ???

OOO Consciousness is ENERGY and energy is MATTER and matter makes excellent DISCO ROOMS

OoO watch i’ll show you

And then Meloetta started to dance. And as she spun, rainbow lights started to light up and flash around her in sparkling, circular squares, as she started to sing:

You can dance in thoughts

It’s hallucinate not halluci-not! 

Mental energy has a magnetic wavelength as physical as a compass pointing north!

And it’s suuuuper fun to dance in~

O.O

OoO Or I dunno something like that

O.O

OOO YOU MAY CLAP NOW

Ava and Gothitelle both clapped politely. Mankey snorted.

Mike took the water, shuddering and spitting over his vomit pile and just…tried to keep the world from spinning. Or shaking. Or flashing through his body at wildly different temperatures, which was bullshit because wasn’t this all fake anyway???

“Energy isn’t matter,” he grumbled towards Meloetta, her sudden disco room really not helping, but… Well. That fairy before had mentioned dreams, hadn’t he? And…as backwards as it seemed, just because this was a dream, it didn’t mean it was fake. Everything he was doing, he was still experiencing mentally, even if some of it would fade when he woke up. 

Though, considering the nature of this dream, he wasn’t sure how ensured that would be. 

…Meloetta ‘woke up’. Multiple people waking up in the same, shared dream. She wanted to save everyone, everyone was everywhere…she needed to save the princess. 

Mike groaned, losing the battle of wariness within himself as he shifted to lay on his side, even the slightest bit of verticality painful at the moment. “Did Princess Miyako mind-steal…everyone??”

Ava looked curiously at Mike, but was notably quiet, Watching him and Meloetta carefully, as Meloetta stopped dancing, swaying as she walked to Mike and collapsed against one of his hooves. 

OoO yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah i mean no but yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

O.O it was kinda a group effort

QOQ SHE’S JUST A BABY ITS NOT HER FAULT

QnQ And I’m too cute to blame

OoO its a super secret fourth option

O.O

OoO the third option is a dragon dont ask

“Mike, you seem to be in a great deal of distress,” Ava said, “We may have some medicine packed away. Would you like to try a mild painkiller?”

“What the fuck…” Mike sighed, rubbing a hand down his face. It was weird enough getting mind-stolen himself and making a fool out of himself in front of Tim and his dad. But, like…that was within the realm of possibility. Sucked, but there were cautionary stories about the fae for a reason. 

Miyako, Meloetta (or…whatever she was), and…a dragon??? Putting enough people asleep for… Mike didn’t know. An entire world? A continent? Mankey waking up brought over Meloetta, so…it wasn’t like every living thing in this dream was a distinct person, or at least that seemed to be a reasonable hypothesis, but…

“...yeah, I’ll take one,” Mike groaned, still looking a little green around the gills. “I’d ask if you wanted to wake up too, but if we’re stuck here regardless, maybe both of us puking our fucking guts out would be too much.”

“I’m still considering my options, based on what I’m currently looking at.” Ava said, pulling out a little packet of berries, popping out a few onto her hand before bringing them over to Mike to eat, “I’m waiting for things to calm down first, before I try to… grasp what’s happening here. ‘Waking up’ notwithstanding, just the situation before such a thing could occur.”

OOO YOU’RE DREAMING

“Yes, I see.” Ava said patiently.

OOO YOU’RE DREAMING ABOUT HOW CUTE I AM

“...” Ava nodded, “I am doing a remarkable job then. You are very cute.”

QvQ

Taking the berries, Mike chewed through them, feeling steadier already. So…well, that answered the question he hadn’t even begun to consider yet, if things wouldn’t affect him as much considering he knew what was happening. It also created the frustration he occasionally got from dreams which was: damnit, why couldn’t real medicine work like this?!?

“Through magic nonsense, we’re all in the same dream,” Mike explained, his voice starting off annoyed, but then softening. “This whole world. The internet, pokemon…everything. It’s just set dressing to the dream that we, and…I’m guessing when Meloetta said ‘everyone’ before, it’s way more than just her, you, and me, are all sharing.”

Mike paused, his eyes glancing back, seeing eyes and an orange spike in the corner of his vision, before he frowned. “...that might be why your memory is messed up. There could be a dream reason too, but…maybe it was just too hard to translate things from your real life into your dream backstory.”

He shrugged a little, looking out into the trees. “I mean…I really am from a place called Edahu, and I really did leave. I’m not doing gym challenges, because that doesn’t exist, but…I do have my own plans.” Mike flushed, embarrassed frustration running through his expression. “...people didn’t sic their pokemon on me, growing up, because…they don’t exist. …but I did get ganged up on in fights a lot. And no one cared, still.”

Ava glanced over at Gothitelle, who seemed to remain calm at the declaration that she… did not exist. Simply calmly watching Ava, the same dignified poise she held herself too not wavering even slightly. 

…hmmm.

“I see. That is still frustrating to hear, but I will admit, the… questioning of our entire reality does take a bit of precedence for me, in this moment.” Ava admitted, sitting on her ankles, considering Mike and Meloetta, “Is that why you came to us as a god, Meloetta? Because you control this reality?”

OoO i dont control SHIT

QnQ I’m stuck too its scary

OOO HOW DARE I BE CONTAINED IN A MIND LANDSCAPE  IN A SMALL CUTE BODY

QnQ I want my noooormal mind landscape in my nooooormal small cute body

O.O

QOQ YES ITS DIFFERENT DONT QUESTION ME

“I have not. At least, not to much of any extent yet.” Ava said, “...perhaps I shouldn’t be as surprised as I am. I have only, in many respects, been ‘awake’, at least in the context of the dream you propose, for perhaps a week? If anyone should find it easy to accept this place does not exist, perhaps it’s me, who has lived in it so little…”

Ava looked down at the flashlight, considering, “...it might be wise for me to not wake up. Yes, perhaps my background was simply too much for something to translate into this… reality? Dream? However we would like to put it. Perhaps out in the world, I simply do not translate here… but.”

Ava sighed, steeling her courage, “It’s equally possible, and perhaps even probable, that my lack of history means I lack history. We should perhaps not risk waking me up, in case all it does is prove I do not exist. As temporary a creature as apparently the pokemon with us are. I… doubt I’d be much help, in that circumstance. Best to avoid it.”

OoO no your real

“Oh, yes.” Ava said, suddenly letting out a breath, “That’s right, you said you knew me. Can I assume you mean ‘out there’?”

OOO YEP!

OoO you are smart and pretty and Doppio’s… frrieeeend? 

OoO you help Doppio

“That’s a bit of a relief, I’ll admit.” Ava said, “Then, a second reason to not let me look at the flashlight: if there’s a possibility the flashlight itself has done something to your perspective, Mike, and this is actually real? It might be wise for one of us to still have our foot in this reality, so to speak. If the flashlight has created a delusion, we shouldn’t both be caught up in it, and if the world around us is the delusion, you’re already our lucid member then.”

Mike frowned more, a…strange feeling starting up in his chest. It felt tight and uncomfortable, and… (weirdly similar to how he felt when he was little and he and Doris had wasted countless hours and days looking for Norman. The twinges of which he still felt these days, still searching around for Norman, though Mike would never admit as such to anyone.)

Ava was real, and…Mike was inclined to trust Meloetta on that assertion. Maybe just because it was what he wanted to be true. But…still. Just like he couldn’t imagine anyone not missing her, Mike couldn’t imagine that she would just…be a figment of this dream. 

(Though it’d make more sense why a figment would want to be friends with him.)

Looking over to Rotom again, the pokemon buzzed softly, floating over Mike’s body to face him. It was just part of the dream, but…even awake, Mike could remember all the…fabricated history, he guessed. And…

…there wasn’t a point in acting as if everything was fake if he was still stuck here, right?

Mike gently pet Rotom before he sighed. Though he did pout a little. “...well, just to cover our bases, I guess. Though I did make the disruptor specifically to break forms of mind control, so I’m pretty certain I’m right.”

Petting Rotom lightly for a few more moments, Mike suddenly gave Ava a smirk. “...Maki’s actually Tim’s mom, in the real world.”

Ava gave a little, surprised ‘o’ face… before she huffed, “Oh, I feel like that explains both so much and nothing at all. She did treat those three a little different from the others. In a way, she was almost harsher with them then the rest, but I got the sensation that she just considered them the most competent of the group and the less hand-holding needed. It’d make sense if that confidence was partly born from familiarity and trust.”

“...that math does not work though, she would have had to have had him at, what…your age, actually. Not impossible, but oof.” Ava said, shaking her head, “In those circumstances, usually an older relative would have adopted… oh! Is he adopted?”

Still looking amused, Mike nodded. Somehow, though, he had a feeling that in this setting, Maki wouldn’t have done much differently if she was aware. Tim might’ve been more inclined to come to the town, though. 

“Yeah,” Mike gossiped, “He was adopted about a year ago, after he tried to assassinate Prince…” Mike paused, before looking a little surprised himself. “Uh, the Fairy Gym Leader, and the CEO of the Illuminary Medical Corp, which set up the Pokemon Center we stayed at. Kaito. But…yeah. Prince Kaito’s government was gonna execute Tim if he went back to their country, so Kaito and Maki adopted him.”

He narrowed his eyes. “...that’s…something. Bullshit. That three of the gym leaders here are the princes.”

“...what?” Ava said, listening to Tim’s increasingly ridiculous story, her eyes widening with every little update… before she said, “Ooooh, that’s fascinating. And truly terrible. And this was all recent? Oh dear, I hope they’re all in therapy. Otherwise some truly terrible coping mechanisms could develop. Wow.”

Ava’s head tilted a bit, registering that, “You know more about gym leaders than I do…they’re princes in the real world? I wonder… perhaps this world was made with catering them in mind? Perhaps because the… princess? Partly created this world?”

OoO nah

“...nothing more to add to that?” Ava asked.

OoO she just wanted everyone close by because she was scared i dont think there was more to it from her end

OOO ITS THE SECRET FOURTH OPTION

O.O

OoO that i dont entirely understand

“Oh, I see. Actually, thank you, that’s helpful.” Ava said, “So essentially the ‘fourth option’ is an unknown influence on this situation to you? But you are aware exists?”

As Meloetta nodded, Ava hummed a bit, “Maybe it’s part of the ‘translation’ idea? People in a position of authority in the real world given a position of authority in the dream? But the translations aren’t one for one. Maki didn’t keep her son as her son, though, he was nearby…”

Ava looked to Mike, and frowned slightly, “You know Tim, in the real world. I assume because you two are friends. But you didn’t know me? Do I go to a different school than you, perhaps?”

“Crazy, right?!” Mike nodded. “He just told me all that and I was like, whoa. And I don’t think he was exaggerating either; everything I found afterward corroborated it. There was some seriously messed up stuff going on around the peace treaty last year, apparently.”

Mike wrinkled his nose a little and tried to sit up--nope, not yet--thinking about this dream catering to the princes. Like…sure, if Princess Miyako had a hand in things, it made sense that she would focus on her parents, since Mike wasn’t really sure if babies could focus on that many more people anyway, but…

Hm. A fourth thing. That would be…something to consider more, if they ever wanted to truly wake up. Meloetta was right, before. No matter how nice the dream, no one would want to sleep forever. 

Shrugging a little at the translation theory, Mike then glanced away, adjusting his hat to not fall away. “I don’t know you out there, yeah, but…I don’t go to school. I only met Tim a couple weeks ago. It’s even possible you do go to school with him, a grade or two up, and within the dream he just doesn’t recognize you.”

“Ah, that makes more sense.” Ava said, “And perhaps I’m still basing too much on the idea that people who know each other would be close by. You said the prince’s are all gym leaders, which means they all must live separately. Unless the brothers don’t all live in the same kingdom?”

OoO Husbands

“...oh, husbands? Three of them?” Ava clarified, “Married to Maki too?”

OoO Nah dungeon prisoner just knocked her up with a surprise ten year old from what i hear

“...I…” Ava stuttered. The other facts not that outlandish, really–polyamory relationships were, of course, a thing–but, “...how do you… accidentally adopt a child with someone?”

OOO BY NOT USING A CONDOM WHEN YOU’RE SIGNING DOCUMENTS, OBVIOUSLY

U_U always wear gloves when around orphans i guess

“Ooooh, they probably need soooo much therapy.” Ava whispered… before she shook her head, “Okay. Let’s think pragmatically. What does all of this mean for us, Mike? Do we… take some sort of action?”

Mike shrugged a little, looking absolutely bored by the family dynamics of the royal family where it less concerned Tim. “Prince Kokichi and Prince Kaito got married last year, and married Prince Shuuichi this year, and Princess Miyako is their daughter. Maki is like…Kaito’s best friend or something, and Shuuichi’s sister, I think, and she and Kaito are Tim’s parents. It’s a lot of nonsense.”

Pulling a face at the grosser explanation Meloetta gave, Mike then…paused, looking a little unsure. “Well…you said you needed help saving the princess,” Mike nodded to Meloetta, “So…I guess we should start on trying to find her, I guess. I don’t know where the dream would put a baby if not with one of her parents, though. But after that…”

His brows furrowed a bit. “...maybe Meloetta waking up isn’t enough for waking everyone up? So…we’d need to wake up Miyako, the dragon, and…the fourth thing. But that would mean figuring out what the fuckin’ fourth thing is first.”

Mike frowned. “...even if we find her, maybe…we should wake Miyako up last, though. It’s freaky enough being in a waking dream without being a literal baby.”

“That makes sense, and at the very least is a start, if nothing else.” Ava said, “Though, I agree, while locating a missing infant is likely priority one, though I’m not sure how much danger she’s in here, stranding her as one of the few lucid people inside this… conception? Contraption? Hmm. Leaving her mentally alone isn’t wise.”

“...though, when we say ‘dragon’, do we mean a dragon-type pokemon?” Ava asked, looking to Meloetta.

OoO nah i mean like a mountain

“...I don’t know if we can just go up to mountains and start flashing lights at them,” Ava said after a moment of thought, “So hopefully your ‘dragon’ is more symbolic than that.”

O.O It might be caaaauuuuuse liiiiike

OoO only a piece of me is awake?? The piece that was in furry guy over there

Meloetta pointed to Mankey, who was snoozing again, unconcerned about all of this.

OoO I’m still a loooooot of things and most of the those things do not know that i’m them

“Then, hopefully one piece of you being aware is enough.” Ava said, “And hopefully that’s not too much of a strain on you. I don’t entirely understand what you are, but I imagine it’s taxing, to stretch yourself so thin.”

OoO it’s alright 

OOO I AM P O W E R

OoO i’ll manage

O.O

QOQ OR ILL DIE

Mike didn’t really know what to make of the dragon. It was part of Meloetta’s higher perception, probably--and he was still inclined to believe that was true enough, even being now awake himself--but…at least literally? Dragons didn’t exist in their real world. Maybe something like a dragon…which maybe could manifest as a dragon-type pokemon, but…

Sighing, Mike flicked his tail a bit. “...would waking up other pokemon wake up other pieces of yourself? Mankey’s still Mankey, so…even if they’re, like, manifestations of your abilities, I have to say I wouldn’t be thrilled flashing lights in every pokemon’s face we come across. Sounds like a good way to get set on fire.”

O.O

OoO no idea

O.O

OOO TRY IT ON HER

Meloetta pointed at Gothitelle, who sighed, like she wasn’t surprised. Ava frowned at the resignation in her pokemon, “Now, now, I don’t want to do anything that will harm her. Perhaps Gohitelle doesn’t exist outside of this world, but I’d rather treat her as if she does exist in this one.”

OoO well yeah she does

OOO SHE’S ME

O///O she’s me if I was tall and HOT

OoO and goth

O.O

OoO and maybe you??

OOO ME AND YOU AND HOT AND GOTH

“Perhaps. But she’s still a version of you that needs to be cared for, and I am her trainer. She’s my responsibility, and I won’t allow her to come to existential harm if I can help it.” Ava frowned, before looking to her pokemon, “If it’s… not too late for that. I imagine this is a frightening conversation.”

Gothitelle considered that. Looking at her hands… before she raised her head. Something in her expression steeling herself, as she looked directly at Mike. Nodding.

…maybe there was a lot that didn’t exist in this world, but…that didn’t mean it didn’t matter. Even when they woke up. 

Even knowing that Rotom was little more than some…spark of power from whatever Meloetta was in the real world…Mike couldn’t imagine treating it any differently. It…mattered to him, to make sure Rotom had snacks and could hitch rides in his hoodie, and…to be a good trainer, so they won their battles and Rotom could grow. It mattered to him that Mankey had been so freaked out earlier, and now was comfortable enough to nap by them. That it had accepted the pokeball without even trying to break out. 

They were things that he wouldn’t have in the real world, but…they mattered now.

Mike met Gothitelle’s unsettling gaze for a moment, a grim frown on his face before he sighed, tenderly pushing himself up. “Mankey seemed alright, so maybe it’s better for pokemon than it is for me, but it still sucks ass,” he warned as he brought the decoder up. “Ava, just in case, steady Gothitelle, but keep your eyes closed, alright? I’ll press it on three.”

And, seeing no argument, Mike counted, “One. Two. Three--” 

Click. 

Flash    Flash    Flash

Ava wrapped her arm around Gothitelle’s waist, closing her eyes and turning away her head, while Gothitelle stared onwards. 

There was a brief moment, after the flash, that she had to close her eyes. Her lips pressing together lightly… but when she opened them again, her eyes glowed blue, and in their minds they all heard, {I am a relationship, and I am biased in choosing that title. I am transition. The point in between Ava and others. I am a concept with no beginning or end, and I am a construct with distinct purpose that no one can control. I fill the space between, given form by power. I cannot awaken, for I am only as awake as the relationships I define are. I am new eyes.}

O.O

OoO oooooh so basically now I can just know what she knows 

O.O but nah i dont think i can wake up more than i am now its still the same

Gothitelle’s eyes stopped glowing, and she relaxed. She looked to Ava, and pointed at the tea thermos. “Of course, one moment.” Ava said, pouring her some more.

Mike didn’t think he could get more awake, but…it was still a brightly flashing light, so he averted his eyes as well until the flashing stopped, and he put the disruptor back in his bag. After Gothitelle, he had a feeling they probably wouldn’t need it for a bit and…well, there wasn’t a reason to obsess over the mystery of it anymore. 

Tensing slightly at the voice in his head, Mike did hear Meloetta’s response, and Ava pouring Gothitelle more tea, but he just mulled over the pokemon’s words for a bit. It made sense that Gothitelle would choose to be a concept of relationships--Ava talked a lot about them. If Gothitelle was given form from Meloetta and Ava then…yeah. The concept of things outside of Ava, but how she related to them. Her relationships with…relationships, and things outside of herself. 

Maybe…people’s pokemon were like that across the board. Some aspect of themself, or their wishes, or their perceptions given a physical form. With this world’s faith in the bonds between a ok person and the pokemon around them, that would just…deepen it, Mike thought. 

(What did it mean, then, that he had found Rotom abandoned, and defined their relationship as one of mutual gain and reliance, rather than any true trust?)

Now fully sitting up again, Mike sighed and pulled his glasses off for a moment to rub his face. “Challenging gyms seems like such an easier task… Good thing I like a good puzzle.”

“Is challenging gyms still something we should be doing?” Ava asked, looking to Mike, “This might loop right back around to my decision to not make chasing my memories the whole of my existence. If we don’t really know where to start, diverting our path might not be the choice to make. Meloetta, you said you know what Gothitelle and, I presume, Mankey know. I’m assuming this means you don’t have omniscient view of the world around us then?”

OoO yep! Can only see here!

“That really just leaves us the option to explore until we can find out more then.” Ava said. “Either that, or go flashing every random person and leave them to their existential crisis.”

Mike snorted. “Really think that couldn’t cause any problems whatsoever.”

“...yeah, okay,” he agreed with another sigh. “And like my dream-reasoning too, one of us having more badges will help out getting us wherever we might need to go too, since high-risk areas would be more easily approved. And we just might find Miyako or someone else that could help too in one of the cities.”

And considering Ava wasn’t a trainer and Mike already had one badge, that would naturally fall to him. 

…getting help, though…

Mike looked down, frowning. “...before we went to bed, Tim said that if something happened, I should find him for help. Do you think we should tell him, Cali, and Kimiko when we run into each other again.”

Mike blinked again. “...oh my god, Yamper is Chase, isn’t she.”

“Oh, interesting… if Timothy specifically offered to help with your device, which is what I assume you mean by ‘if something happens’, then yes, it’d actually be a bit unethical to leave him in the dark by that point,” Ava said, “We should get your rival in the loop next time we see them. And… I’m assuming Chase is a dog?”

OoO !!?

OOO ARE WE SHARING A DREAM WITH ANIMALS??

OuO aw yay animal dreams are fun

OOO WE WILL CHASE SO MANY THINGS

“Pun not intended?”

OoO pun??

“I’m curious, did Tim sound like he knew something was coming?” Ava asked, “Perhaps he has information we don’t?”

It…had been comforting, for Tim to…well. It was more demanding than an offer. More like a simple fact that Tim was just saying. If something happened, then Mike should find him. Clear as that. And while Mike was thankful for Ava’s help, and now Meloetta’s confusing insight…he had a feeling this was bigger than two people and some pokemon could handle. And Tim was Miyako’s brother, anyway. If Mike had to be picky about which members of her family he could wake up, he’d absolutely tell Tim. 

Giving a nod to answer that, yes, Chase was a dog, Mike took on a sheepish look at Ava’s next question, putting his glasses back on. “No, actually, I did. A weird clown fairy found me today and gave me the clasp that’s on my decoder, and said I’d need it on the decoder to bring it into a dream. I kinda thought they were full of it, but didn’t see the harm, so…”

He gave a dull glance around them. “...guess it was spot on.”

Ava paused, “A… A weird… clown fairy.” She echoed. Keeping a straight face.

Mike nodded, grimacing. “They had weird magic and knowledge, so that’s my best guess. And everyone knows fairies look like clown freaks.”

At least, that was always the depiction Mike had seen and read about growing up. 

“Hmm. Gothitelle vouching your claim has helped a lot, but I do want to reiterate that I should keep my foot in this reality, just in case your foot in your reality might not be entirely… reality.” Ava said, “Cover all of our bases. If fairies have a lot to do with this, and… Miyako you said? Miyako is the son of the Fairy Gym Leader, among others, perhaps we should make the fairy gym an earlier stop on our route, after Steel. Though… a clown…”

Ava placed her finger on her lower lip, “One of the gyms is circus themed, isn’t it? Is it possible the person who gave you the clasp is running that gym? If it’s possible to find them, they sound like the most useful one to single out.”

Mike pouted a little, but rather tellingly, he didn’t refute Ava’s gentle caution. He was positive that they were in a dream and everything he remembered outside of it was reality--and it would take way more than flashing lights and an EMP to construct an entire life and memories, than it was to break someone out of mind control--but…sure. They could be careful not to entirely disregard the world they were currently in. 

(He just…respected Ava enough not to bitch about it.)

“Ugh, the Fairy Gym is in a desert, if I remember right…” Mike complained, not above bitching about that. Frowning at his hooves, he grimaced. “That’s gonna be annoying.”

But the Clown Gym… “Maybe,” Mike frowned, “They did say they were setting up a circus in the real Usott, and to come by once things settled down. If we’re working with closely translated things, that’s pretty damn close.”

Sighing, Mike brought up his phone and… Paused for a moment. Really looking it over, as if he had never seen it before. An odd warm feeling welled up in his chest, and…and Mike kind of felt like…he might explode? In a gross way. But also kind of nice…but mostly embarrassing. So to distract from that, he brought up his GPS. “From Bianco Hills, we would have to cross the desert anyway, or at least Route 11, to get to Usott so… Steel, then fairy, then clown, I guess should be our mid-term plan.”

“Well… at least we have a plan. It’ll keep us focused, and by making order in the chaos, it’ll be easier to not give into any sense of despair should we not make immediate progress.” Ava said, brushing off her legs as she stood up, “Well, how do you feel, Mike? Should we take more time for you to recover, or do you think you’re ready to start walking again? After so much put onto our plates, a little bit of progress and accomplishment will do wonders for our mental health.”

“I’m fine, let’s go,” Mike mumbled, packing up what they didn’t eat and…flushing fiercely as his stood, thin legs shaking just like a foal’s. Resolutely not looking at Ava, he checked in on Mankey, and seeing it still snoozing, returned it to its new pokeball for a longer nap. 

…that didn’t help the embarrassment at all. 

Ava tasted the air. Weird. She tasted…raspberries? But on warm toast. Like a jam. 

But more than that, she noticed the look of conflict on Mike’s face, “Mike, we don’t actually have to. I apologize, I realize now I pressured you by suggesting progress would be mentally good for us. Progress with neither of us in agony would be even better.”

“I’m not in agony,” he grumbled, turning more red. “Just…need to start walking, I’ll be fine.”

Just don’t. Say. Anything.

Ava pouted. Crossing her arms, as she insisted, “Fine, but if you find yourself longing to rest again, you need to tell me before it becomes a problem. I will feel very guilty if you can’t sleep tonight because your headache never went away, since I insisted on walking.”

“...for as much sleep means to us, I mean.” Ava said, hoisting up her backpack and walking over to Mike, Gothitelle disappearing into her pokeball. “I wonder how much time has actually passed.”

Oh fuck.

Mike felt like he was practically steaming red, just from the quick look he’d gotten of that expression from Ava. 

“...I have no clue,” he muttered once speech was available to him again. That was prolonged a little, with Rotom snickering in his ear. “It’s…kind of scary if the whole world is in this dream, but if the time dilation isn’t as much as regular dreams, and we’ve been asleep for days? That’s terrifying to anyone who isn’t.”

Mike adjusted his hat. “...guess some people would be bummed about missing the holidays too.”

“Hmm… with no explanation available? It might be wise to actually assume the best. Lest we, again, reckon with an existential crisis.” Ava said, smiling lightly at the warm raspberry toast taste, “If we’re losing time in real time, and are wasting away somewhere, then…there’s nothing we can do about that except for hurry. And hurrying will panic us. Especially if nearly a week has already gone by? At least from my perspective? Then it’s already an issue, and one we can’t do anything about. If we’re going by dream time logic? That’s much more manageable… and still nothing we can do about.”

“So, hope for the best, I suppose.” Ava smiled, “If we wake up and we’re both considerably malnourished, I’ll treat us to some food as an apology. I imagine I must know a good place to eat in the real world.”

Mike snorted softly, and lowered his hat, feeling embarrassed by the smile he could feel growing on his face. “I’ll take you up on that. I really only know the castle for, like…food I could treat people to. It’s fine, I guess, but the dining hall is just obnoxious.”

Ava’s eyebrows raised lightly, “You live in a castle? Actually, now that I think about it, you do know a prince… is Tim a prince? He must be, I suppose. Are you royalty? Perhaps ‘Taur royalty?” Ava asked. The small smile on her face betraying that she was lightly teasing, rather then entirely serious.

Mike snickered quietly. “I live there for now, yeah. Usott castle is really more of a lodging center and community hub than some fantasy castle, so I have a room in it for now. Tim’s dad is a prince, so that makes him a prince, even if he always gets a weird look on his face and says that’s not right, but whether he is or not doesn’t really mean much. And, pff, sure. Just call me supreme leader of the ‘Taurs.” Mike rolled his eyes, snorting.

“Understood. I will of course honor your title, Supreme Leader of the ‘Taurs,” Ava said, before tilting her head a bit, letting her hair dance around her back as she considered, “Though, do you have an honorific that goes with that? Perhaps a ‘your hoodiness? Since you seem determined for that to be all you wear.” Ava smirked, looking up at him. “We’ll get you in a jacket someday, I’m determined. With smart little cufflinks. It would suit you.”

Mike let out an approving little hum, giving Ava a side-smirk, though…the mirth was short-lived. 

“Ugh, who are you, my mom? I’m not going to travel around with like three different jackets, that’s just a waste of space. Just having one means I can wear it, and the extra pockets means even more carrying space. Plus,” he sniffed, adjusting the sides, “my hoodie is cool. The kinds of jackets that have cufflinks are lame.”

“Hmph,” Ava huffed–and while Mike’s mirth was gone, Ava hadn’t let go of her own playfulness yet. Giving him time to adjust as she continued undaunted, “Cufflinks are very cool, thank you very much. I’d wear them right now, if my outfits sleeves didn’t delightfully bunch up before they extended to my wrists. You simply have not learned to appreciate an outfit with all the bells and whistles.”

“...admittedly, my pack is a little heavy with extra clothes.” Ava laughed lightly, “But I’d still argue you could at least have another hoody. Two hoody’s can’t be that cumbersome, and then you’d be twice as cool.”

He appreciated bells and whistles just fine, thank you. Just not with the sort of clothes people wore 40 years ago and you couldn’t walk into the kitchen to get water without being accosted with a lint roller. His bells and whistles were awesome, though. 

Mike considered the prospect of two hoodies. 

“...that would be pretty cool. I’d have to find some shop in Usott that isn’t lame, though,” Mike lightly griped. “I wasn’t exactly focused on clothes shopping but…well, with the singeing ‘n stuff, I guess two could be cool, just for like…structural integrity.” Mike looked down at his sleeves. This hoodie wasn’t exactly like the one he had in the real world, the design was a little different, but…the color was right, at least. The singe spots actually made his jacket look a little cooler, in Mike’s opinion, but…well, especially with winter coming on, it might be good to get a heavier coat…

“I’m certain we can find a plethora of dynamic hoodies and beanies.” Ava said, looking a bit delighted at the idea, “Perhaps I’ll get one for myself as well. How likely do you think a hoody would be to come with an overabundance of ribbons interlaced in it? I’m asking for a friend. A very extra friend.” She laughed.

“I…think it’s possible, at least,” Mike hummed, looking up…then quickly looking ahead again, the change in perspective making him wobble. “I saw some with, like…ribbons instead of hood-laces, and like that criss-crossed design on the sides in a catalog once. Bet there’s some with even more, somewhere.” 

He smirked a little at her. “Even extra people want to be comfortable sometimes.”

“Bianco Hills isn’t exactly known for fashion or anything, but depending on how my gym challenge goes, and if I beat other trainers, we could probably take a look around, if nothing else.”

“Another reason to go then. I have a limited amount of time, presumably, to collect fun and interesting clothes in here.” Ava said, clenching her thin hands into fists, looking gleefully determined, “I may as well take advantage! Enjoy the delights of a dream.”

Mike found himself grinning at Ava’s determination, glancing over her with…something. “That’s a cool idea, actually. If we are just in a dream, then…why not try to do things we can’t really do in reality? We’ll be working on getting back there, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t enjoy what’s right in front of us while we’re here, right?”

“It’s always a good idea to enjoy the good things directly in front of you.” Ava said, putting her hands behind her head, staring up at the warm sun, “It’s actually a bit of a skill to do that. The type of skill that can get you through truly difficult times. One that I’m happy to practice with you.”

Ava closed her eyes, smiling at the light breeze, “Besides, for right now? This is all I know. I’d like to enjoy the world I live in, while I can…” Ava peeked over at Mike, smiling, “Especially with you.”

OOO AND ME

OuO I’m still here too

Ava looked up at the fluttering Meloetta, “Yes. And you too.”

Mike burned and quickly looked down, Ava’s smile blinding. “...I mean, yeah, sure,” he mumbled, flustered. “S’ pretty cool. With you.”

-

Look… Temp knew it was a bad idea. He knew that. But, well, Caleb so rarely asked for anything, and it was his birthday, and he had asked like he was entirely certain he was going to hear a ‘no’ and had mostly just wanted the courage to ask, and his oldest was constantly putting things on the backburner for his younger siblings and… look, they were going to the circus, okay? It was only a few hours away by train, and they were making a weekend of it! Temp was going to get a nice lodging, he’d get a babysitter for the actual circus trip for Addie, and his two older kids would have a good time. 

But first, they had to get through this train trip without incident. And, surprisingly, Addason wasn’t the problem. The infant sleepy under the roar and rumble of the train, the only ‘iffy’ moment being when the whistle had gone off for departure. Otherwise Addie was being a sleepy little delight.

It was Celeste, who was– “Boooooooored.” Celeste whined, leaning her whole body into Temp’s side, eyes wide and wet as the little girl insisted, “I’m dying.”

“You can survive boredom for a few hours.” Temp assured her, “Death requires greater trade than that.”

“Bathul’s going to make an exception for me.” Celeste whined, swaying to the side and then swaying into Temp’s side again, a little harder, as she pouted, “He’s gonna look at how bored I am and decree ‘she has suffered enough, time to swoop her up’.”

“I could walk you up and down the train, Celeste.” Caleb offered, as always attempting to be the peacemaker, the pre-teen looking at his father, “Dad, can I–”

“There was a cafe train!” Celeste suddenly recalled, squirming excitedly, “I want a grown-up drink!”

Temp raised an eyebrow, “What on earth is a ‘grown up’ drink to you?”

“Whichever drink you don’t want me to get.” The six year old huffed, raising her nose a bit. “That one.”

Temp gave his daughter a bemused look… before sighing dramatically, “I suppose you are old enough now… Caleb, here’s some cash. Go get your sister a green tea.”

Caleb’s nose scrunched, “Uuh–”

“Now now, no arguing. She’s old enough. Go along, you two.” Temp said, waving the two of them off, Celeste cheering as she raced ahead, Caleb calling for her to slow down.

Trains were…amazing, when you stopped to really think about it. Traveling from city to city in a matter of hours, the whole region in a day or two, and that was going around the whole thing--it was incredible. And Kyle really believed that, so why he felt so…confused and out of his depth was, well, confusing. Maybe more weird stuff, though if Kyle wasn’t expecting all that much from Shuuichi’s agency, he was expecting an answer why trains were so confusing for him even less. 

But with a note in his hand that with extreme detail told him what stop to get off of, and the one before it so he could be prepared, and loose instructions of where to go from the station, Kyle was as prepared as he could be. And he’d even convinced Mime Jr. that she should rest so she wouldn’t miss a second once they got to Fortuna’s circus. 

In a sort of funny circumstance, it was actually Phantump who was out of his ball, happily cradled in Kyle’s arms--since pokemon weren’t allowed unattended on the train--looking around curiously at the train. Really…the little guy was so entranced that Kyle did wish he could show him a little more; Phantump tended to be a little more subdued than his sister when it came to demanding things. 

(...sister?)

But…even so, Kyle could walk through some of the compartments, letting Phantump look arou-- “Ooph!”

Kyle stumbled back slightly, surprised by the mass that ran into him, before he blinked, looking down, and paled when he realized exactly what had run into him. Feeling a little panicked by the girl on the ground, Kyle quickly knelt, feeling more stressed by the start of little ghostly warbles from Phantump, glowing eyes starting to wobble, and offered his hand to help the girl up. 

“Oh, ‘m so sorry, dinna see ya there, miss. Are ye alrigh’?”

Celeste blinked vacantly at the ceiling, a little surprised to be on her back and not having decided how to feel about it yet… but when she saw Caleb hurry over, she decided the correct reaction would be to play it up, as her own eyes started to wobble as well. “??”

Caleb frowned, quickly heading over to Celeste, who was too busy looking pitiful to take the man’s hand, as Caleb quickly scooped her up into his arms, “Celeste, it’s okay, don’t–”

“C-C-Caleb, I was j-j-just minding my own business a-and–”

“No, you were running down the hall. I asked you to slow down.” Caleb said, briefly looking stern, before he gave Kyle an embarrassed look, “Sorry. Celeste can be a little dramatic.”

“Gasp??”

“But she’s just playing.” Caleb assured the man, his eyes glancing down, before he lit up, “Oh! Your pokemon is really cute. Celeste, did you see the pokemon?”

Celeste whimpered and whined for a moment… before her eyes dried up, looking up curiously before squirming out of Caleb’s arms. Caleb let her down with a sigh, as Celeste peered up curiously, “Oooooh, what kind is that?”

The longer the girl laid there, the more panicked Kyle felt. Oh, Arceus, what if he gave her a concussion? He was no wall of a guy, but he was bigger than her, and with the motion of the train, if the bounce back had hit her straight on the head… Head injuries were really dangerous! And kids could bounce back from a lot, but there was a lot that could mess things up for them for life?! What if he gave her lifelong brain damage?!? 

Feeling the stress of his trainer, Phantump started to cry, and when an older boy came over, Kyle was smack dab in the middle of two crying children and…

Ach. Well. At least the girl was alright. 

“I-i’s all good,” Kyle stammered out to the boy’s apology, pale as a ghost himself as he tried to rock and soothe Phantump, who…did seem to be calming down a bit, peering curiously at the children as they noticed him. Phantump looked over, clinging to Kyle’s sweater vest. 

Smiling awkwardly (fuck, fuck, he was so bad with kids…) Kyle said softly, “Sorry, ‘e’s a bit shy… This is Phantump, ‘e’s a ghost-grass pokemon. Phantump, d’ye wanna say hi?”

Predictably not, Phantump almost never spoke when other people were around, but with a shy, watery gaze, Phantump gave a little wave to the kids, before pressing more into Kyle’s chest. 

Celeste’s eyes widened, as she gasped… before she looked tearfully up at Caleb, “When do I get a cute pokemon?”

Caleb sighed, patting her on the head, “When you’re older.”

“Why not now??” 

“Because pokemon need older people to take care of them. Like how you need someone older taking care of you.”

Celeste considered this… before shaking her head, “No, I take care of you.”

Caleb raised an eyebrow, though there was something amused in it as he asked, “Oh, do you?”

“Mmhm~ Fine! You will be my practice pokemon. Phantump?” Celeste said, standing straight, speaking very formally, “This is my pokemon, Caleb. Please be nice to him.”

“Kids, what are you doing?” Temp said, having overheard his children chatting and come down the car, frowning as he cradled Addason, “I’m sorry, are my children bothering you?”

Kyle smiled softly. Of course he hadn’t seen it often, but it was always sweet seeing kids with their first pokemon. And seeing the envy younger kids had, eager for their own adventures to start. Honestly, Celeste’s excitement and confidence really reminded him of--

While Phantump nodded a bit at the kids--Kyle was proud of him for playing along--he startled slightly at the man who suddenly appeared, feeling a brief flash of panic. (Angry dad, mad at him bullying his kids.) And…well, the guy did look a bit intimidating, in his own way, still…

“A-ah, no’ at all, we jus’ had a bump int’ each other.” With a small, awkward, sheepish grin, Kyle stood and shuffled out of the way from the direction Celeste had been running towards. “Uh, sorry, I’ll get out’a your way.”

“Caleb, come along! It’s time to go buy adult drinks.” Celeste said, emphasizing the words with what she was convinced was a more ‘grown up’ accent. She strode forward confidently, and Caleb gave Kyle a sheepish look before dutifully following behind.

“I’m sorry, I’m sure Celeste ran into you.” Temp said, “She’s a good girl, but she’s still very much in that ‘everything is about her’ phase. I’m sorry, if she hadn’t apologized. Would you like to sit? Catch your breath in my booth?”

Adult drinks? Kyle wondered what exactly that meant…and he was thankful Mime Jr. hadn’t been the one to meet the kids--though she would’ve been all about it, he had a feeling--since surely he’d be out getting ‘adult drinks’ once they got off their stop as well. 

“It’s really no problem,” Kyle shook his head, smiling softly. “‘N fer all the trouble it migh’ get ‘er int’a, it’s a phase t’ miss when i’s gone, right? She’s a real pleasant sort, ‘er brother too.”

Kyle was about to sheepishly turn the man down, not wanting to be a bother…but the way Phantump peeked out, a curious gleam in his eyes sealed the answer Kyle would give. “If tha’s alright wi’f ye?” Catching the man’s eyes, Kyle glanced down at Phantump pointedly. “We’ve jus’ been explorin’ the train s’ far. Don’ take it often, so i’s a bit of a novelty.”

“They’re quite something, aren’t they?” Temp agreed, sitting back down and gesturing for Kyle to join him on the other side, “The vibration is soothing, thankfully. Poor Addason here can be a bit jumpy, I’m actually very pleased by how much he’s taken to it.”

Addason sniffled and snuffled in Temp’s arms. Every now and again he sleepily peeked an eye open, before closing his eyes and snuffling again. 

“And I don’t mind your pokemon, if that was your concern. I have my own, of course. A Houndoom who’s a bit too big to let sit beneath the booth, I’m afraid. Which is unfortunate for my poor eldest. Houndoom tends to take up some of the responsibility for entertaining and wrangling Celeste, but I’m afraid my twelve year old is alone on the frontline. Did I hear right that he’s a pokemon now?”

Kyle smiled softly at the baby in Temp’s arms. Honestly, he really never considered himself a kid guy, difficulties with them aside, but…there was always something comforting, he found, in just…a kid safe and happy. “Take th’ luck we’re given, aye? Phantump ‘ere ain’t much of a fan ‘a crowds ‘imself, but ‘e’s been gobbed so much by th’ train that ‘e hasn’t minded others much. I’m…hoping that we’ll get the same sort ‘a luck at th’ circus. Don’ want ‘is sister to be th’ only one havin’ fun.”

Chuckling softly, hearing about Houndoom, Kyle nodded. “Tha’s righ’. Celeste seemed pre’ happy to meet Phantump, an’ if she’s too young fer ‘er starter, guess a brother will do. Ah…” Giving the man a sheepish grin, Kyle ran his free hand through the back of his hair. “Wish ya luck wi’f all that.”

Temp laughed softly, “I’m sure it will be fine. Caleb has the patience of an Atuan saint. Perhaps too much so, honestly. It’s fine if Celeste feels like playing pretend, but I’m going to have to get strict if she tries to have Caleb following her around and doing battles when we get there. This is his birthday trip, and I’m determined he feel like the star of it. A difficult goal, for the oldest brother. It can be difficult to not make the eldest kids entire days left to the whims of their little siblings. It’s Caleb’s day, but if Celeste has a tantrum, or Addason gets into a fit…”

Temp shrugged, “He’s a good boy for letting me heep attention to the siblings who need more immediate attention, but he shouldn’t always have to be. Do you have any siblings? You might know what I mean. You have ‘eldest sibling’ stress eyes.”

“Oh? I’ll ‘ave t’ pass on my happy birthdays to ‘im, if I’m still by,” Kyle hummed, though something…heavy started to weigh on his chest. 

(He hadn’t resented being older, just…what that seemed to mean in the family. That the years he had on Beth and Vi-vi meant that of course he’d be the one to get everyone ready for school in the morning, and get dinner prepared in the evening because, what, Kyle wasn’t working. If he wasn’t to be a complete freeloader, then he had to take on responsibility, while Charles kept the roof over their heads. All the cleaning, all the cooking that wasn’t leftovers from the restaurant, every moment of taking his siblings where they needed to be and catering to everything they needed.)

(He’d hated it. Feeling like he was expected to trade his life for theirs, like he was just…worthless in the face of his siblings’ potential. And that was the impression he got from other people too.)

(Kyle had pretty much stopped cooking for even himself, after…everything. Becoming an only child. The house had felt so empty. Silent. …he would’ve given anything to be woken up at seven on a weekend just to make pancakes. But it had been too late.)

Kyle’s gaze had dulled out for a moment, gaining a sickly pallor until he felt a tug on his vest. He blinked down at Phantump before giving Temp a weak smile. “Sorta? Feel more like a sibling t’ Phantump ‘n Mime Jr. than anythin’ else, though I know that’s not exactly what you’re askin’.”

Temp’s eyebrows raised slightly, “To your pokemon? Well, perhaps that’s not that surprising. Pokemon often feel like family. Why not siblings?”

Addason yawned, smacking his lips. Temp took his cue to pull out a bottle from his bag, feeding Addason, who impressively seemed to continue to sleep while he suckled. “You said you were going to the circus? Actually, so are we. We’re doing a few things for his birthday, but the circus is why we’re heading to the city at all. Have you gone before?”

It was always a little more difficult explaining that to people--not that Kyle had all that many people to explain it to at all--so Kyle was grateful for the acceptance. Partners, friends, even children to some, were all ways people almost expected to feel about pokemon, but…siblings? Especially for his own pokemon, and not any he’d grown up with from a parent… It definitely was a more unusual dynamic. 

Patting Phantump’s back gently--just seeing Temp cater to his youngest with ease made Kyle feel a little more cuddly--he raised his eyebrows. “Now there’s a coincidence. Though from what ‘ve ‘eard about Fortuna’s circus, it’s certainly the sort ‘a thing that’d make a birthday special.”

Shaking his head a little, Kyle answered, “Naw, ‘s my first time t’ Usott at all. ‘Mon an’ I are on a bit of a region-trekkin’ adventure, goin’ where things look interestin’. We’re goin’ to the circus on a request ‘a Mime Jr. She saw somma th’ posters in Delfino Plaza an’ decided we gotta leave right away.” He chuckled softly. “Migh’ head back after we finish takin’ in the sights of Usott; ‘s a beautiful city.”

“You’re going at the request of your pokemon? You’re very doting then.” Temp said, “Not that there’s any harm in it. In fact, it’s a nice sign of how much things have improved. I’m a templar of Bathul, and if you don’t know what that means, ultimately it just means I’ve been around for a while. I was around back in the days where pokemon weren’t treated very well, if they weren’t being treated as gods. It’s much better, what we have now. Treating pokemon poorly just made things worse for everyone.”

Kyle tilted his head, his eyes widening a little. He didn’t know what a ‘templar of Bathul’ meant, but…

(But he did. And there was an immediate thrum of uneasiness and staunch defensiveness that went through Kyle’s body…though he wasn’t able to place why.)

“Glad it is better now, then,” Kyle ultimately just nodded, patting Phantump’s stump fondly. “You’re actually no’ the first person t’ note it recently, but…” He shrugged a little. “Makin’ ‘em happy makes me happy. Ain’t ‘xactly like ‘m a well-spring of ideas, so goin’ along wi’f whatever they wanna do just means there’s more fun things to explore for all ‘a us.”

Kyle paused. Feeling…a little unsure. But curious, in the face of someone vaguely being around a long time…

“Er…if ye don’ mind me askin’... Have ye heard of…I dunaw, a pokemon move, or some’fin, that can confuse ‘r erase, like, real specific parts ‘a someone’s memory?” Kyle asked. “Not a bit deal ‘r any’fin, but…can’t hurt askin’, I guess.”

Temp looked up, his lips tightening a bit… before he sighed, nodding, “An Uxie, yes. But, Uxie hasn’t been seen in… quite some time. And people lose memories for a myriad of reasons. Having a pokemon that is capable of taking away a persons memories doesn’t mean that said pokemon did, and I’d hate for you to consider it… especially considering the nature of Uxie’s. It’s a pipeline to paranoia.”

Kyle blinked in surprise, honestly not having expected much of an answer…though he supposed this was barely one. “Ah…” he hummed, trailing off for a moment before nodding, “Well, tha’s true. Thanks for the possibility, I s’ppose. ‘M no’ really lookin’ for a pokemon t’ blame, just…curious, I guess.”

Grinning a little sheepishly, he continued, “An’ though it feels like askin’ is underminin’ that point… What d’ye mean by the nature of Uxie? They known fer bein’ sweet ‘r some’fin?”

“No, not particularly sweet…” Temp said, removing the empty bottle from Addie, hefting him up and patting him on the back, Addason snoring softly against his shoulder, “They’re creatures of justice. Or, vengeance. Depending on who you ask. They erase the memories of those they consider evil.”

For a time, Temp had traveled with one. It had all felt very cathartic and right, at the time, but with age and distance came clarity. Perhaps many of the people Uxie erased deserved it, and the world was better without them… but Temp no longer felt comfortable saying all of them had. And while none of them had been innocent, taking away a persons ability to improve was perhaps…

…well, Temp didn’t miss Uxie.

“Oh,” Kyle said, his eyebrows lifting in surprise. And at the weight settling in his chest…yeah, he could see why the man warned that considering Uxie was an exercise in paranoia. Kyle seriously doubted he was evil, especially to the point a pokemon like Uxie would come out of seclusion just for him, but…

(...he had felt evil for a long time. And nothing ever felt like proper atonement. But after his own death, and learning the truth about Charles’ victims… It wasn’t like Kyle had broken free of his own guilt, but he had felt less like the monster he thought he was as a teen, and the rage he felt at the true monster had…well, been enough to keep him going.)

(Spirits couldn’t just peacefully exist--that went against the entire reason spirits were still in the mortal realm. If someone was at peace, then they would be escorted to their afterlife. To remain in the mortal realm, a ghost needed something to keep them there. Anger, betrayal, guilt, a sense of not being done… Kyle’s anger at Charles was what kept him, him. Thankfully it wasn’t his guilt for his own sin.)

“That’s a bit intense,” Kyle mused, speaking his thoughts. “Guess it makes sense they wouldn’ be seen for a while, then, since I’d think fowks’d be talkin’ all ‘round ‘em if Uxie were still dishin’ out vigilante justice on the reg.”

“Yes, exactly. Uxie’s been gone for a long time, and the reasons they erase memories are so extreme that even if your memory was gone, your reputation wouldn’t be. People would remember you being an irredeemable monster of a person. If no one is asking why you’re suddenly ‘so much nicer’, or running from you in terror, then no, I doubt you’re someone Uxie would have targeted.”

Temp paused, adjusting Addason onto his lap again, before smirking slightly, “One of the last people I ever saw Uxie pull that on was actual evil. Unambiguous, the sort of creature that fairytales use as cautionary tales. An old man with such a superiority complex in an inferior mindset that he convinced himself both that he was all powerful, and that his actions meant nothing in the long term, and he took that nihilistic hedonism to such an extreme that he killed and tortured like such things were a game. He hurt so many people and felt, not even in the deepest parts of him, any regret…it was delightful, watching that man disappear. That sort of person is who Uxie’s target. You don’t strike me as someone who ever made a life like that.”

(The running in terror had lasted a year or two. And there were so few people who cared about him by then that there wasn’t really anyone who asked why he was so much quieter. Vaguely, Kyle could remember a few occasions, coming downstairs to a dry comment behind the paper of, ‘ah, so the murderer has deigned to come down’. What bullshit, coming from that hypocrite.)

Kyle frowned, nodding a bit, though he grimaced with distaste at the man Temp described, bouncing Phantump in comfort when the pokemon whined softly in fear. “Sounds like a right git. Know it ‘n’t how th’ justice system treats people, but…think there are a select few out there that really do deserve the worst. Awful…”

…before Kyle blinked Hoothoot-ishly at Temp, blanching. “W-wait, I dinna say no’fin about… I-it’s not…I dinna say me, exactly…”

Temp looked mildly surprised, before smiling lightly, “Ah, that was me presuming and just happening to be right, then. I do tend to jump to conclusions, I apologize.”

“Meow?” A golden cat on the booth table asked. Flicking its tail curiously.

“Yes, how much of your memory did you lose… wait.” Temp frowned, realizing what he had heard and what he had thought hadn’t matched up, before looking at the golden cat, “...is this another one of your pokemon?”

Kyle blinked at the…creature on the table, a puzzled look coming over his face. “Naw… I…I’ve never seen a…shiny Shinx? Like this?” He tilted his head, just not comprehending the physiology of the pokemon. “Are…you a Shinx?”

“Meow.” Alter Ego answered, a tad impatiently, before looking over to Temp. “Meow. Meow.”

For a moment there, Temp had felt like he understood… but the more he directly tried to think about why he thought he had understood, the more confused he felt, as he stared at the cat, “I think it’s a cat.”

“Meow.”

Kyle blinked, before looking up at Temp in confusion. “...like a Meowth? That would explain its speech… Bu’ I’ve never seen a Meowth wit’out its coin, either.”

“Mr’ooooow.” Alter Ego whined. Tail twitching. 

“I think it's annoyed with us.” Temp mused, squinting at it, “Are you… pettable?” 

More irritated tail flicks.

“Maybe not worth trying.” Temp decided, “So not your pokemon, and not mine. Then… a wild pokemon? On the train?”

“Maybe?” Kyle said unsurely, still baffled by the pokemon. “Know some places keep cat pokemon t’ ward off Rattata ‘n smaller bug pokemon, though…I dinaw if that’s common for trains.”

Suddenly remembering that he had a pokemon in his arms, Kyle looked down at Phantump, seeing his pokemon similarly entranced by the strange pokemon on the booth table. In fact, Phantump was doing a little wiggle that Kyle knew meant he was dying to try and pet the cat pokemon, and was only just restraining himself since Temp had just said it was a bad idea. 

Hoping he wasn’t just putting Phantump in a position to get scratched, Kyle asked, “D’ye think you could ask ‘f i’s a wild pokemon, Phantump?”

Phantump looked up at Kyle, then to the cat pokemon, then shyly at Temp, before wriggling in Kyle’s arms a little until Kyle boosted him up a little, leaning on the table closer to the cat. Whispering, Phantump said in pokemon, “...you wild?”

“..prrp.” Alter Ego said, before clarifying, “Human, actually…sorta.”

And, because Phantump was very cute, and Alter Ego was not immune to cuteness, he purred a bit. 

That didn’t make much sense, but Phantump trusted Big Bro to make more sense of it, as he tugged on Kyle’s vest, until Kyle leaned down. Into his ear, Phantump whispered, “They say they’re human, sorta,” before leaning back on the table, looking at the sort of human with enchanted interest. Reaching out a ghostly nubby arm, before hesitating, looking imploringly at Alter Ego. 

Though, being the one to grapple with meaning, Kyle just sent a bewildered look between Phantump and… “...uh, Phantump said tha’, um…they said they were human.”

How can Alter Ego ignore a look like that? He leaned in, petting himself against the nub. Purring warmly.

“Ah, I see…” Temp said, looking at the cat pokemon, “...so it’s delusional.”

Alter Ego shot Temp a dry look. Bastard. Just wait until this asshole woke up, Alter Ego was going to make fun of him for the next hundred years for getting caught up in this weird dream labyrinth thing… as soon as Alter Ego could actually function in it. 

Turns out, being at the whims of hundreds of peoples perspectives, and being a construct meant to live in those perspectives, made it very hard to act outside of those expectations. People saw a cat? They expected a cat. It was early Kokichi all over again. It had been a trial just finding Temp to begin with.

Despite all the weirdness, Kyle smiled softly seeing Phantump’s utter delight, the little pokemon gasping softly before reaching out more to gently pet the…sort of human. They didn’t get a lot of chances for this sort of thing out on the road, so Kyle was glad. 

But, still…

“...I dinaw…” he said softly, fixing his collar. “People turning int’ pokemon ‘n’t a…wholly unheard of thing, yeah? Rare ‘n sketchy, sure, but…no’ impossible. If there’s abilities out there that can erase someone’s memories, who’s t’ say there ain’t some out there turnin’ fowks into…strange-lookin’ Meowths?”

“I’ve also heard of pokemon being convinced they were humans before. One of those tricky distinctions, back in the day, when people were treating pokemon like they weren’t sentient, but sometimes pokemon could just… talk. And act and sound like anyone else. Created a lot of moments where pokemon bought into the narrative against them, and assumed they were ‘unique’ in thinking, and must somehow be human.”

“Meow.” Alter Ego said to Temp, “You’re just being a presumptuous dickhead again. And this time you’re being a dickhead based on imaginary history and knowledge. You’re literally that kid who goes ‘nuh-uh’ when one of their friends hit them with a pretend firebolt, and then explains its because they have super special ancestral knowledge that they’ve never brought up before that moment it made them invincible to fire spells. Dickhead.”

“...sorry, Phantump.” Alter Ego said, a little embarrassed. Feeling weird, calling someone a ‘dickhead’ in front of the clearly youngly-coded pokemon.

“That was a lot of meowing. I feel like I might have been getting scolded.” Temp mused.

Kyle frowned a little, but nodded, that all making sense to him…

Though Phantump just pouted a little at Alter Ego, saying, “It’s alright… Nii-san says stuff like that sometimes, even if it’s rude.” Glancing to Kyle for a moment, he asked Alter Ego, “Should I pass that on?” 

And given a yes, he tugged Kyle close again, whispering to him…and it was comical, how much Kyle’s eyebrows shot up in shock. Sighing, he gave a stern look to the sort of human. “...don’ as’ m’ bro’fer t’ swear like that.”

Though, actually absorbing what the non-pokemon said… Kyle’s expression drew in, equal parts curious and considering, while just…confused. “Er… Ya’naw how when kids ‘r playin’ pretend, ‘n one’ll make up rules on th’ spot t’ avoid losin’? They’re callin’ ya a jerk fer doin’ that. Bu’...specifically sayin’ ‘imaginary history and knowledge’.”

Maybe that was something Kyle would just brush off, but…that wrong feeling around him…felt a little right, saying that. 

“Making it up? A strange cat pokemon shows up, meows at me, and thinks I’m making things up?” Temp said, glaring at the pokemon, “Rude.”

Alter Ego was not impressed by the glare… before his ears perked up, hearing the soft, excited baby sound. “M’eh?” Addason said, having jostled awake slightly, peeking around, before seeing one of his favorite things. His little baby face lighting up as he looked at the kitty.

Addason wasn’t much of a wiggler–reserved and shy, even in his infanthood– but he looked so eagerly at Alter Ego that Temp couldn’t bare the idea of the boy being denied, as he sighed, “Would you please let my baby touch your fur, abomination?”

“Meow.” Alter Ego said, trotting over to Addason, already knowing Addason wouldn’t grab as Alter Ego pet his little baby head, since Addason rarely ever tried to grab. “If i didn’t know you didn’t remember me, I’d swear you do and are being difficult on purpose. Hopefully Kokichi might be clearer headed. I had hoped your abilities would be strong enough to get you to see the holes here, but I suppose the allure of paradise is strong even for you. No part of you wants to fight this.”

“...meow.” Alter Ego said to Phantump. “You can translate that too, if you like.”

Well, it was a little rude, and completely out of left field, but…there was still a part of him that couldn’t just dismiss it. 

(Kyle liked to think his observation skills were one of his strengths, as an investigator, but…well, his gut feeling was something that had helped him and the girls out quite a few times. Perhaps it was a little bit of irony to keep him company in his afterlife.)

“Abomination’s a bi’ harsh,” Kyle commented. Though he was a little more preoccupied with Phantump floating out of his arms and settling on the table, petting Alter Ego where Addason wasn’t, not wanting to stop even with the cat accommodating the baby. However…

Kyle frowned as he listened to the translation, an odd…hurt coming over him as the meaning settled in. This time he relayed it verbatim, though with a few more pauses. Allusion to memory tampering…and he wasn’t sure who Kokichi was, but…the allure of paradise. 

…he supposed he wasn’t so worried about his memories because…it really was paradise. Getting to spend countless days with beings he’d do anything for. Getting to…

(While the doctor hadn’t noticed any head injuries, they had noted that Kyle was under-weight. And if it weren’t for Phantump and Mime Jr.’s demands, he would just…forget to eat. He could…sort of remember something too, being so…out of breath, struggling to maintain a rhythm. And sleeping was so difficult…)

A strange sort of expression settled onto Kyle’s face, as he looked at his hands. That same sense of something wrong feeling more pressing than ever. 

Alter Ego purred. Yesss. Multiple cute pets. Maybe being trapped in paradise really was totally fine and Alter Ego should let it go.

…noooo. Addason and Miyako would both need to eat soon. They were starting to sleep through the night, but they’d be ravenous in the morning. Time in the real world wasn’t passing rapidly, thankfully, which gave Alter Ego time to figure this out. But there was a time limit, still. This couldn’t be allowed to go on into the morning. Even if Hiro started to move now, he’d never make it in time to help them in reality, and that was true for towns outside of Usott. By the time Alter Ego had convinced some random person to go wake everyone in Usott up, the damage would be done.

Temp also wasn’t entirely ignorant to what the cat pokemon was suggesting. And the suggestion was… alarming. The implication that things weren’t real? Like what? Like the train? Or this day? Or–

“Father, father.” Celeste said in her ‘grown up’ voice, scurrying down the train, huffing a breath as she prepared to deliver grave news, “Grown up drinks… are gross. I’m pretty sure I’m dying now.”

Caleb panted as he hurried behind her, catching his breath as Celeste continued to look gravely at their father, “C-celeste, you–huff– have to stop running around the train.”

“It’s terrible. Don’t grown ups know hot chocolate exist?” Celeste asked, absolutely bewildered… before gasping, “New pokemon!”

Celeste wasted no time. She immediately joined in on the pets. Caleb gave the cat a more curious, more cautious look, before looking to Kyle, “Is it alright for her to pet your pokemon, sir?”

Kyle was shaken from his…existential crisis, of sorts, as Temp’s older kids returned. 

(Kyle’s paradise was just a faded version of itself, really. Too much pain and too much history to completely erase it all while still giving him what he wanted. There was even an idea that it could’ve been just him on his own, getting the fantasy of having a body again…but the sweetness that cradled the inhabitants of Usott knew that while it was something Kyle missed, it wasn’t the thing that his soul longed for.)

(The fact that someone, that Temp could have his kids as they were, just in a kinder world with kinder fates was…a good sign of how he had been able to cope with it. Maybe that was the difference a few hundred years could make.)

“Oh, uh, they’re not my pokemon, but…they seem to enjoy the pets,” Kyle said unsurely, looking back at Alter Ego. “‘N, uh, happy birthday, by th’ way. Yer da’ lemme in on th’ know. I hope you have a great time at th’ circus.”

Caleb flushed a bit, shyly looking down at his feet, “Uh, thank you.”

Temp reached over, lightly rubbing Caleb’s arm to soothe his fluster, while Alter Ego looked at the two unfamiliar children more closely now. Oh. 

…oooooooh.

Oh, that sucked. 

Alter Ego wasn’t looking forward to ruining this fantasy for Temp. But, again, there still was one kid who really was out there, and Addason really would need to be fed, and changed, and comforted, in the morning. 

…also, was it just Alter Ego, or did this Caleb kid look weirdly like another Caleb Alter Ego knew. What the fuck was up with that? That was weird. There was some history or baggage there that Alter Ego was not even close to ready to unpack.

Better to just continue to be pet for now, until Kokichi could be brought into this. Get the team back together, figure it out from there.

-

Kaito really, really, really enjoyed going to this particular circus… but before they arrived, he was already jazzed because– “TRAINS ARE SO COOL!”

And Josie was the unfortunate audience who had had to spend the last hour intermittently being explained to why trains were so cool– which had only been occasionally broken up by Kaito randomly going into why space travel was cool, and how cool was it that we could go all of these places and do all of these things and it was all so quick and SHIPS WERE COOL TOO and–and about the history of trains and how much steel it took to make them and that, did you know the Momota family actually first made its fortune mining the desert for steel for trains, which was why they owned desert property to begin with, and that’s all ancient history now but Kaito had always loved hearing about his families part in the train because wasn’t that the BEST way to make a fortune? Making something as cool and useful as trains!?

(Much better than taking advantage of a plague and then running a slave program.)

Kaito gushed about trains with the same distant pride he gushed about Grand Pan. Sure, he wasn’t the reason any of those things happened or existed. But he felt a part of them, and took pride in that association. He was a man who enjoyed feeling like he was part of something greater than himself. 

And also trains were just cool, okay? Most forms of travel were. Kaito had been blown away that Shuichi was allowed to drive a car, since technically he was a part of emergency services, and had managed to convince Shuichi to let him ride with him once or twice… easily one of the most turned on moments of Kaito’s life, watching Shuichi drive. Holy shit. Kaito had been a gooey mess the entire time.

But now it was time for Kaito to go see the other man who made Kaito weak in the knees. Kaito assuring Josie as he led him to their seats, “Trust me, this show is incredible. I’ve seen it five times, and I still always notice something new!”

Other than the heat, Josie had been pleased as punch to take a walk through the desert after another defeat at Kaito’s hands. As gorgeous as Grand Pan was, no matter how many times Josie lost to Kaito, he knew he wouldn’t be able to stay in the underground city indefinitely. For logistical reasons, yeah, but also…Josie liked trees and fields, and, well, yeah, snow. He liked being outdoors under a sun that wasn’t intent on killing him. And even in the coziest space, he knew he’d go crazy staying indoors all the time. So while he wasn’t exactly hot with cabin fever yet, he was happy to go outside. 

He was…a little less sure when their walk through the desert had turned into heading towards the nearest train station and taking a day trip to Usott. On one hand, Josie was excited to see the capital city again, but especially as Kaito had talked about his plans to go to Fortuna’s circus… Well, if there was already a show, then Josie wouldn’t be expected to challenge the Clown Leader, right? And Flareon had already gone through a tough battle, he didn’t want to spring a battle with no prep on his partner!

But hearing Kaito gush about trains for over an hour did put Josie right back in an amused mood. And as they found their seats around the main ring, Josie was still looking around in awe. 

“I believe it! I’ve seen some of the specials the circus arranges to show on TV, and some of Fortuna’s exhibition matches, but…wow, it’s really a whole thing actually being in the middle, huh?” Josie looked around the lights in wonder, smiling as he could see some Illumise and Volbeat at the top of the big top, doing dances together as they worked the lights. 

Smirking a little, he gave Kaito a teasing look. “I know a lot of clown-types have fairy-typing too… You ever collab with Fortuna, trading insider secrets?”

“God, I wish,” Kaito said, already looking around, like he was hoping he might spot a familiar lithe figure, clearly restless and eager in his chair, even as he passed Josie the snacks he had bought them, “Have you ever seen Fortuna’s… no, you just said that,” Kaito laughed, shaking his head at himself, “He’s on a different level than I am, I think. He’s just… he’s incredible.” Kaito said, neck and ears burning red, eager and excited, “Like, I bet he could be one of the fantastic four, someday. If he wasn’t so busy running this show? He’s amazing.”

Josie looked Kaito over curiously for a moment, taking in the eagerness, the flush…before he grinned wide. “Aw, that’s cute. How did asking him out go?”

“...” Kaito glanced at the kid, considered his options, and decided fuck it, “Poorly! I got thiiiis close my third time here to actually introducing myself to him.” Kaito said, putting his thumb and index finger close to each other, “But you don’t understand, kid, he gets mobbed at the end of these shows. Everyone wants to meet him. I feel weird trying to push my way through. Especially since I do kind of want an autograph too. But it feels so… both desperate and braggy, to go up and be like, ‘hey, sup, my fellow gym leader, I am also a gym leader, if you’ve ever heard of the fairy gym? Understandable if you haven’t, we don’t record our fights, trust me, we exist, want to get a drink??’ Auuugh.”

Kaito groaned, flustered and embarrassed, as he covered his face… before snickering into his palm, giving the kid an amused look, “So, I’m that obvious, huh? What gave it away? Me seeing his show six times now?”

Josie snorted, shaking his head at the poor sap as he reached up to pat Kaito’s shoulder. “I can believe that--Fortuna’s a celebrity in a whole other way, on top of being a gym leader. Considering what I’ve heard, I’m surprised there isn’t a whole booth or something to keep the mobs from creating fire hazards.”

Though, he just raised an amused eyebrow at Kaito, tilting his head a little. “Couldn’t you just call him to meet up, though? Gym leaders all have contact information for each other to report city threats ‘n stuff, right? I think it’s only desperate if you make it desperate, Kaito.”

“You are noooooot subtle,” Josie laughed, joining in Kaito’s amusement, even as his gaze got distracted for a moment, watching some Jovicrow bouncing on the highwire. “You sound so smitten every time you talk about Fortuna, and you always have a nice thing to say about him. But you look flustered when you do, so it’s more than just admiration. Like I said, it’s cute! You should give yourself a shot, worst thing he can say is no.”

“Th-that’s for emergencies! You can’t use the personal information you get between gyms to call a guy up for a date! That’s so unprofessional! And stalkerish! At least by stalking him this way, I support his show through patronage!” Kaito insisted, pulling out the ticket as proof, “Way less creepy! Maybe!”

Kaito hadn’t dated much, really. He had just been too busy. Maki had let him kiss her a few times, but it hadn’t taken long for them to realize (the anger would always be there. The betrayal. Kaito was not the rebel prince she wanted, and Maki would never have the gentle restraint Kaito needed.) that they were just missing something. That it didn’t work. And then Elia had come along, and that was it, the only person Kaito had ever managed to experiment with off in her own relationship.

Kaito’s inexperience made things (fun, exciting, less demeaning, less guilty) a little tough sometimes, managing his otherwise strong libido while trying to just innocently flirt. He was pretty sure the weird mixed messages of Kaito’s equally mixed desires had been what made Shuichi realize they weren’t ready. Kaito was not looking forward to a repeat of that rejection, as he said, “Kid, I am going to be soooo melodramatic and whiny if he just straight up rejects me. I will be laying on the floor of my shrine, listening to angsty music and sappy love songs, saying woe is me for waaaaay too long. I don’t have time to be melodramatic and mopey! I’ve got, ya know… centers to fund! Battles and stuff! I’m too busy for heartbreak, darnit!” 

Kaito sighed, crossing his arms and leaning back in his seat, “You’ll understand someday. Falling in love is an ordeal. You put your whole body into it.”

Josie shrugged. “Just a slightly more distant way without ever actually talking to him, and increasing your own pining by, like, ten-thousand percent, probably.”

Josie didn’t think about relationships much. He’d gotten the impression his mom and dad didn’t like each other much, and he hadn’t known any other adults, really. Sometimes older ladies laughed and felt flattered when he complimented them a bunch, which was fun enough, but…otherwise? It wasn’t something that was really on his radar. 

(A small kindness, able to worm in through the nightmare.)

But he did think it was funny seeing other people’s crushes, even if it was kind of cringy when people tried to deny their feelings. But even that cringe was something he enjoyed. 

“Maybe you need to re-work your schedule to fit in both the melodrama and all the stuff you need to do,” Josie chuckled, “But you don’t know that he’d reject you. Would it really be that terrible if he said yes?”

“Kid,” Kaito said, pushing his fingers together. Looking up at the show incredibly seriously, brow furrowed and mouth sternly set, “It’d be… stupendous. If he said yes. And then I will be sooooo busy. I wanna date the crud out of this guy. I will take him on so many dates. I will text him and then just stare at the phone, waiting for him to text back. He is going to destroy all of my other projects and I will happily let him.”

“...not really.” Kaito grinned, shrugging, “That’s just me being melodramatic again. Sometimes that’s fun for its own sake, but I mean, obviously in reality I’d find time for the things I need to do and seeing him when he has a free weekend. But as a poetic declaration of love? That’s mostly melodrama and hyperbole? Forget the gym, forget the centers, I’d give it all up for permission to bring him flowers!”

“...aaaaassuming he’s as cool in real life as he is from a distance,” Kaito laughed, flushing a bit, “See, that’s another thing. I don’t actually know this guy. A part of me wants to hold onto the fantasy, admittedly. What if he’s a jerk? I’d be soooo sad if he’s a jerk. Honestly, maybe it’d be smart to ask him out just to see if he’s a jerk so that if he is I can move on. Still with melodrama though.”

Kaito would have been embarrassed confiding in the kid, but in truth, he was interpreting this as a chance for Josie to learn something by seeing someone acting like a bit of an idiot. Kaito was self aware enough that he felt like he’d make a good cautionary tale. Beware, Josie! Don’t live your love life by theater kid rules! Resist the melodrama! Kaito didn’t think it was doing Josie any harm, to watch Kaito be a little ridiculous. 

Resting his chin in a hand, Josie watched Kaito amusedly. This guy was a real romantic, huh? Honestly, there was something a little refreshing, seeing someone just so…wholly sincere with their heart. Dramatic, sure, but those were expressions of real feelings and opinions and ideas of what love and dating should be, and it was just…cute. 

(Josie felt…disgusting, sometimes. He had been adopted at 11, had spent a significant amount of his childhood around his moms, who really were in love and had a very healthy relationship with each other. And still he was just so…skeptical that relationships that weren’t just people using each other existed. That it wasn’t just expectations and traps and manipulation until there was only resentment under a thin veneer of…having to be together so you wouldn’t be alone.)

(The idea of someone putting all their energy towards someone else, in a positive way, was…absurd. A fairytale people told to trick people into believing they wanted relationships. On his worse days, Josie would hear something like what Kaito was saying and just be filled with…vitriol and resentment, hating that someone would have the gall to pretend something like that. On his better ones…?)

“It’d be a bummer in a lot of ways, really. Almost everyone says Fortuna is nice, if they get a chance to talk with him,” Josie hummed. “Still, a good way to get to know him? Is to ask him on a date.”

He didn’t have the chance to comment much more, though, as the lights dimmed and a drumroll started, a faint melody starting out indistinct, but soon apparent as a Primarina propped itself up from the pool area of the ring, a bunch of Brinonne and Popplio soon joining their leader, spinning and balancing balls on their noses, carrying the tension as momentum started to build. 

The kid had a point…

But Kaito found his attention drawn to the show as well, eyes wide with eager anticipation, popping a bit of popcorn into his mouth. The lights shimmering and spinning around them, creating an atmosphere of soon, soon, the real show will start, as the audiences murmurs and cheers died down in obvious anticipation.

Then, Kaito felt something… strange. Like he could feel eyes on him. 

Pulling his eyes away from the show, he looked around, before catching the gaze staring at him. Some kid, maybe a little older than Josie, staring at him a few rows down. Though the kid startled when Kaito got eye contact, looking back at the show determinedly like he hadn’t been staring. 

…huh.

“Caleb, Caleb, look!” Celeste said, over where Temp and the kids were sitting, pointing at the confetti was starting to shimmer through the air, “That’s pretty!”

“Y-yeah,” Caleb said, shaking off the weird feeling he had just had. He had seen some guy in the crowd, and for some reason, the man had felt fascinating to Caleb. Caleb studying his face, trying to figure out why the man had caught his attention. But, the man had caught him staring, which was rude. And Caleb wanted to focus on the show anyway, “Dad, are we allowed to cheer loud?”

“Of course. The performers enjoy cheers, at the end of their performances.” Temp said, gently encouraging, “Give a little cheer.”

“Hur… h-hurray!” Caleb tried, immediately lowering his voice in shy reservation, face burning red. 

“Woo!” Celeste called loudly, cheering and applauding when a balloon of confetti popped.

Kyle had felt a bit shy about it, but since they were headed to the same place, apparently Temp and his family--and the strange non-pokemon--were…totally cool with Kyle walking with them to Fortuna’s circus, and had even found seats together. But now that the show was starting? Kyle was glad for it, just as happy to see Caleb and Celeste’s excitement as he was Mime Jr. and Phantump’s. 

“Mi-Miiiime!” Mime Jr. cheered along with Celeste at the balloon, though she was immediately entranced by the bubbles floating across the big top from the Popplio and Brionne… All to gasp in wonder as a few bubbles popped, somehow…dropping from the sky???

Right into the hands of Blacephalon and a man who somehow made a black and white outfit look whimsical, the two starting to juggle the popped-bubble-balls between them, after a moment making more from the crowd laugh as it became clear they were aiming for some of the bubbles and confetti balloons. 

As the juggled balls went higher and higher, though, it drew the eye upward…just in time for two acrobats to swing across the ceiling, one of them flung gracefully through the air, caught by a Lopunny swinging on the other side. 

Kaito tried to force his eyes away from the acrobats to watch the magicians down below, a man in a long cape and a theater mask having his pokemon assist him in making his apprentice magician, a small woman with cropped red hair, disappear. Kaito actually really liked the magic show segments on this show, he thought The Dazzling Mikoto and The Amazing Himiko were a charismatic duo, and he always found himself impressed with the tricks they performed. And for the last few shows he had been too, he had promised himself he was going to pay attention to their tricks during the big, all cast opening, since he always heard people gasp at Himiko’s disappearance and Kaito had missed it every time so far.

…but fuck, he was too easy. He could only stare at the magic performance for a minute before his eyes hopefully darted back upwards. Eager to see, as far as Kaito would ever be concerned, the star of the show.

And of course, as soon as he glanced up, he heard the crowd gasp, as The Dazzling Mikoto drew the blanket away and Himiko was gone! Shoot. Next time! Kaito would see it next time! 

It was a thrum of rising momentum, people step by step coming into the main ring, showing off their specialty, but as with any good performance, momentum had to lead to something…and something it did. As the song reached its crescendo, lights suddenly turned upward, one of the acrobats, a stockier man, throwing a ring across the gap, only to stop, a Jesteon perched posing on the top. 

A little impressed sound came from Josie, always a little awed to see another Eevee-lution. 

But that wasn’t it. The ring slowly spun around, and out of thin air a clown was revealed to be sitting in the ring. As the crowd cheered, he gave a few waves, before a voice came over the intercom, evidently the clown, though there was no visible microphone. 

“Welcome, one and all to the Usott City Circus! We have a delightful treat of a show for you all today, and I hope the little tastes you’ve gotten have whetted your appetite for incredible, whimsical spectacular! Without further ado…let’s get the show started!”

And with that, the clown fell backwards from the ring, Jesteon falling right after him, and just when it looked like he was nearing the ground, there was an explosion of confetti that completely blocked the view…and the show began. 

Caleb gasped, a look of honest wonder across his young face, while Celeste squealed in both surprise and delight, clinging to his arm while Temp politely applauded. Very lovely, very lovely– “Meow!”

Temp looked down, raising an eyebrow at the golden cat now in his lap. “Where on earth did you come from?”

Alter Ego ignored him, getting up on his hind legs and meowing again. Their ‘meow’ getting through the noise was impossible, but they were trying to see if {reaching out} would affect Kokichi. So far it hadn’t actually affected anyone else. At least, not in a way that the person hadn’t ignored or morphed into the rules of the dream. When anyone commented on it at all, they always made it sound like they were a little startled at their own thoughts. Not at an empath message.

“Hush. You’re not getting any attention like that, it’s about the show right now.” Temp quietly hushed the cat, patting the kitty across the head. Alter Ego gave a small little ‘mrwww’. Tail flicking.

Across the circus, Kaito’s eyes fixated, and like every time, it was like suddenly feeling peaceful. Something deep in him relaxing a tad, seeing the ringmaster riding an acrobat ring like it was natural and effortless. Looking ethereal as he peered down at the adoring crowds, confident and natural in the spotlight. And while the first time Kaito had ever seen the clown fall back and dive towards the ground had made Kaito gasp, just like everyone else, this time he just enjoyed watching him fly. Graceful and near otherworldly in the dive. Beautiful…

As the confetti exploded, Kaito grinned and clapped. 

Maybe talking to Josie about it had given him a little courage, honestly. Or maybe now he just couldn’t stop thinking about it. But this time… this time Kaito would brave the mob. This time Kaito was going to say hello.

…and maybe get an autograph too!

-

The performance was… Well, it was really good! Kyle didn’t want to imply that he was anything less than dazzled. It was clear that every member of the troupe was immensely skilled and put their all into the performance. Mime Jr. could barely stay on his lap with how enthralled she was, and even Phantump watched with dazzled eyes. And for the most part, Kyle had really enjoyed himself too. Watching the acrobats practically give the middle finger to physics and gravity was badass, and he had been enthralled when the jugglers were trading not just flames and not just daggers, but swords on fire between them. 

It had just been…odd. Kyle never thought he was scared of clowns, he adored Mime Jr. for crying out loud. But there had been a moment during the clowns’ performance that just felt… He didn’t even know. Honestly, Kyle felt like he might’ve dissociated for a bit or something, just from the pure…terror that had run through him. Like a hook had been plunged into his guts…

But that aside…it seemed that Mime Jr. was set on meeting Leggero Fortuna after the performance, so Kyle joined the crowd clamoring for the leader’s attention, holding Mime Jr. close so she wouldn’t be swept up. He gave a small, apologetic smile to a red-haired boy next to him as they got a little jostled together in the crowd. 

-

Cool as it was, Josie didn’t feel some deep-seated impulse to talk to Fortuna after the show--honestly, if he could avoid talking to him, and thus having to ever challenge the Clown Gym, that’d be ideal. But when Josie saw the determined look in Kaito’s eyes…well, he wasn’t going to miss that. And maybe he could course correct if Kaito started to Wimpod out again. 

…and it’d be cool to tell Jesteon that the performance was cool. 

“Are you sure it’s okay to stay longer? What if Addason’s getting fussy with the babysitter by now?” Caleb asked Temp, worriedly looking around at the surprisingly large crowd. A sort of odd line having formed in rows rather then lines. “We don’t have to stay…”

“Not at all. Addason is fine, and this is your day, Caleb. If you want to give some compliments, than that’s what we’re doing.” Temp said, avoiding saying Caleb could get an autograph. So long as he worded it like Caleb was maybe giving something back in the exchange, his son wouldn’t get too flustered and nervous to ask for something so ‘selfish’ as getting to meet the performers. 

Celeste, in turn, had no such misgivings, but was in fact glaring at the crowd with a ‘harrumph’. Temp would have to keep an eye on her, before Celeste got it into her head that she was going to start pushing people aside so that Caleb could get through.The crowd would move when the crowd moved.

Like every time, Kaito hesitated when he saw how busy everything was. The audience allowed to come down onto the circus floor and gush at the performers for a little bit before the tent needed to be cleared. There were lots of little crowds around performers, people heading to the stars of their favorite acts to tell them how much they adored it or to ask little questions about it. But the crowd around Fortuna was always the most dense, the clown acrobats performances always a stunning mix of spectacle and gut-punching comedy. 

…Kaito felt too big and awkward. A lot of the people who wanted to meet the clown performers were the younger kids. He felt foolish, trying to wait in line to… what? Flirt awkwardly? While the poor guys just had this big long performance and is probably tired and probably needs to go home and relax and be massaged by the partner he probably already had?? Ahhhhh… “Actually, this is pretty long, isn’t it? Some of the other performer lines are shorter, you seemed to really like guy with all the lifesized puppets, Josie, if you want to go meet him?” Kaito offered, like he wasn’t pussing out.

“His section was really cool, and it’d be nice to say so… But I’d really like to congratulate Jesteon on the performance. Heh… Eevees aren’t that uncommon, but don’t you get excited when you see someone who’s partners with the same species your partner is?” Josie gave Kaito a playful wink. “Call it seeing something that isn’t there, maybe, but I’d still like to.”

Looking at Kaito a little plaintively, Josie put on a slightly shy look. “Would you still wait with me, though? This crowd is a little intimidating…”

(Kyle was trying not to listen in, but…ooph. His heartstrings.)

Oh, fuck, little cheat. 

But even recognizing he was being played did literally nothing to stop the warm, gooey, “Of course! If you need me I’m not going anywhere!” that immediately ripped out of him. Kaito grinning down at Josie and giving him a thumbs up, before letting out a little ‘phoo’ of air as he looked back over the crowd, where Fortuno was sitting on the center platform where most of the announcements and transition speech’s were made, laughing and chatting with the people closest. 

Whelp. Okay! Kaito was going to talk to him today! A… a little! And he was going to be soooo normal about it! Not a weird stalker fan at all! A totally normal, supportive, not super aggressive fan who impeaches on no boundaries and makes no one uncomfortable and regretting their life decisions and career choices!

Yeah! Ooph.

As Kaito tried to steel himself, once again, he felt like he could… feel eyes on him. His eyes followed the source of the eyes, and the young teenager startled as he caught his eyes again, before looking away. Huh… and Kaito’s eyes glanced at the people around the boy. A tall, lanky, pale man with dark eyes and dark hair, who was smiling warmly down at a little girl who he was holding back, the girl apparently determined to start asking what on earth was taking everyone so long. Wow, he was kind of pretty… but there was also something unnerving about him that Kaito couldn’t place a finger on. Something that made his attractiveness… (cold. deathly) Kaito wasn’t sure. Just not his thing.

Then he glanced over at a young man… teen? Probably actually a teenager, near the boy that kept catching his eyes. Kaito grinned, a pair of cute pokemon apparently just as interested in meeting the performers as the humans around them, and funnily enough, almost mimicking the two kids they were near. The little Mime Jr. looking like it was about to back the little girl up in bullying everyone ahead to hurry up, while the one being held had a sort of shy, reserved, but eager quality to it. Cute.

He looked closer at the teenager and (...shiver.) Kaito closed his eyes, not sure where his discomfort was coming from as he looked away. He just felt uneasy, looking in that direction. Nothing actually wrong with the people, just something in Kaito’s gut warning him that not everything there was…suited. For him.

But at the crowd moved on, Kaito kept glancing at the near-teen boy. Something fascinating about him. Kaito wasn’t sure what… and he was so distracted that he was a little startled to see the group disappear into the front row. Oh, wow! Okay, the crowd was moving faster than he thought. 

At the front row, Celeste stamped in excitement– yes! They made it!! Finally!!-- before remembering her duty as the much more put together sibling, and grabbed Caleb’s hand, jerking him forward as she proudly declared to the clown, “I’m Celeste, and this is Caleb! We saw your show! You were good!” Celeste said, before looking up at Caleb, sternly saying with all her six year old maturity, “Caleb, tell him it was good!”

“U-uh…” Caleb stammered, looking at the clown, before feeling foolish, looking down at his foot, “Your show was really good, sir.”

Kokichi adored his circus. Well…’his’ circus. He might’ve been the Gym Leader, and thus allotted the space and renovation budget to make something as spectacular as the Usott Circus Big Top, and his face may be on a lot of the posters, but the big top was just a fancy tent and his act was just a gimmick without everyone else who put their heart and soul into the circus too. 

He owed a lot to Ikuo. For a lot of things, but… Kokichi had always thought he’d follow in his father’s footsteps, working as a minister for the Pokemon League. It was important, and work Kokichi didn’t think he’d hate, but…Ikuo had really made him think about if he was fine with his life just being something he wouldn’t hate, or if he really wanted to do something he liked. And…well, from there, Kokichi already had been asked about being a gym leader before, he had all the qualifications, and…it was just a matter of finding people to join. Ikuo had been the first human (Kokichi’s pokemon had of course been there with him through it all), and he’d known an old acrobat friend from back in the day, who just so happened to be married to a juggler… Little by little, his circus grew. 

And now? They could hardly handle the seating capacity. 

Laughing warmly, Leggero Fortuna (because the name Ouma was too well-known in certain circles) grinned at the children who came up. “Thank you so much, Celeste and Caleb! I’m glad you two enjoyed yourselves--it’s the greatest compliment I could ever get, hearing that someone had fun.”

Focused on the kids, but just glancing up for a moment to get an idea of the situation--performers always had to be quick on their feet--Kokichi gave them a cheeky grin. “Would either of you like an autograph? I wouldn’t wanna tick off Dad, but…just call it a feeling, today’s meant for something special, isn’t it?”

Caleb’s face flushed red, and Temp smiled, about to explain, when he was interrupted by Celeste, who pushed Caleb forward excitedly, “It’s his birthday! He turns twelve today! Caleb thinks that basically makes him an adult, BUT! He still likes balloons and shows and clowns and stuff, so I think he’s probably still a kid and should just get over it.” Celeste huffed, patting Caleb’s arm patiently, while Caleb just gave her a mildly exasperated look. Celeste ignored the look, before looking sternly at Kokichi, pointing dramatically, “SO! He deserves a cool gift for cool kids! Got it, clown!?”

“Celeste!” Temp startled, wrapping his arm around her and pulling her back, Celeste suddenly looking ready to fight as Temp gave Fortuno a sheepish look, “I apologize, Celeste’s been going through a rebellious, confronting phase. She tried to barge into a kitchen this morning to inform a chef they had gotten Caleb’s order wrong this morning. I’ll talk to her after this about being polite. Your show was quite good, by the way, the children loved it–oh, honestly.”

“Meow!” The cat said, now standing on Temp’s shoulders, looking down at Kokichi, “Meow?”

Kokichi just grinned brighter, if it were possible. “Really? Happy birthday! Aw, gosh, I’m flattered that you’d choose the circus to spend your special day at! And, you, Celeste,” Kokichi gave her a fond look, “You’re not wrong--cool kids should get cool birthday gifts. I’m sure your dad has wiser words than me for you later, but…well, sticking up for someone you love is something I really respect, so no harm done.”

Signing some circus posters for the kids, Kokichi got ready for Caleb’s gift…before he blinked, looking up at the golden cat on Temp’s shoulders. Feeling… (familiarity, friend, mentor, dear one…) Before rolling his eyes. “You wanted to see the show too, huh? I was wondering where you went off to…”

Tilting his head back, Kokichi grinned. “Wait for me backstage, alright? We can talk in a bit.”

“Alright, so, admittedly you’ll have to ask Mikado or Himiko for something really dazzling, but…” Sticking his tongue out with a silly look of concentration, Kokichi waggled his fingers in Caleb’s direction…before he suddenly revealed a small Gleeppet plush figurine, the pokemon making a silly face. Offering it and the posters to the kids, Kokichi smiled sweetly. “Happy birthday, Caleb.”

Mime Jr. was agape, tugging on Kyle’s shirt and pointing with a ‘can you believe this?!?’ sort of face. 

Caleb gasped lightly, that same childlike wonder coming over his face at the magic trick, before he carefully took the little figurine from Kokichi’s grip, his movement slow and gentle, like he was afraid of startling Kokichi. He took it and murmured with a small, red flush, “Thank you,” before looking over his shoulder at the pokemon who had gasped. A little worried the pokemon wouldn’t also get cool posters, as Celeste gasped and oo’d and awed over, Caleb quickly explained, “These pokemon watched it with us. They really like you too.”

In case the pokemon couldn’t communicate that themselves. That felt important to Caleb. People who struggled to be heard should be helped. Uh, pokemon too.

Temp, in turn, raised an eyebrow as the cat gave a triumphant little “Meow!” before watching the critter scurry down and head through the crowd to the back. “That’s your pokemon?” Temp asked, genuinely startled. How on earth had it ended up on the train? Mysterious… but, Temp had dad duties, as he said, “Thank Fortuno for his time, kids. Come along, let’s go get some dubiously fried foods.”

“Byyyyye clown! Thanks for the presents!” Celeste called, Caleb giving a nervous little wave before Celeste grasped his hand and boldly pushed him back through the crowd. Caleb following her dutifully. Temp gave Fortuno a little nod, before going to follow his children.

Kaito stepped up behind the teenager and his pokemon, smiling lightly as his eyes trailed the leaving kids. That was sweet…shit! Maybe Fortuno was a good guy after all? The kid who got the figurine sure seemed happy to talk to him, anyway.

Mime Jr. made a little surprised noise before dancing around, happy to be acknowledged, while Kokichi just gave Temp a mysterious grin. Not his pokemon, no, but Kokichi was no stranger to pokemon who enjoyed his time nonetheless. Waving goodbye to the kids, the look he gave to the teen coming up next was warmth anew. 

“So, I heard you all are fans?”

With sparkles in her eyes, Mime Jr. nodded excitedly before mimicking some of the more pose-like movements of the performance, Kokichi ooh-ing, genuinely impressed. 

Laughing with fond sheepishness, Kyle explained, “She really loved ye show. Mime Jr. saw on’na th’ posters in Delfino Plaza, ‘n from there it was settled tha’ we had t’ come. Gettin’ recced by Gym Leader Shuuichi only stirred th’ pot.”

Surprise came over Kokichi’s face for a moment before he settled back into his ‘greeting’ face, giving Mime Jr. and, to his shy, delighted surprise, Phantump signed posters too. “You know Shuu-chan? Hah, I hope the circus was a good act to follow him. And it’s always an honor to meet aspiring performers too. I’m no prophet, but lemme just say I see a kindred spark in you, Mime Jr.” He winked at the pokemon, before tilting his head a little, directing attention to Mr. Rime, who had been greeting people as well, and took a moment to tip his hat to Mime Jr.

The small clown just squeed, little hearts and sparkles bursting in a parade for one around her.

Kaito had fully been practicing his speech in his head–Hi! I’m Kaito Momota, big fan! Just wanted to say, love your show, I’ve seen it a ton, you’re really impressive and, hey, I’m a fellow gym leader if you ever wanted… anything! And– but his mental speech was interrupted by a familiar name popping up. Kaito blinking at the teenager before leaning in closer, forgetting himself for a moment as he asked, “Oh, wait, kid, you know Shuichi?”

And then Kaito’s brain caught up with itself, and Kaito startled as he looked over the teenagers shoulder and at Fortuno, “Wait… Shuu-chan?”

“A-ah,” Kyle said, a little startled by the guy coming over his shoulder, and starting to feel a little trapped as he focused back on Fortuna. “Uh, sorta, we’ve been acquainted…”

Kokichi looked up at the man who’d spoken up…before his eyes widened, lighting up with surprise and recognition. “Kaito Momota??”

Content with seeing Kaito not wimp out, and since he’d made his own weird opening, Josie figured that Kaito had this, and he shuffled a little to the side. Smiling at Jesteon and starting to compliment the show, mentioning, you know, I have a Flareon, so it’s always cool to see another Eevee-lution around…

Kaito stared at Fortuno, blue-screening for a moment. Wow… his voice was so lovely… Kaito really, really liked hearing it say his name. Wow…uuuuuuuh, SHIT! FOCUS! FOCUS-FOCUS-FOCUS DO NOT JUST STARE! PULL IT TOGETHER! AHHHH– “HA HA HA! That's right! I’m Kaito Momota! Illuminary of the stars!!”

Kaito put his hands on his hips, squaring his shoulders and laughing with his entire chest, like if he laughed loud enough how beat red his whole body had turned would be less obvious, as he grinned and said boisterously, “Gym Leader for Fairies from Beneath the Sands and Planets Far, Desert Patron of, uh–” Kaito’s brain skipped, losing the rest of his titles. Woooow. Those eyes were pretty. He wondered if Fortuno’s depth perception was crazy good, for having his eyes makeup damn near half his head. Wow… FOCUS!! “--stuff! And things! All of the stuff and things! Priest of Atua!”

Kaito paused, not sure how to segway out of his titles while his brain was shorting out… before he remembered why he had stepped in in the first place, gesturing to the teenager as he declared, “And FELLOW ACQUAINTANCE of Shuichi Saihara! Or, no, that’s not right… waaaaay more than an acquaintance! Frequent texter! Traveler! Swooner!--” AHHHH DON’T TELL THE GUY YOU WANT TO SWOON ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE YOU WANT TO SWOON THAT’S SO RUDE, “--foooooor his incredible poisoning skills! No, detective skills! That’s his thing… though he is good at poisoning too! Great poisoner! You know Shuichi?” Kaito asked, grinning blankly, smoke practically leaking from his ears as his brain kicked the bucket, “...diiiid he poison you?”

Kyle was frozen, physically stuck between a clown and a guy who was visibly falling apart. And shouting. This was certainly not what he expected from going to the circus. 

Kokichi was…well, surprised to see the CEO of the Illuminary Medical Corps in his circus, and while he knew very well who Kaito was…his grin just softened as Kaito kept rambling on, all leading to a braying, happy laugh. Very different from the scripted interviews on TV. “We have battled, yeah, and I’d have to agree, Shuu-chan is an incredible poisoner. Pecha berries are your best friend, taking on the Poison Gym. Though that’s not how we met--he took on a case for me here a bit ago. We ended up talking a bit through his investigation, and he’s a cool guy…though you’d know, being a frequent texter, traveler, and swooner.”

“I have to say, though, I am surprised to see a fellow gym leader here. It’s nice to--”

Kokichi’s attention was stolen by the ghost pokemon starting to whimper softly in the…now pale and starting to panic teen’s arms, and his expression softened. “Ah, I’m sorry. Things can get a bit hectic, huh? Blacephalon?”

The tall pokemon peeked over at Kokichi’s call, and Kokichi gave it a fond smile. “If you want, Blacephalon can lead you over to a calmer place to rest for a bit.”

“I-I’m sorry, I…uh, yeah, thanks,” Kyle stammered, holding Phantump to his chest and trying to soothe the tears before they really started. As he and his pokemon left, Kokichi turned back to Kaito. “I wouldn’t want to keep you too long, Kaito, I’m sure a guy like you is real busy… But if you’d like to chat sometime?”

There was suddenly an autographed poster offered to Kaito, with the addition of a phone number and a silly quick sketch of a clown in the corner. “I’d love to hear from another Shuu-chan fan.”

Ah, shoot! Kaito had startled the little g-g-ghost pokemon! He hadn’t meant to do that, oof. Kaito offered a quick, sheepish apology to the teenager before he was led off, watching them walk off–half ensuring with a watchful eye that the little Mime Jr. was following and not getting lost in the crowd, because Kaito couldn’t turn off those instincts anymore if he tried–before he glanced back at Fortuno, then Fortuno’s hand. Staring blankly at the poster for a moment, before quickly taking it and opening it up. Seeing the little ‘Kokichi’ in fun, looping handwriting next to the phone number, along with a little ;O)

“Ah,” Kaito said, burning up again, before he nodded, “S-sure! I love to talk about Shuichi! Uh, though, we can talk about other things too! Lots of things! I heard you like astrology in an interview once? Not that I watch all of your interviews! That’d be weird! Ha ha ha ha! ….ahhh, Josie, don’t forget you should ask permission before hugging a new pokemon!” Kaito said, desperately looking for something to get him to stop talking, “That’s Josie! He’s a good kid!”

Cute…

Well, Kokichi had already thought Kaito was cute, the utter…passion he could feel even through practiced words on TV was enchanting…but seeing the guy like this? Ooough. Utter Skitty-nip. Adorable. 

“True, true. That’s why I certainly haven’t watched all of your interviews--I just like to keep up to date about new policies and locations for Pokemon Centers.” Kokichi gave Kaito a small, teasing grin, before turning to the kid he was with, the smile just warming seeing Jesteon absolutely cuddle up to him. “It looks like Jesteon’s more than happy to me, you’re all good. I hope you enjoyed the show, Josie.”

“Definitely,” Josie nodded, looking touched by Jesteon’s affection…before he took on an amused smirk. “The after-show is certainly something too.”

Kokichi snorted in amusement.

Kaito was going to try to defend himself somehow–likely it would have led to him rambling at the mouth some more– but he overheard a kid asking their parents when it was going to be their turn, and Kaito took that as his cue to get out of the way, grinning at ‘Kokichi’... Kokichi! He totally had permission to use his real name now! As he said, “Thanks! For the poster! And the show! Love the show! …a-alright, come on Josie! Can’t keep the light of Dicea from his audience! Coooome on, let’s go, let’s go!”

Kaito shoo’d Josie away, like Josie was the uber-fan who had desperately wanted to come, the two stepping away from the crowd as Kaito let out a little breath, visibly sweating… before he suddenly whisper-shouted, “Oh my god, that laugh!? Where has that laugh been!? That was so cute! What a little weirdo! Oh my god I’m gonna die. I’m gonna die? He gave me his number…oooooh, this is it, this is what kills me.” Kaito showed Josie the proof, before squinting at the phone number. “Is it too soon to text him? Don’t answer, I already know the answer is yes… unless??”

Snickering softly, Josie gave Kokichi and the other performing pokemon a wave goodbye and followed Kaito out of the crowd, getting out of the stage area. That was…really cool, honestly. Though he knew it was a much bigger deal for Kaito. 

“He sounded a little like a Mudbray,” Josie noted lightly, more amused than derogatory as he gave Kaito a knowing, yet encouraging look. “Aaaaand it sounded like you could’ve done this a long time ago with it going well. You might not be the only social media stalker, and you drooling over a performer is a little less weird than him searching out a conglomerate CEO.”

Looking at the phone number--Fortuna, Kokichi, apparently, was way smoother than Josie would’ve expected--like he was really considering it, Josie shrugged lightly. “Maybe just a text saying that your number is you? But for actually talking to him, I’d wait until he’s literally off stage.”

Glancing over the poster again, Josie tilted his head a little, not seeing the possible clue he’d guessed at. “...what’s ‘light of Dicea’ mean?”

“Hey, I’m sure he has a totally innocent reason for looking up my interviews! Like… well, honestly, probably research when his area was first setting up a pokemon center,” Kaito shrugged, absolutely refusing to hear anything against his now not-so-hopless crush. “It’s just another sign of his intelligence and leadership! His voice is a little deeper when he’s talking casually, did you notice that? I guess some of the higher lilt is his performance voice. I could listen to him talk all day.”

Kaito pulled out his phone and, unable to help himself, sent a little text saying Just letting you know this is Kaito’s number! And then just in case sending another text saying Kaito Momota! And then after a moment putting in The tall guy with the red hair! Before he forced himself to put his phone away. “Hm?” He hummed, still on cloud nine, as he said distractedly, “Oh, because he… because…”

Kaito paused, searching his brain. “...oh, um. I’m not sure? Sorry, I guess I misspoke, it just popped into my brain and I said it without thinking about it. No idea what I was trying to say.”

But, his goals accomplished, Kaito grinned at the kid, “Well? Did you have a good time today? I know this all probably felt pretty random, you just seemed kinda down and cooped up back at Grand Pan, and since I was coming here anyway, I thought you might enjoy a trip out. I know the caverns and sun aren’t everyone’s thing, and I don’t want you feeling trapped. The trains really close to the route, once you get to it, right? When you’re ready to start adventuring again, it’ll be easy to start! The worlds right here!”

“Keep telling yourself that. I’m sure it feels nice to have your expectations exceeded. Though it does make you ramble like crazy when you’re flustered,” Josie chuckled. Though he gave a curious look to Kaito when he wrote off the weird phrase he’d used. It could just be random word mash…but whatever Kaito had meant to say, it seemed…proud. Though it was no great discovery to find that he was enamored by the Clown Gym Leader. 

“Eh, I’ve been just fine,” Josie waved off, “But…thanks, this was a lot of fun. I’ve never seen anything quite like the circus…and it’s been cool getting something fun like this without it ending up to be some sort of practice or demonstration for battle strategy.” Josie rolled his eyes a little. 

“Everything’s pretty connected--it’s not that hard getting from one place to another.” He shrugged, before grinning. “Maybe I will head back to Usott once I get a badge off you--I can pass on some adoring words from gym leader to gym leader. Then take them both to Delfino Plaza, it sounds like.”

“Yeah, wow, I cannot believe he knows Shuichi. ‘Shuu-chan’? How cute is that…”

Kaito, briefly, let his mind wander. Imagining Shuichi and Kokichi doing something light and fun, like sitting together in a cafe, Shuichi smirking lightly while Kokichi beamed and cheerfully called him ‘Shuu-chan!’, which, awww, very cute… and then like… and then maybe Kokichi would giggle, and lean in reeeaal close and–

AH! DON’T BE WEIRD?? DO NOT IMAGINE YOUR CRUSHES KISSING!??? THAT WAS… PROBABLY WEIRD???? Like, really fucking hot but ALSO PROBABLY WEIRD.

Ugh, his libido was going to give him problems tonight, Kaito could already tell…

Though he was distracted from his traitorous, lecherous thoughts by his Kaito-senses picking up on one of the particularly off things Josie had just said. Kaito glancing down at him in concern. This was not the first time Josie had off-handedly lamented how much training he did. But worrying that a fun trip out would end up being a part of it?

“...Hey, kid, I already know things are tough with your brother, but…” Kaito rubbed the back of his neck, uncertain if he should even bring this up, “Is everything alright at home? With your folks, I mean. Anything you want to talk about?” 

Josie didn’t find it all that far-fetched. Sure, maybe at least some gym leaders had more reservations about using their contact information for each other for things other than emergencies…but, c’mon. He didn’t buy that they just didn’t talk to each other. Giving heads up on promising trainers or events in their cities, bitching about new rules or alterations the League made that only other leaders would really understand… If there were only a handful of people in similar positions to you, and you knew of them…why wouldn’t you talk?

Giving Kaito a cool look as he mentioned his brother…it eased into slightly baffled confusion as Josie laced his hands behind his head, leaning back onto them a little. “My folks are my folks, nothing that special, really. Though I know how that sounds,” he rolled his eyes, “Considering who my dad is. But I don’t think there’s really that much to talk about. Dad and his team keep an eye on the border, Mom mostly kept an eye on me and Mick. Dad knows what it takes to go around the region safely, so he trained us. Nothing big.”

“I mean, I guess that’s fair. Hell, it’s not like I didn’t add learning some desert safety into our trip today.” Kaito said, shrugging a little sheepishly, “Sorry to ask then. As you might have noticed by now, I can be a liiiittle… fussy? A worry-wart! An insufferable busybody, as some might call me… oh, that reminds me, I should text them, make sure they got to the next part of their safari alright…”

Kaito muttered to himself, taking out his phone and texting someone, staring at the phone for a moment in case there was an immediate reply before reluctantly putting his phone away, “I know it’s the most normal thing in the world, and really good for kids independence and growth and stuff, but man… I do not know how people let you runts run around the country at 10 years old. If I ever have kids, those poor little guys are going to be sooo annoyed with me, because them running off at your size is going to give me an aneurysm. No, that’s not the right word… anu… oc… what’s the thing, where you get so stressed out it hurts your stomach? That.”

Ah, that was true, but it was the kind of lesson Josie didn’t mind as much. Kaito hadn’t even snapped at him once, or outlined a grizzly death if Josie forgot even a single thing, so…it was practically a walk in the park. 

“Whaaaaat? Nooooo,” Josie playfully gasped, chuckling a little as he half-watched Kaito check in on another set of kids. Something that he had seen early into his stay in Grand Pan, and…had made it a little easier to accept Kaito’s nature. Less like it was just Mick that spurred Kaito’s generosity. “You are, like, the most lackadaisical guy I’ve ever met. Not intrusive in the slightest. What are people doing? You have no idea, you never even thought to ask.”

“Ulcer?” Josie guessed, half-paying attention as he looked at some of the circus accoutrement as they walked farther from the main stage. “Well, you could always tell them to never leave the desert, then upgrade to a heart attack when they decide to rebel and leave without telling you.”

Kaito laughed: the kid had a good sense of humor. Though he added in as an afterthought, “Oh, do me a favor, let’s not joke about heart attacks around me. You didn’t say anything wrong, I’ve just got this idea in my head of, like, conjuring that sort of thing into the universe? And they’re awful, I wouldn’t wish them on anyone. Panic attacks are fair game though, those things are ridiculous, I’d give panic attacks a damn wedgie and throw balls at their heads in gym if I freaking could. Little jerk things, messing with people.”

Kaito grinned, giving Josie a wink as he said, “Okay, me being a busybody weirdo might not be shocking, but I imagine hearing I’m a bit of a bully is…I hope, please tell me that’s shocking, I will be devastated if it’s still obvious.” Kaito laughed, not sounding nearly as distressed as his words implied. His tone more teasing himself as he snickered, “These days I bully diseases by paying other people to mess with them, but back when I was young and irresponsible, I was the more traditional type of bully. Just a dumbass swinging his weight around till he finally got his ass kicked messing with the wrong gal.”

“Anyway, the only reason I bring that up is because, like, it just makes me a bit sensitive when I notice people mentioning things that sounds like someone was throwing their weight around, ya know?” Kaito said, heading out of the tent, the smell of fried food filling the air, “Takes a bully to know a bully, I guess…what’d that guy call them, dubiously fried food? You want some dubiously fried food? Smells amazing.”

Josie raised an eyebrow. Kaito wouldn’t wish heart attacks on anyone--fair--but…would wish panic attacks on people? Though it sounded more like he just wanted to beat up on the concepts of panic attacks… “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Huffing a laugh, Josie tipped his head back more. “Do you want the truth or a lie, on that part? Though… Talking about my parents throwing their weight around? I dunno if parents can even be bullies.” There was something around expectation, there. Parents could be horrible, but people tended to call that abuse rather than a bullying incident, and parents throwing their weight around was…just authority, Josie guessed. Not really something someone insecure did to make themself feel stronger. That’d be a pretty pathetic way to feel about your relationship with your own kid.

“Hmmmm…” Josie hummed, taking a deep breath of food. “Hey, if you’re buying? Then I’m eating. You think they sell Cufant Ears here? I’ve never had one before, but it sounds good. Don’t think you can really miss with sweet fried dough,” he laughed.

“Hell yeah! Cufant Ears, let’s go! Come on, follow me, I’ll follow my nose!” Kaito insisted, distracted by what he was trying to convey at the prospect of some good junk food.

Maybe Josie wouldn’t call what his family did ‘bullying’, but that had been what Kaito had believed his relationship with his brother had been, for a long time. Though who was bullying who had been a bit of a debate among the people around them. If you asked Kirumi, Kaito had been an impossible little shit who had basically forced Byakuya into every confrontational moment by sheer, stubborn assholery. If you had asked, well… Kaito, at least, he would have said his brother was the bully, because that was the best word he had at the time, for how shitty their relationship had made Kaito feel. And while Kaito wouldn’t say his dad had bullied Kaito, he would have easily called the way his father and mother too interacted with other people bullying as well. Kaito earning his bullying habits honestly. 

It was only when Kaito got older and got distance and spent a loooot of time talking to people about it that he got better words for what was going on: abuse, gaslighting, domineering. ‘Bully’ maybe wasn’t the word… but it would have been the word Kaito used at 10. So it was the one he had tried.

But maybe Kaito was pulling at a loose thread that wasn’t actually there this time. The brother was a nightmare, absolutely, but that didn’t mean the parents were anything worse then maybe a little out of touch with what was going on between their kids. Which was also pretty shitty, but sort of harder to, well…anything useful that would come from confronting it was already happening. The kid was already out of the household. Their negligence could only hurt him so much now.

Kaito would let it go…(for now.)

-

Kokichi adored post-show meet-and-greets…but they did take a lot out of him. By the time he’d at least exchanged a word with everyone who’d stuck around the ring, Kokichi was drained, and then after checking in with all the others? He’d had the full paternal force of all the circus dads practically shoving him towards the greenroom, and Kokichi’s office within it. 

Jesteon happily clambering up his tree and curling up on one of the many perches, Kokichi all but collapsed onto his old, yet very comfortable couch, languidly grabbing some make-up wipes to at least take a little of the day off. Still, he didn’t completely ignore his special visitor. 

“I feel like I know you, though I don’t know exactly how,” he started honestly. “Did Mesprit send you over?”

“Meow,” Alter Ego said, loafed out on Kokichi’s vanity desk, tail hanging like a clock tick-tick-ticking away, “No. Shoot, do you really not know me? For a second I thought…”

Kokichi gave the cat a sheepish grin. “Sorry. I am a performer--if I fooled you too, that kind of comes with the territory. If Mesprit didn’t send you over, though… Well, I’m not unaccustomed to having surprise guests, which is why I asked to talk back here.”

He tilted his head a little, before taking the last of his makeup off and shooting the wipe into his trash can. Miss… Ah, he’d get it later. “...but you do know me.”

“Meow,” Alter Ego nodded, “I do. Though… I’m a little afraid to say too much. We’ve already done this revelation once, and it was a process last time. I don’t know how much you can handle that same process, all at once.”

Alter Ego’s ears twitched in frustration. After months of training Kokichi in dreams and using his empath abilities and him allowing his waking self to acknowledge the powers he was capable of, to have all of that washed away, all in an instant… it was infuriating. This had been hard enough the first time. Alter Ego was going to claw the shit out of whatever entity was doing this. 

Kokichi gave Alter Ego a considering look for a moment before crossing his legs on the couch. “...I do know that you’re someone I trust quite a lot. That I could place not just my life, but everything I hold dear in your paws, and would trust your care whole-heartedly.”

“...and I can tell that…whatever is going on is causing you a lot of frustration. And I hate to see you bearing a burden alone.” Gently, Kokichi reached out and pet behind Alter Ego’s ear. “I understand the concern for me, but…if there is something I could do, even if it’s just knowing, so you’re not the only one… I’d like to. There’s something that tells me you have that kind of trust in me too.”

Alter Ego closed their eyes, purring slightly. He did trust Kokichi… and more importantly, it was Kokichi who was currently in danger. Him and everyone he knew. Kokichi deserved to know.

Gentle.

{Dream. Illusion. Fantasy. Paradise.} Alter Ego whispered into him… before adding in, almost as a reassurance, {Imperfect. Not without sacrifice. Love. Family. Children.}

While others had been confused by their own thoughts when Alter Ego had tried to talk to them… Well. The dream was a little funny, in some ways. Without Alter Ego asleep, there had been a gap where Kokichi’s mentor was supposed to be, and where there was a gap, the dream filled it. 

When Kokichi was young, exploring the region and finding his way, he had come across the legendary pokemon Mesprit, the pokemon of emotions. It had seen in him the gift of understanding those emotions, far beyond the limits one would usually expect. And similar to how a trainer might take on a pokemon to help its power flourish, so had Mesprit done for Kokichi. 

So the words Kokichi heard in his head he knew weren’t just his own thoughts…and they weren’t just words either. Concepts loosely floating by, and he let himself drift within them, understanding what they had to say without grasping too tight…

And Kokichi’s eyebrows knit, before he frowned at the cat. “I’m dreaming? …no, we…a lot of people are dreaming?” His expression softened into worry. “...I have kids?”

Alter Ego sighed, nodding. “Meeooow.”

{Everyone. Your fathers. The family you know. The family you don’t. Child. Infant…} Alter Ego hesitated, looking around, {Around, but…}

The next thing Alter Ego said was complicated, but only to a non-empath. Alter Ego had expanded and expanded and expanded as far as they could in the dream. They knew Miyako was somewhere… but Alter Ego could not expand at the length of this many minds. And everytime they grazed her, she disappeared into another mind again. Drifting lazily through the massive network of minds. Alter Ego was too small and constricted to keep up.

{Miyako.}

“Miyako…” Kokichi whispered, feeling…not a sudden revelation, really. His Mi-Mi had never been far away. But an ache, a longing, a love that just…hadn’t been conscious. His daughter… His baby. His…

Gently, Kokichi reached out, expanding just as Alter Ego had described…before he let out a breath, rubbing his head a little. “...I see what you mean. It’s too…” Kokichi struggled for a word, before throwing a hand up. 

Pausing for another moment before he looked pensively at the ceiling. Not even really understanding what he meant himself, but maybe Alter Ego would, so… “...it’s like the golden sea, everywhere. I can’t…touch it. And…I tried to feel myself to wake up, but…I can’t feel along the right borders. It’s like… Something’s keeping me here.”

“Exactly.” Alter Ego said… before saying testingly, “Meow? Exactly meow? Oh, good, we’re past that. But yes, what we’re in? It’s… not quite a hive mind. Think of it more like a… a mind map. Only instead of needing to jump between minds like we usually do, the transition between minds is seamless. And everyone is adding a little bit of themselves to the map. And when the map is this big… well, you can feel it for yourself.”

“But, more than that, we are stuck in dream logic to the extreme,” Alter Ego said, standing up and hopping down, spinning in place before leaping… and falling gracefully back on their paws, “I can’t fly here. I’ve tried. People look at me, and don’t believe a creature like me would suddenly lift off. So by the dream logic everyone shares? I can’t. Honestly, I think the pokemon influence is the only reason I can even still be a golden cat at all.”

“Also, that’s another big thing,” Alter Ego stressed, having had plenty of time to think about this, “Everyone adds to the map, but some people are adding far more influence than anyone else. Up to and including your family, yes, who seem to have all landed on positions of extreme influence, but the pokemon aspect itself? This isn’t a collective idea. This is coming from a small percentage of minds, and is having easily the most influence. It’s a bit astounding.”

Kokichi nodded slowly, that explanation by far being the most true to the sensation. A place they were all sharing, and thus perceptions and concepts were shared, but they all had their own individuality still. Really…well, he was still asleep, so this world still just felt like the world to him, but…even within it, it was an incredible place. A marvel of collective imagination. 

…collective…imagination…

“Hmmm… Well, it might be more minor compared to everything else at hand, but…I might have something to help you out with that,” Kokichi hummed, heaving himself off his couch. Going over to a trunk, he started digging through. “To me, this just…obviously seems like it’d help you fly, like not even a trick, so that would be good indication other people would believe it too, hm?” 

With a small, ‘aha!’, Kokichi pulled out a small, sparkling gem with a slight blue sheen and offered it to Alter Ego. “This is a Flying-Type tera gem. For pokemon, it can change their type to Flying, regardless of what it would be normally…so while you may not sprout wings, people might believe that you know Fly, since you have the Flying gem. Do you want it?”

A quick solution to a small problem, but the bigger one at hand… Kokichi frowned. “Do you think finding the people who are most contributing to the world might…be a clue for how to break out of it?”

Alter Ego lifted their head up a bit, their posture accepting the gem as it was clasped onto them. They hopped once, twice, and up he went, flying around the room, before landing down to the ground gracefully, “That helps! It’s so odd being stuck on the ground when you’re used to floating, Kokichi. Feels like I’ve lost a limb.”

As for the question, “Maybe? I’m not sure, this is admittedly entirely out of my area of expertise,” Alter Ego said, looking up at Kokichi before flying up, landing in his arms, “I was hoping Temp might help, if maybe he’s seen something like this before, but I’m worried he might reject my attempts to clue him in. Do you remember him now? The sullen-looking guy with the two kids, Celeste and Caleb? Those two…” Alter Ego sighed, his fur seeming to wilt in the movement, “...well, they’re not waiting for him outside of the dream. That might be hard for him to accept.”

Kokichi grinned, delighted with the little display, and he happily cuddled his friend once Alter Ego was in his arms. Though, he soon had to give Alter Ego an apologetic look. “I don’t really…remember, not how I think you’re hoping I am. I realize the sort of reality we’re in, but…I’m still in it. Everything in…my real life, I guess, still feels so far away. The things I remember more like trivia than my lived experience.”

“But I do know who you’re talking about… He seemed pretty puzzled by you.” Sitting back on the couch, Kokichi sighed. “...I can only imagine. Having people I don’t remember waiting for me when I wake feels weird, but pleasant. Having to come to terms with the parts of this dream that really are just a dream… There’s a reason fantasies have such a dangerous allure.”

Closing his eyes for a moment, Kokichi thought. “...finding the people most contributing to the dream and…the golden sea. And…” Kokichi’s eyebrows knit. “...we know another dream-hopper, don’t we? Find them too… Those are places to start, I think.”

“Maybe I should call Shuu-chan and ask if he’s gotten any people calling in with weird interactions with Munna or Drowzee too… People who are close to realizing what this world is might rationalize it around dream-related pokemon.”

“It does seem like the place to start. And Temp’s actually the other ‘big’ dream hopper we know, though we know a few others just in general. We can try to make a list of them together, seek them out. Most everyone looks like themselves, so hopefully they won’t be hard to find.” Alter Ego said, tilting his head, “Oh, and speaking of Shuichi, how do you want to handle letting him know? I know you and your husbands have this big ‘thing’ about keeping secrets from each other, but I’m not sure how readily they’d believe us. Do you think they’d understand for this circumstance?”

Kokichi nodded--all reasonable stuff--but instead of answering Alter Ego’s very conscientious question, Kokichi just blinked, before his eyes grew and his face turned red. “I’m married to Shuu-chan?” he asked, looking both delighted and gobsmacked, before he gasped, giving Alter Ego a guilty look. “Shoot, I just flirted with Kaito, do you think they’d understand, since this is a dream?”

Alter Ego looked blankly cat-eyed up at Kokichi… before saying somewhat exasperatedly, “With all your memories gone and literally a paradise worth of other people to check out, you developed a crush on both your husbands again? Well, you're consistent if nothing else.”

Another surprised but delighted and flustered look crossed Kokichi’s face, before he laughed sheepishly. “That’s a good sign for our relationship though, if we’re still drawn to each other. Well…okay then. I can try to explain it to Kaito and Shuu-chan; makes it easy since Kaito and I just exchanged numbers…” Not that Kokichi hadn’t technically had it before, but…it was less weird than chatting him up through his emergency information. Even if Kokichi had done exactly that for Shuuichi…and did give gym advice time to time for the water gym…and had been one of the people to call when Souda-kun got too wrapped up in his projects to take on challengers… Still! He had their numbers!

Shrugging, Kokichi hummed, “Even if they don’t believe me, I’ll still have tried. And it might let them recognize something weird happening around them that they’d otherwise brush off.”

“Agreed,” Alter Ego said, “And probably another good sign for your relationship, really. I know you don’t remember, but trust me, you agreeing to tell them in an attempt is a pretty big development for you three. I had my own part to play in it, but ‘keeping secrets for their own good’ has been a big ‘thing’ for you three for a long time. I’m happy for you!”

“And another small thing… even if this circus isn’t real? How you perceive it, its creativity, the way it delights other people and draws people in? Those people are real. Your… I don’t know the word for people you work with in a circus. Coworkers? Circus family? They’re real. They’re also in their idea of paradise. They came to your show because it made them happy.” Alter Ego said, nuzzling into Kokichi’s chest, “And that’s also real. So… for that? I’m happy for you again. This is a bad situation, but I’m glad this was a life you got to see regardless. The show is amazing. You did great.”

As excited as Kokichi was to hear that he was married to two absolute cuties that he’d had his eyes on for a while, and to remember the feelings he had for their daughter…there was a part of him that was just…surprised. Knowing how young he was, how…unprepared he was, at least by his own judgement, for deep, committed relationships… Even having a whole business seemed like too much for him at this point, and for that he had countless people to help. 

But…Kokichi supposed that was the same with relationships. You were never alone in them. 

“Thank you,” Kokichi said sincerely, cuddling Alter Ego fondly. “Even if this is a dream…it’s a nice one. And when we wake everyone up…I dunno. I hope my circus is a nice, passing memory for them. It means the world to me now, so…those efforts transcending reality?” Kokichi laughed brightly. “How amazing would that be?”

“Incredible.” Alter Ego agreed, purring deeply, “Memories they’ll treasure.”

-

Souda’s town consisted of two things: a shit-ton of industrial complex buildings, and an outrageously large electric plant company. 

The electric plant had to be outrageously large. The city consumed an equally outrageous amount of energy, as the leading hub of the world for technological experimentation and advancement. This was where techies came to thrive. This was where robots clunkily tried to move across the street under fascinated eyes, sidewalks and stairs moved beneath your feet, and AI greeted you cheerfully from behind screens. 

Such as the AI Ava and Mike were currently interacting with at ‘public help’ panel in the middle of the city. The AI designed to look like a cheerful, cartoonish girl who happily insisted she’d Help them find what they were looking for! Practically dancing as she spoke.

O.O …

OoO oh its like another me is in the screen

O.O

OoO neat

O.O

OOO;; FREE ME!!

Mike had been practically vibrating since they got into the city limits of Bianco Hills, and not just in exhaustion from the walk up. Honestly that part hadn’t been as bad as he’d thought, even knowing they were coming from the easy direction, though it had still been annoying, and he and Ava had greatly enjoyed bitching to each other about how awful hiking was. 

No, he was on the edge of his hypothetical seat because this…this was paradise. There were real life robots!! And expo showings advertised practically on every street corner! And Mike could hardly keep himself from wanting to take every little thing on the street apart, wanting to see how it worked, how he could recreate it, innovate on the idea… He wildly bounced back and forth between stuttering through whip-quick explanations and theories of everything to Ava and keeping silent like someone kept a cap on a shaken soda bottle. 

It was paradise…and none of it was real. That wasn’t all bad, Mike had a guess that these were all concepts and ideas other people in the dream had, but…he’d…never see anything like this in real life. But it was easier to marvel at the spectacle than it was to face that. 

And even easier with a goal, so he was trying to find directions to the Steel Gym. 

Giving Meloetta an amused look, Mike considered the mascot on the screen. “...unless this is an AI with free thought, I really doubt it is you, literally. Though…imagine that. A wholly synthetic brain that could learn and adapt like a carbon-based one… The analogs to each other are right there, really.”

“The existential crisis would be truly something worth grappling with, if the idea of an analogue mind became sophisticated enough to grapple with it. We’d have to be very careful to not create a situation that would be unsalvageable for it.” Ava said lightly, no idea how technology worked even in the real world, let alone what Mike was talking about. But knowing very well the age-old proverb: you are responsible for what you have tamed. If humanity was going to tame wires and twist it into the shapes of minds? Well, they’d have to be responsible about it.

But mostly, she thought the little dancing animation the AI was speaking from was very cute, as Ava said gently to the thing, “Can you hear us, then? We’re looking for the Steel Gym. How might we find it?”

Oh! That’s simple! The directions have been added to the detected smart phone already, but here is also a map for your reference, the screen turned into a map of the area, showing where they were and where the gym was, along with a red line to show the fastest route to it, before the AI said And if you think you’ll need more hands-on assistance, we can send one of our city guides to lead the way! Would you like to request a Helper?

“Sure, but…would that even happen after long enough? With enough sophistication?” Mike chattered out, “What’s the difference, really, between being born, and being made, then? If your brain works the same, if you’re learning from the same world, if you start at the beginning, then it’s just another form of life. No greater distinction of personhood than any of the ways people are born already.”

Raising his eyebrows a little, Mike pulled out his phone and…yeah. There was a new pinned set of directions in his map app… Very cool, but very exploitable. He’d have to set up some firewalls and anti-detection when he had a chance, if the help board could bypass the ones he already had. …so cool…

Mike’s initial instinct was to refuse, he didn’t need a babysitter helping them get to the gym, but… His eyes gleamed. “Is a Helper a robot?”

Yes! This specific Helper would be Wally3.4.5, donated by Gordon Clay! Last updated in–

Ava tuned out a little as the AI enthusiastically shared the details of the robot in general, looking around curiously. “...I suppose this place must be where people go to dream about technology,” Ava said, watching as a small train quietly zoomed above them around the city buildings, leaving the ground clear for walkways, “It’s really quite impressive. People have such fun ideas.”

OoO they always do

OvO that’s why they’re fun to spy on

Mike took in all the specifications of the robot almost hungrily, resisting the urge to write it all down…though he did try to make a mental note of the name Gordon Clay. If he could find that person in the real world then…maybe that was someone truly working on robotics, and that would be worth looking out for. Really…everything in Bianco Hills was. A world that wasn’t there yet, but…could be. One day. 

(...what would happen in the real world if Mike got all these incredible thinkers in the same place? Not a sudden boom of tech, but…maybe an accelerated timeline of one.)

Hearing the specs, Mike eagerly asked to have the Helper sent their way, wanting to see the robot in person (even if he couldn’t dig into them), before seeing how Ava and Meloetta were looking around. “This is perfect, isn’t it? I wonder what Gym Leader Souda’s like… Some of the gym leaders are important people like the princes, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard of Souda; wonder what his deal is, to be top-notch in a dream place like this.”

“Perhaps it’s a matter of influence in ideas?” Ava offered, entirely guessing as they waited for their Helper to arrive. “Or…perhaps the dream is attempting to accommodate people, and some people's desires require a greater level of resources than others? The princes’ seem like an unhelpful benchmark, since they’re all in similar situations, so Souda really could determine what it actually means to be a gym leader here.”

Ava paused, before amending, “Assuming we find out anything about him in the real world? I don’t know if it’s wise to wake him up just to sate our curiosity. Even not taking into account sudden vomit fits, finding out your reality is a lie is quite an undertaking. We don’t want to harm anyone in the process… oh.”

Ava paused, watching as a strange little… thing approached them. It was clearly a robot, yet, because you could see the cogs and wheels turn like veins beneath its structure, but the swaying, lithe looking humanoid… man? Boy? Ava couldn’t tell what age the robot was trying to portray, but its outershell was clearly made of wood, and Ava suddenly understood what the AI had meant when she had explained that Gordon Clay had been experimenting with mixing permanent hardware with temporary casings. Its shell clearly impermanent, but in turn likely easily replaceable.

The voice box on the machine was also soft and a little hesitant in its crackly sweetness, as it said Hello. I’m Wally. I’m here to help. Please follow me. Forgive me if I’m a little slow, my programer is still developing me. If you have recommendations for improvements, please feel free to email him at this domain! Before Wally turned around and started swaying in the direction of the gym.

Mike hummed thoughtfully. It was a decent theory…though, if he had to guess, he would’ve expected more people to…well, dream big. The princes were already used to a huge outreach, so their positions made sense, but…people who just wanted amazing things? There were plenty of boring people out there, but Mike wasn’t so cynical to think there were only a small handful of people who wanted anything that needed power to facilitate. Hells, the only reason he had a feeling he wasn’t a gym leader was…well, because Mike didn’t play nice, usually, and even for his own dreams, he had a feeling people wouldn’t let dream logic just smooth over an 11-year-old having control of a city. As cool as that might be. 

But as for finding out about Souda in particular…

Mike sighed and adjusted his hat. “Yeah… I had an idea of, like…with my battles, challenging for using the disruptor instead of money, but considering the side effects, I think I’d be labeled as some new evil team quicker than people ever thanking us for waking them up. And until we can figure out how to actually end the dream, I’m not sure how well having a bunch of people going around giving up on this reality would actually go. It might be fake, but things still feel real, and having the world fall apart when the people responsible peace out would suck Mudbray ass.”

What didn’t suck, though, was the robot that tottered up to them. Mike listened, starry-eyed, as Wally gave them an introduction, and Mike couldn’t tear his eyes away, softly breathing out, “You’re incredible…”

Wally didn’t ‘blush’, but he did look over at Mike with a tilt of his head that conveyed sheepishness shockingly well for the otherwise still face, thank you. My creator is very proud of me.

Ava walked alongside Mike, the short/shirt combo she was wearing today swishing around her hips in a way that made her feel very dainty and put together, her hair braised around the crown of her head today, the rest of her hair falling over her back. She peered over at Mike, smiling at the awe in him, and quietly trailing behind him as he asked Wally a few questions about his design. Wally doing his best to answer, though it was clear whatever AI he was working with was less sophisticated than the help stations were.

Though, as Ava listened lightly… she mused, “For the technology, do you think his design is based around the idea that his creator has access to other peoples ideas to fill in the gaps? I don’t entirely understand technology on the best of days, but the way he describes himself really focuses on the way his body is put together and moves, rather then how its capable of talking and staying energized. Perhaps the person who made him knows a lot about how to put together moving casings, and put that on top of someone else's ideas of mechanics?”

“I only wonder that because, when it comes to resources, it’s fascinating the idea that our world– or, our dream, excuse me–looks and feels this cohesive and magnificent, more than anything because… well, people can finally communicate their ideas to each other,” Ava said, looking around, “Truly seamless, effective communication making everyone's ideas actually viable and complex. That idea appeals to me a lot, that effective communication could create a world like this.”

Mike was absolutely e-mailing (imagine that, too, instant mail, still with the distance that phones didn’t provide) Wally’s creator. There was only so much Wally could explain about his mechanisms and design, and…well, Mike wasn’t so forgone he’d tear into the robot then and there, but already he had ideas starting to piece together in his head. 

It was to the point that Ava speaking up was almost sobering, Mike having to pull himself to attention, almost out of a daze, to take in her words. “Maybe,” he hummed. “Yeah, it sounds like Wally’s creator is more of a mechanist or…even an artist, really, than a machinist or electrical engineer. It might even be that Gordon Clay doesn’t even know that stuff in real life at all, but from other people the ideas about robotics is, l-like ambiently enough to fill out the dream of making a walking, talking android with the materials and designs Gordon does know.”

And with that theory, that meant… “Yeah…” Mike sighed, looking at the city with awe. And longing. “I mean, they say that there aren’t any impossible questions, just answers you haven’t thought of yet. With everyone coming up with answers instantaneously, and making a world based off that design, there’s not really anything that’s impossible. Just iterations that need more time.”

Mike grinned, something a little hesitant in the beginning of the expression, as he pointed to the small trains above them. “They say train proto-types are only a couple years away in the real world. If these are what people imagine they could be one day? The only hurdles are time, and people providing those ideas.”

Ava looked up at the trains, smiling lightly. That was good to hear. Trains were, indeed, neat.

…a part of her wanted to ask what the real world was like, if it did not have trains. But she suspected that question would not only sadden Mike, but also herself. She supposed that was the appeal of dreams. They elevated reality.

“...we are very young, Mike.” Ava said, despite herself, “I bet we’ll see the world change in dramatic ways, by the time we’re grown or old. There’s plenty to look forward too.”

“Obviously,” Mike snorted, his tone snotty but the grin he shot Ava including her in the superiority. “I might not have the same plans I did when we met, but I’m not gonna waste my time in the real world in mediocrity either. The people dreaming of all this are gonna change things, but none of them are ready for what I’ll do either.”

“I mean,” he smirked, “Not just any 11-year-old figures out how to make a machine that breaks mind control. If that’s what I’m doing now, it’s barely even a taste of what I’ll do later.”

“Oh! Yes, that’s an excellent point,” Ava said, tilting her head in mild surprise… before she smirked, “You’re a bit of a mad scientist type, aren’t you. The mere fact that you wanted to make unlocking peoples minds a reward for beating them in a gym battle? That’s a bit…”

Ava laughed lightly, covering her mouth, “Perhaps people would be right, to call us a new evil team. Well, ‘evil’ is too stark a word. Chaotic? Or, perhaps only chaotic to those not in the know? I’ve always had a soft spot for logical chaos. Perhaps that’s why we get along so well. You sort of embody that whole mindset.”

Mike snorted, giving a few snorts of a laugh. “You’re not wrong, though I think unhindered innovate is more correct, if a less common term in the cultural zeitgeist. There’s just so much going on, I don’t get how anyone without a mouth full of drool can ever sit still.”

“Logical chaos…” Mike pondered for a moment, before snickering. “They always do say that the best villains think they’re in the right. It’d be terrifying for anyone who didn’t know what was happening. Though I think we benefit more not getting picked up by the police.”

Mike’s cheeks went a little rosy, feeling…weird, but pleased that he apparently embodied an entire concept Ava liked…but soon enough, they came to the gym, Wally’s job done well. Taking a deep breath, Mike shared a look with Rotom and gripped Mankey’s pokeball, before fixing a fierce look at the building. “Alright…let’s see what this is all about.”

“Thank you, Wally. Do reach out for help if you ever experience existential dread. It’s never a bad idea to ask for help!” Ava called to the retreating robot, before looking up at the building, “Are you actually ready to challenge him? Or are we scoping the place out?”

Breaking from his big build-up moment, Mike gave Ava a slightly sheepish look. “Scoping, mostly. After Maki, I’m just here to schedule a challenge with the gym leader and hoping that there isn’t some big, like, quest or whatever we’ve gotta help out with before I can. I don’t plan on losing, but…I’ll admit, the stakes feel lower challenging gym leaders now.”

“Fair. Though, quests might actually be a bit more helpful for our goals,” Ava mused, the two heading into the massive steel fortress. Ava wondered why the place looked so… fortified? “If we can gain their trust, that might lead more naturally to waking them up then winning a battle against them by itself would. And gym leaders have a lot of re–”

Ava blinked, as a massive metal ball flew past her head, making her hair swish, before bouncing against the wall, aiming right back for them in the ricochet.

Before Ava could think much of it at all, she was tackled from the side, crashing to the floor as the ball bounced over them and towards what looked like a group of stunned mechanics, glass shattered near a large pit where the ball had crashed through. One of the trainers was shouting about “How did it manage to break the glass!? That’s our best barrier!” while others rushed over to Mike and Ava.

“Oh, sheesh! That nearly took your head off!” Lexa shouted, looking down at the two before offering them a hand up, “Sorry, that was terrible timing! We were checking the highest G-force we could manage with our latest propulsion device, but we weren’t expecting it to breach containment. You two okay?”

Ava blinked, before idly patting Mike’s arm, saying from beneath him, “Well, I feel fine. Are you okay?” She asked Mike.

That…wasn’t a terrible point. Problems in a dream world could just be things to do, Mike supposed…but Maki’s had brought her into closer contact with her son. Maybe there was some sort of purpose that related to the real world, or maybe would lead them to the fourth force that was pulling everything--

It was almost like time stopped. Mike could see it perfectly. The force of the ball, the sturdiness of the wall that wouldn’t just crumble and absorb that force, the angle that had just barely missed Ava the first time…

He knew all those things, but there wasn’t a thought in his head before Mike tackled Ava down, pulling both their heads down as securely as he could. His heart beating faster than a dream engine, eyes wide and terrified. 

Shakily, Mike lowered his arm only when he felt Ava pat it, barely registering the person above them…before he snarled. “What sort of safety specs is that!? And in the middle of a pokemon gym?! What the fuck is wrong with you?! What was the force you even registered, huh?!”

“Oh, that’s an excellent question!” Lexa agreed, looking back at the some techies who were standing at a panel, “What’s our final tally!?”

The guys looked down at their data… before they looked up, “6.3 for .003!”

“Yes! 6.3G for three micro-seconds! New personal best!” Lexa cheered, “Woo!”

Ava patted Mike’s arm against, gently encouraging him to roll off of her, before she stood up, brushing off her shorts… before she looked at the scientist. Her expression calm, but her red eyes somehow seeming brighter, “Congratulations on your breakthrough. You’ve forgotten your apology.”

“Eh? Yes, yes, of course, sorry about that, though no harm no fou–”

“A greater effort to apologize would go a longer way.” 

Lexa paused, a shiver running through her. Something primal telling her she better shape up or she’d find the fuck out… before she looked back at the two children, smiling sheepishly, “I really am terribly sorry, we didn’t mean to be careless. We apologize for the harm we almost caused.”

“You apologize for the harm you risked.” Ava corrected, eyes still oddly bright.

“Yes! I apologize for the risk we took! It was unacceptable!” Lexa said, her voice rising for some reason. Why was she anxious!? God, it was a dread deep in her bones, “Terribly sorry, we will improve!”

Ava took a breath… and smiled lightly at Mike, “Mistakes do happen.”

“Hey!?” Shouted a pink haired man from the second story of the gym, “What the hell happened to my protective glass dome!?”

(Okay, admittedly that was pretty impressive, but--)

Mike blinked at the next pat, still snarling at the scientist but gathering a bit more of himself as he got off Ava, letting her get back up as well. Rotom buzzed worriedly around him, the frantic jittering almost bringing to mind someone’s worried patting, but Mike just gently shooed Rotom out of his immediate space, giving his pokemon a stern (but conveying that he was alright) look. It was just a short pause in giving the scientist a damn piece of his mind, but…

There was a certain…intensity in Ava’s voice that Mike hadn’t heard before. He glanced over at her, seeing bright, focused eyes, a…a gravity, almost around her and…well, Mike almost felt stunned again for a different reason… But as she eased off, he guessed, an apology gotten…Mike just huffed, looking away. 

However, hearing someone call down, and specifically about his dome…

“Stopped being protective,” Mike shouted back up, sneering a little before lowering his voice to a more normal volume. “Should’ve gotten all that on camera, damn…” And with that comment, he did bring his phone out, opening up the camera app to start recording. An irrefutable record here would be just the thing to have handy, he was starting to think. 

“EH!? EH!? WHAT THE HELL DOES HE MEAN, STOPPED BEING PROTECTIVE!?” 

There was a long series of cursing as the pink haired man ran down the stairs, looking gobsmacked at the shards of glass on the floor, before glaring at the techies who were all pointedly looking anywhere else, “YOU NUMBNUTS USED THE WRONG WEIGHTED BALL!”

“We did?” One of the guys at the panel said, before looking down at his date, reading through it, “...oooooooh, yeah, we did.”

“I told you, a difference in weight above .02 can be disastrous! Fuck, what am I even trying to explain for, LOOK!” Souda stomped in fury on one of the glass shards, which did not scratch even slightly as he shouted, “YOU BROKE THE REINFORCED GLASS! I’M GONNA HAVE TO SELL A DAMN KIDNEY TO GET THIS FIXED!”

“We almost killed that scary little girl too!” One of the guys informed Souda, shrugging as his coworkers glared at him, “What? We did! The angry boy was gonna tell him anyway.”

“We almost killed someone?” Souda asked, raising an eyebrow and glancing over at the two children, staring at them… before sputtering out, “WHAT ARE YOU ALL CRAZY DO YOU THINK WE CAN HANDLE THE SCANDAL OF DEAD KIDS WE’RE ALREADY IN HOT WATER OVER ALL THAT ANIMATRONIC BULLSHIT!!”

Well at least there was someone in this gym with something in their skulls, and Mike figured that if it was going to be anyone, it’d be the Gym Leader. For all that he apparently didn’t have safety standards that went beyond written or spoken notice. Mike kept his camera up, letting this all play out… It’d be good for a few forums, actually, if not for legal reasons…

Mike’s tail flicked and his ears twitched at the monikers one of the scientists apparently decided to give them. “I’d think Ava can get a lot scarier if you don’t fucking watch it, asshole,” Mike growled. 

The Gym Leader, again, seemed more reasonable than the others, but Mike still scoffed, “When was the last time you even got a safety audit done here? The minimum requirements for gyms are fucking insane, but I’d think having a damn ballistics lab in public, trafficked areas is more than some wishy-washy grey area.”

“Look, before anyone gives me ANY more shit about about doing experiments on the first floor of my gym, I want to hear that the electric gym no longer has literally electric conducting towers as a way to guide the PATHWAYS, okay!? Ooooh, don’t want to get electrocuted to death!? Better go left! It’s either go left or DIE!” Souda shouted… before huffing, “The gyms technically upstairs, you’re supposed to head to the elevator to the right of the door. There used to be a sign… WHERE DID THE SIGN GO!?”

All the techies looked at each other, like someone would volunteer the information. When no one did, Souda groaned, “This is why I should have stayed in Carbosi. The science was good! The sex work made a lot of money! What the hell was I thinking, going off to start my own gym? Being in charge is stressful! …you two!” Souda said, pointing to the kids, “You here looking for a gym badge? I’ll trade you one if you sign a piece of paper saying you won’t sue us!”

Ava pouted, “That’s no fun. I’d much rather watch Mike destroy you.”

Mike shared a quick look with Ava, giving a small half-shrug. Gym Leader Souda did have a point. When he said the standards for gyms were insane, he really meant it. Some of them were actual death traps, all in the name of creative freedom. Some real bullshit. 

Ah, more negligence, and admitted on camera, so Mike didn’t even have to cover for the fact he hadn’t filmed them walking through the door and seeing no sign. These guys were doing the prosecution’s work for them. 

Though, Mike did make a mental note. This guy…maybe had moved to the real Usott from Carbosi, some tech guy, obviously, if maybe just a hobby in the real world… Involved in sex work at some time, probably. Checking out the Purple Light District in town would probably be a fair place to find him in the real world…

Though Mike didn’t know why he’d want to do that anyway. 

Raising an eyebrow at the offer Souda presented, Mike smirked, standing taller with Ava’s confidence. “Legally and in battle. I know better than to sign away my legal rights, dipwad, even for an easy badge.” He shrugged a little, trying to keep his phone steady even with the movement. “I am here for a badge, though. You have a calendar or something to schedule battles?”

Souda twitched, glancing at the phone in the kids hand, before scoffing. “Alright, someone sweep all this up, and dump thousands of dollars of glass in the trash, thanks! If anyone needs me, I’ll be upstairs! Battling the angry lawyer kid! Come on, angry lawyer kid.” Souda huffed, stomping upstairs and grumbling all the way.

“Want to take the elevator and beat him up there?” Ava asked with a small smirk.

Mike twitched. Why did everyone assume the second he showed up in town he wanted a battle?! Did no one ever scope things out first?! But it wasn’t like he was going to chicken out now. 

…

Mike’s eyes lit up as he looked over to the elevator, stopping the recording on his phone for now. Matching Ava’s smirk, he nodded and headed over to the elevator, though once they were farther away from the techies getting started on clean-up, he leaned towards Ava, whispering, “Elevators are still mostly in prototype in the real world, except for the real Carbosi. I’ve…never actually seen one, out there.”

He regarded the silver box with…

…well, Mike could remember reading up on elevators in the dream. There still weren’t any even in the fake Edahu--behind the times no matter what, he guessed--so…he still hadn’t been on any, but with those memories…it seemed much more mundane. Looking at it with the perspective of the real world? The way the button to call it lit up under his finger, the hydraulics opening the door, the…tiny room that in no way seemed like it was something that could take you throughout floors, then feeling the movement (and absolutely not scrambling at all on his hooves, thanks)...

A soft, almost…reverent look came over Mike’s face as he looked around the elevator, hands tightly clasped around his phone. 

Ava watched Mike, and even if she couldn’t taste it–warm gingerbread–she could have guessed that Mike was more affected by the elevator than she might have ever expected. “...elevators will be incredibly useful for a lot of people. Especially ‘Taurs, I’m sure. There’s going to be a lot of demand for them, I imagine,” Ava said, looking around, “I bet they’ll be common, someday. Like they are here.”

“...you know,” Ava said gently, “It’s okay, if there’s some aspects you regret. Returning to the real world. If I understood what we were losing, I think I’d feel regret too.”

Mike nodded slightly, eyes fixed on the little display showing what floor they were on, the lights offset to make it look like an arrow was traveling, representative of the fact the elevator was currently moving. “No one makes stairs deep enough, outside of ‘Taur communities. There are some in some outdoor areas, but every indoor one in a human-dominated area I’ve been in has them impossibly narrow. I don’t get how anyone can go down them without just fuckin’ cartwheeling down.”

Blinking, Mike looked at Ava for a moment before looking away to adjust his glasses. “I think I’d be a fool if I wasn’t upset that real life isn’t like…this.” He gestured to the elevator. “This world is so crazily technically advanced, it’s…everything I could dream of.”

Snorting a little, Mike smirked at the dumb joke before the smile faded. “...phones were first created last year. I just got to see a transistor for a main line a few weeks ago…nearly set the damn thing on fire. Here…” He looked down at the phone in his hand. “...phones are ubiquitous. It’s not just for calls, things you have to schedule and hope someone’s around… You can reach anyone, spoken or written words, at any time, anywhere in the world. You can capture images just as they appear in life in seconds, and store a ridiculous amount of them, bring them up at any moment, and send them to anyone, anywhere, while still having them yourself. Anyone can film things, and it just takes a tap of a button. The sum total of the world’s information at your fingertips immediately…”

Something…immeasurably sad came over Mike’s face, his eyes squinting as he held his phone close. “...I don’t even have the language to describe half of that, in the real world. I feel so…stupid and idealistic even hoping for it, but it’s all I’ve ever wanted and…”

He let out a short sigh. “...so. Yeah. I’d be dumb to not be upset. But I’m not spending the rest of my life sleeping. Even with all there is to this world, without new experiences I think it’d just stagnate, and that’s way too boring to handle. We’re better off in real life.”

“You’re handling it well, you should know. I don’t know if I’d trust the average person to handle a revelation like that with as much grace as you’re showing. This place is amazing, but… there’s a cruelty, here.” Ava said, looking around, “I wonder if I might be one of the luckiest people in this fantasy, for having so little in it. Nothing to regret…and, well.”

Ava smiled, looking to Mike, “I got to meet you. It really has all worked out for me.”

“...can I offer a hug?” Ava said, “I’m not sure if you need it. I’d just like one.”

Mike took off his hat and ran a hand through his hair before plopping it back on, snorting softly. He’d…certainly never had that said about him before. Grace… While different meanings, it was…weird how that was something both Tim and Ava had brought up. 

“Maybe that’s some of the point,” Mike mumbled, musing. “Making things so great people don’t want to leave, or wake up. Second failsafe after making it a damn fluke that anyone would realize they’re sleeping in the first place.”

Though of all the amazing things in the dream…

Mike startled slightly, looking at Ava with an almost alarmed look. “...I-I don’t really. Do. Hugs…” Even so, he nodded stiffly, turning red as, after a moment he awkwardly raised his arms a little. 

Ava hugging him… Mike’s arms were almost straight out, not quite going around Ava as if he wasn’t really sure what to do with them, and his face just turned more and more red. She was…surprisingly warm. And smelled nice. And he could feel that some of her hair was really soft…

The elevator dinged and the doors opened, but Mike’s brain had completely crashed. 

Ava hugged him tight–oooh, furry~--before stepping back, looking at him… before giggling lightly. Stepping off the elevator and gesturing with a nod of her head for Mike to follow, “Come on. Rotom’s been very patient, but I’m sure it’s ready to thrash that gym leader! I’ll be cheering for you both.”

Souda adjusted his beanie fitfully, muttering to himself as he tapped his foot relentlessly, arguing with himself about gym safety and finding the funds to fix the dome and fuck they were still looking for those rogue animatronics and they really didn’t need another scandal he was going to lose his liscence and– “Oh, there you are! I thought you two were right behind me!?”

“I didn’t feel like climbing stairs.” Ava said simply.

To say Mike staggered after Ava out of the elevator…wasn’t an exaggeration. His mind still in the process of a reboot after a hard system crash. Ava had hugged him. Not for feeling bad for him, but…in solidarity for the situation they were in. An understanding of how much this just sucked. And because she liked him. O-or at least didn’t find him repellent enough to not hug, so she made the decision to, and…

…hhhhhhhhh.

Mike blinked up at Souda for a moment before whipping out his trainer card. “I have one badge, so that’s the challenge level.”

Souda scratched lightly beneath his beanie, looking at the challenger card… before saying, “You sure I can’t just offer you a badge in exchange for waiving some legal rights– FINE! Kids these days have no sense of value!”

Souda took them through a large double door that was hiding away a majority of the second floor, and Ava oo’d a little at the impressively sized gym, beneath a large set of ever moving gears rotating on the ceiling, and surrounded by an audience of what seemed to be a variety of makes and models on automaton figures. All seated and immediately cheering and clapping clunkily for the new challengers. 

“That’s fun,” Ava smiled, looking around, “Well, it’s also a little creepy… but mostly fun. I like the faceless mannequin ones. Truly terrifying.”

“Thanks, those are mine.” Souda said, taking out his pokeball, “Alright, kid. Time to face Drilldrio!”

A massive, three headed bird pokemon, each head with a metal beak and a metal helmet. The birds screeched out as Drilldrio appeared on the gym floor, shaking its metal-tipped feathers.It’s claws scratching against the scoffed metal floor, roaring out its desire to battle again… and Ava clapped a bit. “Oh! Aren’t they cute?”

Mike rolled his eyes--even with what badges could open up, he’d waaaay rather have legal rights than any badges--and followed Souda, settling his mind into battle focus. He actually had a pretty decent match-up for a Steel Gym, so…

Mike startled slightly at the cheers for…him? Staring in wonder at the crowd of robots, just itching to get his hands on them… Maybe he could convince Souda to let him poke around after their battle. Or he could always just go and force Souda to literally kick him out, and considering the leverage Mike had over him at the moment…heh. 

“Duh, this is your gym,” Mike muttered, thinking it was obvious the automatons were Souda’s, before he paused, his strategy having to…be altered slightly. While still marveling a little at Drilldrio--very cool--Mike thought, well, okay. Mankey had a good advantage against steel-type…but not to flying-type, and was weak to it as well. Considering what Souda specialized in, it was likely Drilldrio would focus more on steel moves, but…the leader would have to be an idiot to not have any flying moves, and to not use them against a fighting-type, and it wasn’t like Mankey were that unknown so Mike couldn’t get an element of surprise…

However, on the other hand, while Rotom didn’t have a type-advantage against steel, it did have a type-resistance. Any steel moves would do halved damage, which wasn’t as good as the nullification it’d had for Maki’s gym, but it was a similar situation. So…

Making a plan, Mike sent Rotom out, focusing intently on the match as, like usual, things started out with an Astonish. Use Rotom as a tank, basically, to see what Drilldrio’s moveset and Souda’s strategy was, getting off as much damage and hopefully a paralysis off. And since Mankey had a Focus Sash, he’d still survive one turn, no matter what kind of bullshit flying move Drilldrio might have. Neutral damage from Mankey’s side, but take the last bit of HP that Rotom couldn’t get in one or two moves, if Mankey outsped…

Ava picked up the phone and started to record. It was, after all, one of the reasons Mike had agreed to let her travel with him initially, though she liked to think it wasn’t the only reason he wanted her around anymore. Saving everyone around them from a dream trap notwithstanding. 

And while she did truly mean to support Mike… Ava wasn’t actually terribly invested in Pokemon battles. She hadn’t been alive in any meaningful way, memories wise, for a very long, but she suspected she had never been the type to find physical battles all that compelling to watch. How the pokemon felt about things and how they interacted with each other and people was far more interesting, and maybe there was clues to those relationships to be found in battles… but as Drilldrio gave itself some sort of buffering screech again and Mankey sped up, again, Ava found her eyes drifting to the odd audience.

The audience LOVED the battle. They gasped and cheered and enthusiastically shook their strange animatronic arms every time something happened, and Ava was a little baffled to see that some of the animatronics were now waving flags with the pictures of the pokemon currently battling, including Rotom and Mankey, like they were fans of the individual trainers coming to battle. Ava could only guess how that particular trick was programmed. It was almost a little sweet, that the audience was programmed to cheer for the challenging trainers just as much as the gym leader.

Though, one of the animatronics was shaking an awful lot… it was waving two flags, but both of the flags in its stubby hands had odd, disjointed images, like the print had gone wrong. It was starting to smoke– “Excuse me?” Ava called, pointing at the animatronic, “Is that an issue?”

“Eh?” Souda said, blinking his eyes to the smoking, shaking animatronic, “...EH!? HYAAA!!?”

Mike didn’t let his focus waver from the battle, knowing better than that--at least, from what the dream told him about himself--but it was almost a little…jarring. He had expected cheers from the robotic audience for Souda and his pokemon, but when they started cheering on his and his pokemon’s feats as well, it had been confusing. And then…kind of nice. Despite himself, Mike cracking a small smile as Mankey’s punches landed to excited hoots. 

It had never mattered if someone was for or against him, Mike was determined to succeed either way. But…that drive had always come from being in a position where everything was always against him. Actually hearing people cheer, even if it was just programming was…nice. 

Though that wasn’t what spurred Mike into action as he looked over at Ava’s indication. Electronics starting to smoke was never a good sign. Backdropped by Souda’s scream, Mike galloped over to the audience seating, digging in his pack for his tools. 

“Oh dear.” Ava said lightly, as across the gym Souda scurried over as well, not as fast as Mike and from a greater distance already, so Mike hands were already well dug into the machinery in the panel on the back of the animatronic, “Woah, woah, be careful! They bite! Sometimes! Rarely!”

“I’m not sure if robots should bite at all, really.” Ava said, before tilting her head as she walked casually over, a little hop in her step as she came up the small bit of stairs, “But then, perhaps having the option to bite is good for a beings independence and agency. I would tsk at anyone who suggested that something with the ability to bite have that ability removed, is it wrong to tsk at the opposite?”

“Lady, what are you talking about!? I don’t have time with your weird philosophizing, real work is being done right now!” Souda said, leaning forward to help Mike with the wiring, before squealing in fright and jumping backwards when it sparked, “HYAA!! Don’t blow up, don’t blow up!!”

Ava paused. Lady…? Though she raised an eyebrow at the screaming man, “I assume you know how these work. Are they explosive?”

“Don’t ask that! You haven’t signed any waivers!!” 

Work gloves on and tools at the ready, Mike didn’t hesitate before getting arms’ deep in the robot, trying to find the malfunction. It wasn’t just full spaghetti wiring, there was consideration to the design, but it was just…so much. Mike could only assume that something like a full fucking robot would be a little more complex than a phone tower, and…it showed. And this time, he hadn’t just been spending a full day pouring over the exact schematics and specifications of the design. 

But, well, it was a little easier to track down a current malfunction than taking an aimless peek. 

Mike barely flinched at the shower of sparks, only looking away for a moment to save his vision. “Anything sparking like this has the potential to be explosive if enough things go wrong,” Mike grouched, moving in-tact wires away…

…before he paused. In just a flash, a guilty look crossing his face as he glanced to Ava before getting back to work. “You might want to take a step back. Electricity can suck.”

Ava nodded, taking not one but two steps back. Taking Mike at his word. 

Souda sputtered and griped at Mike for a moment, wanting to kick the kid out of the way so he could just get in there and work on it… but he found himself watching curiously after a bit. Raising an eyebrow as he realized the kid wasn’t just messing around, as he knelt down beside him. 

“No, that’s going to its arms, see? Just abandon that one, the ones you’re re-wiring are the shoulder twists and the printer. Actually, check the printer, it’s that lower cartridge beneath the wires. Something might be jammed and that might be what put stress on the wires.” Souda advised.

Huffing, Mike switched targets, griping but following Souda’s suggestions. “Why did you put printers in your robots? That’s so much waste if they make new flags for every battle, even accounting that half are just cheering for your team--why not just make the flags out of wire lights, so you still get the flexibility, and program sprites or models from the pokedex, or even your gym’s security cameras to get challengers’ specific pokemon to display on the lights? You could even add effects, or changes through-out the battle that way? Ah, fuck, what the hell?”

Mike grumbled, switching to a tool to pop one of the shells of the printer away, griping about the metal sheet that looked like it had gotten lodged in the mechanism, all while squinting through the slightly increased amount of sparks. 

Souda watched Mike squint and move his head and, rolling his eyes, pulled out a pair of goggles and plopping them onto his head, “You’re so not trained in mechanics that it’s actually painful to watch. Safety gear isn’t just to attract hot chicks, you know?”

“HhhMmmph!” Mike grunted, his ears flicking as he raised his shoulders, trying to adjust the goggles around his glasses without taking his hands out of the robot. “I know! I just don’t have any goggles with me, dipshit! Even without training, bet all my projects explode less than yours. And especially not from printer malfunction.”

Even so, with the eye protection, Mike was able to see what he was doing better. Pulling the jammed piece of metal free and, for now, tossing it to the side while starting to re-wire and mend the crimped and cut wires from the printer box. 

“You can’t do science without things maybe exploding! Things maybe exploding is half what science is!” Souda insisted, though he was spinning the ‘lights flag’ thing slowly in his mind. Maybe he could pick the kids brain about that more, throw together a prototype. Kid had to be one of his types. One with a lot of potential.

Better to snatch him early, before Miu got her grips on him. 

The mannequin stopped shaking, relaxing its body as Mike restored its functions. When Mike pulled back, the panel closing, the three waited to see what would happen… and the mannequin stretched. Left, right. Should wiggles, head nods. Before it peeked over its shoulder at them, looking for the heat signatures… before putting up a thumbs up.

All systems functioning.

“Oh, lovely! Excellent work, Mike.” Ava smiled, “It’d have been very, very weird if it blew up. Just for every single reason.”

“Weird way to word that little lady, but sure, all of us being blown to bits would sure be ‘weird’,” Souda frowned, standing up straight and stretching his own back, “Sheesh, I need to retire. I’m probably too old for this shit!” 

“Do you not know how old you are?” Ava asked, something tick, tick, ticking away in her mind.

“Sign a waiver!!”

“In the lab, sure,” Mike conceded, all too aware of the state of his bedroom back home, “But not finished projects that are out and about to a public audience. Malfunctions happen, but putting out an untested project is just gross negligence and a violation to literally every kind of safety protocol. Though,” he sniffed, “I guess that isn’t the greatest concern of the Steel Gym.”

While he talked a big game, though, Mike held his breath as he pulled out of the automaton, watching it nervously…and as it gave a thumbs up? That had to be the cutest ‘all good’ indication ever, and Mike returned it with a nod. 

Harrumphing, like he hadn’t been concerned in the slightest, Mike smirked haughtily at Ava’s praise. “‘Course I would stop it from blowing up, what do you take me for?”

However, as she looked critically at Souda, Mike was making his own observations. “Uh, why would we need a waiver for knowing how old you are? And there’s no way either of us are signing shit; with the video from this too--a public work malfunctioning, and you letting a minor work on it--we’d barely have to say the ‘L’ word before your ass would get sent straight to Giratina. We have, like, infinite leverage over you.”

Mike narrowed his eyes at Souda, his natural glare settling in. “...so what the fuck’s your memory like?”

“Ugh, you’re the worst! A bully! Proof the next generation is doomed!” Souda accused, tears beading the ends of his eyes as he stomped his foot furiously, before he snarled at nothing in particular, his razor teeth glinting in the light, as Souda scratched his head beneath his beanie, “...I’m delusional or something, okay!? Is that what you wanted to hear?! Take the gym badge and leave, ya little terrors!”

“No, no, our question is sincere, we’re not trying to prod for our own curiosity,” Ava said, stepping forward, her voice calm and even, that air of professionalism returning to her as she said, “I have memory issues as well, and Mike has been helping me. He’s simply asking, I’m sure, to see if your issues might have anything to do with mine.”

“Memory issues?” Souda frowned, sweating lightly, “I doubt it’s the same thing as mine. I’m not missing memories, if that’s what you’re talking about…I just believe things that aren’t true.”

“That’s a curious conclusion to come to. Why are you so certain in a belief that you’re equally as certain is a delusion?” Ava asked. When she saw Souda hesitate, she continued, “Let’s try it like this: tell us a delusion. Something you feel confident about. It doesn’t have to be mind blowing or important, it can be something minor, if that makes you more comfortable.”

“Tsk, nosy…” Souda shifted his weight foot to foot, “I remember shaving my teeth into razors. And dying my hair pink. To make myself cooler, right? People aren’t born with teeth like these… but at the same time? I know thats bullshit and I absolutely was born with teeth like these. Like, I remember shaving my teeth into points for the cool edge factor! But I also know I was born like this! That I didn’t dye my hair pink, it started black and changed to pink.” Souda frowned, “...both of those things can’t be true at the same time. I have a lot of memories like that. They contradict something I know for a fact.”

Delusional? That was different than admitting to amnesia… Mike’s brow furrowed as he properly took off the borrowed goggles, adjusting his glasses again as Ava, well, smoothed things over enough for Souda to explain. And it was different than amnesia. 

“The fuck…” Mike muttered, mulling that over. The difference Souda made in ‘remembering’ and ‘knowing’ made it…clear enough, to Mike, at least, that Souda purposely changing himself was part of the dream but…why? Those were things that would indicate Souda was human, but…

He gave Ava a serious look. “I’m a ‘Taur in both. But out there I have to hide it, because I’m in a human-dominated area, right? But Souda’s memories of doing that to himself would point to him being human, just kind of cringe. That kind of concealment fits more with out there, though, where things aren’t as out. Unless…”

A weird sort of look crossed Mike’s face as he tried to fit all that together. “...unless there’s a species that…someone doesn’t want being in the dream? But I have no idea the kind of people that regularly have drastic color changes and sharp teeth…”

“Hmmm…” Ava considered Mike’s new information, while Souda gave the kids bewildered looks. It sounded like the real world was a bit more closeted and bigoted than the dream world, and being forced to repress your identity was always a dramatic and traumatic undertaking. 

But… “Souda’s fantasy sounds like he’d like to live in a world where he knows what he is. Different species of people is common in this world, so Souda’s dream could be about feeling confident in his own identity, which he might not have out there.”

“You two are talking weird. I don’t appreciate being talked about like I’m not here, y’know!?”

“Though, if there is a species the dream is trying not to acknowledge? That might be important.” Ava frowned, “That… might be worth waking him up. Just to know one way or another. If a species needs to be forgotten, that has to mean they pose some sort of threat to the dream.”

“You two are just trying to annoy me on purpose, aren’t you!?”

Mike frowned a bit. That was…maybe so. He couldn’t exactly begrudge someone’s greatest fantasy being a sense of assurance and belonging… But then having the…bleed-over memories, he guessed, just ruined that entire point, didn’t it? Being sure, but having that small piece of doubt always with you, making you feel delusional…

Going on a rampage waking people up wouldn’t work for them, but Mike wasn’t exactly holding back taking people out of a nice fantasy. 

Sighing, Mike took the disruptor out of his bag before giving Souda a flat look. “Look, if we were trying to annoy you on purpose, you’d be in tears on the ground. Feel lucky.” Looking Souda up and down for a moment, Mike smirked. “...well, I’ve gotten to see one of your inventions first hand. Wanna see one of mine?”

Souda drowned, sweating nervously as he glanced down, “What does that mean–”

FLASH FLASH FLASH

Ava looked away, and admittedly, watching Souda collapse and vomit didn’t inspire as much empathy as it should have for her. In truth, she found herself watching him as he shivered and shook on the ground, tears streaming down his face as he retched. Water filling the bottom of her tongue.

He… kind of smelled amazing.

Ava’s stomach audibly growled, and she found herself stepping closer to him. Kneeling down as she watched him, something in her clumsily reaching out and just… scooping energy inside of her, with every little breath. Like UV rays on a plant, his wails settling on her skin and nourishing her, as Ava sighed a little, the hunger easing away. Feeling a little bit better for every sniffle and every twitch, her shoulder relaxing. 

She hadn’t noticed she was hungry. But she had been. This was the first time she had felt properly full since they had started, as she said almost a little dazedly, “It’s okay, take your time with it. We’ll get you some water, I have some in my pack.”

“It’s n-not r-real,” Souda sobbed, “M-my whole life…”

“I know, I know. Let it all out…”

…that was weird. But for everything about Ava, having a sort of…fascination, Mike guessed, with people in grave distress was…well, just another thing about her, he guessed. And considering that for once Mike re-thought what he’d say to Souda about his entire reality being a lie…leaving the comforting to her worked out. 

Getting water for Souda, Mike put his disruptor away and settled on the ground on Souda’s other side, across from Ava, and just waited while Ava occasionally said comforting, calming things. Not knowing what to say himself that wouldn’t just…make it worse. His dream life had been pretty similar to his actual life, technology notwithstanding. If someone had a more substantial change…he just didn’t know what to say. Sorry things suck more, actually?

As Souda started to calm, though, Mike cleared his throat for the first time in a while, awkwardly offering, “We have some pain-killers, if you want some. Helped me when I went through it.”

Ava had talked Souda into sitting up, murmuring little reassurances and asking rapid-fire questions that all amounted to ‘yes, this is a dream, no, you have not lost your mind’. Souda was a messy crier, and as he took the offered water, he still sniffled and sorted, his face a mess of tears and snot, though his expression was slowly calming. 

“I know this was a hard way to learn this, but I’m not actually sure if there’s a gentle way to reveal to someone their reality is a lie. I hope you can forgive us, it’s still a terrible thing to–”

“Flora.” Souda muttered, staring dead-eyed at nothing, “There’s no Flora people in this dream. You’ve got ‘Taurs and fairies and werewolves and vampires and everything under the sun and moon… and still Flora have managed to keep their shit-ass secrets. If you’re looking for a missing species? It’s Flora.”

“...do Flora have anything to do with dreams?” Ava asked, “And please, drink the water. Your body might be fake, but your mind believes. Your mind knows it would need water, in this moment.”

Souda sighed, sipping at the water, “...Flora aren’t really ‘dream’ guys. But I bet they’re really hard to keep in a… setting? Like this? Closed circuit, fuck, I don’t know what to call all of this. They have a hive mind. If they knew that? The waking members of the hive mind could just tell them they were dreaming, right? Probably have to lock that shit down tight, if you want to trap a Flora in here. And trust me, there are Flora here. They’re like damn weeds, they’re everywhere.”

Flora? A baffled expression came over Mike’s face, but…well, if they were people that kept ‘shit-ass secrets’ then…maybe that made sense that he had never heard of them before. Mike didn’t exactly consider himself an anthropologist or anything, but he liked to think he knew about most of the more prolific kinds of people in their world. 

Taking in Souda’s words, Mike crossed his arms, thinking…before he let out a not-quite defeated, but negative sigh. “...unless there aren’t any waking members.” Immediately, though, his eyes flicked up to Souda’s, sharp. “...you talk like you aren’t a Flora, though. So…why are your teeth and hair color things the dream tried to cover up?”

Souda frowned, “That’d be basically impossible. I have no idea what it’d take to put asleep the entire hivemind, but you’re talking about a creature with literally a million limbs. Flora roots go deep… and by that, I mean there’s literally millions of Flora. You don’t put that to sleep.”

Souda paused… before saying, “I don’t know, maybe if you managed to get the queen? I have no idea how that would work.”

At Mike’s question, he sipped his water and shrugged, before glaring at the water, “I need a real drink… heh. ‘Real’ drink. Anyway, your guess is as good as mine, what the heck I am. Was born and raised among Flora. But I’m not a seedling, or a flora born human. Way anyone ever remembers it, I just showed up in a Flora town one day. No other wild humans around to take me in, and apparently something about me smells ‘wrong’, so none of the Flora would take me on either. Not that I was allowed to just leave either…”

Souda scoffed, scratching the side of his face, “...I shouldn’t have said any of that. Other species are so common here that I still feel like it's okay to talk about that sort of thing openly, but it's not. I don’t need Flora thinking I’m out here spreading secrets, they’ll come after me. Just knowing about Flora is dangerous, kids. Don’t talk about it casually to anyone, okay?”

“We’ll keep it in mind.” Ava promised, “Queen? Could you tell us more about that? If the only way Flora could be suppressed is perhaps their queen, then if they are a part of this, we should be aware of her.”

“Ugh. Junko Enoshima… the ‘53’rd.” Souda scoffed, rolling his eyes… before standing up. Shakily wiping off his face as he said, “Come on, I have some 3d modeling programing I can use to show you what she looks like. If you see her? You hide. She’s a thousand years old, all-powerful among the Flora, and is a total racist bitch. She won’t look at you like you’re a person, so don’t assume she’s someone who can be reasoned with. To her, it’d be like an ant trying to reason with a kid with a magnifying glass.”

“Grim.” Ava frowned.

Okay, so it was unlikely, but…come on. They had no idea how many people were stuck in this dream! As unlikely as it was, it could be the whole fucking world! The dream’s history, at least, had stuff going on over the whole world! But…spread out among towns were…

“Hey, do you live in Usott right now?” Mike asked, a tentative theory coming to him. Maki, Tim and his friends…they all lived in Usott. Mike was currently in Usott. The princes, who were other gym leaders, were in Usott. The dream could be enveloping the whole world…but it also might just be their city. And if that was the case…

Mike frowned at the warning Souda gave them about Flora in general, and about their queen. However, he noticed a particular voice missing from this conversation, and he glanced around as they followed Souda. “...Meloetta?”

U_U

OoO PRESENT

“HYAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! Oh no wait that’s just a pokemon that can talk why did I scream?” Souda muttered, before pausing, “...wait, pokemon aren’t real, HYAAAAAA!?”

“Oh, no, you still have to accept the dreams logic while you live in it,” Ava advised, “For now it’s better to just assume pokemon do exist, in some capacity. If only existing in this context.”

O.O

Meoetta fluttered over to Souda, staring at him for a bit…

OoO HYAAAAAAAAAAA

“HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AUGH!”

OoO you’re silly

OOO NOW ANSWER MIKES QUESTION BEFORE I START BITING YOUR TOES

“WHAT!? AUUUUUUUUUUGH!!” Souda sobbed, pulling down his beanie as he shouted, “Fine, yes, I live in Usott now!! Don’t bite my toes!”

“See, even though your toes aren’t real either, doesn’t it still make sense to treat them as real things with real consequence?” Ava said, patting the sobbing man on the back, “Hold onto that mindset. Also, Meloetta, you went very quiet for a long time there.”

OoO I was trying to change back and was focusing reeeaaaaal hard

O.O

OOO CLEARLY IT DIDNT WORK DONT MOCK ME

Mike smirked a little, glancing down. It was happening more and more but…he kinda liked people backing him up. It felt good. 

“Nah, that was a good thing to test,” Mike assured, “I mean, I don’t have any psychic abilities, so it’s not something I’d be able to do. But it’s good to find out that even people who do fuck around with brain shit usually can’t break out.” He looked up briefly. “...not good, but you know what I mean. Knowing our actual parameters will help us figure out what’s actually going on.”

“...oh, guess I should ask you too.” He nodded to Meloetta. “Are you in Usott too? I…” Mike frowned a little. “...I can’t tell if what I remember about living in this dream’s Edahu was…actually something I experienced dreaming, or was just memories, but if we take it as the latter, then…everyone we’ve come across so far is currently there. So that might be our scope.”

He frowned more. “Which makes the queen thing Souda’s talking about more likely, where it concerns Flora… And if the dream hid everything to do with them, then…I’d guess that the queen would have the most desire to keep them hidden, since it’d be her rules making it like that in real life too…” Mike trailed off a little before looking to Souda for confirmation. “Right?”

OoO YEP USOTT

OvO my best friend lives there

OvO

QvQ not senpai though

“Yeah, Junko Enoshima is basically the reason Flora are as secretive as they are, from the way I hear it. Like, the flora being a secret was basically her policy when she got the crown, based how the entire society works around it… well, that and…”

Souda looked at the two young kids, before shaking his head, “Anyway, if we’re trapped in a dream with her? That’s a worse case scenario, honestly. It already sucks being trapped in the real world with her, I can’t even imagine the sort of evil she’d be adding to this… dream or whatever.” 

“You have a real fear of her,” Ava said confidently. She could taste it. “Do you know her personally?”

“No. Just…” Souda scowled, “Trust me. You can think she’s stupid. Or childish. Or insane. All those things are true… but she’s a nightmare personified. And she makes everyone and everything around her worse, brings them down to her level of nightmare. She’s a plague. It’s naive to not be afraid of her.”

Best friend, meaning ‘Doppio’, Mike figured. Which likely meant he was in the dream too. Mike wasn’t sure how much help that guy would be, but…well, he figured Meloetta would be happy to see her friend. And maybe he would have some clues for Ava too, since they had apparently met. And maybe he’d be able to talk a little more straightforwardly than Meloetta, but Mike wasn’t including that in anything but superfluous hopes. 

Raising an eyebrow at the notion Junko Enoshima would be adding evil to this dream, when everything seemed…fine enough from Mike’s point of view, Mike frowned but… It really didn’t sound just like cowardice, aside from all the other dramatics in how Souda acted. His warning seemed real, so Mike was inclined to take it. 

A nightmare personified…

Mike looked down, frowning. “...do you think there’s a possibility that this dream was created to trap her in it? And…how powerful it needed to be to trap the Flora Queen just…ended up bringing everyone else in Usott in too? If Flora are a hive mind…I don’t really know if that’s even adjacent to psychic shit, but it might be enough to…be the fourth thing, right?”

He looked over at Meloetta for a moment, before frowning more. “...if you showed up as a pokemon… I mean, Darkrai literally is the Nightmare Pokemon. Maybe that’s part of it?”

Meloetta didn’t look up at his question for a moment, a curiously blank look on her face… before she shouted, OH RIGHT REGICIDE

“With the exception of Meloetta herself,” Ava said, after everyone waited a moment, Meloetta apparently not about to clarify her thought, “We’ve come to a fairly reasonable conclusion that pokemon are meant to represent some aspect of our connection to other people or concepts. If people speak of Junko in such a manner,” Ava said, nodding towards Souda, who nodded back, “And that’s common enough? Looking for pokemon that inspire terror might at the very least lead us to her. A Darkrai could be her, or could be a pokemon that represents her, and thus is nearby.”

“Are you seriously just going to scream ‘oh right regicide’ and add nothing else?” Souda grumpily asked Meloetta.

O.O

OOO THAT WAS THE DANGER

OoO to the princess

O.O its the blond lady

Souda looked up from the computer he had been leading them all too, having spent their conversation creating the model he had mentioned earlier. He wasn’t what he’d call an artist, but he was competent in making 3-D model based on pre-set objects, and it wasn’t long before he had a somewhat blocky but obviously blond woman with massive pigtails, fair skin, blue eyes, wearing some sort of monochrome patterned outfit. 

“Her?” Souda frowned, “Wait, someone attacked the princess… you’re not talking about Kaito’s kid, right? Shit, I promised the girls I’d look out for him… shit.” Souda grumbled, clenching his fists in his hands, “...dammit. I gotta go tell the guy what’s happening. I know for a fact the ‘fairy gym leader’ doesn’t have any kids in this world, and that saps whole life is his kids, someones’ gotta go tell him.”

“You and Kaito are friends?” Ava asked.

Souda nodded, “Yeah, and that’s not something I have plenty of at the moment. Shit, where’s Miss Waku…”

Regicide… Putting someone in a dream wasn’t exactly killing them, but…maybe that was close enough for Meloetta’s definition? If someone tried to take down Queen Junko by trapping her in a dream… Then…

Mike glanced up, before his eyes widened. “What? Look, it’s weird in the first place if some hidden queen is in Usott at all, but how - w-what would she be doing in the castle?! In Miyako and her dads’ room? Oh fuck…” 

Paling a bit, Mike clenched his fists. It was one thing for everyone in their city to be swept up in some weird, magical dream. If a nightmare queen was…trying to commit regicide against Tim’s little sister…

Mike looked to Ava, a bit of panic starting to make him sweat. “We can’t wake her up. If she’s a danger to Miyako to the point Meloetta was freaking out, that means she’s there. There’s a lot of damage she could do to a baby before the princes could stop her, and they’d be the only ones there… How…”

Pulling at the cords of his hoodie in panicked little jolts, Mike thought frantically. They didn’t even know how to wake people up properly, but instead of just some…leisurely mystery, this was Tim’s sister’s life if they messed it up. This was…

Mike looked up at Souda. “We were going to go to the Fairy Gym after coming here. A-and we already saw Tim’s mom. How… Where…” Cutting off his trailing-off, panicking, haphazard lines of thought, Mike squinted at Souda. “...Waku the housekeeper?”

“Yeah, Waku. Me, her and Kaito are part of this little friendgroup, we bar hop together. Miss Waku is kinda the…” Souda shrugged, “Sensible one of us. And she’s got this heart-reading thing that always screamed psychic something to me… but, honestly, if she’s here? I hope if she wakes up, she doesn’t remember any of this. Her brain already isn’t kind to her, all of this could seriously mess with her. Which is a shame, everything is always so much nicer with Waku around.”

Ava stepped towards Mike, peering into his eyes before saying, “Mike, let’s take a minute. I know this all feels urgent and like it must be taken care of immediately, but lets stop and take a breath. Try a ground technique. Would you try one with me?”

Noted, then. Mike had no idea how waking up in the dream would affect how they remembered it later, but if there was any correlation? If he saw that housekeeper around, he wouldn’t use the disruptor on her. 

It was kind of funny, then, how Mike was actually really close to knowing Souda. He wondered if it was just chance they hadn’t run into each other around the castle. That closeness to Kaito, though…maybe was an explanation why Souda was a gym leader. Souda didn’t exactly seem like the kind of person that wanted a ton of responsibility otherwise. 

All those thoughts were kind of going on in the background, though, as Mike turned his wide, worried gaze onto Ava, immediately snapping, “I’m not panicking!!”

Ava nodded, taking a step back. Not saying anything… and putting up a hand when Souda started to speak. Not glancing at him, but something clearly authoritative in the movement. They were being silent. 

The silence only high-lighted Mike’s heavy breaths, almost sounding like he was fuming except for the fact that he looked quite a bit more worried than angry. But the silence and Ava’s quiet gaze only made them even heavier, Mike’s fidgeting getting more erratic. “D-don’t just look at me either, fuck!! We, we’ve gotta--”

Mike turned to Souda, hooves clacking obnoxiously loud (at least to his own ears) as he did, along with having to right movement that felt unsteady. “You’re a gym leader, you have Kaito’s information, right?!” he snapped, voice venomous and a little too loud, even if his expression didn’t look mad at Souda.

“H-hey, kid, don’t think I’ll go e-easy on ya just because you’re a little pipsquea–”

“You’ll leave us for now, Souda.” Ava said.

“What!?” Souda said, “Why am I being sent off!?”

“You’ve had a difficult day too. The way we destroyed your concept of reality was unkind. Honestly, I’m surprised you aren’t showing more signs of needing a moment to rest,” Ava told him, “But we need a moment to ourselves too. Our own concept or reality was also destroyed recently, and it’s a lot of responsibility currently on our shoulders. We need a minute.”

“...look, yes, I have Kaito’s number.” Souda said, looking to Mike, “Do you want me to call him? Have him meet us somewhere?”

“I-I--” A heaved breath, almost like a growl. 

He didn’t know. He didn’t know. How the fuck was Mike supposed to know?! He’d always wanted to do more with his life, not be stuck in a boring little town where nothing happened, but the biggest thing Mike had ever done was figuring out how the fuck he was going to feed himself once he was out on the road. He didn’t, he didn’t, h-he wasn’t a leader, or a hero, he didn’t--

Tim’s sister was going to die if they messed any of this up. One mistake, and her death was…

Words clogged in Mike’s throat, so he just gave an aggressive nod. 

“Okay, good!” Souda said, before wincing at Ava’s dark look, “W-what! He’d have been mad if I just left! Ugh, whatever, I’m gonna go look at all my pointless experiments! Can’t believe I wasted my second life herding these geeks! Broke my dome on BASICALLY my last day alive!”

Ava watched Souda storm off, before sighing, looking back to Mike. “...there is time.”

There was a pause, before Mike shook his head a little, his movements jittering a bit at the end. Looking like he might throw up for a moment, Mike eventually found his words again. “There’s, there’s nothing we can do, time-wise. W-we don’t know how to wake people up, for real. Whatever a-actual timeline we’re working with, it’s nothing we can affect.”

Again Mike shook his head, a shudder going through his torso. “...but what do we do?” he asked, voice…scared. “If we wake up that queen before anyone else, or… If… I-I don’t know… Anything wrong and…Miyako will die…”

“We have time.” Ava said again, her voice even and certain, “And we have help.”

Then she paused, and said in that same, even tone, “Everything is going to be alright. The worst will not happen. Everything is going to work out. I will help you.”

As Mike looked up at Ava, there was a strange sort of glimmer in his eyes. Desperation, the kind that made him want to latch onto those words and embrace them as the truth. To let others’ assurances surround him like a cloak against the harsh world beyond. A hand, wanting to reach out…

But that hand was tentative, hesitant. A sort of wariness, that spoke of hearing words like that, and embracing them as he wanted…and being let down. Of ice and blades and infernos reaching him anyway, and cutting all the worse for lack of preparation, placing his faith in someone else. 

Still, he wanted to…

“Great, now that’s all the fucking assurance I need. Some amnesiac following around the first person to talk to them saying it’ll be okay. That’ll really stop Miyako’s neck from getting snapped.”

Almost immediately Mike paled, realizing what had come out of his mouth. 

Ava’s gaze did not flicker. She was not hurt. 

“I know it doesn’t sound realistic, or logical.” Ava said softly, “But the odds feeling against us does not make what I said untrue. There is nothing unrealistic in treating the best possible outcome as the most likely outcome. Because it’s the one we’re actively working towards. It’s the outcome we– capable, intelligent, wonderful people that we are–are most determined to achieve. Treating it like our inevitable future is giving ourselves the credit we deserve.We would work towards nothing less.”

“We have time. We have help. You have me.” Ava said, “Everything is going to be okay.”

(He wanted to take it back, to apologize, to…to just have not said that. But what usually happened to prevent him from doing so…didn’t. There was no look of shock across Ava’s face, no hardening. No, ‘if that’s how you really feel’s. No her turning and walking away, finally figuring out that he really was the worst person to come across on the road. No raised fists or great sighs or…)

(So that just left him. And Mike found that even without those things, he…still didn’t know what to say.)

Slowly, after a few tense moments, Mike nodded. Pausing, before nodding again. 

Rotom, still exhausted from the interrupted fight, peeked out from Mike’s hood, giving Ava a hesitant, but remorseful look before slowly floating up to her, leaning the main part of its body against her shoulder. 

Ava smiled lightly, gently placing her hand against Rotom’s back, before looking up at Mike. “You don’t have to be afraid of mistakes, with me. You have some real temper issues you do have to work with, at some point… but not for my sake. For yours, because your life will be better once it’s under control. But for me? You can make mistakes with me. It’s not the end of us.”

Smiling warmly, she said, “Everything is going to be okay. You and I are good, and capable, and wonderful. We have time. We have help. We will not fail. Everything is going to be okay.”

“Now, indulge me, please…count your fingers. Look to double check.” Ava said softly. Evenly.

It sounded fake. Mistakes were inevitable, just a part of being alive and going through life, but if it wasn’t a mis-routed wire or the wrong size of screw, Mike…didn’t know anything but being punished for his mistakes. Or even things he didn’t even think were mistakes. Push the wrong buttons with Doris, and there went his night. Talk about the wrong things in front of the wrong people, he had his head pushed in a toilet. Mess with the wrong wires, the guy that let him look at them was electrocuted. Mistakes always mattered. It sounded…fake, that he could make some with Ava and she wouldn’t just…

(leave.)

His gaze dropping, Mike nodded again. And while a twitch went through his eyebrows, he nodded and forced his hands to uncurl from his hoodie, looking at his fingers. Choking on words for a moment, before very quietly, “One…two, three…four…”

Ava waited until he got to ten, before saying, “Deep breath. In and out… and if you still feel the tension? Count again. Count until you feel impatient with it, ready to speak again. Boredom is okay. Boredom can even be a goal.”

Another slow nod, another round of counting, and eventually…

Mike let out a breath, his body feeling…weird, too warm and almost…static-y, like when a limb fell asleep, but not the pins and needles stage. “...first time for everything, I guess,” he mumbled. “Usually doesn’t happen for stuff like this…”

Shaking his head a little, Mike adjusted his hat and glasses before glancing up at Ava…and quickly looking back down. Frustration running through his face. “...Ava, I… Before, I mean, I…”

Ava didn’t interrupt. She waited patiently. 

It was easier when they interrupted. But Ava was…Ava. Making things easy in the hardest ways. 

Mike stammered around words for a little bit before cutting himself off with a huff, growling softly. Glaring fiercely at the ground for a moment. 

“...I’m sorry. I don’t want to demean you, or your hopes. I…” Coloring a little, Mike glared harder. “...I’m glad you wanted to come with me, and you losing your memories isn’t something to make fun of. …’m sorry.”

“Thank you.” Ava smiled, “I had hoped you didn’t mean it. I quite like to think you enjoy my company, when all is said and done. But then, I would. I’ve been told by a prideful man that I’m annoyingly prideful myself. We tend to sniff each other out, so I suppose he’s…”

Ava’s voice trailed off, briefly confused, “...oh, I think I understand what Souda was trying to tell us earlier. My knowledge also does not match my memories. The fact that I do not have memories doesn’t make the situation that different, I’ve just realized. I know things. I just have no context.”

“...” Ava frowned, “...I may be older than I think I am.”

Mike shifted a little, looking to the side as he lightly scratched an arm, nodding lightly. Feeling a little too flustered to just continue on right away. New things all around, he guessed. But…he did like that Ava accepted the apology. And that she wasn’t hurt from what he said anyway. 

However, he looked off as she trailed into confusion, frowning a bit. “...well, 12 was just a guess anyway, wasn’t it? Do…you still want to be our one foot still in this reality? That’d be a quick way to figure out your actual age, huh.”

“I still do think so, yes, in case there is a benefit for one of us to be fully entrenched in the dream.” Ava said, “I just need to mentally be prepare for the possibility that the life I’m imagining for myself in the real world might not be accurate for a 12 year old. I am entrenched in this fantasy, I shouldn’t rely on a second fantasy within this one. Best to not get too attached to any preconceived notions.”

Sighing, Ava tucked her hair back a little with two pointed index fingers, “...the answer to your earlier concern, I believe, is our choice to make no hasty decisions. We now know that there is a family in immediate danger, once this dream ends. We also know the potential murderer of an infant is trapped in this dream with us. To not allow her to follow through on her intent will require patience on our part. We must decide now to make informed decisions. If we find a way to break the dream before we discover a way to ensure their safety? Then we must be patient, and restrain ourselves until we understand things better. Patience and knowledge. That’s how we win.”

Ava didn’t really…look like a teenager. But it was possible. Mike knew better than most, recently, how deceiving looks could be. Still…he hoped he still could find her when they woke up. And it wouldn’t be…weird.

Letting out a long sigh, Mike rubbed his eyes under his glasses before nodding. “...yeah. Yeah. Not just jumping at the first chance we see to wake up. I guess letting her parents know, though, would still be a good call… I dunno if we’d really want to head towards any mention of Darkrai, or about that queen, but…keeping an ear out for news would still be good. I mean…”

Mike looked up, face a little grim. “...obviously Miyako herself, and Meloetta are…on our ‘side’, I guess. And since she mentioned it, I’d guess the dragon too. Even if Junko is the fourth thing making this dream, and it’s not something neutral, that’s still three-fourths in favor of helping Miyako, so…maybe there would be a way to wake other people up first?”

Sighing in a very ‘I don’t know’ sort of way, Mike gave Ava a tired nod. “...let’s see if Souda made that call. And I need my badge from him anyway.”

-

“I challenge you!”

“Yeah, yeah, look, Kaito, I–no, I’m not calling for bail money, do I sound like I’m in the cooling tank again? Also, that was one time, and everyone knows you’re rolling in it, and also it turns out you and I are close enough that it TOTALLY wasn’t inappropriate and… no, I’ve not been drinking. What do you mean I sound tipsy? I have literally never been more sober–”

“Uuuh, excuse me, mister~ He said he challenges you?”

Souda made a ‘simmer down’ motion to the kids, looking away from them as he spoke into the cellphone, “Right, so, I have to talk to you. In person. Why? Because it’s important, that’s why! Call it a meeting between gym leaders… uh huh… uh huh… what do I care if you want to throw some kid into quick sand?! Just don’t… I’m sorry, where are you!? WHY ARE YOU IN QUICKSAND? NO THAT IS NOT A PRACTICAL EXERCISE!”

“HEY! GYM LEADER! TIM’S GONNA SMASH YOU!”

“I AM ON THE PHONE!” Souda shouted, before saying, “What!? I am! So what if I’m yelling at people. No, some kids, you don’t… oh, wait, no, you do know them. But not yet. What are you gonna do about it, come over to kick me ass? Try it! You won’t, cause you are in QUICKSAND! Seriously are you dying right now? Damn right I have no faith in you! I know you even better now and I have LESS FAITH! You said some kids with you? Put the kid on the phone!”

Timothy pouted, looking to the girls, who both shrugged at him. This second gym was so far at a lackluster start. 

Not exercise, maybe, but Josie thought going into quicksand purposefully was practical terrain practice…which was what Kaito was trying to teach him. Honestly, Josie had been pretty confident that he’d never encounter quicksand ever, before going to the desert, but as it turned out, there were a few places it occurred in the desert. Kind of…out of the way, but the pits were there. So Kaito had taken him to one of the pits, explained how to identify them, explained how to get out if you accidentally stepped in, and then he had started to show Josie how to do it too, but, uh…

Looking a little unsure, Josie just gave Kaito a shrug as he passed his phone over, watching Kaito continue to struggle with getting out of the pit.

“Hello?”

-

Heading out from the office, Mike blinked in surprise, seeing the extra people besides Souda out on the gym floor. “...you guys made really good time.”

“We ran!” Cali said proudly, fists on her hips as she jutted her chest out. 

“Maki’s girlfriend gave us bikes when she saw we had come back.” Tim explained more honestly, “Said she didn’t see why everyone doing the routes wasn’t on bikes, all the time.”

“She’s right. It was a lot faster~” Kimiko beamed happily, before asking, “Have you beaten the gym yet, Mike?”

“No way, he’s probably only been here a few hours.” Tim said, “He probably hasn’t even battled yet. The gym leader here seems sort of difficult to get to focus anyway.”

“I didn’t want him to be distracted freeing himself from a literal death trap, that’s why! Is he getting himself out? Well tell him to shuffle faster! Tell him I’m not taking responsibility if he gets himself killed and leaves his kids without one to one-third of a father! …I don’t care, tell him they’re kids he doesn’t know about, from his sordid past! …BULLSHIT HE’S A VIRGIN, IN WHAT WORLD?? Tell him there’s ‘delusional’ and then there’s THAT!”

Mike glanced down, looking at his hooves, and made a face. He’d seen the types of bikes he could only assume Tim meant, and…yeah. Even in a dream he wasn’t going to put his legs anywhere near that death trap. 

Huffing, Mike rolled his eyes a little. “Basically beaten. Our battle was interrupted when one of Souda’s robots malfunctioned. I fixed it, and we were talking, but I was going to win anyway, so I’m just gonna get it from him and threaten legal action if he’s a baby about it.”

Looking at the three other kids for a moment, Mike shrugged and looked away. “He has a Drilldrio, by the way.”

-

Josie decided he was not meant to be a receptionist. He liked to think he was personable on some level, but if this was his stress test…uh, no thanks. 

Pulling the speaker away from his face a little, Josie told Kaito, “I’m not sure if…it’s a compliment? But he’s incredulous that you’re a virgin. Quote, ‘there’s delusional, and then there’s that’.” Before Kaito could respond, Josie held a hand up. “And please don’t try to explain anything, I really don’t want to know anything about this. But he does really want you to get out of there.”

After a beat, Josie gave Kaito a smirking grin. “You are really demonstrating why it’s so important to keep an eye out for quicksand, though.”

Kaito huffed, sloooooooowwlllyyyyy shuffling more and more towards the end of the circle as he said, “I’m heavy and tall, it looks like I’m sinking more dramatically than I am! Like I said, sinking is a part of the process! Sloooow and steady shuffles, patience is key! Once you get to the end, digging in your footholds is easy! I’m fine!”

Kaito looked down at his stomach, which was slowly sinking into the sand, before saying, “Really! I’m fine! Plenty of time left! Also, explain what!? I’m a virgin, one of the components of that is there is nothing to explain. A specific lack of details! No stories to recount because nothing has happened! If you mean ‘explain what being a virgin is’, wow, the school system failed you, kid. Alright, quick key notes on what a virgin is: when a bird and a bee don’t find each other particularly interesting, they do other things with their day rather than have sex. Boom! Educated! I’m gonna be a great dad someday…uuuugh, why did I do this, this is going to take forever. Ask Souda when he wants to meet?”

“Nope, specifically didn’t want that,” Josie sighed quietly, eyes turning to the sky like Hydreigon would swoop down and end this conversation now. Though that would cause way bigger problems. 

“He’ll get out when he gets out, I guess,” Josie said back into the phone, shrugging a little. “He’s asking when you want to meet. Aaaaand he still doesn’t think he has kids, and I’m kind of inclined to believe him on that point, but save your explanations for him in person.”

-

“Ugh, that’s because he lacks information! Auuuugh, I don’t want to go to the desert, don’t tell me we have to trek to the damn desert, it’s hot and awful there… no, don’t tell him I said that, he’s so defensive– don’t put him back on the phone– OKAY FINE YES YOUR REGION IS AWFUL IT'S THE LAND OF SUNBURNS AND SAND IN BUTTCRACKS!”

“It’s nice to see grownups can have friends too.” Kimiko smiled. 

“Isn’t it?” Ava agreed.

“You really got the badge already,” Tim said, looking briefly disappointed… before he huffed, crossing his arms, “Well, I’m gonna be right behind you, so don’t get too comfortable with your lead. I just teamed up with a new pokemon on the way here, and his brute force attacks will be perfect for steel!”

“He made friends with a skiddo!” Cali said, lighting up, “It’s so cute! It keeps butting heads at us! I love it!!”

“He’s not wrong,” Mike muttered, nose wrinkling a little at the mention of the desert. Sure, it was where he and Ava had been planning to go next, but…if Souda could convince Kaito to meet them in a more habitable place? Mike wouldn’t complain a bit. 

Focusing in on Tim, Mike smirked a little at his confidence before smiling a little more at just what pokemon they’d met. “Skiddo… They’re grass-types, aren’t they. Same problem as me, then, with the Mankey I met. Good luck with that Drilldrio.”

There was a pause, Mike’s smiles fading, as he fiddled with his hat awkwardly. “Uh, hey, I… Have sort of a weird question. If…you asked someone to come find you, if they were in trouble, but you didn’t remember that when they did need help, and they had a way to remind you, but it was sort of…” His gaze trailed up. “...awful? Like, existential breakdown, sort of awful. Would you…be okay with being reminded?”

To Tim’s surprising credit, he didn’t say anything right away. He gave Mike a confused tilt of the head, but while Cali just straight up asked, “What are you talking about?” Tim remained quiet, turning the question over in his head.

“...I told someone to come to me if they needed help, but don’t remember?” Tim clarified.

“In this hypothetical, essentially.” Ava agreed.

“I mean, I guess if I asked for it, I have it coming,” Tim shrugged, “And that sounds like a sort of vow. It’d be shitty if I refused to do something I vowed, just because it got hard.”

Ava glanced at Kimiko and Cali, before saying, “What if it upset the people around you? Your friends–”

“You can literally just ask us, instead of talking around us.” Cali frowned, crossing her arms again, “And Tim’s our best friend! If he’s in trouble, WE’RE in trouble! It’s a best friend circle of trouble!”

“You’re so brave, Cali~” Kimiko giggled, clasping her hands together, “And Timmy’s so dutiful! Like a knight in a story! If we’re in an exciting story, I’d rather be a dark ensemble witch, adding dark magic to our team's supply of resources in battle… but if you guys are being knights, I can be a knight too! So long as I can be a part of it.”

Ava looked meaningfully at Mike. “They’re confident. From a place of ignorance, sure, but until we tell them the truth, they can’t be confident in any other state.”

Mike sighed quietly. Even in a dream, themselves to the fullest. Though he guessed most of them were. 

Nodding softly, he brought out his disruptor, showing it to Tim, Cali, and Kimiko. “...I figured out what this is. It’s a device meant to disrupt brainwaves, specifically to break mind-control. …I made it for you, Tim,” Mike nodded, before looking away. 

“I know this sounds crazy, but we’re all dreaming right now. We haven’t figured out exactly what’s going on, but there’s some bullshit and…while this doesn’t actually wake people up, it does, like…essentially make it so you’re aware that this is a dream. Giving you back the memories of your actual life, not the stuff dream logic has made up for you.”

Looking at each of them briefly, Mike frowned. “...so having your entire life be made out to be a fantasy kinda sucks, and it also makes you throw up and have, like, one of the worst headaches ever.”

Glancing down, Mike sighed, and while, to an extent, it looked like he was fighting with himself, he softly said, “...but we need help.”

There was a long, heavy silence… and Kimiko pulled at Tim’s sleeve.

“One second.” Tim said.

The three leaned in together and whispered. Kimiko reminding Tim that he had had a weird feeling about the flashlight, remember!? Cali expressing doubt about all three of them being flashed by some weird machine that will make them horribly sick. Kimiko suddenly asking a very relevant question.

Tim looked over his shoulder, “Are any of us not real? Like, remembering means one of us doesn’t exist?”

“You all exist,” Ava said, deciding not to get into the pokemon thing just yet, Tim nodding and whispering to his friends again.

After a bit, the three of them did a game of rock paper scissors. Once they were done, they looked back at Mike and Ava. “So, Kimiko’s not gonna get flashed, in case this is some weird trick.” Tim said, “Cali and I will flash. You need our help? Alright. I mean, you helped us out near the mountains. I’d want to help you anyway, just for that alone.”

“One good turn deserves another!” Cali declared, “Oh, oh, do I have a family in the real world!?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know.” Ava said honestly. “But you three are all still friends, based on how Mike’s spoken of it.”

“Well… even if I don’t, I’ve got you guys!” Cali said, grinning at her friends, who all nodded in agreement. Family or not. The trio had each other.

Mike shrugged a little, looking a little frustrated (his best attempt at remorse for not knowing more about the trio). “We all only met a little while ago. I…think you guys have families, since you live somewhere else, but you’ve never told me about it. But you three go to school together and hang out at the castle all the time.”

Accepting their terms--a good situation, considering he and Ava were doing the same thing--Mike waited for them to get settled…before saying a bit slowly, “Uh, maybe you two should sit down. Like…for real, this sucks.”

Kimiko backed away, the pokemon shuffling around her, all of them watching as Cali and Tim sat down crosslegged on the ground. “You’ve got this Cali, Timmy! I believe in you!” 

Both Cali and Tim looked a little flustered at that… before they looked at each other. 

“This might be serious.” Tim warned her. Putting his hand out.

She grabbed it and grinned, “Wanna know what I bet? I bet we ran away that night in every world. I bet we’re a universal constant.”

Tim raised his eyebrows slightly at that… before smiling lightly. “Yeah. I bet you’re right.”

The two looked back at Mike. Waiting.

Over at the corner of the room, Souda rolled his eyes at the phone, “It is not my fault you’re sinking too fast, I did not make you yell. Anyway, we’re heading down today, try not to die in your dumb desert, got it? Yeah, yeah, good luck. Weirdo.” Souda muttered, turning off the phone, and turning around just when he saw the two kids start to vomit. “Oh, come on! Did you have to do it in my gym!? Gods, I’m gonna get sued!”

Mike looked up from his loaf on the floor, holding water at the ready for Tim and Cali, and gave Souda an unimpressed look. “Since I’m a minor, the liability still would go to you, but there’s a whole laundry list of things before two kids getting sick that you’d get sued for.” He gave an unbothered blink. “Which I’m still willing to press if you don’t give us all badges. I think trying to save a city is a display of whatever-whatever enough to be granted a badge, as if leaders can’t just give them out arbitrarily anyway.”

“Badges? You’re still thinking about badges?” Souda gapped.

“Remember, it’s important to still remember that the rules of the dream reality still matter to us, as beings still trapped in the dream. Don’t make the mistake of self-destructing in this world under the assumption we could be leaving any day now.” Ava said.

“Ugh, fine, badges for everyone for bravery and not-so-vague threats and vomiting on my floor.” Souda grumbled. “Anyway, Kaito’s too busy sinking in sand to come to us so we have to go to him. On that note, you, vomiting carrot-top. Aren’t you his boy?”

Tim groaned, reaching for the water, handing Cali one, “...dad?”

“W-we do have families!” Cali said cheerfully… before groaning, “Oh noooooo I forgot they suuuuuuuck.”

“Mine doesn’t.” Tim said, before wincing, “Oooooh, mom. She’s gonna be so mad at me for making her chase me to a mountain. My ear is gonna tear off my head…wait…” Tim squinted blearily through his reddened eyes, the headache inflamming them, “...dads at the d-desert… mom’s back in the village… I think both my uncles are gym leaders too… where’s my sister?”

OoO don’t panic

O.O

OOO SHE’S THE WORLD

OoO i dont know if thats worth panicking over i guess you can panic a little if you want

“...” Tim squinted at the pokemon, “...Miyako can’t be the world. She’s a baby. She can’t even crawl. I mean, not well, anyway.”

OoO That’s probably why she likes flying so much

O.O

OoO nah flyings just awesome

Tim blinked at her again… before blearily looking up at Mike. “So, I guess your weird fairy guy was right, huh? Yeah, I’ll…nggh… I’ll help, but I r-really do need to find my s-sister too. Dad says I’m not supposed to be a parent to her, b-but I think checking on her in a fantasy prison thing is an e-exception.”

Mike gave Souda a flat look, letting Ava do the talking. They were in a dream, so the minutiae of things didn’t matter so much…but a lack of badges would get them all caught up in bullshit that explaining they were in a dream to would just get them sent to the nearest hospital. Playing within the rules of the dream would give them the greatest ease in ending it. 

…Mike hoped. 

Mumbling, “This is Meloetta,” to the others, Mike took a…bracing breath, looking away from Tim as he stuffed his hands in his pockets, his tail swishing nervously. He nodded, agreeing that the weird fairy was right, but… “Um…that’s… Actually, other than you telling me so, I wanted to wake you up anyway, because…”

“Your-sister-is-in-danger-and-is-like-one-fourth-of-what’s-making-this-dream-I-think-so-we-really-need-to-find-her-and-figure-out-a-way-to-wake-up-your-dad-and-uncles-first-so-she-doesn’t.” Mike’s pause, amid the rapid-fire words, was not to breathe. “...die.” 

Tim squinted, “...my head is pulsing, say that slower.”

“He said that your little sister is in danger, and that if this place really is a dream, Timmy, your parents need to wake up first to save her!” Kimiko gasped. 

“Oh…” Tim blinked, “...my dad and uncles? Do you mean Miyako is in danger in her room, then? If my mom can’t help?”

OoO who’s your mom?

“Uuuh… I don’t know how to explain. She’s my mom. Gym leader here? Ex-assassin back there? Currently teaches at the dojo.”

O.O

OoO yeah never heard of her NO WAIT 

O.O scary red eyes of burning death?

“...I mean, I guess.” Tim shrugged.

OOO SHE’S THERE TOO OH MY GAAAAWD

Tim groaned, “...okay. We can’t use the flashlight in two different places. So, here’s what I think we should do. You keep your plan to go find my dad, and I’ll go grab my mom and follow you guys there. We might be a bit behind you and I don’t know if I can convince her to come. But, honestly, dad and my uncles are silly people. We probably need mom enough for me to try.”

Well that would help. Tim’s dad had let Mike wail on him so…maybe that was something when it came to…ability to stop a nightmare queen from killing his daughter, but if Tim’s mom was--

Mike stopped, blinked, and gave Tim an incredulous look. 

…well, if she was an ex-assassin, then…that was a little more hopeful in her, like, battle prowess and ability to protect Miyako. So making sure Tim’s parents and uncles woke up before, at least Junko, if not everyone else, was still high priority. 

“Okay…” Mike sighed before nodding. “If she seems more skeptical, just tell her to call Souda, if not Kaito, since hopefully we’ll have woken him up by then. Your dad and uncles are silly, but your mom trusts them. …I think she’d trust your detective uncle more, but we’d basically have to run past where Prince Kaito and Prince Kokichi are first to get to him. Maybe Kaito could convince them to meet up with all of us somewhere closer by the time you bring your mom.”

Mike blinked again before giving Meloetta a confused look. “...did you mean Miyako just…likes flying in general? And if Tim’s mom is ‘there’, meaning where the danger is…are you in Tim’s parents’ room too right now?”

OoO oh i mean flying as in like–

Tim’s hand suddenly shot out and grabbed the pokemon around the middle. Squeezing her tight enough that her little head seemed to inflate as he drew her close, glaring at her. “You spread stories about my family at your own peril.”

QmQ;;

QoQ;; sh-she likes when someone makes w-woooooshy sounds! When picking her up!!

QOQ WOOOOOSH

OoO also yeah im in the room princess and i are tight like that we do sleepovers

Tim squinted at her… before letting her go, huffing as he laid his head on the floor. “I need a bucket of ice to dump my head in.”

“K-Kimiko!” Cali suddenly cheered, “You have a mom! She’s pretty and weird, just like you!”

Kimiko beamed, “Hurray!”

Cali grinned… looked at Mike… looked at his hooves… before saying, “Oh. Oh. Life is weird weird. Goooot it.” Before vomiting again. 

“Meloetta,” Ava said, “As clearly as you can. What is the situation in the room that you remember. Who is there, where are they, what is happening?”

OoO okay okay okay

OoO Princes are all soooooo sleepy and cuddly and cozy in bed! 

OvO Miya is all kicky and looking fly in her nightie blanket in her crib

OOO DEATH IN THE FORM OF A BLOND THOT, APPROACHING THE CRIB

O.O death eyes by the door, missed her shot to kill blond thot because of the sleepies

Ooo everyone reeeaaaally sleepy

O.O

OOO THAT CLEAR ENOUGH??

Mike’s eyebrows raised a little. He thought it was pretty obvious at this point that Miyako was some sort of fairy or psychic or something, but…if it was something Tim didn’t want getting out, then Mike wouldn’t comment. But, alright… If she was flying in the dream too, that was something to get in mind. Maybe they’d run into a flying-type that could check around while they were traveling…or something. 

But it wasn’t just Miyako’s secrets that Mike should’ve been considering. He met Cali’s gaze, matched it looking down…before he closed his eyes as his expression settled into a cringe. “...right,” he whispered. “We know each other.”

But…while that…did pose some danger to him…

…Miyako’s life was a little more important, and more threatened at the moment. 

Taking in Meloetta’s description, Mike thought…before frowning. It…didn’t make sense, but… “Is…the nightmare queen the person making everyone sleepy? It wouldn’t be Tim’s mom, and if the princes were already asleep… It isn’t Miyako herself, is it?”

OoO nah my coin is on the fooooooog

“Fog?” Tim asked.

Meloetta sighed, spinning in the air, if I was MYSELF id just shooow you i miss hallucinations

“Are you saying there was a fog in the air that you think made everyone sleepy?” Ava asked, Meloetta nodding, “Well…that at least gives us a clue.”

Timothy was looking at Yamper, who was panting happily up at him. “...Chase?”

Yamper barked.

“I think this is Chase,” Tim said, looking to Cali, who gasped, before looking to Kimiko, “My dog in the real world. But… who are the rest of our pokemon?”

“We believe they are a part of you,” Ava said, simplifying the theory a bit as the girls gave a worried look to their little mouse-pokemon, “Aspects of yourselves. Be kind to them like you should be yourself. While we are in this world, assume everything in it has importance and dignity that you need to respect.”

“An aspect of me, huh?” Cali said, looking down at her pokemon, whose nose wiggled curiously up at her, “...well, then you must be the coolest side of me, Plusle! Because you’re awesome!”

Plusle cheered in agreement, while Kimiko hugged Minun appreciatively, who nuzzled her back.

“...Bianka!” Cali suddenly gasped, looking to Tim, who frowned, and Kimiko, who looked confused, “We never saw who she got adopted by here! Do you think her dad found her again?”

“...I bet he did. But we’ll try calling her on the way back.” Tim decided, looking to Mike and Ava, “So, do we have a plan? I go get mom, meet you in the desert region?”

“Fog…?” Mike murmured. Nothing came to mind immediately. Any, like, weather elementals he was pretty sure just made regular fog, if from a magical source, and…well, there were kinds of magical fog that were summoned to obscure things, but fog that made you fall asleep? Mike had never heard of anything like that before. And while it wasn’t the clearest phrasing, Mike had a feeling Meloetta wouldn’t attribute everyone falling asleep to the fog if the fog was conjured by the queen or Miyako. So it was…

Mike narrowed his eyes a little. Was…Junko not the fourth thing, then? Was that the fog? But then…who or what was causing it? If it was what was making people sleep then…clearing the fog in the real world might be what would allow them to properly wake up, but how would they be able to do that within the dream?

Glancing up from his musings, Mike frowned a little more at the mention of Bianka. They had mentioned her off hand in the mountains before, he remembered now… Well…it was probably best if she was with her dad right now. They needed all the help they could get, and a snoop like her would probably be helpful in some capacity, but…if she didn’t have a pokemon in this world, she was safer just having a good dream with her family. Maybe tonight could just be nice for a few people. 

Mike gave Tim a nod. “Sounds good. Hopefully we’ll be able to call you guys and meet you partway once we get your dad up to speed.”

Realizing it as things settled in his brain, Mike gave Souda a curious look. “Hey, who was the other person on the phone with Kaito? Another person we know?”

“Who knows? Some new ten-year-old. Could be someone Kaito knows in real life, he’s surrounded by kids, but it’s not unusual for him in this dream to get way too attached to the kids who come challenge his gym either. Could honestly be some random kid he’s trying to teach to be more desert-region savvy.” Souda shrugged, before pausing, “...his name’s Josie, which, Kaito whined to me over a drink once that someone named Josie was mean to him and weird on a hill or something, once. But that guy was an adult. Or, I don't know, borderline adult for Dicea. Probably a coincidence, unless peoples ages are changing in here.”

“Oh…” Ava frowned, suddenly looking grim, “Oh, that’d be…I’d be a bit unhappy with myself, if the answer was as simple as that…”

Tim and Cali both clarified that they didn’t know any ten year olds name Josie either, though Tim said, “Yeah, there’s a guy Doppio and Arven hang out with named Josie… wait…” Tim frowned, crossing his arms and tilting his head, “...is this entire world based on their chess game? Doppio and Arven might have invented the pokemon here.”

Mike gave Ava a quick, worried look. If people’s ages were changing… He wasn’t quite so delusional as to say it didn’t matter but…well… He did…

(...it didn’t matter. Before Tim, he didn’t have any friends anyway, what did it matter to… It wasn’t like what happened in the dream was real, despite the fact they were living it. Who knew what they would remember when they woke up? Maybe it’d be for the best if they just forgot the whole fucking thing…)

Swallowing thickly, Mike put his hands in his pockets until a familiar name made him look back up. “Wait… Doppio? Like those teenagers that live at the castle, those Doppio and Arven? Like…” In lieu of words, Mike pointed between Meloetta and Ava, as if just the connection of the name would be enough to spark their memories. 

Physically brushing away that notion, Mike shook his head. “Okay, if the whole fucking setting of this dream is from them, then we should try to find them after Kaito and Maki and all. They might have an idea of the fog thing, or the fourth thing, or…I don’t know. But if they made things, then it’s still a lead.”

“Alright, come on, if we have any more brain-blasts we can text them in the group chat!” Souda shouted, looking down at his phone.

“Group chat? But you don’t have our…” Tim looked down, pulling out his phone as he heard a bing, “...this city’s ability to hijack phones is alarming. If it was all real, I’d be worried about this.”

“Okay! We have the group chat!” Cali said, saluting Mike and Ava before nodding to her friends, “Let’s go! Oh, where do you think Henada is?”

“Miss Kawai’s definitely chilling out on a farm somewhere,” Tim said with absolute certainty, the trio heading out. 

“Tell me more about my mom, Cali! You said she’s pretty?”

“Oh, she has the LONGEST blue hair! Like a waterfall!”

Souda watched the kids go, before motioning for Ava and Mike to follow, “Come on, we’re taking my mini-helicopter. Don’t tell anyone I have it. It’s almost at the final stages of testing. 70% safe!”

“That’s not the most comforting percentage.” Ava said.

“If I was gambling, those would be amazing odds! Just come on!”

Mike had gotten up from the floor, feeling…a multitude of things. But suddenly his eyes sparkled and there was a quickened scurry to his steps. A helicopter… Even within the context of the dream, this was incredible. And he was absolutely taking that 70%. 

-

Shin was drunk.

More importantly, he was drunk in the real world. Even more importantly, he was drunk in the real world on the night– evening for him–that Usott had all fallen asleep. And, for the sake of how this relates to Usott, most importantly, he was drunk and absolutely determined to call Kaito and fucking yell at him. 

And he must!! Know it too!!! Because no one in his administration team was picking up!!!

Shin glared at the phone as it cut itself off again, hitting its ring limit, hung up, picked it up, dialed the number again, and waited furiously. He swayed slightly in the chair next to the phone, having ordered Deere to bring it over to him when he realized, yes, this was apparently going to take time to WEAR THOSE ADMINISTRATORS DOWN since apparently they knew!! He was calling to yell at the prince!! And thought they could… could…

“Ghost me!” Shin declared, “That’s what this is called! I’ve decided! As King of Luminary, when someone doesn’t pick up because he’s a COWARD who pisses himself at the sight of ghosts, guess what! That’s GHOSTING!”

Selka smiled politely and clapped her hand a bit, “Excellent, sire. I’ll have someone draft up a declaration at once,” she lied.

She had been a bit… worried. When Shin had apparently decided to randomly drink in his room, for reasons that had likely made sense to him in the moment but ultimately seemed to boil down to ‘because who’s going to stop me’. Their king was going through a rebellious phase, it seemed, which was a very bizarre thing to be witness too since, well… who was he rebelling again? He was king??

Rebelling against Kaito, apparently, since now he was drunk and apparently determined to yell at him about something. It was very weird that no one was picking up, but Selka couldn’t help but be grateful. Good bit of luck there, as Shin slammed the phone down, picked it up, and tried again.

Deere couldn’t help but feel a bit worried. Not for Sou, at least not yet, despite knowing that drink didn’t agree with the king very well. But relatively speaking, he was holding it fine enough, and at least being distracted on his mission to call up his cousin--while sitting down--made it so he was at least somewhere they could keep an eye on him. Really, it would only be an issue if Sou got so worked up from being hung up on that he decided to go utilize that energy somewhere else, but at least Deere and Selka had eyes on him so it wasn’t like he could just disappear again. 

No, what was actually making unease crawl up his spine was that it wasn’t actually that the Usott administration was hanging up on Sou…which would be its own issue. But at least one Deere could understand as coming from people. Sure, it was on the late side, but, as he had conferred with the Diceans on their trip…someone had always picked up. Maybe not on the first ring, or maybe he had been put on hold for a bit, but Deere had always gotten some kind of response. And especially after talking to Miu that morning, the brags he had heard here and there about the promptness of Dicean communication had always been backed up…until now. 

And…it wasn’t like attacks or emergency states in the Dicean castle were unheard of. So that no one was answering… 

Deere blinked sleepily as Sou began angrily pressing the numbers for the castle again, and looked to Selka. “...Priestess, I wouldn’t want to trouble you, but would you mind being available for His Grace’s needs by yourself for a moment? There’s a matter I would like to check up on, it shouldn’t take long.”

That was odd. Deere tended to sigh a bit dramatically at stuff like this, but usually he was right alongside Selka in ‘King-duty’ matters. Which made it more likely that whatever he was going off to work on was very important, then. So she smiled warmly at him and nodded, “Of course! May Atua be pleased with your business!”

Basically a way of saying ‘I hope it goes smoothly’, as she looked back at her irate king, “Your grace, perhaps the lines are being fixed and we should wait until the morning… after some water and coffee–”

“GHOSTING! I’M BEING GHOSTED!”

“Thank you,” Deere murmured, bowing to Selka and Sou before heading out. Sou would, with any luck, stay on the hotel phoneline for a while, so…he needed to find another phone. 

Thankfully, as it turned out, the adjoining hotel bar had its own line, and they were happy to let Deere use it--likely not recognizing him as one of the Luminary regulars--and he settled down in his own way, bringing out a small pocket notebook. If Sou was blowing up the castle line, then it was moot to try that, so…

It took a little time, Deere’s patience not rushing a step, but eventually he returned to Sou and Selka, now looking…visibly unsettled. 

Sou glared at the phone, which had once again clicked off after too many ring attempts. His eyes reddening in frustration, having just been sitting there long enough that Selka had finally dared to come closer, squatting down next to him and resting on her knees as she lightly pat his shoulder. “Oh, Deere, you’ve returned.” Selka said, looking up at the butler, smiling weakly, “Something wrong?”

…there was a noticeable moment when Deere glanced to Sou. Maybe if Sou wasn’t drunk off his ass Deere would speak more freely, but as it was…

“I believe your theory about Usott’s phone lines being down may be accurate,” Deere nodded slowly, a certain hesitance in his voice making it clear that that theory was about as confident and comforting as saying a strange sound was ‘just the wind’. “So…I apologize for the frustration tonight, your grace, for all that I believe it is not intentional on Usott’s part. Perhaps we could suggest infrastructure with more failsafes when we make it to the city, to avoid this happening again.”

Shin ignored him. His vision swimming as he stared at the phone. Glaring and bitter.

“...he’s such a bastard.” Shin said, glaring at the little holes in the receiver. Squinting at it… before he ordered, “Someone bring me a screwdriver. And a hammer.” 

Selka smiled blankly, “Your grace, maybe you need a strong coffee–”

“Sure. Bring me one of those too.” Shin said dismissively, glaring at the box the phone line was connected too. “H-he’s a nosy, intrusive, busybodying moron. And I’m going to tell him so.”

Deere sighed, the edges of his frown tightening in worry for a moment. …they would pay for the phone repair, he supposed. “Yes, your grace. I’m sure your callout is precisely what your cousin needs to hear.”

Screwdriver, hammer, coffee… At least one of those he knew where to get it. And maybe it’d actually sober Sou up a bit. 

-

The king had grown quiet and focused, as he used the toolbag that Deere had brought him to pull the phone apart, his grip on the wires inside surprisingly steady even as he was clearly still very drunk. 

Selka had, after a time of watching this, gone to sit with Deere against the wall on the other side of the room, the two quietly watching the mad fury of their usually soft-spoken king, before she whispered to him, “I checked his room. He literally only had four beers. He really cannot hold his liquor.”

Then, glancing at Deere, she asked, “So, what made you look so grim?”

“Tolerance is a complex equation,” Deere softly hummed, idly tallying all that they’d need to report to the hotel staff later. So far, maybe not giving Sou as much credit as he should, it wasn’t actually all that much, so Deere was just counting his blessings. 

He wrung his hands against his stomach. “...no one in Usott is picking up,” he quietly murmured to Selka. Letting that sink in for a moment before glancing at her and explaining, “Every contact I have in that city? It’s not that they’re hanging up, or that I’m immediately getting the…down tone, whatever it is… It’s that it’s ringing so long without anyone picking up that it shuts off. Just like King Sou’s calls. I asked around, if there had been some storm or emergency in Usott that we just hadn’t gotten news about, but as far as anyone knows, nothing’s happened. And everything seemed fine this morning, according to Prince Kokichi…”

“It’s just…no one is picking up any telephone.”

“It has to be a storm,” Selka said, though she frowned as she said it, not entirely convinced of her own argument, “What else could it be? Even if it was a battle or civil war, odds are there are people, at worst, barricading themselves where phones are. Unless everyone is dead, someone would pick up on curiosity alone. Something has to have taken out the towers… but then why does it ring at all?”

Then, pausing, Selka asked the king across the room, “Your grace, would the phone lines still ring from this end if the other end couldn’t receive a signal?”

King Sou scoffed, shaking his head, “I don’t believe so. There’s actually a tone the phone is meant to play if the line can’t go through. I’ve never heard it, but I feel like I’d recognize it sounded different then it usually does… which is why they are ghosting me.” He growled, glaring at the phone, “Kaito’s a coward. Never stood for anything, against anything… the one time he wants to throw his weight around, it’s from the safety of another country. I was finally working things out and he just had to barrel himself into the situation…”

King Sou grumbled bitterly as he worked at the phone.

“...it doesn’t make any sense.” Selka whispered, “Even in battle, I’m certain someone would pick up. Or the lines would be busy calling for help. Communication helps, no one would willingly abandon their ability to do so. I think?” Selka said, looking earnestly at Deere. “We’re in the middle of their country. What do we do if the capital has gone to war?”

Deere nodded grimly. It could be some interference from weather preventing calls from going through…but the calls were going through. It was just that no one was picking up. And with Sou confirming that, who understood the technical side of it just fine, even drunk…

Deere watched his king for a moment before sighing. “...one of the best advantages you can have in a battle is reinforcements. If there was a battle or riots, I could only imagine calls would be made out everywhere Usott could reach, if not for help, then people trying to reach their loved ones. Even with veterans, it is still a city primarily made up of civilians.”

He frowned more. “...and even within a day, even if something’s only happened in the past few hours…I can’t imagine that no one would’ve heard anything about it. And…if the city is under siege, again, the calls wouldn’t be going through if the lines were cut. It’s… Somehow, something is preventing everyone in Usott from physically reaching their phones.”

“If Usott has gone to war…we can only hope it doesn’t reach out here,” Deere said softly, before giving Selka a worried look. “...would it be wise to enlist someone from outside the city to check on the situation?”

Selka glanced nervously at Deere, then over at King Sou… before she placed her palms on her knees, bowing her head a bit as she whispered, “Atua, who loves me, give me the bravery of Saint Madison, and the wisdom of Saint Kedee, to keep me and mine safe through difficult times…” before lifting her head, taking a small breath, “King Sou, your grace?”

Shin looked up, raising an irritated eyebrow, “Hm?”

“As your priestess, I’m going to task Deere to recruit assistance in checking on the state of the capital. To ensure we still have safe passage.”

Shin looked contemplative at that… before nodding, returning to the phone, “If you think it’s best.”

That was basically approval, which meant they had the blessing of the king, as Selka gave a small breath before looking to Deere, “Yes, that seems wise.” 

Deere closed his eyes, listening to the prayer. If war broke out in Dicea…he truly hoped for the Saints’ guidance. They had diplomatic protection, as foreign dignitaries invited to Dicea, but…well, Deere knew that rules sometimes were disregarded in times of war. They weren’t supposed to be, but that’s just how it was. Fighting for ones’ life and country tended to place a larger importance on victory than honor. 

He would keep Sou safe to his greatest ability, of course…but for all that there were things Deere missed about home, he…really wasn’t excited about getting in the middle of another war. 

“Thank you,” Deere murmured to Selka, before heading off again. While they hadn’t been planning on stopping in the city, he still did have contact information for the Corbran administration… It was a few hours travel to Usott, still, but it was the closest city he knew. Hopefully… Hopefully. He prayed for hope. 

-

Look, Josie kneeeew it was rude to mess around on other people’s phones. But, for one, Kaito was a little preoccupied at the moment, and…well, he needed all the help with Gym Leader Fortuna he could get, in Josie’s observant opinion. So when the Clown Leader sent a text, asking if he could set up a group call with Gym Leader Shuuichi…it wasn’t like Kaito was climbing out of the quicksand pit with his mouth! And Josie was sure that saying ‘I’m always ready to hear from you ;)’ wasn’t crossing a line. 

So as the phone began to ring, Josie accepted the call and held it towards Kaito, simply saying, “It’s your boyfriends.”

“Kaito, Shuuichi? Sorry if this is a little out of the blue…”

Kaito was currently chest high–lower chest, at least– in the quicksand, still steadily shuffling towards the edge with a determined, patient look… before he balked. Whipping his head at Josie, then the phone, before balking, “Boyfriends!? What boyfriends!? Gah!” 

His chest sunk a little faster, and Kaito took some steadying breaths, forcing himself to be still. Don’t move too quickly! Don’t sink! It would suck sooooo much if he sank!

“Is Kaito on the line? Kokichi, I wasn’t aware you knew Kaito. Wait…” Shuichi’s sigh cackled on the speaker, “Kaito, you’re not in some sort of trouble, are you? Why is the gym clown leader calling you with me on the line? You haven’t put yourself in the middle of a case have you?”

“N-no! Just been chilling in the desert! Not–ah,” Kaito winced, sinking a little faster. Don’t move! You can yell and not move at the same time, “Not in any trouble! W-what’s up?!”

Josie gave Kaito an amused look, pointedly looking at where his torso was sinking into the quicksand. It wasn’t trouble when the last guy had called, and it wasn’t trouble now, huh. Though…it did seem a little weird to Josie that so many gym leaders were getting into contact today. He wondered what was up. 

“It’s not the middle of a case, per se…” Kokichi said, his voice stretching the words out enough to indicate that maybe that wasn’t the full truth. “But… Okay, I know that I’m gonna sound a little insane, alright? But I think we’re all in some psychic fuckery right now. As in…we’re all in a dream, and this whole reality has been constructed. I’ve spoken to another psychic who knows what’s going on, and they can’t unravel what exactly’s happening either, but something really big and really dangerous is happening and…I’m asking you to trust me on this.”

“I’m on my way to see Mesprit to see if she can sense any of what’s going on, but…” There was an audible sigh. “I guess I should ask, have either of you guys noticed weird things? Memories that don’t line up, maybe?”

“...oh?” Shuichi said, his voice rising a little at the end, like he was trying to hide his skepticism out of politeness, “That’s a fairly… all encompassing theory. All of reality? Huh… is anyone there with you, Kokichi?”

Kaito looked as baffled and worried as Shuichi sounded, though if one wasn’t aware of the phone situation he might have looked that worried due to the fact that he now had to lift his shoulders up to not let his arms sink into the quicksand, “W-well, okay, hold on, let’s hear him out, Shuichi!”

“Kaito, if Kokichi is experiencing an episode, he’ll need assistance–”

“No, no, wait, seriously!” Kaito called out to the phone, giving a worried look as a bit of the sand next to him blurped an air bubble. “I just had a weird phone call from Souda, the Steel Gym leader! He was trying to tell me I have kids!?”

“You?” Shuichi asked, “Did you finally get over your fear of–”

“ALSO THERE IS A TEN YEAR OLD WITH ME, HIS NAME IS JOSIE, SAY HI JOSIE!”

“Hi, Josie~” Josie said smarmily, smirking a little as he gave Kaito an amused look. “And as funny as it is to watch Kaito have no game, I really would prefer not to have any actual details about his sex life, thanks.”

“O-oh! Sorry, Josie, uh… Guess you’re on speaker, huh?” Kokichi awkwardly chuckled, before his voice softened. “Well…I’m sorry for telling you out of the blue too. And I know how it sounds, Shuu-chan, but I’m not having an episode. I…”

He sighed. “We’ve talked about my Empathy before, right? Whatever’s going on, I can’t pierce it myself, but…I can find remnants in myself. My psychic friend… You do have kids in reality, Kaito. We all do. I can’t remember her, but if I grasp onto the feelings… I know Miyako. I know that those feelings and the memories they’re attached to aren’t hallucinations. And if it’s that we’re all stuck in a constructed dream…that’s terribly powerful psychic abilities. And that’s not something I can stop on my own.”

“Your empath abilities?” Shuichi said, sounding a little less less skeptical now and a little more inquisitive. Kaito could practically feel Shuichi pulling out his hat, lowering it over his head as he considered the implications of that, “Are we caught in a psychic construct then? I’ve had cases before like that. Children caught in labyrinths made by frightened or lonely pokemon… something like that?”

“Wait, wait, we all have kids? Like… with who??” Kaito called, wincing as he sunk a little lower. He was close to the edge, but he really hoped all the yelling didn’t mean his head was going to be under the sand by the time he found his footholds. Just in case though, “Josie, if you see me go under, don’t panic, okay? I’m still going to be fine! Just messy!”

“...I’m sorry, under what, Kaito?” Shuichi called, his tone suddenly accusatory.

“Nothing! If we have kids, where are they? Are they–two.” Kaito suddenly whispered. His mind answering his own question, as he stared at nothing, “I have two.”

“I think so…though I don’t know if this one is made by a pokemon,” Kokichi said softly. “The images… The intent that I got was that…everything, all this, is meant to be a paradise, though it’s given up all the things we cherish in our real lives. I mean, I love my circus and everyone who’s joined, of course! But…the feelings I could pull up from my family…that’s not something I would ever willingly trade.”

On the other end of the line, Kokichi winced a little, and got ready to tell a more shocking and…perhaps less credible thing, when Kaito interrupted in, uh, multiple ways. 

“...uhhh…” Josie said unsurely, seeing Kaito’s gaze unfocus. “Kaito? Look, even if it’s really happening, maybe you could save the existential crisis until you’re out of there?”

“Josie, what’s going on? Are you guys alright?”

“...” Josie eyed the height Kaito still had. “...Kaito’s been showing me some desert survival tips. He’s…okay for now?”

Kaito had no idea who his children were. He had no memory of them. But asking the right question had led Kaito to the right answer. Something in him that knew the facts of Kaito’s life, even without access to his memories. 

The part of him buried in the dream.

He had two kids. If he was going to have kids at all? If children were a real possibility. Then he knew. He had two.

“...y-yep! Still fine!” Kaito called, “Hey, can we get Maki-roll on the phone?”

“Maki? Why?”

“Call it a gut instinct! If it’s about our kids? Maki’s involved!”

“Our kids?” Shuichi asked, sounding skeptical… before he said, “Oh. Right. That’s right…I haven’t had memory issues, but I keep fighting this feeling like I’m supposed to be…” Shuichi hesitated, sounding a little embarrassed, “...messing with my chest for something? It’s like an itch… sorry, Josie. Josie, why are you on this call?”

“My hands are a little tied up!” Kaito called, reaching out to scramble for the dry edge of the sand, finally close enough to reach it, as his tilted his head up to keep his chin out of the sand, “Give me a minute, handsome, I’ll be out of this quicksand in a jiff and then I can take the phone from him!”

“QUICKSAND??”

Shuuichi’s voice was joined by Kokichi’s, followed by a, “Why would you get in… Oh Kai-chan…” before he sighed. “Yeah, I’ll add Maki in. Even in the vaguest sense, if there’s kids in trouble, I think Maki would at least hear me out…”

“And uh…yeah, our kids,” Kokichi said a little sheepishly, Josie glancing from the phone to Kaito skeptically. “Outside this dream, the three of us are married. My friend said it was somewhere between sad and embarrassing that even completely disconnected, I somehow developed crushes on my husbands again.”

“This is…wild,” Josie mumbled, not really thinking about any of what he’d heard too hard (because if the very basis of reality was just a dream he didn’t know what to do with that, and things didn’t exactly seem like a paradise to him) before he said to Kaito, “Are you sure you don’t want a hand or anything…?”

“Um…” Kaito wanted to say he was fine–especially with his husbands (HUSBANDS??) on the line to hear– but he had sank way more than he had expected to by this point and he was struggling to find the footholds he’d need right away. He would soon, but maybe there was more urgent things going on, “My pokemon are on the belt on the ground beside you. Just pick one at random, any of them can pull me out.”

Well, Lumineon would struggle, but he could use some water attacks to lift Kaito up. But Pawmot was who came out either way, Pawmot squeaking in alarm as he saw the state Kaito was in, hurrying over and grabbing Kaito’s hand, scrambling to try to pull him free. 

There was a ringing from the phone, one, two, “What.”

“Hello, Maki, we have Kokichi from the Clown Gym on the line–”

“I know. I saw the caller ID. Why are you here, Shuichi?”

“I’m here too, Maki-roll!!” Kaito called, “And a kid named Josie! We have a kid together! Those two things are not related!”

“...I feel like there’s a lot of very obvious rebuttals to this. Are you drunk? Or somehow dumber? And infecting other gym leaders.”

“HA HA WE HAVE JOKES! NOT! NICE! MAKI!” Kaito growled, wiggling his hips as he tried to worm his way out of the sand.

Even with Pawmot on the case, Josie turned Kaito’s phone’s volume up and put it in his pocket before grabbing his other arm, helping to pull the man out. Flareon even joined in, biting onto the back of Josie’s shirt, though admittedly it was more making sure Josie wouldn’t get pulled into the quicksand than trying to help pull Kaito out. 

“I know it seems insane, but I have significant reason to believe we’re all caught in a psychic construct, Maki,” Kokichi explained. “And I mean…everyone. I can still reach out and feel everyone, but I didn’t notice until I found out… It all just feels…together. Like…imagine that feeling out for people usually feels like…a ball pit. There’s a lot going on, but all the balls are their own distinct, separate entities, right? But right now it feels more like a pool--I can define sections, I guess, but everything’s muddled together without any clear delineation. And I can’t reach out of it either.”

“Oh.”

Kaito gasped, fiiiiinally out of the quicksand as his feet found some footholds in the harder sands, pushing himself up with Josie and Pawmot’s pull, Kaito collapsing onto the ground, spreading his muddy body out as he panted on his back. “Ugh… a-and that’s how you do it! Most of it, anyway. That earlier patient shuffling thing I was showing you should have been the whole thing, but, uh… yeah, that’s why you don’t want to yell at lot when you’re in quicksand. Very practical demonstration!”

“Is that all you have to say, Maki?” Shuichi asked, sounding mildly amused.

“I dunno, maybe. My girlfriends been saying something’s wrong with reality for a while now, but she gets weird vibes and premonitions all the time. I figured maybe a sense of unreality was just a side effect of that. Also, Kaito, don’t tell me you’re still throwing yourself into quicksands.”

“It’s the best way to learn!”

“Why did Kokichi go to you guys about this? I can understand Shuichi, but why is Kaito here?”

“Hey, I’m useful! I’m a practical person to go to in an emergency!”

“Kaito somehow tricked us both into marrying him in the real world.”

“Ah, that explains it.”

“We don’t know it was tricks! I probably woo’d you! I’m very wooable! Wooabling? Woo… give me back my phone.” Kaito grumbled, weakly wiggling his hand in Josie’s general direction.

“Well done, a picture perfect demonstration,” Josie said, clapping politely as Flareon huffed, plopping down on the warm sand to bask in the sun. 

“Hmm… She might be able to sense it too, then. I don’t think it could hurt to ask if there’s anything more than just a sense of ‘wrong’ she’s getting. Even understanding we’re in a construct, that’s not really bringing me any closer to understanding what that really, functionally means, or how to break us out of it.”

Kokichi laughed sheepishly. “I’ll admit, knowing I’m married to you two did make you first on my list, but I was thinking about calling the other gym leaders, and maybe my father too once I meet with Mesprit. Even if it’s not what we think it is…the reality we’re in right now makes us all the guardians, of sorts, of our respective areas. If there’s some sort of psychic threat going around, gym leaders need to know so we can help people. I…kind of get the idea people’s memories might be treated differently, person to person.”

A flicker of a frown went over Josie’s face, hearing that, but he just rolled his eyes and handed Kaito his phone back, but not before calling, “Alright, I’m getting off--all too personal information is back on the table, gym leaders~”

“Bye, Josie.” 

“Hey, don’t wander too far, okay?” Kaito frowned, placing the receiver against his chest so he couldn’t be heard on the phone as he said, “Kokichi said this was some sort of ‘paradise’. But that doesn’t seem right to me, when it comes to you. If things are weird, and they’re even weirder for you? We gotta figure that out so it doesn’t hurt you… assuming…”

Kaito grinned sheepishly, lowering his voice, “Assuming this isn’t all bullshit. Too many mind messing with pokemon out there to assume everything in reality is real, and our memories are just having some issues. Just gotta keep our options open, alright? Just… that was all a lot, right now. I want to talk to you as soon as I’m done with them, okay?”

Josie grinned, bright and carefree, waving Kaito off as he turned to join Flareon’s basking session. “Gotcha, gotcha, it’s some weird stuff, I get it. Go do your gym leader thing, okay? I’m not gonna just disappear into a mirage.”

…though it was tempting. 

If reality wasn’t what they thought it was? If everything was some dream? Then…Josie was pretty sure he was having a nightmare…or, at least he had been. But if everything was fake?

…he wasn’t sure. But of course Mick came to mind, and… Josie didn’t know. Something felt almost like a…last chance. And…if it was fake, then his brother couldn’t actually hurt him, right?

As he sat by Flareon, Josie’s eyes were calculating. 

Kaito was good at reading people. He had worried Josie would wander away for a reason. He would, forever, in any world, try to insist to people that he wasn’t stupid… but he was a man who seemed to be doomed to recognize problems, and solutions, that were almost right, but were never quite enough. Constantly on the edge of disasters, where every moment of struggle always made him sink just a little deeper. His universal constant.

All that to say, Kaito knew Josie had some mischief on the mind and he should probably talk to the kid. But, well, it was a big desert, Kaito knew the area better, and he really super duper needed to take this call. It’d be fine, even if the kid ran off, Kaito would catch up. 

So giving Josie a squinting ‘I’m watching you gaze’, Kaito idly patted Pawmot’s back as he as the pokemon looked over him, gesturing to Pawmot a request for the pokemon to grab the towel he brought and bring it to him as Kaito said into the phone, “Sorry, back, what did I miss?”

“Shuichi was explaining to me what type of pokemon a Mesprit is. Turns out Shuichi and Kokichi have a bit of history together. You have competition in every direction, Kaito.”

“I married both of them! That’s like the opposite of competition! …though it does feel a little weird to think of you as my husbands,” Kaito admitted, rubbing the back of his neck, “I know we are–though I don’t really know how I know. But also, Shuichi’s turned me down a dozen times and I don’t really know you yet, Kokichi. It almost feels a little ‘mine-y’ to call you my husbands right now, so… I dunno. Can we put that on the backburner for now until we figure out the situation?”

“That’s right: what’s the danger?” Maki asked.

“The biggest one is if we are in a psychic construct, that means our bodies are vulnerable end exposed somewhere.” Shuichi said, “Maybe doubly so if Kokichi is correct and our child is an infant. Infants need constant care for a reason, we have a time limit for how long we can sleep before it becomes disastrous.”

“So we need a way to burst the dream open.Got it.” Kaito could practically hear Maki’s pout, “But all of our potential solutions are within the dream itself. Which makes them inherently untrustworthy. Is there any way to get access to someone outside of the construct?”

“My friend is outside of it--it’s how they were able to let me know what’s happening,” Kokichi explained, “But they’re psychically limited to what I explained before too. And unfortunately, any outside help they could get physically is well outside any reasonable time limit. They did let me know, though, that while everyone in here is contributing to…the dream logic, I guess it’d be, there are some people that are disproportionately contributing to it. Us being gym leaders, for instance, but more majorly…”

Kokichi sighed, knowing how wrong this felt. “...the existence of pokemon at all. That entire concept has only come from a handful of people, apparently. I think finding them might be a lead, since if we understand the structure of the dream, we could understand how to tear it apart.”

“...the problem is, I don’t know who they might be, and my friend doesn’t either.”

“Okay, well, Souda might have some answers, hold on, let me call him…” Kaito pushed some buttons… before sighing, “His line went directly to voicemail. He’s actually on his way here to the desert to talk to me. He said… oh! He said he had some kids with him. Maybe its our kids? Either way, he might have more clues for us.”

“Kokichi, I know you’re going to see Mesprit. I could try to meet you there, help you investigate?” Shuichi offered.

“Hopefully,” Kokichi sighed, before his voice perked up. “That’d be great, actually! I know Mesprit would love to see you either way, too. Hopefully between us all, we might be able to get an idea of some psychic boundaries… And I’ll call the other leaders while I’m traveling, too. Maki, you’ll talk to Elia?”

“I’ll talk to Elia, certainly. She already knows I’m bonkers, she’ll probably be pleased I’m just losing it in a way closer to her.” Maki said, sounding amused, “Time to go question our reality, I guess.”

“I could try calling a few of the gym leaders too.” Kaito offered, “Divvy it up? I know a lot of them from setting up pokemon centers. And, well, there’s always my brother.” Kaito said, rolling his eyes even as he offered, “Actually, maybe it’d be better to leave my brother to you, Kokichi. I swear, the guy’s always going to see me as some little kid he has to take care of, he’ll probably decide I have heatstroke or something.”

“You’re giving him too much credit, Kaito. That’s assuming he’ll think at all.” Shuichi said stiffly, “That man put on glasses and a lab coat and decided that was proof enough he should be a scientist.”

“Let’s be honest, Kirumi would be more useful to talk to then that impulsive idiot.” Maki sighed, “What a waste of a psychic gym.”

“Guys,” Kaito sighed. For some reason, Shuichi and Maki really hated his brother. He honestly had no idea why. Something about just finding him irritating when they battled him. 

“That’d be helpful, thanks! Especially once Souda-kun is with you too. You’ve actually met some of the folks from the Water Gym, right? And…I think I might take a bit trying to convince my dad to put up a state of emergency…if that’s even something we should strive for.”

After all, freaking out everyone in the region about reality breaking down would probably cause more issues than get more minds thinking about how to help everyone. 

“I can try for whoever I can reach from the Psychic Gym, though, yeah,” Kokichi agreed. “If nothing else, their familiarity with psychic pokemon might give them some insight we might be missing. Should we all try to meet up later? Or just check in once we’ve done what we can?”

“I’ll make a group chat and we can figure it out as we go.” Kaito offered, “One for us and one for everyone we can recruit.” Getting the Board to call a state of emergency was a pretty alarming step… but, well, Kokichi was right. If there was going to be a panic, there needed to be aid. And it wasn’t that outlandish that if they knew, so did others.

Hell, maybe the knowledge was some sort of ripple effect. Kaito had never guessed he had kids until someone made him question his reality. Now it felt certain. Maybe the force of the illusion became weaker the more you poked at it.

“Alright, it sounds like a plan. Everyone be safe, okay? Oh, and if anyone finds out more about the kids? Let me know. It’s uh…” Kaito grinned a little sheepishly, wiping off his feet with the towel, “It’s starting to make me a little anxious? Like if anyone hears anything, let me know. I have a feeling I’m going to struggle to sleep well until that’s resolved.”

“I feel oddly confident that situation is okay.” Shuichi said, his voice light. “I don’t know why. I just feel like she’ll be okay.”

“Well, glad one of us feels good about it! Just let me know, okay?” Kaito said, “Bye! Be safe! Bye!”

“That sounds good, and, yeah, of course. I can’t pin-point her at all, but…nothing feels distressed, at least, so I think Mi-Mi is alright…” Maybe it was the same sort of feeling Shuuichi was getting, but as much as Kokichi wanted to keep his daughter nearby and keep her safe…something felt like those things were already true. “I’ll be in touch soon, and I’ll see you soon, Shuu-chan. Bye, guys.”

Kaito turned off the phone, groaning into his hands for a moment… before he looked around. “?”

Josie looked over from where he was chilling out with Flareon, a smile so quick back on his face it’d be hard to say it wasn’t always there. “You guys have a plan?”

Kaito grinned, relieved. “More or less. But, let’s get you back. And me back, I am soooo tired. Getting out of quicksand is a fullbody thing. Ugh…” Kaito stood up, stretching and sighing as he felt his muscles ache wearily. “Oh man… alright. Pawmot, mind walking with us, buddy? I don’t feel good about my reaction time right now.”

Pawmot stood up straight and thumped his paw onto his chest. He was on it!

“Okay… you ready to walk back, kid? I still want to talk to you about this.”

“What do you think, Flareon? Ready to go back?”

Flareon squeaked out a huffy yawn, rolling around in the sand, but it hopped up on its paws and shook out its fur before nodding, starting to walk back to the Grand Pan gym. 

Josie chuckled. “Looks like it. Off we go~”

Kaito smiled down at him, but was notably moving slower as they headed back into the wasteland. “Alright…let me be honest? I probably don’t know much more than you do, about everything you just heard. But, I promise you, if we’re all in some sort of danger? I’ll look out for you, okay? You don’t have to be afraid, we’re collecting gym leaders and experts and a bunch of really capable people are working on this right now. We’re taking care of it.”

“...do you love your life?” Kaito asked. “I know you’ve had issues. We all have. But do you like it now?”

Recent brother attack and all?

“It sounds like it,” Josie shrugged a little, “And it’s not like there haven’t been crazy stuff, like, threatening the world before. Or…in the history we’ve been given, anyway. But it’s always been solved so…if leaders ‘n stuff are banding together, it’ll get all solved out, I’m sure.”

Of all the things to talk about after hearing your reality might be fake, though, Josie wasn’t exactly expecting the question Kaito landed on and he blinked up at the man in surprise. Scratching the back of his head lightly as he looked into the horizon to think. 

“I mean…it’s the only one I know. And I dunno if I really have it in me to be all ‘ugh, I hate life’ even when things are hard ‘n stuff,” Josie said, shrugging after a moment. “I’ve been having fun, traveling around Dimina with Flareon, and hanging out in Grand Pan’s been cool.”

…

Josie rubbed his arm self-consciously, his voice softening. “...if you’re married and have kids ‘n stuff, actually… Then do you think that maybe my family, might…” Josie didn’t even know what he meant, really. Not enough to put into words, since ‘be better’ didn’t quite…seem right.

Kaito wasn’t sure what Josie was going to say. But he suspected he knew what Josie meant anyway. It was one of the reasons he was worried this might affect Josie enough for Josie to run off.

If you were happy with your life, then being told it was potentially all fake made you want to stay still. To protect.

If you had something you hated though… and were just told there were no consequences…

But Kaito didn’t know if that was true. Something in his stomach turned away from that idea, even if his mind was insisting that he needed to look out for the kid in a world without consequence. Kaito… (had been put into a dream without consequence before, specifically to allow himself to hurt someone he hated. And it hadn’t felt good. It had just scared him. All he had wanted was a chance to understand. To be understood.)

“This is all pretty confusing,” Kaito said as a way of answering, ”And I don’t feel like I have any good answers, since I don’t really understand why we’re all in this… pool, is what Kokichi called it. Mental pool together. But Kokichi said to get a fantasy, we had to sacrifice things we cherished. So yeah, you might have things you really cherish, out there, that this place couldn’t allow for.”

“...here’s my guess,” Kaito said, “My guess? If this really is some sort of dream, then it’s one that does, like… specific wish fulfillment. Like maybe I don’t have a family and kids in here specifically because I already had it, so I wasn’t wishing for it. You know what I do have in my life here? That I cherish?” Kaito said, reaching to scratch Pawmat’s ears as he walked, “Besides my pokemon, I mean, but even they’re some aspects of this anyway… I have people's trust. I feel good about myself, accomplished. I’ve spent my entire adult life, and a lot of my teenage years, building a system meant to help people. You know what I feel every time someone tells me it helped them? Euphoric. I made a difference, I made a change, I am a good person…” Kaito laughed, “Who also gets to be super successful, too, I guess. I really like watching something I built grow. But hearing I have kids, and really believing it? Already makes all of this feel… small. Less important. My guess is that I don’t have this stuff in the real world, because the kids and family stuff were more important to me. And maybe it’s hard to have both… or I don’t know, like I said, maybe the family stuff was already there, so I didn’t feel a longing for it. So this place didn’t give me that.”

“Most of the shitty stuff in my life is in the past. Which makes me think it might be ‘backstory’, if that makes any sense.” Kaito said, “My life now is great. That’s why I ask. Because you had something shitty happen to you, like, a few days ago. It happened currently. That’s why I’m worried what this all means for you.”

Wish fulfillment? Josie…didn’t really know about that. He wasn’t so self-unaware that he’d say he didn’t have any wishes, but…comparatively, things were good. He was out on his own, seeing the splendor of the world, a trusted friend by his side…what more could he want? And even in a different sort of reality, he didn’t really see how that was unachievable. 

…there wasn’t really anything that felt…euphoric, though. Josie was just…happy. 

Sighing, Josie shrugged a little. “I mean, it wasn’t that shitty, and it’s not like bad stuff has never happened. Like…that guy at the circus the other day looked like he got kinda freaked out while you were talking to Kokichi, so it’s not like things are great all the time for everyone.”

Kaito smirked, looking down at Josie, little lines already imprinting beneath his eyes. He was tired. Maybe he was giving too much credit to ‘the reality gets thinner the more you poke at it’ theory, but he wondered if that was just something true for him. He was tired… or maybe he had just pulled himself out of quicksand, who could guess. “You’re good at diverting questions, you know that? Why is it every time I talk to you about you, suddenly it’s about somebody else?”

Josie smirked back, putting a hand to his chest. “I’m just a compassionate soul, what can I say? A bleeding heart, looking out for everyone around me. Must be the b…” Josie blinked, his smile fading and quickly replaced with a baffled expression. 

…he was in no way a big brother. Josie didn’t even really know anyone younger than him at all. So…why?

“...huh.”

Kaito raised an eyebrow, “Must be the…? I’d offer guess’s for fun, but knowing you you’d take one of my suggestions and run with it.”

Josie frowned worriedly. “...maybe in real life I have friends? But I don’t… I wouldn’t want to trade that, and especially for…this.”

“Well, that would explain the specific wish fulfillment, right?” Kaito said, reasoning it out for himself, “It’s not a trade. If I’m the sort of person who’d ‘trade’ my children for a business, then someone needs to cut my balls off of me, because I don’t deserve them. But I don’t think I did anyway. I had children. So the dream didn't need to give me any. It needed to bury me in something I longed for and didn’t have… is my prevailing theory.”

Josie sighed. “...still, I don’t know if any of this is something I’d long for, no offense. As nice as it is, I’m not really built for a desert, and if I really wanted to travel, I just…could, right? It’d be weird if I couldn’t.”

“...well, whatever,” he shrugged, tousling Flareon’s fur before stretching his arms up. “No point in theorizing how this all might work out for specific people. If things are fake, you guys will figure out how to fix it, and if not, then life as usual.”

“No,” Kaito frowned, stopping his walk, shifting to look down at Josie, “We’re not talking about specific people’. We’re talking about you. And if a prison that’s meant to trap us in a honeytrap is giving everyone what they want, except you? Then…” Kaito sighed, “I’m just arguing that we keep an eye on that. It means anything bad that happens to you isn’t by ‘chance’, it has meaning. So… don’t just accept it, okay? And reach out for help when it happens. It might be targeted, and I don’t want to leave you to your fate.”

“Is it?” Josie hummed softly. He didn’t mean that flippantly, but more of a true consideration. If he was an exception to paradise, then what did that really mean? Maybe that the people given paradise were more limited than initially thought. Or that he was left out of the scope which meant…

A rocket of fear went down Josie’s spine. 

…if he wasn’t given a honeypot then…did that mean that whatever did this wasn’t worried about him breaking out? Because…he couldn’t? Because he wasn’t… But…why, then? His family was so well-known in this world, but not Josie himself? If it was just…lore, or something, why make him at all, if he wasn’t real? So then…

(He wasn’t the only one having a tough time, though.)

“Well…okay,” Josie said, a little unsure. “It wasn’t like I was going much of anywhere anyway.”

Kaito sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, “Sorry, I don’t mean to be alarmist. I’m not trying to freak you out, I just want to stress the importance of not suffering in silence, basically. It matters if something targets you. I want to protect ya if there is!” Kaito grinned, reaching over to lightly pat Josie on the shoulder, “So just keep an eye on it, okay?”

“Yes, Mr. Gym Leader, sir!” Josie light-heartedly saluted with two fingers, winking at Kaito. 

…hopefully he wouldn’t freak Kaito out too much later. There seemed to be enough on his plate coming up that Josie’s window was looking wide.