TO CREATE A CLEANSED WORLD

Oleana felt heat rise to her face as the inevitable rush of anger swept through her. Stepping stools—! What nonsense. If not for Rose, she would be…

“I assure you,” she replied primly, “no part of it was a waste of my time. Mr. Rose has been nothing but kind to me. I owe him a debt of gratitude.”

This man—this infuriating simpleton—was hardly worth getting riled up over. He was hardly worth her time at all. However, truthfully, she had plenty of questions for him—a shameful amount of questions.

(Why is it you loathe him so much? What happened to you? When did you last see him? Do have any idea where he is now? Don’t you care the slightest bit?)

(What is your name?)

But it was not her place to ask such things. Rose had never pried into her own family matters, after all, a fact for which she was grateful.

“… No. That will be all.”

oh, lordy lord, and there was the grateful train, chugging all the way on up to station. everything in his power had to be summoned not to roll his eyes, for what was there ever to be grateful to rose for? being yanked around to fuel his ego? far as he may have tried to run, peony hadn’t, unfortunately, escaped the slew of pompous shit that had flowed ever-free from darling big brother, and now, staring in reflection at oleana, he figured a lot of his smarty-pants stuff was because of her.

peony stepped back, freed from the courtesy of sticking around at her dismissal.

‘ sounds good t’me, ‘ he grunted, already beginning to saunter back off to base camp. until, thinking for a beat, he paused, glancing back at her.

‘ ... if you see a girl with pink ‘n blonde hair, could you tell her that papa’s been lookin’ for her? doubt you’ll run into her if i’m not havin’ any luck, but... ‘ peony shrugged, turning partly, only to freeze, and look back to oleana once more with a newfound, sharp edge to his eyes. ‘ and don’t talk to her ‘bout rose if you do see her. last thing my angel needs is that. ‘

rose: (begins to inhale to speak to bede) peony:

alternatively:

peony, showing up to get a front row seat and popcorn:

Oleana nodded in agreement. Though she did not think herself the sort to believe so easily in myth, recent events had also proven this much to her. The Darkest Day, Galar’s fabled Crowned Sword and Shield—all, she knew, were very real. Adding the possibility of a Pokémon king to the list was hardly a stretch.

“You could say that, yes. Prior to taking on my current career, I worked as a researcher—specializing in the Dynamax phenomenon. While that is no longer my focus, professionally speaking, I do prefer to keep apprised of any major developments in that realm.”

There, she paused, her stony expression giving away nothing as she considered him.

“You seem surprised.”

a researcher? huh. guess it seemed in-line that rose wouldn’t just hire anyone off the street, and granted the path he chose, someone with credentials was expected. he knew her name, her secretarial role with rose--but, not much else, as was coming to light. at least ignorance seemed to be a mutual thing.

‘ i didn’t realize someone that smart would waste their time on a guy like him, when you could do better solo, ‘ plainly he replied, matched with a heavy shrug. ‘ but... i’m also not that surprised. ‘ his left foot began to aggressively tap, hands shoving deep into the pockets of his weighty coat. ‘ can’t just have any average stepping stools lined up to get to the top of the food chain. ‘

silence, long and heavy, and finally did peony squint at her, head cocking.

His daughter; Rose’s niece. The thought came with a stab of shame. Hadn’t she already decided not to insert herself into Rose’s family matters? There must have been a reason he’d kept them hidden, even from her.

I’m not really an adventurer, admitted his brother. Oleana sighed again as if to say, Figures. His next words, however, gave her pause.

“Its own Dynamax energy…?”

Was such a thing possible? Certainly not, said the part of her that was still resentful– but it would perhaps explain the anomalous reading.

The thought of a Pokémon king was quite ridiculous, but in the moment, Oleana seemed to have temporarily forgotten her distaste for Peony and spoke with a hint of genuine excitement. “Are you of the belief that many of our myths contain a bit of scientific truth?”

honest to god in heaven, peony hadn’t a single idea as to what oleana’s fixation was about dynamax energy. perhaps it was due in part to his brother’s obsession with implementing galar’s unique energy resource as a tourist trap, but, he had a feeling that this was not the reason as to why oleana was stomping about a tundra in platform heels. though why exactly this was his gut feeling, he was uncertain--didn’t she do everything for that man?

‘ yeah, well-- ‘

an attempt to gruffly push through to dismissing her was effectively shot down in a single, fell swoop by oleana, but in no way she was surely aware of. was she... excited? the stoic mask chipped away, and in the gaps, peony felt himself having to refrain from gawking at her genuine giddiness, subtle as it was, paired with her question that was shockingly not a subtle jab in his direction. was this the same woman, or had a doppelganger stepped into her place when he blinked?

‘ uh, i mean, i guess? ‘ rubbing the back of his head, feeling the smooth leather of his gloved fingertips against the freshly shaved skin, peony glanced downward in thought. ‘ most everythin’ has a nugget of truth to it. stuff doesn’t just come out of the sky--people have a reason for putting together these stories, and believing so strongly in them... ‘

glancing back up, peony squinted.

               he had been about to preen at the COMPLIMENT —— yes, of course his generation was exceptional.      ( bede being the MOST exceptional among the lot of them, obviously. ) yet the comment to follow brought the gym leader pause. no doubt it was clear on his face —— bede’s eyes widened ever so slightly, lips parting in wordless shock. he quickly shook his head a moment later, features settling in an expression of mild AMUSEMENT.      ( ah yes. how quick he was to forget. )

               ❝ arceus, you really weren’t lying when you said you were behind on CURRENT EVENTS. here i had assumed there wasn’t a single soul in the entire galar region who didn’t know. ❞ it almost felt a bit surreal, if he was being honest.      ( like speaking to someone from a completely different point in HISTORY. ) ❝ to say last season was quite BOUNTIFUL in the talent department would be an understatement. obviously, as i was competing. ❞ obviously. ❝ yet even leon himself saw fit to endorse a pair of trainers. one of them was his own brother, of course. ❞ for a moment, the fairy trainer looked a bit CONFLICTED.      ( perhaps even envious? ) ❝ as for the other… well, suffice to say, the so-called UNBEATABLE champion is unbeatable no longer. quite the opposite, in fact —— he isn’t even the champion anymore. ❞

               bede waited a few moments for his words to sink in, before shrugging.      ( the gesture so nonchalant it was almost jarring. ) ❝ … as i said before, it’s been an UNUSUAL year. ❞

‘ ... what? ‘

dumbfounded didn’t begin to even describe the exact feelings flashing through. shock, amazement, confusion, and an overall ultra-mega sense of what did i miss? gaping like a basculin right out of water, it took a beat for himself to recollect himself (if only realizing he was being stared at, and rightfully so), peony quickly cleared his throat and straightened up proper from his slack-jawed slouch, arms folding.

‘ huh--wow. guess, uh... things got real spicy after i left. good to hear things are keepin’ fresh, but, man. rose must be havin’ an utter fit. ‘

words slip out without a moment to truly consider them, and it took everything within peony’s power not to utterly wince at the mention of his brother’s name. all these years, and you still can’t shake that bitter taste, huh? mentally smacking himself back into focus, lest he start looking like a slack-jawed idiot for a second time in under five minutes, peony scratched at his jaw ponderously, cocking his head as he surveyed the super-pink replacement of opal.