#* volo

For the first time, she was the one to make him become speechless during their entire time spent after she had taken responsibility for overseeing the remainder of his time in Hisui. And it was out of nowhere, by a campfire no less. After she says that, the only sounds heard were the crackling of the fire and the ambience of wild Pokemon out at night. He had thought she was talking to her own Pokemon, but his eyes meet with hers and it was evident she referred directly to him when speaking.

In his head, he could hear a quiet yet content murmur from Giratina, causing him to reach to the back of his neck and place his palm against it; the hair practically stood on his skin from that alone. Giratina saw her the same way he did, so in a way, it perceived what she said in a similar fashion. 

Still, after continuing to stare in silence, he finally breaks it (although reluctantly). 

The days that went by now were less eventful, but not in a horribly boring way; now it was mostly spent being around Hikari, even if that was mainly so that she served as a watchdog for him. But they'd started bonding more than before, so it wasn't all bad; she knew who he was now and was still choosing to be around him.

Right now, they were under the starry skies; the bright light of the moon servings as a backdrop for them while they were sat across from one another in-front of their campfire. The flickering of the embers and snapping of the wood that kept the fire going filled the small moments of silence around them. He wasn't sure how they got to this point in the conversation, but it all started by him mocking the way Jubilife Village was ran.

Her words cause him to take a minute and think, reflecting on them; but he can't help forming the small smirk across his features. It was kind of funny, she was starting to sound eerily like himself. There was never a right or a wrong in this world, it was always survival of the fittest. But it could have been different if he managed to conquer Arceus.

Obviously, we can exclude Giratina from even being discussed on this given the way Giratina is fused to him and also what Giratina is.

Out of the original 6 Pokemon that Volo had, only 3 of them are still alive with him by the time the more modern years roll around. Roserade, Lucario and Arcanine long since passed away of natural causes (old age specifically). Volo took their deaths hard, especially Lucario's; they were practically his only company after Hikari returned home.

However, he kept moving on. It was expected that it'd happen eventually with them, but it did cause a pain he wasn't expecting to lose those bonds.

However, his Spiritomb, Garchomp and Togekiss are all alive with him still. Naturally, Spiritomb is a Ghost type, so it won't ever die due to age. Garchomp and Togekiss are Dragon and Fairy types respectively, so they're capable of an unknown lifespan; they may not be immortal, but they're yet to even be close to their natural lifespan.

He's most concerned about his Togekiss. She's the only Mon that Volo has ever referred to with a nickname, and the nickname given to her was one spoken by Hikari on a whim when she was a Togepi - Eg (pronounced egg). Out of all the bonds with his mons Volo has ever had, Eg and Garchomp are his closest with Lucario having been third.

「 Haven't you learned that you shouldn't be going off of your instincts alone? 」

A harmless little tease, but it wasn't like she was wrong for feeling that way. For the longest time, he played her like a fool — he played everyone. Even if he took his role as a merchant seriously, the events that transpired with Giratina were planned out from the very beginning, and he would've succeeded if not for Hikari's involvement.

Of course, now that he and Giratina were bonded, his soul was mostly merged with the entity. He wouldn't be telling Hikari that for a long time, if ever; after all, what if he wants to do it all over again when she leaves? Even Arceus wasn't aware that he basically became Giratina, so now it was time to fool even God.

...Well, that's more of the joke he liked to play back in his head. If he does anything that can be seen as a breach of contract, it wasn't just him who would be put to death. Hikari would be executed for even convincing the people of Jubilife Village to give him a second chance. He may have to live as a vagrant from here on, but it's thanks to her that he's even able to do that.

Unfortunately for him, he also happened to catch himself falling for Hikari — both during his time parading as a simple merchant, and after the truth was revealed. By this point, they'd become something of a secretive relationship; albeit she was still reserved on certain things around him.

Sitting beside her at the campfire, Volo contemplates her words again. She was used to betrayals, huh? Turning his head, his features illuminate from the campfire as he flashes a genuine smile at her.

「 I don't think you're a means to an end. Even if you were, I lost the right to call you that when you beat me. They might not like me anymore, but I think Jubilife's people still revere you as their savior too. Now, Arceus is a different story.. But to me, you're my reason to live. 」

At the back of his mind, he could hear Giratina's writhing — just like he was, Giratina was interested in Hikari for different reasons. She is the first person to successfully defeat it, so obviously it would have some infatuation with her; another reason it bonded itself to Volo.

Well, these sure would come in handy! Probably not for him, but he’d be able to pawn off the recipes and likely get back a swell amount of money! Though, looking through the list; maybe Hikari would be better with it? She was pretty decent at this sort of thing after all.