#fluffabutt writes

When she catches a brief glimpse of you on that night, she can’t say that she knows you. It’s simply the truth.

You, the ever enigmatic Magister Merlin could rarely be pinned down, much less by whatever form you chose.

It had been so long since she’d flourished under your tutelage. A decade spent wandering the world in search of a true sense of purpose…

…Something she had found so easily at your side so many moons ago…

Watching your magic doesn’t change the warmth that flows from the very core of her being to the tips of her fingers.

It inspires the longing for home she feels in her own magic.

Fitting perhaps.

A fire looking for a hearth to make a home with.

Of course, you are the ever busy, ever needed Magister Merlin. So many people of many places clamor for your attention, your experience, your knowledge, and your power.

She is no better.

She had been your student, after all.

But now she is older, wiser, and longing for the truest gift you posses.

Your kindness.

You may not remember her, a powerful mage capable of purifying and preserving a large landmass like the Golden Wheatshire in a never-ending autumn must experience some greater failing.

But she refuses to leave your side now. Even if your familiars are competent… she feels terrible knowing you look so confused.

She should have been there, but not to worry.

You had taught her well after all.

She would protect you, even if your memories didn’t return.

She would make new ones with you, at your side.

You walk down Route 17 in the pouring rain, when you walk into the Pokémart your sneakers squeak with every step as you walk towards the back room.

You lock up your stuff, and put on your apron, switch out with Cayden who looks at her student portal with such dread you don’t give her any grief when she forgets to log out of the cash register.

You look out the window to the one or two desolate street lamps you can see standing as little beacons home. Almost pitch black like the bottom of the ocean it feels like, and you won’t see the sunrise for another 8 hours.

You tell Cayden have a good night as her sneakers squeal in the wet tracks you left on the floor. You log into the cash register, and as you grab the mop and bucket punch into work.

This is the routine you’ve grown accustomed to for the past few weeks.

You’ll be here tonight.

And the night after that.

And the night after that.

For how ever long it takes you to save enough money to move off Ula Ula Island.

——————————————————————-

You get into the rhythm of cleaning the floors, some hokey country song about youth and friendship and pie plays over the store speaker system. You wish the owner would just spend the money to buy an official music service, if only because you realize you’re almost fond of how terrible it is.

You hear a thumping sound from the windows that damn near causes your heart to leap out your throat, but you turn to see your regular idiot Masquerain bashing it’s head against the flood lights on the exterior of the building.

So you sigh, roll the mop back into its place, grab the wet floor sigh and the push broom and start to walk outside.

You put the sign up and then walk out into the humid, muggy rain.

“Hey! Dumb Bug!” You say, pushing at the Masquerain with your broom under the extended roof so it’s wings don’t get any wetter than they already have.

The poor thing cries and whines until you turn on the portable lamp you hung there for it to mash it’s head against.

You just sigh before walking back inside, you have no idea how that idiot gets stuck here almost every night, but you don’t mind if that’s the only returning customer.

Route 17 doesn’t get a lot of trainers this time of night, and you’re thankful even though your ankles are already aching by the second hour. The owner doesn’t allow you to sit at the cash register so you patiently set an alarm on your Rotomphone for an hour and half from now for your break.

The sound of pounding feet run up from outside as you see a small cluster of Team Skull members burst in from outside with the chime of the automatic door. They keep their mumbled complaints to themselves as they look at you.

You just give them a wave while you check social media on your Rotomphone. You were paid to mind the store, and you could mind your business for free.

Team Skull was part of the reason you never saw trainers much less regular schmoes around route 17, it was their turf.

You didn’t understand the hype, a bunch of kids trying to rap at you wasn’t intimidating in your opinion. Even when the beatboxer was steady most of them still couldn’t rap on beat.

So you idly tap at your phone while they shuffle around through the aisles, arguing over chip flavors and candy bars. Your heart hurts a little when one quickly shuts down that argument with a “What’s the point? We can’t buy it anyway!”

You look up at the chime of the automatic door, and try to put on your customer service smile when you see it’s an adult.

You see a hunched over guy in what looks to be his mid 50s, grey hair matted down from the rain when he closed his umbrella. But it’s his eyes, and the dead stare he levels at you that gives you a sudden feeling of anxiety.

It’s broken when he looks away with a click of his tongue as he walks toward the Pokéfood section of the store.

You place a hand over your heart to try and calm down when you realize how quiet the teens have gotten since the guy walked in. They watch him with caution, a respect you haven’t seen them give to anyone.

You realize you don’t get paid enough to focus on that.

Even if the sound of his sandals clopping on the wet tile drive you crazy.

The ring leader of this small pack walks up to the register with purpose, and slaps down some 100 pokedollar hot dogs that you ring up. It’s some hushed arguing of who’s got how much while you stare blankly thinking of what your “dinner” is tonight, until they pool the total together with spare coins.

You pop the register, drop the coins into the necessary slot, and give the expected “Thank you for shopping at Pokémart” as they run back into the rain and up to Po Town… you assume.

Your guy ambles around for another 10 or so minutes hemming and hawing about the prices of the wet food cans and then walking to the front.

He plops about 10 cans of food on the counter and you start to scan them while he pulls out his wallet.

“Oh, and one pack of the Motostoke Reds.”

You give an affirmative noise and turn to pull a pack off the shelf. It’s when you turn back that you’re stuck with his very intense stare.

Like he’s expecting something.

What that could be you don’t know.

You just push the barcode under the scanner and tell him the total.

Outside of the grunts and young trainers, nobody really pays in cash anymore, so you’re surprised when he flips through a large wad of bills to pay with.

His tongue sticks out while he concentrates and hums the count.

You take the cash from him, pulling up the coins that you owe before dropping them into his open palm with his receipt.

“Thank you for shopping at Pokémart, have a good evening.” You say, rehearsed and robotic.

“Uh-huh.” He drawls, and finally walks out of the Pokémart, his sandals clacking against the tile as he leaves.

You just breathe a sigh of relief when he disappears back into the rain with a… Meowth umbrella??

It’s a super cute umbrella pattern. You want it.

Next paycheck.

The evening goes by uneventfully, mop the floor again, give the Dumb Bug a berry when you take your meal break.

You take out the garbage around five am when there’s just enough light to see and the rain has finally stopped.

You see a couple cigarette butts and grumble under your breath, but clean them up anyway.

The owner comes in at 6 and you clock out.

——————————————————————————-

Another day, another night.

Same old same old.

Except for your old dude buying cigarettes once a week.

The times he walks in are sporadic but at least he tends to avoid coming in on your meal break. Same thing every time: wet food, pack of Motostoke Reds.

Except tonight he grabs some prepackaged Basculin rice balls.

You don’t know why that spurs you to actually talk to this guy.

“Oh, those are super good.” You keep ringing up the wet food cans.

He looks shocked at your voice but he gives you an appraising look.

“Is that so?” He trails off.

“Yeah, they’re pretty solid.”

He hums contemplatively, before you ring up his total and you give him back his change.

“Thank you for shopping at Pokémart, have a good evening.”

He gives you a smile, though it’s more of a shitty grin.

“You too.”

Then he and his clopping sandals walk out the door and into the night.

——————————————————————

You get a surprise visitor that week, a tall dude with bleached white hair and tats struts up to the cash register. It would’ve been more intimidating if he wasn’t soaked to the bone and his sneakers weren’t speaking with every step.

And you’re gonna have to fucking mop. Again.

He slaps his hand on the counter, and of course you jump because why the fuck is this guy trying to pick a fight at 2:20 in the morning.

“Gimme a pack of Motostoke Reds.” He orders gruffly.

You take a deep breath and grab the pack from the shelves, you scan the barcode and tell him the total.

He mutters under his breath some obscenities about how expensive cigarettes are getting and how bullshit it is as he rummages through crumpled up bills from his pockets.

You don’t get paid enough for this.

You notice he sticks his tongue out while he counts the money.

Huh.

“Hey!” He barks, your eyes dart up to his face. “You got any of those Basculin rice balls today?”

You nod.

You both stand there, silence.

What does this guy expect? You don’t get paid to go fetch, you get paid to stand here damn near all night.

“Over in the back over by the premade sandwiches,” you almost forget your retail politeness,” sir.”

He’s got a vein bulging in his forehead before he stomps to the back over by the sandwiches. Muttering fuck word after fuck word.

You think about your account balance, and sigh.

You pray to Arceus this guy fucks off and never comes back.

He slaps the rice balls on the counter and you give him the new total.

“Thank you for shopping at Pokémart, have a good evening.”

“Yeah yeah whatever.” He says shoving his purchase and his change into his pockets before stomping off into the rain.

Asshole.

You find even more soggy cigarette butts outside when you take out the trash.

—————————————————————-

The Asshole and The Old Dude pop in intermittently, along with different clusters of Team Skull members. Very rarely you get a couple of older trainers, veterans and martial artists who find some satisfaction in almost catching hypothermia from standing in the rain all night.

You make polite conversation with The Old Dude and the trainers that come in.

Every so often The Asshole walks in and asks for some bizarre food item, a rice ball, and his cigarettes. It’s starting to become satisfying to just tell him where to find it, since he still expects you to go get it for him.

His squeaky sneakers and sopping wet hair only make him look like a grumpy toddler.

You get more and more trainers coming in though, which keeps the nights busy even if you have to mop so much more often with all the water being tracked in.

You still hook up Dumb Bug with its lamp and a berry.

You still take your meal break at 3:30am.

You still take out the trash to find soggy cigarette butts, but this time there seems to be a collaborative art project because they’re leaving them in shapes.

You don’t think it’s one person, there’s more cigarettes here than in just a single pack of the stuff.

But you don’t stop the “Mother Fucker” you bark when you have to get the broom and dust trap to scrape them up off the sidewalk.

——————————————————

The new influx of trainers typically dies down around 1am.

But tonight seems to be dragging.

Your card reader malfunctions, so you have to hand write a post-it note to stick on the reader.

Cash Only.

Doesn’t mean that grown adults know how to fucking read apparently.

Yes, the card reader is down.

No, I can’t take any card transactions.

You’re almost pulling your hair out by the time a customer walks up to the counter and throws a fit.

The Asshole was an asshole, but this guy is the fucking King Asshole. Asshole to end all assholes, waving his hands like if he throws his shoulders out of socket you’ll get the card reader working.

“Sir, either you use cash to complete your purchase or leave, I can’t fix it-“

“This is un-fucking believable! This is the new kind of low The Pokémart brand has sunk to?!”

“Sir, you’ll have to wait to buy until the morning with your card when the owner comes in to reset it. I don’t know what else to tell you-“

“FIX THE FUCKING CARD READER!”

You typically are fighting the best of a migraine with the shitty fluorescent lights, now your ears are ringing with how loud he’s yelling.

“Oi. You buying this shit or not?!”

Oh great.

You pinch the bridge of your nose as you look past King Asshole to The Asshole looming behind him.

Good. Two assholes.

“I-I-“ King Asshole tries to get some traction to start his impassioned tirade like a pull motor.

“No? Get the fuck outta my way then.”

At least The Asshole isn’t yelling.

God damn does your head hurt.

“Oi!” The Asshole speaks up, snapping his fingers obnoxiously to get your attention. It seems King Asshole has left, and all of his purchase is on the counter.

Nice.

“Oh, yeah,” you blink to give yourself a quick reset before you start scanning The Asshole’s items.

There’s a heavy silence as The Asshole scowls and shuffles his feet before he opens up his mouth when you turn to grab his cigarettes.

“You okay?” He says gruffly, though with a pinch of softness you’ve never heard before. It doesn’t help the tears bubbling in the corners of your eyes.

Shit.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” You say, your voice cracking on the “yeah”, and you’re so fucking frustrated.

He just clicks his tongue and starts counting out his wadded up balls of bills.

You scan his cigarettes, and read him the total.

“Thank you for shopping at Pokémart, have a nice night.” You plop the change and his receipt in his hand.

He looks at you and you feel just so drained you just stare back. You don’t know what he’s looking for, but he turns around and squeaks back into the dark with the little automatic chime.

You walk to the back to take your break early, sighing and softly dabbing at your eyes while you eat your sandwich.

Fuck man, just a couple more weeks.

You just needed a couple more paychecks, and then you can leave and get away from this place.

———————————————————————

You find your cigarette savant has put a smiley face design today.

You mutter a quick, “fuck off” to nothing as you scrape it off the sidewalk.

The back of your neck aches. Like a weight settling there.

———————————————————————

You don’t see King Asshole, thank Arceus, but you run into rude customers occasionally. Aside from The Asshole.

You’d noticed a couple of blocked off areas, but you thought it was construction or something. The owner put a Pokémart on Route 17, there was probably some other developer willing to be stupid enough to build something else here.

Cayden is clocking out when she looks up from her Rotomphone and taps your shoulder.

“Did you hear?”

“Hear what?” You put on your apron.

“A couple of people have been getting attacked on the way back from the Pokémart.”

“No shit?”

“You didn’t notice the caution tape?” She gives you a look, but you just roll your eyes.

“I saw the tape, I just thought it was construction.”

“Who’d build anything out here- ah shit nevermind. But! Either way, be safe out!”

You clock in and meet her eyes. You feel a little floaty feeling in your stomach.

“You think it’s Team Skull?”

She sighs as she pulls out her stuff from the locker. Looking up trying to remember something.

“Nah, they have been pretty quiet since the whole Aether Island stuff. I think I read something about the victims said it was only one person.”

Oh good. Great. Fantastic.

“Cool I’m probably gonna get murdered after standing around here all night.”

“Probably,” she says with a snarky tone.

You put away your stuff and lock it up but you hear a quiet thump of the cash register counter and look in that direction.

Cayden gives you a serious look, you’ve never seen so much trepidation on her face outside of an exam or a paper. You feel your gut churn.

“Be careful okay?”

You swallow, and clench your hands to ground yourself.

“You too.”

——————————————————————

You scroll more on your Rotomphone than usual, trying to just pass the time out of your own head so you don’t flinch and look at whoever walks into the store with complete fear.

Even the thumping Dumb Bug does has you on edge. But it seems the Masquerain can sense your nerves after you walk out to turn their lamp on, because they flap over and nuzzle your face before they continue their bizarre little lamp dance.

You feel a little bit of tension ease, but you try to keep yourself busy nonetheless. When the last of the late night crowd dissipates you just stand with your nerves going haywire at the register.

It’s just you, the hum of the fluorescents, and the darkness outside. At least it isn’t raining.

Fuck.

Old Dude walks in today, and you’re almost relaxed listening to the clip clop of his flip flops against the tile. Even with the shitty country song playing over the loud speakers.

He brings his spoils over to the counter and you ring him up like usual.

“You seem tense.”

You were so startled, you almost drop the wet food can you scanned.

“Huh?” You look at him.

“I said,” he drawls. “You look tense.”

“Oh,” you let out a nervous laugh, and turn to get his Motostoke Reds. “Yeah, did you hear about the attacks lately?”

“Attacks?” He arches a very thick brow at you. Ugh you don’t want to talk about this anymore.

“Yeah, my coworker said people were getting attacked on the road back to Ula Ula Meadow. Isn’t that crazy?”

“Hm, that’s… unusual.”

“Yeah,” you say, the awkwardness makes you want to get out of this conversation so you can go back to standing at the register and panicking to yourself.

“Thank you for shopping at Pokémart, stay safe.” You say, change and receipt placed onto his open palm.

“You too. Oh, if you need any help,” he pauses standing in the doorway. Your interest firmly captured on him. “There’s always the police station up the road.”

You’d forgotten about that, mostly because you didn’t have any business walking towards Po Town at all.

“Uh, sure. Thanks mister.”

“Oh, you don’t know who I am do you?” He seems to give you that smug smirk. Though you wonder if he just seems to not know how to smile properly.

“Uh the dude who buys wet food and Motostoke Reds?” You say, your shoulders rising with a shrug.

“Yeah… we’ll go with that.” He says with a chuckle as he walks out.

“Oh… okay. Cool.”

What the fuck was that about? You sigh and count to ten before going back on Pokégram to watch shorts to focus on.

Even if you can’t seem to shake the feeling something is watching you.

—————————————————————————

Your shift ends with a heart made of cigarettes butts.

It makes you queasy.

——————————————————————-

The Old Dude and The Asshole visit more frequently.

The Old Dude seems to have fun forcing you into polite conversation. Talking about the frequency of attacks on the road, and you’re pretty sure it’s just to make you squirm.

He always smirks when he gets a reaction out of you. And your stomach drops every time.

The fucker seems to revel in watching goosebumps run up your arms.

And you’re almost thankful to see the asshole, until he starts to intimidate other customers in the line.

Any bad manners from customers are met with him loudly complaining about how they’re wasting his time to get them to hurry up. Only to… just awkwardly try to make conversation with you.

“Oi.”

“Yes sir?”

“Fuckin’, the weather…”

You just look at him, blinking. My brother in Arceus, what were you supposed to say?

“Yeah, it’s not raining tonight.”

“Yeah…”

Weeks of that.

Weeks.

Of the two of them coming in almost every night, to get the same stuff. To trap you in the same circling conversations.

It was sick.

The anxiety they were giving you left you barely able to eat.

You put in your two weeks notice quietly to the owner, tired of feeling like a Rattata being hunted by Meowths, counting down the days until you could leave.

For weeks the feeling of eyes on you at all times doesn’t leave until you go home after your shift.

————————————————————

You clock into your shift, getting a hug from Cayden before she leaves wishing you luck with your fresh start.

You go through the usual routine of the crowd, ignoring the bids for attention from The Old Dude. He just quirked an eyebrow before leisurely strolling back out the door.

And you turned the lamp on one last time for Dumb Bug. There wasn’t anybody on the route path, so you just sat and reminisced with the fluttering insect Pokemon. It wasn’t until you got up to go back inside that Dum Bug acknowledged you.

By grabbing your shirt sleeve with its delicate little grippers.

“Hey bud, it’ll be okay, the next person on Night Shift will be nice to you. Just don’t get hurt flying around in the rain okay?”

The bug just grabbed onto your shirt even further settling onto your shoulder. This dumb fucking bug and your dumb fucking heart so full of love.

“What fucking pair you two make.”

Ah. The Asshole.

You turn, putting on your retail smile to acknowledge him.

“Oh my apologies sir, I will ring you up at the counter, please give me a moment.”

“‘S fine- you’ve been building a bond with ‘er for a while yeah?”

You feel your heart stop.

You put your hand over your Rotomphone in your pocket.

“Hey! Don’t look at me like I’m some kind of bad guy, ey?”

You feel like you’re gonna throw up.

“Look just, alright lemme explain.” He says taking a step towards you.

You realize now how tall he is. How bulky he is.

How easily he could hurt somebody.

How blind you’ve been to the obvious.

The fucking skull pendant on the chain around his neck.

You never noticed.

“Hey,” he says and you hear a loud whine as your breathing picks up. “Woah wait don’t-“

Your Dumb Bug flaps quickly in front of you and oscillates it’s wings to unleash a horrible loud whine that has The Asshole clutching his ears with you.

Dumb Bug pulls you in the direction of your home but Asshole quickly steps to the side while getting his bearings to cut you off.

So you pivot: the Old Guy had told you there was a Police Station up the road right?

That’s where you run to.

“HEY! WAIT- agh, FUCK GET BACK HERE DAMMIT LEMME EXPLAIN!” He shouts after you, and you feel tears start to well up and run down your cheeks as you haul yourself up the hill.

Dumb Bug tries to chirp to cheer you on, especially when you can hear Asshole catching up with you. You let out the loudest scream you can before you’re cut off by him grabbing your collar and choking you.

You kick and jerk away from him as he pulls you close. He grunts when you manage to catch his shins and land a hit to his nose with a lucky flail.

Dumb Bug tries to start up another loud screech but Asshole holds you against him like a meat shield and your sweet little Masquerain clearly doesn’t want to hurt you. He’s got your arms caught behind you while you howl and scream for help.

“Gah-fuck! You couldn’t just- stop moving-“ he jerks you roughly enough to make your shoulders pop and you yelp at the pain. “Look all you had to do was let me explain-“

“Explain what?! How you fucking stalked me?!” You shriek, still fighting against his grip while he pushes you steadily up the hill towards the police station.

“Look I wasn’t stalkin’ ya- you weren’t being secretive about it!”

“And now you’re fucking assaulting me!”

He wrenches you back to yell in your ear.

“Because you ran away dumb ass!”

It hurts your ears, and all you can do is struggle and yell for help as he shuffles the both of you up the road. When you see the police station you get a surge of energy.

If you don’t get away from him now- god you don’t want to even think about what he could do to you.

So you lean back and stomp your foot on his toes as hard as you can. He grunts as the grip on your arms loosens when he flinches.

“DUMB BUG NOW!”

You pull forward, and Dumb Bug releases that horrible sound from it’s wings again, thankfully slipping out of Asshole’s grasp and you push one last sprint away towards the Police Station.

You manage to sprint towards the station, the faded white exterior with striped columns standing ominously with a few sconces lit up. Probably on a timer.

You beg to Arceus and the Tapus and whatever else can hear that somebody is in the building.

You slam into the blue doors of the entrance, making the windows rattle. You slam you palms against the door and beg for somebody, anybody to open up.

You hear multiple Meowths hiss and shriek while you pound on the door, begging through tears and gulps of breath for help.

You know Asshole wasn’t going to be distracted forever, that guy was the Leader of Team Skull, he had pokemon.

You left the poor Masquerain with a sicko.

You hope the poor thing was okay.

Eventually the lights turn on inside and you can see the shapes of the office interior through the clouded glass. A figure quickly rushing to the door backlit in shadow.

You heave a sharp gasp of relief as the door opens-

“Oh, thank you please- I’m being chased by-“

“Hey,” it’s his voice that makes you nauseous so quickly you sway on your feet. “Woah, hold on what’s got you so riled up?”

He clasps your shoulders in a firm grip to keep your legs underneath you.

You weren’t specific enough in your pleas for mercy, because the gods had gifted you the old creep as your beacon of hope.

“Oh look at you, you’ve been all roughed up. Scaring the clowder- tch, the boy’s so rough sometimes.”

You wonder if the universe had a specific grudge on you at this point.

“Oi! Guzma!” You look down at the badge on the old guy’s shirt, Police Captain Nanu, it says. You never had the desire to know anything about him before this point.

You were stupidly hoping you could ignore the both of them and leave Ula Ula Island.

“Yeah yeah! I get it-“

“Do you now?” You look into Nanu’s eyes as he speaks with his casual drawl. “Tears and bruises on the arms don’t imply to me that you in fact “Got it”.”

“Oi! They threw the first punch not me! Besides, I was busy grabbing this-“ he holds up your boarding pass for the morning flight out of Ula Ula Island, out of Alola. “Seems they weren’t going to tell us they were leaving.”

That had been in your bag. In your locker.

In the office.

Had he only just gotten to your stuff?

Or had he been rummaging through there this whole time.

Guzma holds Dumb Bug, unconsciously flopping it’s little wings as they jostle with each of his footsteps, and he finally leans down to get close to your face.

“It’s okay though, me and the old geezer ‘ere will make everything crystal clear.” He says with a mean sneer, a wild look in his eyes and you stand there and shake.

———————————————————————————

You were given a Ralts as your starter for your pokemon journey. You had been clumsy as a child, a little lonely, and maybe your parents thought having a pokemon that looked like a little sibling would help you plant your feet a little more strongly.

You never stopped being clumsy, not really. But as your Ralts grew into a Kirlia your pokemon used telekinesis to keep you from falling and scraping your knees.

Unless it was funny.

But, you know in this moment you’ve never been more thankful for your Gardevoir. Tessellating hexagonal shapes forming a secure barrier around the both of you.

And standing before you, the man who had just turned your world upside down, with his Chandelure, shocked.

—————————————————————

You had worked for the Gear Station for a few months, slowly getting closer to your coworkers. And of course, surprisingly, Subway Masters Ingo and Emmet. You had always considered it temporary, despite the great hotpots and parties they hosted for milestones.

You had many a tearful goodbye and promises to visit once you had settled into your new job.

Except for Ingo.

You had entered the twins’ shared office with your formal two weeks notice, and looking back at it:

The red flags were obvious.

Emmet seemed shocked as had Ingo, but the typically verbose twin simply stared at you while Emmet launched into a series of rapid fire questions.

Were you unhappy? Did something happen? Etc.

You had laughed it off with a small wave of your hand. You explained how you’d been looking for positions in the career you wanted, and tried to be clever by saying, “The Gear Station was a lovely, but also temporary stop on the tracks to victory.”

Emmet’s smile seemed strained, his eyes darting over to Ingo.

The older twin blinked, almost resetting with the information, but he took your resignation letter.

“We hope even if your employment here was temporary, that you would come to visit… when you find the time.”

You had smiled, a relief washing over you when you promised that you would.

You entered a handshake over that promise. You remember how he had squeezed so tightly that it hurt.

You wish you had taken that seriously.

——————————————————

On your last day of work, you had been making the rounds to say goodbye. Numbers exchanged, presents given.

You had said goodbye to Emmet before he departed for the last Double Battle Line of the day.

You didn’t understand the weary look in his eyes, when he exhaled and softly patted your shoulder.

Your gut twisted when you walked towards their office to turn in your final time card to Ingo.

Looking back… he knew… and some part of you knew to.

You knocked politely on the door, waiting for Ingo’s loud voice to give you permission.

You could hear the soft tones of his Chandelure as you crossed the threshold of the door.

A beautiful pokemon near in sync with her trainer, Ingo stopped to look at you with a forlorn expression, accentuated by his typical frown.

He rose from his desk to take the time sheet from you personally.

“Thank you for everything, Boss.”

“Ah, please, Ingo will suffice. No need for formalities any longer.”

You gave a nervous laugh, “Oh right, of course.”

The subtle glow of his Chandelure made you yawn, the motion as it slowly rocked back and forth.

Ingo walked from his desk to the portable coffee pot, gesturing to you with a cup to see if you wanted some.

You shook your head.

The song Chandelure seemed to hum didn’t ease the silence.

“So, uh did you need-“

“You’re going to be missed.” He said suddenly. The usual volume he spoke with always made you flinch.

“Oh yeah, everybody was very nice. Jackie got me a little gear station keychain-“

“It’s unfortunate you cannot continue to work here.”

You were tired from a long day, getting interrupted two times in a row was getting on your nerves.

You gave a nervous laugh, to ease some of the tension in your shoulders. “Yeah, but the new job I’m going to start at was what I’ve always wanted to do. So I’m excited-“

“I wish it hadn’t come to this.”

Did the room seem darker?

“Come to what, sir? Everybody has to follow their tracks to happiness,” you don’t hide the frustration in your voice. “You’ve always advocated that to us and our riders.”

Ingo faces away from you as he pours himself a cup of coffee.

“You’re right, which is why I had hoped our tracks would converge.”

Goosebumps run up the length of your spine as the hairs on your neck rise.

You’re too shocked to say anything to that.

You’re not certain if you could say anything other than “What the fuck?”

“When you had joined the Gear Station I was intrigued. You were a wonderful team member: kind, quick-witted, passionate. I couldn’t help but…” He trails off as he turns to face you, and you beg to Arceus and every god that’s listening to teleport you away from here.

You never want him to finish that thought. Not with how it makes you so nauseous your head spins.

He looks at you dead in the eyes, and you wish that you could understand what he’s trying to find there.

Your eyes pulse in your skull as you feel a bead of sweat run from your temple to your cheek. Your chest feels so tight you can barely take a deep breath.

You look into Ingo’s eyes begging for him to just end this moment. Something like a “Just Kidding!”, anything that would let you relax. Anything that would give you an excuse to walk and not run out of this office.

He does not.

“I had a crush on you-of course I couldn’t pursue you!” He says like that clarification is going to ease the tension, but it just makes your hands shake as you clench them. “I was your boss! That would’ve been highly unethical.”

You want to say “Like it isn’t now?”, but you bite back the urge when he takes a two steps towards you, and you walk two steps back.

You feel the sweat on your back make your shirt stick. Your skin itches.

His brow furrows at your motion, and it’s almost like the purple glow of his Chandelure gets brighter when the corners of his mouth tug down even further.

“I would have hoped that you and I could have continued down our tracks together, but now our paths have begun to diverge.” He continues walking towards you.

You don’t look away from his gaze, you’re terrified of what could happen if you did for even a second.

You slowly match his pace as you walk backwards, you don’t even dare blink.

You feel exhausted.

“You are going to soar away from here. As much as it pains me, I cannot bear to have you leave our station.”

You swallow harshly. “I’m sorry sir-“

“As am I, call me Ingo.” He says like he’s frustrated. Like he has any right.

“Sir,” you say with a heat that has him taken aback. “I cannot reciprocate your feelings. I am quitting today.”

You try to lay it out, through clenched teeth. Like if you say every step of the situation he’ll back off.

“You don’t reciprocate them now, but with time-“ he says with an exasperated sigh.

“No. Not now, not ever. I am going to leave and go home.”

“You are leaving… but you’re coming home. Our home.”

The door handle stabs into your back suddenly as you step back. Your attention finally breaking with a yelp as you twist to turn the handle.

You didn’t even notice that his Chandelure had been floating towards you. Your eyes meet her empty yellow orbs, and hear with alarming clarity over the thundering pounding of your heartbeat in your ears.

“Chandelure, Hypnosis.”

You can’t look away from the eyes of his pokemon as the lullaby it hums has your eyelids fluttering. You feel your body start to drop from the stress and exhaustion, even if you’re screaming in your head.

A flash of light pops from your hip, the sound of a poke ball bursting open.

————————————————-

You had heard tales of Gardevoirs pushing the limits to protect their trainers. You heard severity ranging from saving a trainer from injury to even sacrificing themselves to save a trainer from dying.

And here you are, the protective shield covering you with a calming green glow, a contrast to the purple hazy hue of Chandelure.

Your Gardevoir stands with fury between you and your attackers, psychic energy pulsing of their body as their brilliant red eyes glow.

You’re exhausted, and you’re terrified, but your Gardevoir looks back at you for a second.

And when their shoulders square you know they’d protect you with every last essence of their being.

You turn your gaze to Ingo, you don’t know what expression you wear. Only that you hope you can communicate every last ounce of your contempt.

The adrenaline running through you has manifested in a terrible headache that weighs your head down like the hypnotic pulse Chandelure used.

You press down on the door handle, running numbers in your head of how to get out of this.

You’re in a type disadvantage, and from friendly battles you know his pokemon hits harder.

You don’t have a speed advantage either.

It all came down to a coin flip, using the opportunity your pokemon gave you.

Ingo is quickly working through the shock of your Pokemon protecting you, and you do the best you can to whip the door open behind you and twist into the hallway out of the gear station.

The shout of your name nearly has your legs locking in fright, but you stumble into a sprint as your Gardevoir gracefully floats backwards keeping their eyes focused on the now enraged Subway Boss and his accomplice.

You can only hope you’ll get to the safety of the sunlight past the subway steps before he catches you.

—————————————————————-

———————————————————

You’ve been through this before: being introduced to the Pokémon world.

Laventon is your Professor, which makes sense since he’s the first one you meet and wearing a labcoat. He says that you fell from the sky, and you’re content to believe you’re in a very realistic dream.

The air is clear, the sky is blue, and it’s absolutely fucking freezing in your shorts.

You go through the motions, meeting your rival character Akari, the tough boss Cyllene, and establishing your ‘home town.’

It isn’t until you manage to scrape your hands while catching Pokémon that you realize you’re not in a dream.

The blood running down your fingers makes you ‘wake up’ in a sense. Laventon rushes over to bandage your hands as you walk towards him and Akari in a daze. You look at them both with new understanding.

You’re in the Pokémon world.

These are real breathing people, not 3D models on a screen.

And you come to a new understanding of how you need to do everything you can to go home.

You open the mission on your new Arcphone.

There are people relying on you back home, they must be worried.

You can’t make them wait.

————————————————————————

You keep it very professional all things considered.

The Survey Corps members are all reasonably kind people, but you don’t have any intention of getting close.

You just keep your head down and finish as many Pokédex entries as you can without working yourself to the bone, occasionally joining Laventon and the other Survey Corps members for Potato Mochi to celebrate. Otherwise you keep to yourself.

Many people try to ask about yourself but you keep them at arms length. You can’t lose focus on your mission, and any time spent trying to connect with others is better off going into survey work.

You sometimes talk to Laventon or Cyllene, mostly on business but with your attempts to keep yourself from getting sick and keeling over you spend time with them.

Paperwork mostly, but Laventon goes out of his way to include you in the small gatherings that happen within the corps.

You appreciate it, really, but you don’t see much point in team-building when you intend to leave. Laventon often walks away with a strained smile when you refuse the invitation.

Besides, what could you even talk about? That in your world none of this is real? It’s a wonder the presence of your new phone isn’t a paradox in and of itself.

So no, you tell them about the most basic parts of yourself, leaving anything else in vague statements.

And cry into the pillow that came with your futon when you feel especially homesick.

————————————————————————

The frenzied nobles add a new quirk to the mix. The Alpha Pokémon were already terrifying in their ferocity, but the frenzied Noble Pokémon?

You think whatever put you here just is interested in killing you in more extreme scenarios by the day.

Running for your life desperately pelting Pokémon potpourri, so panicked you don’t even have the breath to scream when you get hit by the damned thing.

But you work through it.

Laventon bandages your scrapes with gentle scolding about your wellbeing, but you simply just sigh and crunch numbers in your head to catch up on how much time you wasted fixing the clan problems.

Laventon offers quiet nights so you can recover and get back into shape enough to go back. You say your thanks when he offers to brew a tea that helps you sleep.

He thankfully doesn’t bring up the nightmares you wake up from with a gasp during survey expeditions. You keep the fact that your nightmares persist into your house in Jubilife to yourself.

Laventon is kind enough to keep you distracted with research talk until you excuse yourself when your eyelids flutter and he walks you back to your house.

—————————————————————————

Though you do find somebody to cling to in the whirlwind of activity. One Warden Ingo who mirrors the lost look in your eyes.

Though yours don’t glow in near darkness like his.

Ingo is the first shuddering breath you allow yourself to take, where he opens up about the memories that linger outside of his reach and you feel compelled to talk about the people you miss everyday.

You tell Ingo almost everything though you have to leave out the entirety of Pokémon being fictional, out of fear his straining psyche would deteriorate.

Of course, the Pokédex comes first, but you make an effort to keep up correspondence with Ingo. Letters fly back and forth between you two, information on the native Pokémon and their habitats is precious to you and you offer a sound board for some memories he has of his time.

You wave off the weekly invitations to spend training with Ingo. Pokémon battling is a necessary skill for the wilderness of Hisui and genuinely you have a good time. Even taking offers from Ingo for help with the Pokédex in the Coronet Highlands.

The Pearl Wardens hear about your bonding with Ingo and offer their assistance as well, and you’re extremely thankful. You even take up offers to go by yourself with the Pearl Clan without the help of the Survey Corps, Ingo helping to escort you to a settlement and take you back to Jubilife after a week of work.

Laventon approaches you in a panic when you both come back to Jubilife terrified that you went and got hurt. But you wave him off explaining where you were, and happily hand him a few journals worth of notes and show off your haul of newly captured Pokémon.

It’s the first time you see Laventon so off balance. You feel terribly guilty as Laventon just quietly collects your research and turns away to walk back to Headquarters.

Ingo escorts you the short walk to your house before you separate, to which he asks if he can join you for dinner. You feel slightly deflated with what happened but invite him over anyway, happy for the distraction of what happened.

You go to Headquarters to give your progress to Cyllene, who looks impressed at your wide berth of work. It’s only when you turn to leave that Cyllene stops you.

“We were worried for you.” She says, her hands steepled as she levels her piercing gaze at you.

“Ah, my apologies. I will alert you in the future if I intend to go out on my own-“

“You are appreciated here. People like you.” She says, the weight of that statement makes your stomach churn

“Thank you.” You say, because you don’t have any idea of what else to say.

There’s a very telling pause that only makes you fidget with your hands.

“That’s all, dismissed,” she says with a sigh, something you’ve never heard from Cyllene, and goes back to the large stacks of paperwork on her desk.

You’re happy to be able to get away from the Survey Corps.

Though you swallow the hard lump in your throat and blink back tears as you trudge back to the house.

———————————————————————-

Ingo is mercifully quiet as you help each other with a dinner, you peeling potatoes while he chops vegetables. They’re combined into the hot pot as you carefully lay pieces of meat into the hot oil.

“You’ve made great progress on the Pokédex,” Ingo finally says.

“Yes, there’s about 30 entries left. Mostly just raising Pokémon.” You say back. You push the idea of the box Legendaries into the back of your mind before your migraine gets worse.

“You’ve been here for a month yes?” He asks.

“Yes, just about.”

“Have you told anyone else?” He asks.

“Told anyone else what?”

“That the Pokédex is your only way home.” He says.

You just stare at him, he uses his chopsticks to stir the veggies and flip the meat so it cooks evenly.

“Ah, so that’s a firm no then.” He says with a sigh, running his hand over his goatee.

You just turn to grab two clay bowls and the soju you keep in your small little cellar in the floor.

You hand Ingo his bowl and once everything is finished cooking, you both set down to eat. Ingo is mercifully silent, though accepts a few swigs of your soju as you pass it back and forth.

You place your bowl on the tatami mat, laying your chopsticks across the rim, and sit back on your hands as you try to gather the words you want to say. You look at Ingo.

“If…” You start, and Ingo meets your eyes, patiently waiting. “If you could go home, would you?”

Ingo blinks, fiddles with his goatee as he looks down. You watch his eyes focus on the floor, the quirk of his eyebrows, and the subtle tap of his fingers against the tatami floor in a rhythm you don’t recognize.

“I would,” he says, after he meets your gaze again.

“So would I. So to follow that, if you knew you were going to leave, would it be fair to get close to someone knowing you’re not going to stay?”

Ingo answers you with a deep sigh, his free hand moves to the brim of his hat.

“That’s why. I want to go home Ingo. I want to see my friends, my family… it doesn’t feel fair to get close knowing that the first opportunity I have… I’d leave this world in a heartbeat.” You say.

You get up to take your dishes and place them aside, you hand Ingo a little clay bowl with a lid for him to grab the leftovers.

“I see…” he says.

“So I’ve been told to finish the Pokédex, and I’m going to,” you say, turning to face him. “And as soon as I do, we’re going to go home.”

You offer your hand out to Ingo, and his eyes flicker back and forth, searching you for something. You know there’s nothing there but your honest feelings.

He clasps his callused and scared hand against yours and gives you the soft smile he reserves for when he loses.

—————————————————————-

You walk Ingo to the door and say goodbye after he puts on his shoes. Though he walks back in after immediately stepping outside holding a bamboo box.

“This was left on your stoop,” he says, shock overriding his typical neutral frown.

You take it from him and open it.

Fresh Dango on skewers, two in particular.

You gasp with pleasant surprise and offer one to Ingo. He tries to refuse but with mild goading he accepts the present.

“I wonder who could have left it…” he says, trailing off before enjoying a mouthful of the sweet dango.

“No clue.” You say, smiling as the man manages to stuff his face full of the sweet treat like a chipmunk before heading off into the night.

You enjoy your snack, though the sweetness makes your heart hurt, knowing even if you had a secret admirer you wouldn’t be able to return their feelings.

You wouldn’t be sticking around to find out.

————————————————————————-

From there everything swivels sideways, from Palkia and Dialga, to Volo and Giratina, you barely managed to regain your focus.

The way you were ousted from Jubilife struck you particularly hard, no matter how kind Cogita and the other clans were. You didn’t try to make friends, but when no one was able to stop your expulsion your resolve was cemented.

You were an outsider, clear and simple.

So with three legendary beasts on your team you ran yourself hard and fast to the finish line. During your exile you had the opportunity to get close with Diamond Clan members and their wardens so you had a vast network of people to rely on.

A vast enough network that you left Jubilife for the final time.

You send your data to Laventon with a Staraptor you trained for correspondence. The sweet darling had been a Starly for your letters back and forth to Ingo but the poor bird wanted to evolve once your correspondence evolved to Pearl Clan, Diamond Clan, and Jubilife.

You keep all your letters brief, though Laventon often made the effort to tell you about the goings on in Jubilife: how Akari was progressing, Cyllene getting startled by the guy with the Weedle out front, etc.

Laventon often sent you treats as well, which you thanked him for, but no matter how subtly he tried to reel you back in to Jubilife you stayed in the wilderness. You didn’t want to offer anything to Laventon you knew you couldn’t give.

You couldn’t offer a friendship you knew wouldn’t last.

—————————————————————————

You finish the last of the data Laventon requested, leaning back with a heaving sigh.

You set up camp in a former Garchomp den, long since abandoned, and if you were worried about the Pokémon coming back your Godlike attack dogs would’ve made quick work of the poor thing.

You set up a fire, and quickly manufacture dinner, small tears of relief being grossly licked off by your starter Pokémon. You shove the dumb baby’s face away with a laugh, and get back to your set up.

It’s when you lean back against your curled up little menagerie of a team you realize you’ll miss them. The god Pokémon in your team were friendly, but you knew they were there because of your purpose set by the god of Pokémon itself.

Though you would happily take the image of Giratina rewarding your well placed pets with the most haunting purr noise to your grave.

So you gathered up the fancy parchment you saved for the moment when you knew you’d leave. You started your farewell letters to Jubilife first: thanking Cyllene for her kindness in offering you meals and a home to stay in, and asking her to release your Pokémon in the stables. Telling Akari she was bright and would excel in Team Galaxy and wherever she set her sights on in the future, how she should have an open heart and an open mind.

Laventon… you wrote a sincere appreciation. Without his word, without his effort, you more than likely would have died out in the wilderness. You told him you were thankful for his kindness, that you wished you could’ve taken the time to grow closer. You give him your best wishes, and make sure to bundle the finished pieces of your research with his letter.

You send your Staraptor to send the letters off, giving the sweet ‘mon a Sitrus Berry for her troubles. You give her orders to drop the letters off and then come back immediately.

You wake up when your Arcphone buzzes and tells you that God saw and recognized your mission was completed and told you to head to Spear Pillar. So you pack up your stuff and your team, and head off towards your final destination.

———————————————————————

You try to take in the journey as you make your way towards Spear Pillar, you write to Iridia and Adaman, extending your gratitude from their kindness and willingness to support you at your lowest.

You write to Cogita as well, the beautiful older woman was given some golden nuggets to make up for her generosity in feeding you and letting you stay in her home.

You write to Ingo telling him to hurry to Spear Pillar, you promise to wait for him to summon Arceus as your way of going home, and you thank him for being patient.

After that it’s slowly releasing your Pokémon as you go, your Staraptor, your starter, and the legendary trio being the only ones left in your team. You feed the Noble Pokémon treats in thanks for them helping you one last time.

You get to Spear Pillar and set up camp, with the Azur Flute.

And wait.

————————————————————-

You wait.

And wait.

And wait.

It’s the start of the second day when you start to get restless.

You go to search for food with the help of the Noble Braviary bringing you to the base. Hoping to find Ingo in the wilderness… but you only find local Pokémon.

You pace at camp from then, focusing on feeding yourself and your Pokémon while you wait.

On the evening of the fourth day you see a shape in the dark as someone approaches you from the summit and you eagerly jump to your feet.

“Ingo?” You yell, waving to them.

“Ah, no! It’s me,” the ever enigmatic Professor calls back.

Your heart drops.

“Oh, Professor, what are you doing here?” You say, trying to mask the disappointment in your voice.

“I received your letter,” he says. He gently lets a leather bag down onto the dirt near the fire. “I didn’t want that to be the last conversation we had.”

He sits across from you, rummaging through his bag until he pulls out a familiar looking tin can, holding it with a triumphant smile.

“Care for a spot of tea?” He says, giving you a wistful look. “One last time?”

You can’t find it in your heart to deny him this. Considering the care he always showed you, you figure it’s only fair to take up his offer.

———————————————————————

You sit in the silence as Laventon sets up the kettle and the tea above the fire pit. Any time you hear a noise you quickly turn to see if it’s Ingo only to be disappointed every time.

“Are you waiting for someone?” Laventon asks.

“Yes, I asked Ingo to meet me here.” You say.

“Ah you two were quite close after the Lord Electrode incident.”

“Yup.” You feel bad, but the anxiety that Ingo stood you up overrides your need to be polite. You call your Staraptor, asking her to search for Ingo, and send the fierce bird off into the night.

Laventon pulls out a set of tea cups, pouring one for you and one for himself. You accept the outstretched cup with a sigh and hold it in your hands while you give it a moment to cool. He gives your starter a Jubilife Muffin, to which the darling happily eats up.

The wind picks up and sends a chill through your warm Survey Uniform, the night air is cold to begin with much less at the peak of a mountain.

Laventon clears his throat, and your eyes snap to him.

“Would you, mind terribly, if you could recall the Gods of Sinnoh?”

Oh. Right.

“Oh I’m sorry,” you say, quickly ushering them into their respective Pokéballs. “I’ve gotten used to them with time, I can imagine how intimidating they are.”

“Indeed,” he says with a good natured chuckle. “It’s not every day you meet a god much less three.”

You nod and slowly sip your tea. It’s bitter, but considering how tough luxuries like sugar are difficult to come by, you manage to push through it. You wish you had some honeycomb though.

“Then again, you’re not an ordinary, every day person.”

You just keep your eye on Laventon, goosebumps run up your arms but you chock that up to the chill.

“Please, answer me honestly,” he asks, and you feel all your nerves stand on edge.

“Did you ever… did you ever consider a future in Hisui?”

You wanted to avoid this.

“I told you in my letter I wish we could’ve had the ability to get closer to you-“

“So why didn’t you?” He asks, his mouth strains a neutral grimace, sounding clearly hurt.

“I couldn’t-,” you start to say, swallowing a lump of tea to ease the tightness in your throat from your nerves. “I couldn’t in good conscience be your friend knowing that I’d leave.”

The Professor sighs, crossing his arms.

“That’s what you told Ingo did you not-“

How did he know that?

“-You still wanted to be friends though, you wouldn’t have come to the Survey Corps parties if you didn’t…”

Your mouth feels dry as you just stare in confusion as the Professor continues to ramble.

“If you had just been honest from the beginning I doubt we would have gotten to where we are now,” he says with a sigh. “I’m afraid it’s too late to go back to how things were. Your resolve was too steady.”

“Professor,” you manage to say past a heavy tongue. “Were you listening to me and Ingo’s conversations?”

“Only because you refused to say anything to anyone else.” He says.

What?

“What?” You ask, feeling a heaviness settle on your body.

“I had thought… I had hoped with our relationship that you would have been able to talk to me about your plans. I admired your drive to finish the Pokédex, I had even hoped…” he trails off, and then looks at you with eyes gleaming.

You meet his gaze, feeling nigh paralyzed.

“I had hoped that you could possibly come to… reciprocate my feelings for you.” He says, with a woosh of breath like he’s just lifted a heavy rock.

“You’d hoped that my desperate attempts to go home was actually a sign that I liked you? What the actual fuck Lav?” You ask incredulously, your body starting to involuntarily shake with the stress. You stand with some difficulty, trying to keep your body calm, and stand away from the fire next your starter Pokémon.

You know your buddy would have been up on their feet by now, but one look over at your companion shows they’re completely unconscious.

He seems clearly shocked, his eyes follow down to where your legs shudder.

“You found me on the beach in my pajamas! You found me lost and alone in a world I didn’t know and!-“ You shout, throwing your hands up in frustration. “-and assumed that because I eagerly helped you with your career because I had a crush?!”

Laventon stands as well raising his hands in an attempt to calm you down.

“What of all the nights we spent putting the Pokédex together?” He asks, he takes a step around the fire towards you with a hand outstretched.

You stumble away from him trying to keep the fire between you.

“I spent time with you because I thought you were nice!” You say, throwing your hands up in frustration though it makes you dizzy.

You trip over your feet and fall, Laventon rushing over to help you. You just scream and call out to your starter Pokémon, trying to get to your feet.

The beast doesn’t even flick their ears at the stimulus and your heart drops down like an elevator from the top floor of the Hancock Building.

“Hey! You’re alright!” Laventon says, his hands land on your hips and you throw your weight as hard as you can away from him.

You feel heavy, like you’ve had weights tied to your limbs as you try to dig into the ground below you for leverage. You manage to pull yourself forward, but quickly lose steam, flopping to the earth.

You make a strangled yelp as Laventon slips his arms under yours and drags you back to the fire. You struggle as best as you can while you fight your eyelids closing shut.

He pulls your limp body onto your sleeping palette, and walks over to your starter. Poor thing completely unknowing to the world.

“Wait!” You yell. “Don’t!”

Laventon simply returns your Pokémon to their ball and turns around with an offended look.

“Did you genuinely think I would hurt them?” His eyes look misty as he turns towards you. “I’m a professor that studies Pokémon… I would never cause them harm!”

You can barely even keep your head up your body is so heavy.

“So you think drugging an unsuspecting person and their Pokémon isn’t harming them?” You manage somewhat coherently, the last of your words starting to slur.

“There won’t be any negative side effects, I’m a researcher first and foremost, I made sure.”

Laventon sighs, brushing the skin of your cheek as he sits by you on your sleeping palette.

“I wish it hadn’t been this way, I didn’t…” he sighs, you close your eyes unable to face his lies anymore. “I didn’t want this. But we’ll have a fresh start you and I, there’s a ship at Prelude Beach that will take us to Galar, my home region.”

You feel tears slide down your cheeks, even if you can’t budge your eyes open. Laventon just wipes them away with a handkerchief and soft coos of reassurances that make you want to puke.

“Ingo?” you warble, begging to God and Arceus that he’ll show up to stop this madness.

“Ah,” he says bitterly, a tone you’ve never heard from him before. “Don’t worry, Warden Ingo won’t be joining us.”

Oh god please.

Not Ingo.

He didn’t deserve that.

“You’re thinking the worst of me again, love.” He says, smoothing a finger over the quirk in your brow as you fight to remain conscious. “He simply never got your letter, I convinced your Staraptor to give me it instead.”

You let out a small gasp for air as your heart thuds harshly in your chest.

“So now it’ll be just the two of us. Making a future together… you will have to leave behind your flute, the Legendary Trio of course.

“Ah well we have an appointment with the ship captain at dawn so we must make our way down the mountain quickly,” he says as he gathers you up and onto his back, your arms dangling limply as he holds up your thighs.

“If you behave, you’ll get to wave goodbye when the sun rises.”

You slip away then.

Into the void.

Knowing you’ll never see Ingo…

or your friends…

or your family….

“Darling?”

Your thoughts move like syrup.

“Oh goodness, can you open your eyes for me?”

You do, though you groan at the stark white lights. Your vision is blurred and swirling for a moment, as you blink slowly.

Your vision clears and you recognize the mass that moves in front of your face. You try to jerk up into a sitting position but something holds you down.

“There you are! Fantastic! Fantastic!” She says gleefully, she moves from above you and away into the harsh glare of the room.

You twist your head, trying to tug and pull against the force holding you down. You dart your eyes around, blinking harshly once you accidentally look into the sharp lights that are set up above you, and hiss at the pain.

“Oh! Be careful, I don’t want you getting hurt, I need you to calm down,” she says from her vantage point.

Your neck is free enough for you to pull your head up to look at her. Viola… gym leader of Santalune City.

She’s standing by an expensive looking camera on a tripod while she sets up as she extends the neck up high into the air, next to a ladder. There are lights all around you, and you lay spread out like a Staryu on a large platform.

She walks back over to you, pressing you flat to the surface with an open palm against your chest. Her soft smile twisting, and you wonder if she can feel how hard your heart pounds underneath your ribs.

“Why?”

She blinks, before laughing. Her laugh echoes and bounces around the empty stage, it makes your ears hurt and you clench your teeth as you try to jerk up and away from Viola.

“Why?” She asks incredulously, leaning over to cup your cheek. “I told you! Don’t you remember when you challenged my gym?”

You think back.

You don’t remember any possible reason why you’d be held captive on an empty sound stage by a gym leader.

You open your mouth to say as much, but she presses the hand on your cheek to cover your mouth. Her expression is so loving looking down at you.

“That determined expression… the glint in your eyes that tells me your up for a challenge…” she says, with a cooing tone. “You’re fantastic! Just fantastic!”

“That’s it?” You ask, though it comes out severely muffled against her hand.

“Did you expect more? Don’t worry, after your photo shoot I’ll show you how fantastic I think you are.” She says, walking away from you with the soft tread of her boots.

“No- no photo shoot you have to let me go,” you say, trying to move out of bonds you can’t see.

“Oh darling please don’t struggle so much, I want you to be lucid. Otherwise you don’t have that… spark! I want to capture your essence in the perfect photo!”

You just struggle harder, barely able to arch your neck as is… until you see it.

A shiny plastic nob.

Like the top of a push-pin.

“Oh! You noticed!” She says with glee, pulling out a needle the length of your forearm with a point in the shape of an arrow at the end. “Have you ever seen a taxidermied Vivillon? Their wings all spread out and the body pinned beautifully to the board… it’s a wonderful way to capture their beauty.”

Your heart beats so hard in your chest as you start to hyperventilate.

She’s gonna kill you.

Stick you with pins.

You scream as she gets closer, begging for somebody, anybody. Tears run down your cheeks as you buck with the best of your ability to get off the slab you’re on.

But all she does is carefully lay the needle against the mat and grasp your cheeks with her hands.

“Oh shhhh, you’re alright darling. It’s okay, I’m sorry, you’re fine.” She coos softly, wiping your cheeks with her callused thumbs.

The whiplash of the situation makes you shake, your head spinning from the adrenaline in your system as your captor tries to soothe you.

“Shhh, take a deep breath, breathe with me love,” she says, keeping your head still as you shudder in place. Despite yourself, you end up listening to her as you slowly wind down in to shaky breaths.

You’re still shaking, looking at her in horror as you press yourself down against the canvas, still trying to get away from her touch.

“Oh darling, please settle down, I really don’t want to use medicine for you to stay calm.” She says, lightly stroking her nails across your scalp. “Can you promise you’ll be good and let me take your photo? And then we can leave the studio and cuddle okay?”

You just stare at her.

You feel sweat run down from the crown of your head past your ear to your neck.

But you stay still.

“Darling, can you nod to show me you understand?”

You nod.

You don’t want whatever medicine she has to make you compliant.

“Fantastic! Just fantastic, I knew you’d see my vision.” She says, wiping the sweat that beads on your brow away.

You just stay as still as you can.

“Why can’t I move?” You ask.

“Oh! Because you’re pinned love, I had to get these special needles-,” she says tapping the needle out of sight above you. “So I could keep you nice and secure with the arrow tip.”

Your eyes spill over with fresh tears.

“So you stabbed me with needles?” You say, sudden hysteria making your voice rise in pitch.

“Oh no! No no no no no- I would never!” She says, shaking her head, she places a hand over your own and you feel it muffled through… cloth.

You want to look down to confirm your fears but her hand on your face keeps you flush to the table.

“I put you in a costume my dear, pinned the pieces down to keep you still! You’re dressed like a pretty little Butterfree!”

You take a shuddering breath.

“You changed my clothes?” You warble out.

“Only because I needed the perfect picture to start our new life together! You dressed up as a beautiful Butterfree…” she says, squeezing your hand pinned to the platform.

“The only thing,” she says with a soft chuckle, smoothing out the lines of wrinkles on your forehead. “The only thing we need is your smile…”

How the fuck could anybody smile about a situation like this?

“Do you remember my leader tagline?” Viola asks you leaning over to look you directly in the eyes with a soft smile.

You just shake.

You don’t.

But you don’t know what she’d do to you if you weren’t playing along with her idea of a relationship.

“Oh, don’t worry, there’s no wrong answers. It’s okay if you don’t remember.”

You know she’s trying to reassure you, but you’re so scared you’re afraid to swallow much less blink.

“They say I’m “The camerawoman who never lets a single smile escape her focus,” and that’s true! I live for the wonderful smiles, especially the trainers that challenge my gym!” She says, her hand cups your cheek.

“When I saw your smile after you beat me… I realized I couldn’t let you escape my focus!”

You’re clearly starting to spiral, because for a brief moment in the looming dread of being trapped with this woman, you almost consider it romantic.

“So I kept following your journey, seeing your posts of your victories and your losses… but what always stuck out was your smile!”

You just continue to stare, while she gives you a disappointed smile when you don’t reciprocate a declaration of love to someone who kidnapped you.

She stands up and then walks over to the ladder and the camera suspended above you.

“I’ll hurry up and then get you out of the costume. And then we can cuddle! Doesn’t that sound nice?” She says conversationally.

You just close your eyes and try to figure out how you’re going to get away from her, from this stage, from Kalos if you can.

You don’t want to end up like a taxidermied insect Pokémon with actual pins in your body if you manage to upset her.

She climbs the ladder and when you open your eyes you see the lens of the camera staring down at you.

In the reflection you see pretty white Butterfree wings… splayed out underneath you. The rest of the costume is black and you’re too far away from the lens to make out details like textures to tell how you look.

But the feeling of her eyes through the lens makes you lock up in fright.

“Ok, I’m going to take a few photos, that way once I get them developed I can show you the rest of my collection! I have a whole wall in my room dedicated to you!”

You just stare.

“But, I promise I’ll let you up faster… if you wouldn’t mind… giving me a smile?”

She says it like you’re dating and she’s trying to be coy.

It makes the deep pit of your stomach turn and run cold.

“Please darling? It’d be just fantastic!”

You imagine yourself at the police station while Viola is being lead away in cuffs, standing in the fresh air with the breeze on your skin.

You envision the smile you’ll have once she’s far away and behind bars.

The corners of your lips turn up.

You vision goes white with the flash.