Chapter Text
Warmth.
It was the first sensation I felt upon waking up. An all encompassing warmth that I hadn’t felt in what felt like an eternity. I didn’t want it to end, but...
Heaving a small, quiet sigh and basking in the pleasant feelings rolling across my skin, I opened my eyes. Going off sounds and smell, it was a hospital room. Again...
I really needed to stop ending up in these.
It was also a dark hospital room. The lights were off, I didn’t have any windows, and the whole place was pitch black.
Still, though, even though I couldn’t see anything, I could still feel a weight bearing down on my left side. I could still hear it.
I didn’t know it was possible to miss a buzzsaw sounding off in your ear. It had only been a week and some change, but I was so happy to have it back.
“You’re here,” I breathed out.
The quiet admission didn’t feel real. None of this did. So many hopeless fights. An entire kingdom against us. A frozen god beyond comprehension.
The orb.
Emilie.
I moved on instinct, pushing up from the bed, only to flounder and collapse back down against the sheets as my bed partner refused to let me go.
The snoring stopped.
“...Lea?” A raspy, sleep deprived voice broke through the now overwhelmingly loud silence. May slowly shifted, rubbing her eyes. A beat passed where she froze, and I could just imagine the hamster running on the wheel in her head running faster, before tripping and being spun around a few times. “LEA!”
That was loud! Oh, fuck that was loud and right in my ear.
The previously frozen girlfriend sprung up from the bed like it was on fire and flipped on the lamp by our bed before very roughly getting back in my face, pulling me up into a sitting position and started manhandling me.
“You’re awake!” Volume control still wasn’t functioning, got it. Her hands pulled my eyes open wide, as if she was examining them. “How do you feel? Everything working upstairs alright? Any headaches, nausea, weakness?”
What was with the rapid-fire questions?
“Oh god, you’re brain damaged, aren’t you? That’s why you’re not saying anything. I–”
“May!” I shouted, putting an end to the menagerie of stupid health related questions. “I’m fine, honest. Calm down.”
May stopped, before suddenly pulling me into a bone-crushing hug, pushing all the air out of my lungs in a sickening, half-choked out wheeze. “Fine.” The word was spat out with a contemptuous degree of hatred that terrified me to my core. “A week long coma isn’t fine, Lea.”
...I’m sorry how long? Why was my vision getting spotty? Air. Right. Need air. I tried to talk but no words came out. Only frantic, half-impassioned gasps.
A small click and the room lit up. “May, if you don’t calm down and let her go, I'm going to become an only child, and after the last few days I would really rather not.”
May froze, seemed to ponder it for a second, before loosening her grip. I breathed deep, desperately grateful for every bit of oxygen I could shove into my lungs. I slowly extricated myself from her hold, my heart pounding hard in my chest at just who that voice belonged too.
“Sis?” I turned toward the voice, wincing at the sight.
Eye bags and dark circles stared back at me as I looked her in the eyes. Her hair was a mess, but considering her usual bed head it honestly wasn’t–
Was my sister sleeping in a damn chair? I’m going to murder this hospital staff, especially if it’s who I think it is.
“I think you’re giving me grey hairs.” She smiled tiredly before pushing herself up and walking towards me. “Thanks for finally waking up, dork. This one was getting worried.”
May glared. “Says the person that’s been camping in here all week.”
“Have I really been out of it for that long?” I asked, my voice sounding far away.
Eve nodded grimly, pointedly ignoring my girlfriend's taunt. “Yeah... you not waking up after the doctor fixed up all the random injuries you picked up on your little field trip definitely worried me. Like, a lot.” She gave me the stink eye. “Which, by the way, was not a short list. You’re going to have a small scar across your nose now, you’re lucky that cut wasn’t any higher.”
“We were hoping it was just exhaustion, then Brawly woke up a few days ago and... the doctor mentioned the aftereffects of head trauma and well.” May turned away, a light dusting of red flitting across her cheeks. “I may have let my imagination run wild. Sorry.”
Eve smiled. “I told you you were worrying over nothing; my sister can’t damage something she doesn’t have.”
“Rude,” I shouted, completely offended, before glancing back over to my overly worried girlfriend. “If it’ll make you feel better, call whoever’s on staff now to come give me a once-over now that I'm awake. I really do feel fine, but–”
“Already pressed the call button.” Eve waved the remote around before leaning forward and pulling me into another hug. “We need to really work on that hero complex you seem to be developing.”
“It wasn’t my fault this time,” I whined.
Eve pulled back and sighed. “Don’t worry. I’ve kind of... had time to cool off.”
Why did May just shiver?
“I’m not really mad at you, just... worried. Not every day your little sis stumbles onto something that can take down a gym leader.” Her tone turned venomous as the last few words of the sentence left her lips. “That punk better not show his face to me again if he knows what’s good for him.”
Years of living with this woman beat back the urge to defend Brawly, and I ultimately took the win and kept my mouth shut.
The door to my room popped open, and... yup. Same doctor I had from before.
...except he looked like a wreck, what the hell? “Uhm, yes, Eve, I mean, Sakai-sama. Did you need something or–”
“She’s awake, do your job.” The two statements were short and final.
“Right.” The man hopped before all but running to my side, a small light pulled out from his pocket in his left hand.
Why did I have the sinking feeling that Eve wasn’t mad at me because she spent the better part of the last seven days being an unholy terror to everyone else? Ah well, at least May seemed fine.
I blinked briefly at the light as I was examined, before answering the litany of questions that May had asked me earlier in a much more calm and professional manner. I heaved a sigh once he finally left and cast a nervous glance towards May and Eve. “I don’t suppose either of you have any info on my team?”
The collective wince felt like someone took a baseball bat to my stomach. “Emilie–”
“–is currently in medical stasis,” May cut me off before I could go into a full panic. “They’re... honestly not entirely sure what’s wrong with her exactly. She’s not in mortal danger, though. Near as everyone at the center can tell.”
That... wasn’t good, but it was better than I was expecting. Regice made it seem like this was some insurmountable death sentence. “Do they have any ideas, at least? I can tell them what happened.”
“Sol filled us in.” The fact that May had a shit-eating grin while she said this made me feel a bit better, at least. The situation couldn’t be that bad if she’s gloating. “Told you that you two would hit it off.”
“The Joy was stumped on what to do, and the inquiries to other more specialized doctors haven’t turned up anything fruitful yet,” Eve cut in, rolling her eyes at my girlfriend. “The good news, however, is that the girl with the big scary dragon had an idea on how to help. Wally also seemed confident.”
May it up. “Oh, I should probably text him. He’s going to–”
I all but pounced and pulled the phone out of May’s hands before holding him close in the world’s weirdest hug. “Sergei, I’ve missed you so much, you have no idea.”
His screen lit up, and I felt the decals on the back of the phone move slightly. Was he laughing? I think he was laughing. A simple I missed you too scrolled across the screen as May took him back.
“You missed my phone more than you missed me,” she pouted.
Adorable.
“Words don’t exist to describe how wrong that statement is.” I pulled her into a hug. “My sister, however, is also in the room.”
“And is currently gagging.” She thwacked me on the forehead. “Do you wanna hear about your Pokémon or not?”
I winced. “Sorry.”
“Right, well. Dragon girl–”
“Zinnia,” May cut Eve off. “Really wish we had Wally with us for that second run through Petalburg Woods. Would have made that whole encounter a lot less nerve-wracking knowing she was just a dragon obsessed nerd. She–”
“An old Mawile gave me the details. Emilie had to translate her goofy speech patterns into something recognizable, but I got the gist. Y’all kicked some ass in that–”
“Would the two of you shut up for like, five minutes!” Eve yelled, the vein on her forehead throbbing dangerously. “How the hell does Wally deal with you two for extended periods of time?”
“We’ll be good,” I muttered as May nodded quickly.
“Good, Zinnia and Wally are supposed to be bringing back this super big shot scientist to come look at Emilie and fix her up. They’ll be back tomorrow. Apparently, he’s helped with something similar in the past and that’s why her... I guess Salamence looks so weird.” Eve rubbed her eyes. “I guess technically it’d be today. You couldn’t have woken up at a reasonable hour?”
“How about everyone else?” I asked, making it a point to ignore her bellyaching. “Did they just need to be thawed?”
Eve winced. Again. “Well, most of the rest of your team were fine. It’s just...”
“Apollo’s down a leg. Permanently.” May held me tight as she delivered the news Eve was dancing around.
I…what?
“I need to–”
May cut me off with a stern glare. “You will be keeping your cute little ass parked in that bed until the doctors say it’s alright if you leave. At least until it’s actually morning outside.” She sighed. “I… understand, but you need to take care of yourself first. Your team will be happier to see you on your feet, capiche?”
My throat clenched as I tried to find a way to argue with her and failed. “How’s Apollo–”
“He actually seems oddly okay with it. Something about sea legs being less important than sea wings and that he’d be perfectly happy with a peg leg.” May chuckled lightly at my answering facepalm. “Yeah, that was about my response too.”
“Damn it, Apollo…” I sighed before nodding at May. “Tomorrow morning–”
“We’ll leave to check on your team. Assuming the doctors don’t chain you to the bed and you can walk to the center,” Eve finished, looking far more exhausted than she had a moment ago. “Please.”
I nodded once. “Deal.”
Holy fucking hell, it was really there. How the hell did Regice do this? This should have caused a disaster. Tidal waves, earthquakes, something!
The damn thing loomed through the windows of the hospital foyer. A monolith half destroyed by war that towered over the city of Dewford. Just... how? The size of the island had to have easily doubled... and I watched Brawly destroy those buildings, how the fuck were they back!?
“I still can’t believe you ran through that entire castle.” May placed the release forms into my hands and brought her fingers below my mouth to close my dropped jaw. “Like, you abhor exercise. Your team all say the same thing, and I still don’t believe it.”
“I had a lot to lose and a lot of big scary ice monsters chasing me,” I replied, my voice sounding breathy as I signed myself out. “That... didn’t cause a massive tsunami, right? Everyone’s still okay on the mainland, no giant wall of watery death aimed at our lovely little hometown of Petalburg?”
“Oddly enough, no. Thank, well, I guess one legend in particular. Apparently being a literal deity of ice gives our frozen kidnapper a certain degree of control over the ocean, as long as it’s cold enough. Now then...” She took the papers from me, then leaned further forward and stole a kiss. “Thanks for saving me.”
It took a minute for my brain to reboot. “A-anytime.”
She fucking giggled.
“Adorable.” Eve grabbed the forms from May and passed them to the nurse before sighing. “Can we start making tracks towards the center? I know Lea wants to check on her team. If she’s desperate enough to sign herself out AMA, then she can get a move on and not spend the whole morning making doe eyes at her girlfriend.”
“Errr... weren’t we supposed to meet up with Brawly at some point?” May asked, turning away from me, much to my chagrin.
“Brawly’s supposed to meet us there.” Her eyebrows pulled down and her upper lip pulled up as the gym leader’s name left her lips, like the action of speaking his name was the equivalent of smelling something foul.
I was too worried about my first two Pokémon to care.
“I still say we could have stuck around for a bit to work on your legs,” May muttered as she grabbed the back of my wheelchair and started moving us towards the automatic doors. “Emilie’s in stasis until Wally’s uncle gets here later this afternoon, and both Wally and Zinnia seemed incredibly optimistic that he would know what to do. Not to mention that Apollo seemed... weirdly enthusiastic about the prospect of having a peg leg.”
“Says the chick that spent two days by her Ivysaur’s side while the nurse did her thing,” Eve countered before I even got a chance.
“I’m not saying I don’t get it, and honestly, I’d probably be freaking out more, I just...” May sighed. “I worry.”
“I understand.” After the nightmare I just went through, I knew the feeling rather intimately. “But I really need to see my team. I want to be there for Apollo, even if he is being his usual pirate-brained weird little self about this.” I sighed. “I’m not sure if it’s really hit him yet or not. Besides, even if Walter can help Emilie, I know she’s going to freak out as soon as she wakes up, and I really want to be there for her and that it happens as soon as possible.”
“Like I said, I got it. That’s why we didn’t fight too hard.” The doors slid open and May moved forward. “Just be prepared to work with me on those exercises to get your strength back.”
“Long periods of time where I get to cling to my girlfriend while I walk in a straight line, however will I survive.” A grin pulled at my lips as I pointed forward. “Now, full speed ahead, my dutiful, amazingly spectacular lady love!” I shouted over the light clicking of the wheelchair wheels rolling off the tile entryway of the hospital onto the cement sidewalk outside. “My Pokémon need me!”
“Yeah... no.” May’s breath hit the back of my head. “Much as I would love to drive you around, we need to get your leg muscles working again.”
“But–”
“No one’s in mortal peril, they can survive the extra five minutes it takes for you to figure out how to walk in a straight line again,” Eve cut me off with one of her looks.
I opened my mouth, fighting with myself. Honestly, the idea of being pushed into the center in a wheelchair probably wouldn’t be the most morale boosting of entrances. Still though...
May sauntered around the chair and gave me a grin before looking away nervously and pushing her index fingers together. “You could... lean on me for the trip. I’ll make sure you won’t fall and we’ll still make good time.”
“...help me up.” I glanced away, my face suddenly feeling unreasonably hot.
“You’re both nauseating, I want you to know this.” Eve’s tone was light and teasing, and the grin felt equal parts insulting and infuriating.
I rolled my eyes at the teasing before tensing my legs and grabbing May’s offered grip. “You’re...” Arms shook as I pulled up. “just mad...” A grunt pushed its way out between words as I shakily gained altitude. “because you’re still... painfully single.”
Holy fucking hell, that was a head rush. My legs felt like jello being held up by straws.
“Easy.” May tucked one of her arms beneath mine. “We just need to take it slow first. The doctor said you’d probably be weak for a few days.”
“Guess this is the cost of signing out early, huh?” I chuckled dryly before leaning on May. “I’ve been asleep for a week; I shouldn’t be this tired from just standing up.”
“It’s what you get for pushing yourself so hard.” Eve flicked my forehead. “There’s a reason you don’t see Mega Evolution that often.”
“Didn’t have a choice,” I muttered. “Look, you can scold me more on the way to the center.”
Eve’s grin turned malevolent. “Is that an invitation?”
I turned my nose up at her. “No!”
***
“See, that wasn’t so bad, and we only had to stop for you to catch your breath once.” May beamed at me as she pulled me into a sideways hug. “We’ll have you moving around on your own two feet in no time.”
I nodded before glancing nervously at the center. “Right.” Taking a deep breath, I extricated myself from May’s embrace before standing up straight on slightly shaky legs. “Let’s do this.”
“Easy!” May chided. “Falls would be... less than ideal. Are you sure you don’t–”
“I wanna present a strong front, at least for what I'm walking into.” I glanced back towards May. “If nothing else, I'm sure my team will be happy that I'm mostly alright and... are you shivering.”
May blushed. “It’s... been hard to stay warm since... what happened.” She sighed. “You’re surprisingly warm.”
I frowned slightly before reaching over and grabbing her arm. “I’ll just say I missed you and play it off once we’re inside.”
“Cute,” Eve commented before May could reply. “Can we go in now?”
“Patience is a virtue, and yes we can,” I snarked before stepping into the center lobby.
“Yeah, we both know it’s one I lack, so cram it.” Eve flicked my head before reaching her hand out and stopping me as a Chansey ran in front of us full speed pushing a gurney with an injured Sandslash on top.
From the looks of things, this wasn’t an isolated incident, either. A number of Pokémon looked to be in pretty bad shape as trainers shuffled about anxiously in the waiting area.
I had to rub my eyes to make sureI wasn’t seeing triple, but there were three separate Nurse Joys wandering in the back. Each directing a different group of Chansey to do certain tasks.
“What on earth is happening here?” I asked.
May sighed before carefully moving us forward through the chaos. “There were a lot of Pokémon in that castle that needed urgent medical care.”
I frowned. “Regice couldn’t have slowly thawed them out? Spaced them out a bit?”
“He has been.” Eve snorted. “The idiot in chief gave the big guy a rough estimate of the center’s capabilities and he’s been sending them in batches. Of course, this doesn’t take into account the other trainers who have wounded Pokémon, and all the wild Pokémon that took refuge here when the snowstorm hit.”
“Right...” Probably needed to have a word with Brawly about that. Maybe with Persephone and Lucas too.
“Thankfully, today’s group appears to be the last batch.” The Joy closest to the desk sent her Chansey away before turning and shooting us one of the most tired smiles I had ever seen. “Happy to see you up and around, for more reasons than you can possibly imagine.”
“Happy to free up some beds?” I asked cheekily.
“Oddly enough, no. Since the Pokémon we’re treating are rather eager to return to Dewford’s new addition, rooms haven’t quite been the issue.” Nurse Joy forced a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Your team is just... quite the handful.”
I frowned. “Have they been giving you trouble? I’ll set them straight, don’t worry–”
“Nothing quite that bad, don’t worry. The first few days were a bit rough, which was a bit expected. They had gone through quite the ordeal, and both you and your... Kirlia being in a coma didn’t help matters too much.
My lips pulled down into a grimace at the reminder. “Uh, about Emilie, my Kirlia, how is she?”
Nurse Joy shook her head. “It’s completely unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. It’s like her body’s at war with itself. The rejuvenation chamber we had on hand dealt with the worst of her injuries, but it’s like her body is just... rejecting other parts of her body.” She sighed. “She’s currently in stasis to stop her condition from worsening.”
“Basically what May told me last night. That’s... not good,” I muttered. “Was... kind of hoping for slightly better news.”
“If it makes you feel any better, your Pelipper has adapted to his new situation incredibly well. He was a bit down early on, though it had more to do with ‘his mates being in a sorrier state than his own scallywag self’ and ‘that no good captain not waking up when her bonnie lass is worrying over her’ than anything relating to his leg.” A smile pulled at the nurse’s lips. “He’s quite a character. Our local teleporter has been giving me the highlight reels of his speeches while he’s on break.”
A dry chuckle filled the brief silence. “Yeah... yeah that sounds like Apollo.”
“The rest of your team is in tip-top shape after being thawed. Your Absol was out of commission the longest, having just woken up yesterday.” She gave me a playful glare. “I understand it was an emergency, but in the future, please don’t try to use your mega stone until you’re adequately prepared."
“Right... my Absol... heh, happy to hear she’s doing well now.” I glanced nervously at May, then relaxed at the overly pleased smile she was shooting me.
“Told you that you two would get along.” She was practically glowing. “This is why you should listen to your girlfriend more.”
“Yeah, yeah...” I grumbled.
“Didn’t she listen to you when y’all went down there in the first place and she stayed up here?” Eve asked, head tilted to the side.
“...That still worked out, technically.” May made it a point to look anywhere but at Eve. “Would you have preferred your little sister going into the abyss?”
“I would prefer it if all of you stop finding the most dangerous spots in Hoenn to have your adventures,” Eve deadpanned.
“Would you all like to be taken to your teams’ room?” Nurse Joy cut in, waving her hand towards the hall that led to the trainers' rooms.
I nodded and took the lead before the two favorite women in my life got the chance to start fighting, all but dragging May with me as I moved.
...Who am I kidding? I’m not dragging anyone anywhere right now. To be honest, if she didn’t start moving with me, I probably would have just ended up flat on my ass.
The hustle of movement was muted as we moved further down the hallway towards our room, and nerves started to settle back in once we got closer. It was... odd, not having anything to focus on.
“Speaking of Sol, I did manage to patch things up with her, and we did kind of come up with a solution,” May said, filling the silence. “We’ll discuss the details a bit once we’re in the room and we can talk with Sol and her dad.”
“Right.” I nodded once. “Thanks for distracting me.”
“Anytime.” May grinned. “I like to think I excel at distracting you.”
“Gag.” Eve pushed forward towards the door.
“Love you, sis.” I couldn’t help but giggle a bit, fuck, I missed this.
...why did it sound like muffled singing the closer we got to our room.
“Well, they sound happier than when I left them last time.” May’s lips pulled up into a grin as Eve pulled open the door.
‘–leave her Johny, leave her, ohh, leave her Johny, leave her–’
The entire room was an eclectic disaster, the likes I had never seen before in my lifetime. Papers strewn about, lamps were knocked over, a half-gnawed on bone rested abandoned by a jovial looking Samie, the Trapinch's jaw nodding along in tune with the song.
‘–cause the voyage is long and the winds won’t blow and it’s time for us to leave her–’
Leshy was lazing about next to the glass door, his flower bud looking positively radiant in the morning sun as he snoozed, and a pair of Hello Skitty headphones over his ears. Duskull’s mask rested near the Ivysaur, and I wondered if hiding in the shadows was doing anything for soundproofing.
‘Driftveil ships ain’t got no sails, haaaaaul away, haaaul away–’
Ogier and Nimue were both leaning against each other near a reasonably tall stack of empty bags strewn around my backpack. Nimue in particular looked to be in a sugar coma, and a trail of drool could be seen trailing from the Masqueraine’s mouth.
They had pilfered my cookies.
‘They all blown off in the northeast gale and we’re bound away for Alola.’
The centerpiece of the whole mess though was Joern, Sol, and Apollo, all hanging out on MY bed, in the middle of a mess of sheets that were wrapped together like a fucking bird’s nest.
‘So heave her up, my bully bully boys, haaaaaul way, haaaaaul away–’
Sol sat in the middle, a gift shop pirate hat resting atop her furry little head. Joern rested on her left, with an eyepatch covering his left eye and the leaf atop his head tilted to the side.
‘Heave her up and don’t you make a noise, and we’re bound away for Alola.’
By far the most ridiculous of the three though, was Apollo. A blue and black bandana wrapped itself around his head, a skull earring dangling just underneath the cloth. Black eyeliner could be made out just beneath his eyes as he sang, his wooden peg leg tapping against the bed post to keep time as they continued to sing.
‘Santiana gained a day, awaaaay santiaaaana.’
The three had their eyes closed, completely oblivious to the world around them as they swayed to and fro, Apollo’s wing and Joern’s arm thrown around Sol’s shoulders.
‘Heave her up, and away we’ll go, along the plains of Paldea.’
It was entirely too much.
“What in the fucking fucking fuck?” I shouted.
It was like a record scratched. Everyone in the room that had either been sleeping or singing, with the exception of Leshy, quickly stopped, turned to look at me in a manic, wide-eyed, half-terrified gaze.
‘Captain on deck!’ Apollo shouted, before flapping his wings flying down in front of me, his wing resting in a perfect salute, and his leg making a soft wooden thump sound as he landed.
Joern and Sol both just looked completely scandalized as they, for lack of a better option, hopped down on either side of him and did the same.
I breathed in through my nose, then slowly let the air out of my mouth and cast a sharp gaze at each member of my ragtag crew. My glare lasted the longest on the water butterfly, who honestly looked positively miserable, so I probably didn’t have to yell at her too much, but dammit I wanted those cookies for Emilie when she woke up.
“I’m laid up for a week, can barely walk, was half sick with worry once I heard what happened, and I come back to this.” I stumbled forward, snatching the hat from atop Sol’s head as a grin started to give the game away. “A completely thrashed Captain’s quarters, a mutiny most fowl,” I pulled the cheap piece of felt over my head over my head, “and fucking sea shanties!”
Apollo looked absolutely horrorstruck, his eyes alight with panic as he glanced nervously at the hat. ‘Captain, I know you probably can’t understand us right now, but I can–’
“Captain! That’s right. Look at me.” I pointed at him, then back at myself as giggles started to make their way through the fake outrage. “I’m… the Captain, and don’t for- pfffft ha ha ha ha.”
‘Oh, thank Davy Jones, the lass isn’t actually mad.’ Apollo sagged down in place before whacking both of his singing mates with his wings. ‘At ease, ye bilge rats.’
I turned back around to see both Eve and May in similar fits of giggles, before spotting something that made my grin split my face.
Sergei was out, and a big, bright red light was shining right beneath his camera lens.
“Sergei, fucking hell I missed you so much,” I squeaked before hopping over and grabbing him out of the sky. “How much of that disaster did you get? I need to see.”
‘Almost all of it, my lovely companion in mischief,’ Sergei replied in chatbox form.
Legends, I missed this little guy so much! “Think the video will do well on PokeTube? We can add some subtitles so other people can know what they’re saying.”
Sergei started his reply off with an emoji of an overly excited Growlithe. ‘You always have the best ideas.’
“I try.” The grin that pulled at my lips probably looked positively evil as both Joern and Sol paled considerably.
‘Don’t we get a say in this?’ Joern asked.
Sol nodded. ‘We were just... indulging Apollo a bit. Is it really necessary to share that with the world?’
Apollo, however, flew closer to the phone as Sergei started making a mock up for the video. ‘When you caption it, make sure to give me a fitting caption, eh lad? ‘Brave Warrior of the Sea’ feels like an apt title.’
Great, I’ve got two overly shy goofballs and a ham. This can only go well.
“Lea, if you’re going to hog Sergei, you have to translate.” May commented as she sidled up next to me and grabbed the phone, clicking through the chat log. “Also, don’t be mean to your Pokémon. Joern and Sol look positively mortified; they don’t need you sharing their private moments to the world.”
I winced. “I wasn’t actually going to commit, was just teasing them a bit.” I wilted under her glare. “Right, sorry guys. No video.”
Both members of my team sagged down in relief as Apollo wept over the loss of his internet fame.
“Just potential blackmail,” I tacked on, not quite wanting to let them get off the hook.
‘We usually do whatever you want anyways, why would you ever need blackmail?’ Joern tilted his head to the side. ‘Also, happy to see you up and around, Lea.’
“Happy to be up and around.” I smiled as I started translating to Eve and May. “How did your little acapella group start, anyway, if you’re so self-conscious about it.”
Sol hopped back up to the bed before laying down. ‘The old man was depressed and grumpy about you and Emilie being laid up, and his usual outlet was off with the gym leader helping him get things in order with the kingdom of Haelfire. Expect them to contact you sometime today about that, your majesty.’
“I don’t appreciate how much sass you’re inflecting into that word,” I grumbled.
‘Don’t care plus didn’t ask plus cry about it.’ Sol didn’t even open her eyes.
May gave me a Mareepish look. “She’s been conversing with Sergei.”
“Honestly, I’m just happy she’s conversing with anyone of her own free will.” I walked over and sat down on the bed, giving my tired legs a break. “Care to finish how a grumpy Apollo equals sea shanties, a... mostly trashed room, and a picked over cookie collection?”
Nimue raised a wing in protest. ‘In my defense, they were probably going to go bad soon if they didn’t get eaten. Emilie would be mad at me if I let perfectly good cookies go to waste.’
“Uh-huh,” I said, not buying it in the slightest.
‘I offered to join him in an activity of his choice in an effort to cheer him up, he suggested singing, and Sol joined in because it looked fun.’ Joern hopped up to join us on the bed.
‘No, I just felt bad.’ Sol lifted her head up and glared at him.
“She really is just a mini you,” Eve commented.
Joern scoffed. ‘I think she inherits more from Emilie, right down to the tsundere habits. Explain why your singing was so enthusiastic, then. I know I saw at least one smile during the whole thing, too.’
‘One, I’m telling Emilie you called her that when she wakes up. Two, you have absolutely no proof.’ Sol looked away from the group with a huff.
‘We have literal video evidence.’ Joern pointed to Sergei.
‘Quit yer arguing, the both of ye!’ Apollo hopped up on my lap. ‘Honestly, captain, ye can’t be leaving me alone with this lot. Keeping these scallywags in line is a full time job, and I'm getting too old to be babysitting.’
“I’ll try to avoid any future weeklong sabbaticals,” I commented. “How are you holding up?”
The bird waved me off. ‘Bah, it’ll take more than a peg leg to keep this old seadog down. ‘Sides, not like I use the damn things for much anyway, now that I’m a kept bird and don’t have to hunt much. If I’m walking around on the damn ground, something is incredibly wrong.’
I petted his feathers slightly. “That’s... still a bit of an adjustment. I–”
‘Quit yer worrying, lass. I’m fine, I promise ye. I gave up me leg in the service of our crew, and considering how high our other lass flew after the fact, I’d say it was well worth it.’ He sighed. ‘I’m just mad I didn’t get the chance to see it.’
‘I was pretty badass, huh?’ Sol’s smug look almost made me push her off the bed.
‘Definitely a lot like Emilie,’ Joern muttered.
‘Just keep digging that hole deeper, plant man. The psychic’s going to have a field day with you.’ Sol grinned at the resulting wince. ‘Regardless, Dad, stop hiding in the damn shadows and come visit, we got shit to talk about, remember?’
A subtle chill pushed through the room as Duskull pushed itself out of the shadows. ‘Whatever happened to the old adage of treating your elders with some semblance of respect?’
“They probably went out the window after spending any meaningful amount of time with my sister.” Eve leans down and thwacks me on the forehead. “Isn’t that right, brat?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I rubbed my head before tossing her my most innocent grin. “I behave only as you’ve raised me to.”
“That’s a fucking lie,” Eve countered.
I blew a raspberry at her before glancing over to the father daughter pair, lightly playing with Sol’s fur as I did so. “So, what’s up?”
She leaned into my touch with a low purr. ‘So, here’s the sitch. I do not jive with May’s team. At all. I blame you for this. I was decidedly normal before getting involved with you and now I think Leshy and Sammie are boring.’
Sammie whined lowly, causing the Absol to wince.
‘It’s not you, it’s me. I still think you’re adorable, I'm sorry.’ Sol had her head bowed as she said this. ‘You’re just very straightforward and don’t talk a lot, and I've gotten used to like, four pounds of sass with a side helping of snark in every conversation. Also doesn’t help that my... edgier days are still fresh in their minds.’
‘In their defense, it was only two and a half weeks ago, and they didn’t get the chance to see how big of a giant fluffy softy you are.’ Joern reached his hand out to pet Sol’s head.
Sol chased the offending appendage away with a snap of her jaws before glaring at Leshy. ‘Yeah, well, we aren’t clicking and as much as I loathe most of you on the best of days, you’re still fun to be around.’
Apollo chortled, then shot a look at the floating ghost phone. ‘Sergei, please tell me you logged that, I doubt the lass will ever say that again.’
An affirmative ding was the only reply.
‘Moving on.’ Duskull gave the lot of us a very tired look. ‘I’m old. Ghastly, in fact.’
“Actually, you’re a Duskull,” I said.
‘You’re spending too much time with Lucas.’ Joern muttered while rubbing his face.
May just scoffed. “My girlfriend just woke up from a weeklong coma. She’s allowed to make dad jokes if she wants.”
‘She can make them later. As the only dad here, I get final say on the matter.’ Duskull sighed. ‘My point is that I'm too old to keep up with your antics and while I would like to continue to be by my daughter’s side, I would like to do so from... at least a respectable distance from the crazy. I understand you ‘captured’ me during that whole fiasco to help keep me safe during the worst of that kerfuffle, yes?’
“No one says kerfuffle anymore, but yes.” I nodded. “Would you like me to release you?”
Duskull shook from side to side. ‘Not quite, actually. I’ve come to appreciate Leshy’s company, and Sammie is an adorable jellybean that I have decided to adopt. May is also a delightful girl that could do with a more... unconventional fighter. Our proposition is simple.’
“A trade,” I finished for him, then reached down into my pocket for my pokedex. “’My’ Duskull for ‘your’ Absol?”
May already had her dex out. “Works for me.”
A few scans and button presses later, and it was done.
“Alright, you are now, officially, mine, and have summarily lost any and all rights to complain about that fact.” I fully gave into the giddy feeling building in my stomach and ruffled the grumpy dark-type's hair. “Welcome to the team.”
‘I’m at that rebellious age, complaining will continue until morale improves.’ Sol’s deadpan delivery was betrayed by her own lips tugging up at the sides. ‘Now, where’s my secret decoder ring and fancy nickname.’
That brought me up short. “Uh... I’m going to be honest, I was just going to keep calling you Sol. It’s your name, right?”
Sol huffed. ‘Laaaame. Fine, it probably would get confusing at this point. Theoretically, though... If I were to get a name from your fancy pants video game, what would it be?’
Ah, got it. Someone shared info about the source material. Probably Sergei. Honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me if he started watching a let’s play with her. “If I were to give you a new name... it would be Shizuka.”
‘Good, to spare your puny brain the effort of relabeling me in your head, I will allow you to continue calling me Sol. Just know that I will also respond to that.’ Sol rested her head on my lap, allowing me to play with her head fur.
“That reminds me, would you like a name, Duskull, or would you prefer not to?” May asked as the ghost drew closer.
‘Honestly... I’m not used to being called Duskull, really. The change was quite recent.’ The ghost-type looked away. ‘I think a name would help, give me something to connect to better.’
“In that case... how do you feel about Kratos?” May asked.
I felt the vein on my forehead twitch. “So, to clarify, you constantly tease me about naming my team after video game characters, and then you proceed to name most of your team after video game characters.”
May just giggled, not even giving me an actual reply.
‘I am not opposed to the name,’ Duskull said, ignoring me as well.
Before I could berate them for the unfairness of it all, a soft cough pulled our attention to the door of our room.
Beach girl, who I guess was named Zinnia, and Wally both pushed through the door at the same time, preceding a moderately tall, older gentleman in a brown and green sweater and tan khakis. White hair framed an old, wizened face as he shuffled forward. A serene, somewhat vacant smile pulled at his wrinkled face as he offered a friendly wave.
“Hello, you must be Lucy. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person. Mary, lovely to see you again, of course, happy to see you’ve found your courage. I am to understand that you have a patient that needs tending too.” He walked forward and offered his hand to me. “My name is Dr. Walter Ranganathan, a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”