#I hope I got Ingo’s speech thing right

[robocatfan]

Arrival (Part 1)

(In which a lost Ingo finds himself in the sky world and its residents want his drip)

Just in case, I decided to call my au “Submas and the skykids”, just to differentiate it from the other one that’s going around.

(Also this is the first time I write Ingo so don’t be surprised if he doesn’t seem in character or is portrayed accurately. Also Blankshippers dni)

When Ingo finally decided to accept Arceus offer to send him back to his timeline and home, he expected it to be difficult in terms of emotions and leaving his new life behind. He had to leave the Pearl Clan, who had kindly offered him a place to stay and wished him a safe trip back. He had to leave Lady Sneasler, the noble who he had bonded with as a warden and who took him to a final trip to send him to his destination. He had to leave his pokemon team, who he had many battles with and whom he now placed in Professor Laventon’s care. And he had to leave Akari, another person who like him, had arrived to Hisui by a time rift and now was on her own journey back home.

It was hard, leaving so many things behind just to go to a place he barely remembered, and there was a chance that, even there, his memory problems and his time spent in Hisui could cause him trouble and difficulty adjusting back. But, it was something that had to happen. He didn’t belong in Hisui, he was from somewhere else. Where pokemon and humans finally coexisted peacefuly. Where he seemed to have had an important role in one of his region’s many cities. And where, he felt, someone was waiting, waiting for him to come back.

So, as he expected, taking that trip through that portal Arceus created was going to be hard emotionally, but it was something necessary and something he needed.

What he didn’t expected however was that, when he stepped in through it and was dizzed and almost blinded by the light from it, he was actually going to arrive somewhere completely different.

Ingo tiredly opened his eyes (wait, when did he go asleep?) and the first thing he saw was…grass? After blinking a bit, he confirmed that yes, it was grass. He looked up, and he instantly had to cover his eyes when the rays of the sun met him. It was dawn, judging by the position.

It seemed he had arrived somewhere. But where?

Finding his strength, he stood up from the ground (why had he been laying there?) and finally took a good look at his surroundings. And when he did, he could only stand in confusion at what he was seeing.

He was, apparently, in some small island with barely any other signs of land sight. In that island, there was what seemed to be a pond, with a round stone surface in the center, with red long things (candles, he realized) surrounding it. Speaking of the candles, there where also some of them standing in front of strange spaces behind the pond, all of them having what seemed to be an artistic despiction of a person, with what looked like horns and a triangle shaped body. Each one with a certain part of the figure’s body glowing more than the others (like the head or the legs).

The man followed the structures with his gaze, also finding a small statue and a a bigger round rock surface (with strange markings on it) situated in the middle of two of them, until his eyes ended up looking a bigger structure separated from the others by water, housing a large blue door.

“W- What?…”

Ingo stood there frozen, his brain fully processing all those sights. Where on earth was he?! He may have lost his memory, and he still couldn’t remember certain things about himself. But he was 100% sure that this was not the place where he originated from.

So many questions started to formulate in his brain. What was this place? Where was this place? What were those strange rectangles? Why were there candles in the floor? What was that giant door and where did it lead?

Then he thought back when he entered the portal that Arceus made. Why was he unconscious on the ground? Did the Pokémon god take him there on purpose? Did he took the wrong track and went here instead of his intended destination? How would he get back? Could he even get b-

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a loud ringing. A bell, sounding from the top of the structure that held that door, and then spreading to the strange rectangles. The man listened and watched as the sound went back and forth though the structures, before sighing and shaking his head.

He was getting ahead of himself. Panicking was not going to help him. He had to concentrate.

Ingo looked around once more, trying to find what to do. Then, he looked back at the area of the pond, and when he looked at his right again he noticed something; a small grey boat, partially covered in a white sheet.

The former warden’s eyes lit a bit. Did it belong to someone? And, was that someone still on the island? He double checked again, but there seemed to be no one apart from him. Where was the owner? Were they… sleeping under the sheet?

Ingo started to approach. It may have been impolite to check on someone else’s property without their permission, but his curiosity took over him. Besides, he didn’t exactly have much else to do, and whatever he found could probably give him a clue as to where he was.

The man started to get close, unaware of the small sound and thing that started to appear at the rock in the middle…

When he was finally in front of it, he noticed a small paper sign in the ground. He didn’t understand much of the words it said, but he could see a candle drawing in the middle, as well as some numbers. Was this a candle shop? That could be the explain where the candles on the ground came from, but he wasn’t sure about it.

He inspected the boat for a moment, before knocking on its smooth surface.

“Hello?” he asked, wanting to see if the owner was there. After a few seconds of silence, he knocked again, a bit more loudly. Again, nothing. It seemed that the owner wasn’t present.

Hesitantly, Ingo took hold of the sheet and moved it a little, peeking at what was under it, before in one swift motion pulling the entire sheet completely off the boat.

(He could have sworn that he also heard a scream and something falling in the water, but when he looked over it he found nothing).

What he did find however where some grey vases piled together, as well as some scrolls and strange glowing spheres. Nope, it didn’t seem like a candle shop, but it was something. Some of the vases seemed to sparkle, and they also looked like they contained some kind of liquid, but it clearly wasn’t water. Strange. What was all of this?

The man was so concentrated on his finding that he didn’t hear the small footsteps coming closer to him. So, just as he was about to leave the boat alone and place the sheet back…

*honk*

Ingo yelped, startled and immediately turned around to face… nothing. There was nothing.

*honk*

The sound repeated again before he thought he just had imagined it, and this time it was followed by something tugging at his coat. He looked down, and this time his gaze was greeted by, to his surprise, two little children, one of them holding his coat.

Oh.

“Um, hello?

The kids were small, their heads barely reaching his waist, and both of them had dark skin and white hair, though the one holding his coat had it in a ponytail while the other had it in what appeared to be a small side braid, with a bit of the hair sticking out in their head like a small flame. The differences ended there, however, as the two were wearing matching robes of what seemed to be a dull yellow- ish color, with short sleeves and a round circle in the upper area. Both of their faces were also strange, having no visible mouth, a crystal like - object in their foreheads and round glowing eyes, which stared at him unblinkingly. And finally, they both had a long brown cape in their backs, the front of it almost completely covering one of the kids’ bodies.

There was silence as Ingo and the kids stood there, staring at eachother. Once again, the man was surprised and confused. Where did this kids come from? While a part of him was a bit relieved that it seemed like he was not alone in… whatever this place was, he still wondered why they seemed to appear so suddenly when he previously hadn’t seen any signs of them. Have they been hiding somewhere? And why did they look so.. off?

His thoughts were interrupted, however, when the honking sound that had previously startled him came back, and when he focused again he saw one of the kids waving a hand in front of him.

“Ah! My apologies!” He said, his voice coming louder that he intended. He must have zoned out for a moment. The kids backed up a bit in surprise, but otherwise didn’t seem to mind much. Then, he continued “ Excuse me little ones, but I think I may have derailed a bit in my tracks. Do you have any idea of where this station is located?”

He didn’t get an answer. Instead, the kids glanced at eachother before staring back at him, confused. Then, the child with the ponytail let go of his coat and looked at it for a moment, before starting to pace around him, cape moving up and down with each step and bright eyes shining with curiosity.

Ingo watched the moving kid for a moment, noticing how they seemed to keep a bit of distance from him. Were they intimidated by him? He wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case. He was very conscious about the fact that, according to many people, he looked very intimidating and scary at a first glance. And the frown that was almost permanently plastered on his face didn’t really help with showing the contrary. Especially to children close to the age of the ones that currently were inspecting him.

But apart from their reaction when he spoke up and the small distance apart he had from the walking kid, they really didn’t look like they were very intimidated. Still, he didn’t move, just in case. Finally, after a few seconds, the kid with the ponytail got closer to him and poked his pants with a finger.

Ingo stared down at the small child before opening his mouth, intending to ask another question. But then, he heard another sound in the direction where the other kid was standing. It was way more quiet than the honking, but it was still noticeable.

“Hm?” He turned his head to stare at the other kid, and to his surprise he saw them holding something in their hands “Its… that a candle?”

He was quick to notice how the object had the same shape and color as the ones on the floor. But unlike them, it was lit by a small flame. A small, but very hot flame.

The kid, noticing his question, nodded their head before suddenly starting to approach him, lifting up their candle. Was he trying to give it to him?

“No thanks. I don’t currently need any candles” Ingo quickly said, lifting his arms and backing up a bit. The kid stopped his advances and shot him a confused look. They might have good intentions, but as far as he knew he didn’t need the candles, the ones in the floor already being useful to provide heat if he wanted to. And besides, he didn’t want to risk getting accidentally burned by it. Then he remembered that said lit candle was being held by a child, and he instantly started to worry “Are you following the safety protocols required to hold that thing? You shouldn’t be putting your hands that close to the flame, for if you aren’t careful you will get hurt. And where did you get that from? From the ones that are in the ground? And how did you know how to light it up properly?”

The small child blinked at him, notably confused by the former warden’s words. Finally, they shot him a very suspicious look before giving a shrug and starting to walk away, and after a few seconds they started running to the spaces behind the pond. Again, Ingo worried.

“Wait! Is extremely unsafe to-“

But said child didn’t seem to care or listen, continuing their very short trip even with the candle still burning in their hands. And suddenly, Ingo heard the same low sound. This time, it was accompanied by something very warm almost brushing against his belly…

The man winced and instantly stepped away, looking down to see that the kid with a ponytail was now holding a candle of their own. Ingo quickly checked to make sure that his clothes hadn’t been burned (and thankfully they weren’t) and looked back at the kid, who lifted up the burning object and started to walk at him.

“ Whoa! Hang on a moment!” he resorted just as the strange kid was about to touch him with their candle, making the child pause and look at him “while you might be trying to help me, that was a very protocol - unfriendly procedure! Candles like yours can be very dangerous if close to things that burn easily. That candle could hurt both of us if you aren’t careful”.

Like their companion before, the kid gave him a suspicious look and for a moment Ingo thought that they would also listen to his words and walk away. But instead, the kid gave both his candle and the man a glare before narrowing their eyes and resuming their approach.

“K-Kid??”

The former warden nervously backed away as the kid tried to get closer, looking more determined to give him the candle than their companion. But why though? And why the two kids didn’t listen to his warnings?

Whatever the answers to those questions were, trying to answer them while in his current predicament wasn’t the safest option.

Ingo took more and more steps back as the kid followed him, until he ended up bumping into something. Or rather, someone, as immediately afterwards he heard something similar to a short yelp.

“Sorry!” He said as he turned around to see who he had startled, only for him to almost scream as he saw the face of another kid, who unlike the other two, had a large blue and yellow bird-like head covering them.

(That and the fact that it was visibly made with some kind of material made him realize that the “faces” of the other children weren’t really faces, but actually brown masks covering them).

The new kid, who had a red cape and a blue outfit with dark pants and boots unlike the others, made a sound a bit different than the honks he heard (which also made him realize that the kids were the ones making them) and looked just as surprised to see him as he was to seeing them.

Ok now Ingo was more confused. Moments before there were just two kids with him and now they were three. When did that one arrive?

His questioning didn’t last long however, as just a second later the kid with the ponytail dashed to the newcome ‘s side (gaining what Ingo could only assume was a “hey!” from the other child as they were almost pushed by the move) and tried once again to get their candle closer to the man, who backed away instantly.

The former warden was barely paying attention to the new kid while trying to get away from the other, but he did see that the child’s expression changed from one of surprise to curiosity and intrigue and after a moment they too decided to follow him as well. Unlike the other, they merely looked to be curious.

Ingo tried again to protest to the kid, but his words died in his mouth the moment he heard more honking and he looked up to see, to his utter dismay, three more different kids standing on the rock in the middle of the island.

The smallest of them spotted him and signaled to the other two before ripping a whole candle from the circle on their chest and running towards him, their companions soon following after.

The man froze at that sight.

What on Arceus name?! Why were there more kids? Why did they all have strange masks and capes? Why where they all following him? Why did they want to give him candles? And speaking of the candles, why on earth did they appear from the kid’s chest?! What even was this place?!

A honk snapped him back to reality as he saw how the ponytailed kid and the small one put their candles close to one another, creating a faint glow that resembled the shape of a heart, before the taller kid pointed at Ingo and honked something at their new companion, who nodded in understanding and joined them in their little mission.

Ingo briefly considered trying to make a run for it (even though there wasn’t exactly much space in the island to do so), but quickly found his path obstructed by three of the kids, including the little one with the sidebraid.

The rest of the kids began to close all posible escape routes for the former warden, and before he knew it, he was completely surrounded on all sides by many, many kids, all of them staring with glowing eyes and holding their candles close to him.

Ingo gulped, seeing his situation. What had he gotten himself into?

[kineticallyanywhere]

i did a Google and i still dont understand emmet and ingo lore. i probably wont play the games but i am inlove with what i see. so i must ask, whats the lore??? whats goin' on?? indigo got lost??? lived with sneavels?? somehow time travel is involved? is emmet the lost one? am i a lost cause looking for answers? either way love your stuffs and hope you have a great day!!! don't feel pressured into answering! your cool!!!

thank you for enjoying my stuffs!! I wrote this up during the time I would have otherwise been spacing out today! I hope it helps!

The short answer: not much lore! Ingo and Emmet are identical twins that were introduced in generation 5 something like a decade ago. Other than some appearances in the anime, manga, and mobile game (Masters EX) we hadn't seen much of them since.

But then Legends Arceus came out. This game takes place centuries in the past and Ingo, the one in black who's always frowning, is just… there. And he has near total retrograde amnesia so he doesn't even know why he's there. And we don't actually know where/when Emmet is right now. But they split up the twins who just really like trains and battles and we're all kinda going nuts about it.

The Long answer: Ingo and Emmet are identical twins that were introduced in the generation based on the United States. They basically live in Poke-New York and run the regions subway system. The subway system is also a battle facility. In case you're not super fluent in main-line Pokemon games, a battle facility is basically a post-game dungeon where you have to fight through a certain number of battles in a row to be able to fight the bosses and win prizes and bragging rights.

And facility boss battles are ROUGH. In the storyline for a Pokemon game you can get yourself through it with pretty much any Pokemon as long as you level up enough. These facilities, though, have level caps that will automatically re-level your Pokemon to fit the cap and there's a list of Pokemon (mostly legendaries) that are banned from use there. Pun intended, they are ride-or-die on your ability to strategize. This on top of the fact that to fully interact with these facilities you have to have beaten the main game—meaning you're the Champion of the Pokemon league and [supposedly] the strongest trainer the the region—and they're STILL brutal, basically means that facility bosses could take over the government in an afternoon if they weren't battling addicts.

Another thing about facility bosses, though, is that the average player never encounters them. If you played Black 2 or White 2 there's a battle with the twins in the story line, but iirc it's pretty one-and-done. This did not stop their popularity in Japan. Trains are apparently much bigger over there and the funky train boys with the muppet mouths have a reputation as sexymen on pixiv.

As for their personalities, there's only so much to go off of. Ingo (the frowning one) speaks much more formally (in Japanese) and is very kind. Despite his stoic appearance, he's also HIGH energy. Based mostly on his VA in Masters EX, boy is LOUD. Sounds like he's gonna jump 3 feet in the air at any moment. He also has one of the only shouting speech bubbles I can remember seeing in Legends Arceus, if there even is another one. Based on his dialogue in Masters, he's also not super aware of his own facial expressions. Got some hard RBF. He's happy very often but the only game he's ever smiled in Legends (an angel, blinding, incredible). You can tell when he wants to be smiling, tho! He smiles with his eyes and it's adorable. He does smile in the manga and anime, but they're... different. Like off-canon from the games. Though in the manga the smiles like :3 and it's great

The other one, Emmet, is the smiley one in white. Emmet's speech is much more casual (in Japanese), even a bit stilted (in English). He's very blunt and tends to use very short sentences. On the battle subway in gen 5 he basically admits to saying a script; that he says the same thing every time. He seems to be easier of speech in Masters, but even that game all but admitted this last April Fools that "I am Emmet" is basically his catch phrase. Still, he's a nice guy! He just really likes Pokemon battles. A lot. People say he speaks fairly monotone, and maybe I'm just bad at picking up on if someone speaks monotone, but to me he sounds pretty normal. He's just standing next to Ingo all the times and Ingo expresses all of his emotions straight through his vocal chords at max volume. he also refers to Ingo has his older brother, addressing him as such in Japanese and telling the player in Masters the same. Oh, and he likes to say 'very' with 5 or 6 rs. Like verrrrry much.

For how they battle, they actually share Pokemon! Ingo runs the single battles section of the subway, Emmet runs double battles, and they team up for multi-battles. Emmet most often uses a wider variety of Pokemon since double battles require a 4 Pokemon team while single battles only have 3. The main partner Pokemon for them in the anime are Chandelure for Ingo and Eelectross for Emmet (Emmet does use Chadelure for one of his double battles in the game, but as far as I know Ingo never uses Eelectross). Ingo also references Chandelure as his partner in Legends, though he can't remember the name. In Masters Ingo uses Excadrill and Emmet uses Archeops; I've heard because they work better together in the context of the game. Their new partners in Masters, Accelegor for Ingo and Escavalier for Emmet, are Pokemon that can only evolve when traded for each other, and will evolve at the same time. Which means they each raised the other's Pokemon and that's BEAUTIFUL.

In Legends Arceus, Ingo doesn't have any of his old pokemon. His new ace seems to be a Gliscor, since its a couple levels higher than the others. He's the only clan member in that game that uses pokeballs (otherwise only used by the foreign Galaxy Team members). He's also the only person other than the player to use Alpha Pokemon, which are HUGE Pokemon with boosted stats.

Some frequent things you'll see that are based in the games but you won't find on a wiki:

Ingo's favorite movie in gen 5 is Earthquake, which is a very powerful move that hits EVERYONE on the field, even allies. Emmet has a Pokemon that knows earthquake too, but 3 out of 7 of Ingo's know Earthquake. Both the Pokemon he brings to the multi-battles have it. One of them is a Pokemon called Haxorus, which has an ability that negates other abilities; abilities like Levatate, which makes a Pokemon immune to ground type moves like Earthquake. Which is the ability Eelectross has, which would normally save it from taking damage. So Earthquake should hit Emmet's Eelectross too. But! Eelectross has a move called Gastro Acid which can negate Haxorus's ability, which reactivates it's own, saving it. But if for whatever reason Eelectross can't use Gastro Acid and that Earthquake goes off… RIP Eelectross. This whole Thing is fairly commonly referenced and very funny in an overly-complex way

Yes, he's using a move called Earthquake in a moving subway train.

Earthquake is not an available move in Legends Arceus :(

Emmet's Galvantula knows a move which it could only learn (in that generation) through breeding. You can't catch one with that move and you couldn't teach it via item, you had to breed a Galvantula/Joltik with the right Pokemon so that the move (cross poison) would be passed down. The baby will be a Joltik, the pre-evolved form of Galvantula. Joltik are tiny lil fuzzy bugs that like to eat the static off of clothes. So the idea that Emmet breeds Joltik and therefore has a million of them is hillarious. It's not canon, but it deserves to be. You'll see that a lot.

In Legends Arceus, Ingo serves as a warden (like a loyal, reverent, caretaker; but not a trainer) to Lady Sneasler. She's a highly revered Pokemon and a descendant of one blessed by Arceus (Pokemon God). Sneasler is an evolved for of Sneasel, thus the very adorable baby Sneasel art.

In Legends Arceus, for some reason, Ingo's eyes seem to glow in the dark a lil bit. This is never acknowledged in the text of the game and honestly I'm still not sure that it was intentional, but there's reason to believe it is.

There's a helping of fanon for Ingo and Emmet as well (much of which I also subscribe to!) but I'm gonna leave most of that out for clarity's sake on what's Actual Lore and what's not. Also this post is very long now. The one fanon I will note on is the Nimbasa Trio, which consists of the twins and the local gym leader Elesa, who is also a model and also very tall and likes bad puns. If she and the twins have ever interacted in Pokemon canon of any form, I have yet to see it. This will not stop me from treating it as canon. It's too good.

With the time travel and Ingo being in the past: we really have no confirmation on how or why he's there or how or why his memories are gone. The main theories are either A) he got caught in the crossfire of Legends Arceus' bad guy messing with space time or B) something called an Ultra Wormhole, a phenomena from generation 7, scooped him up and dumped him out. Personally, I'm hoping it has something to do with the legendary pokemon of generation 5, the generation Ingo and Emmet are originally from and is next up for a remake. The legendaries for that region have a whole Thing where they were originally one pokemon but split in two because of a disagreement between two brothers. And Ingo and Emmet have a whole black/white theme already. I will be making never-gonna-happen-but-would-be-cool theory/propaganda posts

I feel like I'm almost certainly forgetting something, but I hope this helps!

[lilacstarvix]

Now i know in the OG au Emmet becomes Ingos warden but now there are two of them. I imagine Emmet probably helps Ingo with keeping the zoroarks at bay but i also dont think the people are going to be as accepting of the hisuin form. Sure Irida (i honestly dont know if im spelling that right i just call her irritation or irritable) knows that Emmet is good but convincing the masses is different. Would you still have Emmet become his warden? Or maybe Adam (wtf was the rest?) tries to claim that zoroark as diamond clan. “There are two its ment to keep things balanced between the clans” or something. Emmet probably openly rejects the idea of a warden. “I am Emmet all i need is my brother!” Oh oh lord im thinking about it now holdmy beer (crap i gotta google adams full name for this)

Adaman decided to take matters into his own hands. Hes a clan leader and its about time they stopped waisting time discussing this. Clearly almighty Sinnoh sent two for a reason. That reason is because there are two clans. Its clear as day. So he sets off to find the Zoroark. He finds Emmet around Lady Sneaselers den, not thathe dares barge in. To his luck the Zoroark in wuestion actually approached him! Quite a good sign, no time wasted indeed!

Right before that of course Ingo and Lady Sneaseler had know of his approach. Ingo was venting a little about the whole situation. They dont need anyone following them around and getting into their business. Not to mention Ingo has his own warden duties! He doesnt want to add more by having to pretend to be a warden himself. So Emmet decided to take matters into his own hands(claws?) and just said be would deal with it. Oh Ingo you should have stopped him

So Emmet walks up to Adaman. Towers over him menacingly. Adaman feeling the pressure a little starts his lil speech he prepared. Emmet just stands there waiting unfazed. Once Adaman finished he looks to the Zoroark with determination and hope. Emmet almost cridged. “I am Emmet, i do not need a warden. All i need is my brother!” Adaman.exe has stopped responding. Sneaseler laughing her ass off while Ingo face paws (~w*) Much to his credit Adaman recovers rather quickly “I understand but a warden would only be there to help you. And even this brother of yours!” Wow give the man some applause, he just recovered from a talking pokemon in record time. “I said NO and that is all i have to say on it! Neither me nor my brother require your wardens nor do either of us want one. Good-bye” and Emmet just climbs back into the denn. Leaving the man to struggle with a rejection that stung as much as his childhood sweethearts.

Wow that got longer than normal xD i actuslly wanna keep going but my cat keeps stepping on my phone smh she almost sent this halfway in

Ooooo that's actually pretty interesting to think abt ngl, Ingo's warden situayion being unresolved and then having a random hisuian zoroark follow him around is interesting.

Honestly IDK whether the 'pretending to be Ingo's pokemon' or 'hanging around Sneasler and undisguised Ingo works better' tbf.

I could definitely see accusations going around when Emmet is seen near the new noble black zoroark, but also the idea of the clans bickering over having two zoroark nobles is another path to take so I'm gonna have to add one of those plot points to the next part of the story.

[royalty-subway]

(long time lurker 1st time requesting) may i have some HCs of the twins having a crush on their future S/O that has an absol as a service pokemon that alerts people of when S/O is about to have a seizure, please?

aaaaaaaa I hope I did good- ;w;

Just let me know if I did or got something wrong- ;w;

Sordward

Hm. He doesn’t really see many service Pokemons around. Aside from maybe the nurses with their Chanseys or like, those who are blind with a trained dog Pokemon. 

Of course, he’s very nice and understanding for you both. He’ll try his best to show kindness (which definitely isn’t his strongest suit). But uh, the first time when you showed symptoms. He kinda panicked-

… Mainly because he was never trained to help people like this, and your Absol desperately tried to get help from him. B-but he should figure out the basics on the way! Such as removing nearby objects and cushioning your head on something soft.

And once the seizure ceases, the next step is to put the person on their side, check their breathing and wait. H-he thinks, this just seems like the right thing to do. And maybe your Absol had to reassure or guide him that what he’s doing was good.

Don’t worry, that only happened when he first saw you like this. He now knows what to do once you show your signs again. And he has your Absol to thank for that. And don’t worry, he still likes you, even with all this happening. He’s just a bit worried about your safety-

Shielbert

… He has seen a few people with service Pokemons before. For either emotional support, therapy, helping with speech problems, or any other reasons.

So he understands your conditions, and he’s pretty nice to your Absol. But uh, much like with his Older Brother, he’s… not exactly trained to help those in situations like this. I mean, he knows the basics, but he can’t help but feel like… he doesn’t and he did something wrong.

I mean, even if he did something wrong or forgot something. Your Absol will definitely alert him to that. He’s just… very worried about your safety and his mind is going in “panic” mode. Well, when this happened for the first time.

He’ll remove any objects and put your head on a pillow or something. And then he’ll lay on your side and check for breathing. And call for help if he feels like something is wrong. Such as you not breathing or being out for a while.

Don’t worry, as time goes on, he’ll get the hang of it and won’t panic as much. This was just a bit of a first to him, and he was worried if he had done something wrong. But hey, he'll always reassure you that everything is okay and that he doesn’t mind (if you feel like you’re burdening him with your problems).

Emmet

Honestly, he’s pretty understanding of those with conditions like this. And he was trained to help those in need, just like with his brother. Whether those people are blind, deaf, muted, or any other condition… Fun fact, he even knows sign language.

… Not that sign language is important in this situation, but just know that you or anyone is in safe hands when around him or Ingo. And it’s always good to have a service Pokemon around, no shame in that.

So like, once your Absol warns him about your symptoms acting up, he immediately knows what to do. Like, putting objects aside, put your head on a cushion and keep track of the time. And once it stops, lay you on your side, check for breathing and wait.

Like, he takes this seriously. He may be more chill going than his brother. But this is actually a serious situation. But like once everything is okay, he’ll assure you that it’s all good, and no harm was done.

And you’re not a burden to him for this. He really doesn’t mind helping you out at any time. Either outside somewhere or in the subway, doesn’t matter. He’s just very grateful for your service Pokemon being there for you.

Ingo

Seeing service Pokemons isn’t entirely new to him. He has seen many on the subway. So he’s very understanding of your situation with that Absol of yours.

In fact, he’s very glad that you have an Absol as a service Pokemon to alert people when your symptoms are starting to show.

He did get trained to help those in need, just like in situations like this. It was mainly for keeping everyone around safe, since you never know what can happen. 

So like, once your Absol alerts him about your symptoms. He’ll immediately come to your aid, such as giving you room, cushioning your head on something, keeping watch on the time, laying you down on your side once the seizure ceases and checking for breathing.

He’ll stand there with you and your Absol while checking the time. And call the hospital or some needed help if you’re not breathing or you’ve been unconscious for a while now. And he can reassure you that it was no trouble and wasn’t your fault if you feel terrible about this condition of yours. He doesn't mind helping, really.

[a-tale-of-legends]

A Conversation

Summary: Sakura and Volo talk. Things go as expected.

Notes: I had one scene pop up in my mind and I knew I had to write it. Consider this a continuation of Zero's and Volo's reunion! I hope you enjoy!

~~~~

" What are you doing here." It wasn't a question. It was a demand. His steely gray eyes glare at her. If looks could kill, well, she would have been dead a long time ago. But this? This is pure hatred. Even in Kamado, who could could killed her then, she knew he didn't hate her( though if anything, it makes her hurt even more).

"Volo." she states, wracking her mind for the speech she prepared before hand. She worked on it the minute Zero told her about Volo's whereabouts. Ever since he told her he hadn't left Hisui ( Sinnoh? Whatever). It can't leave her now-

" Are you here to gloat?" Volo sneers, voice echoing slightly in the damp cave, " Fake pity?" Sakura swallows, her mouth clenched. She takes in a breath-

" No, I-" her stomach turns. This isn't going to go well, " I need your help, Volo".

Volo stares at her, wide eyes, mouth agape. He doesn't move for a second,still staring, then he barks out a cruel, mad laugh.

" You-" he cackles, standing up and closing the distance between them. Sakura tenses with every step he takes, " You want me? You help you? To help you? After you ruined everything?!" He giggles a bit more, only inches away from her. His Express turns cold as he bends down to her level, his eyes equally cold as it is burning with hatred.

" My Garchomp can tear you down where you stand," he threatens. Sakura grips her PokeBall.

" Vesta can burn you down to a crisp. Where you stand," she counters, returning is glare. If he was surprised by her comeback, he doesn't show it, merely narrowing his eyes at her. Admittedly, she shouldn't have countered like that. Makes the negotiation much more harder. She clicks her tongue.

" I need your help," she states again, " I need you to listen". The grip on her PokeBall gets tighter, seeing Volo not move. She takes account to everything about him- his facial expression, his body language, anything that would pose as a threat--steel. A glint of steel.

Before he could really say or do anything, Sakura grips his arm and flips him over, effectively disarming him. She hear him growl as she marches up to him, anger filling her veins even though she knows this is the worst option.

She stomps on his chest before he can get up, and the two clash hands in a stand still.

" You've changed," he croaks, wearing shittiest eating grin she's ever seen, " Finally getting angry? Never thought you'd have it in you, Sakura~" he sings, and she tightened her grip on his hand.

" Shut up," she grits out, " And listen. Please." Another breath. Her anger is cooling, guilt and shame taking it's place. She hates how he's right. Why did she flip him over? She could have just dodged! She's just making it worse-

" I-its Arceus," she buries her thoughts, " I need you to help with understand," She looks down at him, a first, to his wide eyes. That- that got his attention, right? She loosens her grip a bit.

" I need to understand him. I- please, I just need to understand," she can feel tears welling in her eyes.

She knew something was wrong with her the first time she went into a distortion rift. Zero and others that survived going in one talked about the feeling- the cold, unwelcoming feels. Your nerves would get the best of you, and you feel like something is crawling down your spin. Fortunately, it's nothing unbearable, sometimes even subtle. But when Sakura first entered one she didn't feel any of that. It felt.... familiar. Though she assumed it was because she feel from the rift in the sky. But that man, Ingo, talked about the strange feeling as well. He too, fell, and yet he was like everyone else. That's when Sakura realized something was wrong. Her suspicion grew as time went on. Especially when encountering the mighty Sinnohs and Giratina. She felt something. A connection. But she couldn't understand it. What was wrong with her? Only Arceus knows. And Volo knows about Arceus. She needs to understand.

" Please," she begs, and she can see Volo's face soften, his eyes scanning her over. Hope fills her. Maybe they can start over. Maybe things could be different-

She feels his foot hit her stomach, and he uses the opportunity to flip her over, making her hit the stoney wall. Hard.She cries out in the sudden pain.

" If you were wiser, you would have sent Zero. Maybe then I would have considered it," he mutters, sitting up. He turns to her over his shoulder

" I will never ever help you," his voice is like venom, " Now leave-"

" I'm not from anywhere!" She blurts out, and Volo fully turns to her, confusion written a over his face.

" What-"

" At least I don't think I am, I-" she runs her hand across her head, her hair only recently cut, " Ingo talks about the place he used to be be from, even if he doesn't remember it! He still has some locked memories! No matter how hard I try, I don't remember anything! I don't think I have anything to remember!" She cries, and Volo continues to stare, his eyes moving as he connects the dots. His eyes widen once more.

" Your device-" he shutters, raising a hand to his lips, " You-"

" I'm a creation of Arceus," she lowers her head, " At least I think I am. But I need to know for sure. I need to understand. Please," She looks up again and Volo isn't looking at her. His hand still to his mouth, she can hear him murmur to himself as he stares absently at the cave floor.

" The signs were there, of course they were-," he begins to chuckle, this time filled with the cruel irony of it all, " Of course he would send you down. Of course you are his special creation. Of course,OF COURSE!" He yells, dragging his hands across is face.

" It's never that simple, isn't it?!" He laughs, sadness overcoming him as he bends down. He still doesn't look at her, in fact his back is to her. She thinks he's crying. She resists the urge to hug him.

" I'm sorry," she doubts her apology would be worth anything to him. If he's even listening at all.

Sakura sits herself up, and leans on the walls. They stay in silence. She rests up a bit, the pain in her back subsiding a little. Fortunately her line of work makes it easy to lie about certain things. Though Zero is probably presenting their case for Volo right now. She hopes he's okay.

" Does Zero know?" Volo's voice is low, broken.

" Yes," murmurs, " He was the one that suggested me seeing you, actually". Volo snickers.

" Of course he did," Silence again, but Sakura waits for him to continue.

" There's no way Kamado, or anyone for that matter, would let me entire back into that village,"

" Arrangements can be made," she shrugs, " Zero is currently making them with Kamado and the others,"

" Making Zero do all the dirty work, aren't you," Volo scoffs, and Sakura feels the same anger boil up again.

" No," she hisses, sneering at him as he did to her before, " I just.... don't want to deal with them right now," she murmurs, her exile flashes in her mind. She waits for him to taunt her. He simply hums. It seemed understanding.

Volo gets up, dusting himself off as he does, as does she.

" Fine," he says, " I'll help. But only because Zero is involved," She expected such.

" Alright then," she takes her hand out for a shake. He takes it. They're grip on each other is hard.

" Don't try anything," she warns.

" Don't get in my way," he counters. They immediately let go of each other's hand, as if the other carried a horrid curse.

" Then I'll be taking my leave,"

"Hm."

Sakura turns a corner, out of Volo's sight. He ponders a bit. Maybe this could be his chance. Arceus' creation...that could surely-

" Hey," Sakura's voice cuts his thoughts, and he turns only to meet something hit his face.

" Care package.....take care," she says quietly, then ducks back into the corner and hopefully out of the cave.

Ignoring the pain, Volo looks down at his package. Opening it he finds an assortment of things, but the most noticable thing is the familiar smell of tea and potato mochi. He smiles a bit. Zero. Of course.

" Well..." He plops back down to the ground, " I guess I just have to wait,".

Same as always.

[dontshootmespence]

Only Time Will Tell

Chapter 1 

Chapter 2

The next couple of days in the Valiente’s lives went by on autopilot. No one spoke to each other save for when Amelio told Lucena and Sev where they were going and what they needed to do. So much needed to be done in such a short amount of time. A wake and funeral needed to be arranged. Alma’s last will and testament needed to be read. And worst of all, the fractured family had to figure out a new routine – one that included one less person. Lucena couldn’t help but feel that that person was the one person that held everything together. 

After the initial shock wore off, Lucena insisted on seeing her mother. She needed to see her one last time – she needed to remember the features of her face so she would never forget them. Her father had advised against it, saying that the accident had badly injured Alma’s body, leaving pieces of her almost unrecognizable, but Lucena insisted. When asked if he wanted to go, Sev said he couldn’t. “I need to keep in mind what she looked like when I left for school that morning, not what she looked like after she was gone,” she remembered him saying.

She couldn’t blame him, but something was driving her to see her. Maybe she wanted to believe it was all a dream and seeing her in person would cement her in her new reality? She didn’t know. But there are some decisions you can’t take back – and she wished she could take back hers.

As she and her father walked into the hospital, the cold, bleak air seeping into her body, she wanted to turn back. Even then. But she didn’t. With his hand at her back, Amelio coaxed his daughter into the morgue, where her mother was being kept until her father signed for her release to Creación de la Familia de Santiago y Funerario. This was the last thing he wanted to do, but he and Alma had promised each other that they would allow their kids to make their own mistakes – seeing her like this was almost definitely one of them.

She paused, her hand almost fusing itself to the cold metal of the chamber. Her mother was in there? It wasn’t possible. Her mother was warm, caring and inviting, and this place…this drawer where her mother was being kept, was unfriendly and bare, devoid of any happiness whatsoever.

“Are you sure, Lucena?” her father asked, his hands clasped firmly to her shoulders, giving her something to anchor herself. This was her last chance to back out and turn away. Had it not been for his strong embrace, she probably would have already collapsed to the floor. With his encouragement, she pulled on the door of the cold chamber. The image that greeted her was not what she expected. When she said she wanted to see her mother again, she believed that she’d see her mother - some scrapes and bruises, even a couple of cuts - but what she saw was truly horrifying.

The left side of her face was nearly unrecognizable. The force of the impact made the broken glass from the windshield embed itself into her face. Even though the workers at the morgue removed all of the shrapnel, the damage had been done – the small tears in her skin were made bigger by the removal. As Lucena gazed downward, it only got worse. Large swathes of skin had been lost on her arms and legs, and dark and light purple bruises speckled her skin like an amateur Jackson Pollock painting. Her ankle had even been nearly severed as the car flipped over. This wasn’t her mother, she thought as she collapsed to the floor again – the pain as fresh and sharp as the night before. Her mother wore a constant smile that radiated light. This person’s lips were shut tight with no emotion to speak of. She’d inherited her mother’s skin, a light tawny color that radiated warmth; now, it looked bloodless under the hospital lights.

“That’s not mama,” she cried, turning back into her father’s waiting embrace. “That can’t be her.”

Amelio nuzzled his head into his daughter’s hair, doing his best not to cry. She had her mother’s hair as well. The only thing she’d inherited from him were his hazel eyes, which were now struggling to see through a veil of tears.

“Vamos a pasar por esto, Lucena,” he comforted, attempting to soothe her in the only way he knew how. “We’re going to get through this.” She wanted to believe him but she wasn’t so sure.

Within 24 hours, her life had been turned upside down – once full of hope, and now completely devoid of it. A hospital employee entered the room moments earlier, giving the family time to grieve before approaching them about the release of her mother’s body. Time stood still as her father filled out the necessary paperwork, allowing her to be transferred to the funeral home. Her limbs turned into cement again as they started to walk out; they were on their way to the church to make wake and funeral arrangements.

She didn’t know about her father, but she had no desire to go anywhere near her church. She’d always had faith to some degree, but what kind of God would take her mother away like this? She was too young to be dealing with the loss of one of the most important people in her life. She was too young to be tackling this life without her mother.

“Señor Valiente, we are going to take good care of her in transit and so will the employees at Santiago,” the mortuary employee said as softly as a leaf in the wind. She knew he meant well, just because his speech sounded so rehearsed didn’t mean his sentiment was false. He was an older man himself, his face weathered with the memories of so many deaths. After so many years in this line of work, it probably was rehearsed for fear that if he spoke from the heart he would die a little each time he spoke to a loved ones’ family members.

“Gracias, Señor,” she heard her father say, seemingly at a distance. Everything felt far away, as if her mother’s death surrounded her in a soundproof bubble, closing out everything that could possibly bring her any joy and bombarding her with the only thing that mattered anymore.

Mom is gone.

“Ready, preciosa?”

Lucena nodded. “Are we going to pick up Sev? Is he coming with us to the church?” Amelio pulled out his phone, dialing home to check up on his son.

“Rino?” her father asked into the phone. After only a few seconds, he hung up the phone. “He picked up, said he wasn’t coming and hung up.” They were both really worried for him. Sev was naturally a withdrawn person. He didn’t form many close relationships and those that did took time. Lucena was afraid that their mother’s death would cause him to fully withdraw from everyone. But even in worry, she understood him wanting to remove himself from the world - pretend that nothing happened. That’s what she wanted to do too, but something inside her wasn’t allowing it. She would do anything, give any amount of money, or make any deal to have her mother returned to her. She wanted to see her again - the real her. Not the horrific image that was going to be scarred into her brain from now on.

As Lucena and her father made their way to the church, they sat in silence. She couldn’t think of anything to say and Amelio’s instinct was to comfort her - say something to make her feel better - but there was truly nothing in the world that could do that. As much as it pained him, he needed to let her grieve. 

After sitting in traffic, they approached Iglesia de San Ignacio. It had always felt comfortable, a place she was always welcome – a home away from home, but as they walked in, the heavy doors felt imposing; everything felt foreign.

“Afternoon, Father Miguel,” Lucena greeted, doing her best to seem comfortable, even though being here was making her skin want to crawl. The priest and her father shook hands and Father Miguel did his best to make them feel better.

“She is with God now,” he said.

Lucena felt the heat rise in her cheeks.

Well, she shouldn’t have been. She was only 40 years old. She had so much left to live for and if there even was a god, he called her back to him too early. Her father bristled at the notion, but shook it off, observing the niceties one was supposed to observe in the Catholic Church.

“She’s at peace now.”

The heat threatened to overwhelm her. Lucena turned away from the priest and her father, staring off into the distance and covering her face with her sweatshirt to shield herself from Father Miguel. If he looked into her eyes, he’d be able to see how much she hated God right now, and as real as the feeling felt, she felt guilty for feeling that way.

Once her mother was readied by the funeral home, her wake would take place there, with the funeral and burial taking place the day after at the church. Lucena stood aside in silence, unsure of what to ask or say, and frankly not trusting herself to speak, lest she ask Father Miguel why God would take her mother away. “Will you be reading a passage at the funeral, child?” Father Miguel asked.

She had been off in her head being angry with God and hadn’t heard him. “Sorry?”

“Will you be reading a passage at mass, my dear?” he repeated. Her lips parted. Did she want to? She was beyond angry. Would she even be able to get through a passage without breaking down in front of all their friends and family? Amelio looked her way, an expectant look in his eye.

“If you don’t want to it’s okay,” he said, the tone in his voice betraying his words, “but I would love it if you did.” She didn’t know whether she’d be able to do it, but she would try – for her father’s sake only. It was truly the last thing she wanted to do.

“I will, papa,” she said reluctantly. “Is there one I should read or do I pick my own?” She did have one in mind.

“Gracias, preciosa.”

A small smile formed on Father Miguel’s face. “I’m sure everyone would love if you picked one out yourself.”

The next hour or so consisted of Father Miguel walking Lucena and her father through the workings of a funeral mass – the cues that were necessary for the first and second readings, the ingoing and outgoing precession. It all blurred together in her mind. Only when he mentioned her cue for the second reading, the one Lucena would be doing, did she tuned back into the conversation. She wondered how long it would be until she was able to tune into the real world again. Right now, she only felt as if she was floating through – not touching, hearing or comprehending anything except grief.

When all the details had been ironed out, Amelio asked if she was ready to leave. She was more than ready; she could barely breathe. A semblance of breath finally came to her once the doors had been opened.

“Are you okay, preciosa?” he asked. He knew the answer, but something else seemed wrong.

Lucena didn’t want to hurt her father. She could tell he still believed. But she was struggling. “It’s nothing, papa, it’s just…I have trouble wanting to believe in a God that took mama away so soon. Her being gone makes me wonder if he even exists.”

He looked away hurt – though he understood. He had figured his daughter and son would struggle with their faith at such a loss, but hearing it out loud affected him more than he wanted to admit. Much like letting her work through her grief, he needed to let her rediscover her faith in her own time. “I understand, baby,” he said, pulling her to him to place a kiss on her mess of dark curls. “Maybe one day you’ll believe again. And even though you don’t, I still thank you for reading a passage at her mass. She would’ve appreciated it too.” Frankly, Lucena didn’t want to hear what her mother would’ve appreciated, but she didn’t snap at her father because none of this was his fault; it was no one’s fault – except the drunk driver’s - and maybe God’s.

“Do you know what passage you’ll read?” he asked, changing the subject when he saw her stiffen at mention of her mother.

“I always liked Ecclesiastes 3:1-8,” she replied, remembering the words, however foreign they felt to her now.

“That was one of your mother’s favorites, preciosa. Thank you again.” Her father planned on reading Maccabees 12:43-46. Lucena had never liked the Old Testament, feeling more at peace with the majority of the teachings of the New. “I think that’s enough for today. Let’s go check up on your brother. I’m worried about him.”

“Me too, papa,” she said. Now that her mother was gone, her father and brother were all she left; she was more worried for him than she was for herself.

@ultrarebelheart @stunudo @spencer-is-too-perfect @naturallytom @veroinnumera @mysticpansy @notsopersonalcharlie @casicxs @devils-girl-98 @spookyyymulder @blowing-mikey

[sterling-starlight]

Chapter 6: You Deserve to Be Loved

This most certainly was not a date, despite Emmet insisting that it was. This was not a date. He simply had to speak with the company that had been hired on to do routine maintenance for Gear Station.  

White tagged along with him because she was as stubborn as a Bouffalant, and followed him. And because fate seemed to have it out for him and his productivity schedule, his destination just happened to be in the entertainment district of Nimbasa City, which led to-

“Ingo, Ingo look! What’s that?”

-White being captivated by everything and anything. She practically pulled his arm out of its socket as she led him to one of the concession stands. A middle-aged man had set up an expansive array of bright, colorful hand-made sun catchers. White was enraptured by a particularly intricate one, depicting four Horseas swimming happily against a deep blue backdrop. “They’re all so pretty, aren’t they? Oh, look!” White picked up a smaller piece and waved it in Ingo’s face. It was a Chandelure, and while it was a stunningly crafted piece of artistry, all Ingo could think was that it was a pale comparison to the real thing.

“Do you like that one, miss?” The vendor asked. He had completely gone into bartering mode, giving White a disarmingly charming smile. He looked towards Ingo with a particular gleam in his eye, “it does’t cost that much. Maybe your boyfriend will buy it for you.”

“I am not her boyfriend,” Ingo snapped coldly. The man looked taken aback at the harsh retort, and Ingo inwardly scolded himself. “White, can we move on please?”

She pouted, looking back at the Horsea sun catcher longingly before putting the Chandelure back on the table.  “Fine. Okay. We’ll go and do your boring stuff.”

“I warned you ahead of time what I was doing wouldn’t be fun,”  Ingo sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose  as they walked away from the stand.

“But look at this place!” White skipped ahead and spread her arms out, “there’s that giant ring thingie over there, and those fluffy pink clouds those people are eating, and- OH HOLY KYOGRE!” She dashed away from him before Ingot could even begin to question what she had just seen. He was beginning to seriously doubt if he would ever get any work done today.  He found her at yet another vendor’s stand, gushing over the Pokemon plush toys that were on display. “They have stuffed Seels!” She exclaimed, pointing at one of the objects in question like she had found some sort of holy relic. “I mean, actual Seels are way cuter. But I could hug one of those and not have people look at me weird.”

“…Do you want one?”

“Can I?!”

Ingo’s growing susceptibility to White was becoming concerning. He would readily admit that he found her likable and charming, if not clingy and short-sighted. She was childish and naive for her age (what he assumed to be her age, anyway), and all he wanted to know was why.  It was a mystery that needed to be solved, and he… he always was fond of mysteries. When and if he solved it, his interest in White would go back down to a more reasonable level.  He would stop actually looking forward to seeing her at the end of his shifts. He would stop worrying whenever she showed up late.

His feelings were becoming too dangerous. Too frightening. He needed to snip them in the bud while he still could.

“On one condition,” Ingo began evenly. “You will stop climbing into my bed,” the vendor of the plush stand of the gave him a suggestive look. He glared back in response before continuing, “during thunderstorms.” He stressed.

“But I like being in your bed,” White argued, crossing her arms over her chest. She looked at the Seel plush longingly before heaving an overly dramatic (something she learned from Emmet) sigh. “If it means I get an adorable not-real-Seel baby, I’ll accept your dumb con-di-tions.”

Ingo paid for the toy, firmly telling the vendor (who would not stop wiggling her eyebrows) that White was afraid of thunderstorms. Nothing happened when they were in bed together, and he hated that he had to stress so firmly that he and White were not a couple. The warmth he felt in his chest when he saw White happily skipping along side him, clutching her new toy to her chest, was perfectly normal, perfectly platonic fondness. 

(Stop, stop,stop, stop.You know what happened last time. Don’t do it. Don’t let yourself. Don’t do this to yourself again.)

It was when he heard Elesa’s painfully familiar cadence did Ingo seriously think that Arceus had a personal vendetta for him.

“Well hey there, you hermit~” She trilled, slinging an arm around Ingo’s shoulders like she had any right to invade his personal space. “Fancy meeting you here. And you’re with a little cutie!” Elesa looked at White, appraising her like she was some poor, disillusioned girl auditioning to be Unova’s next top model. It made Ingo’s stomach lurch.  

White, for her part, didn’t seemed to be too thrilled about the idea of someone else hanging off of Ingo. She clutched her plush a little tighter, her eyes narrowing at Elesa slightly.

“Hi.” She said in a cold, suspicious, clipped tone.

“Sheesh, tense. I can see why you two are friends.” Elesa said with a chuckle, poking Ingo’s cheek playfully.  With a barely-hidden grimace, Ingo shrugged her arm off his shoulder and took three full paces away from her.

“To what do I owe this… pleasure, Elesa?”  He asked.

“Oh, what? I can’t just say ‘hello’ to my old childhood friend? It’s been ages since we last spoke.”

“I saw you two days ago when you were with Emmet.”

“Yes, you saw me. You then proceeded to avoid speaking to me at any and all costs.” Elesa replied, cocking her hip to the side. “Are you still upset that Emmy and I started dating without your permission? For goodness’ sake, Ingo, we’ve been honest with you for a year now.”

“I would find irritating even if you weren’t dating my brother.” Ingo said firmly. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“You’re no fun. But since you’re so insistent, my gym has been temporarily closed for maintenance.  I also don’t have any shoots scheduled for today, which means I have nothing but time on my hands. You’re here, I have time, can’t we spend it together?”

“I am trying to get something done, Elesa.” Ingo groaned into his hands. “I’ve already wasted enough time with White dragging me to see every little frivolous thing that catches her eye.”

At his side, he could feel White tense up. The temperature dropped several degrees, and his stomach with it.

“Okay, wow. That is not how you talk to about lady.”

“That isn’t what I- I didn’t mean-“

“I think what you meant came across clearly.”  Hearing such an ice-cold tone from White was alien. Unnatural. Her voice was controlled and her speech as precise as her accent would allow. The material of her hoodie flashed to something that did not look like cotton, before shifting back again. Ingo blinked against the sudden headache building in his skull.  “I’ll just explore by myself then.” She marched off into the crowd. 

Elesa tsked, “I’ll go after her. Cute little thing like her is bound to get some unwanted attention. You go off and do your super important business.”

Ingo groaned into his hands again. He looked up through his fingers towards the sky, and wondered what he had done to deserve his afternoon becoming such a travesty. ~~~

“Excuse me- pardon me- no, not now- Hey! Girl with the plush!”

White stopped when Elesa called out to her, drawing her shoulders up to her ears.  “I finally caught you. You’re quicker than you look. I feel like our first meeting started on the wrong foot,” Elesa held her hand out to White, a warm smile on her face. “My name is Elesa, the gym leader of Nimbasa City, and one of Ingo’s friends.”

“He didn’t seem to like you very much.” White returned, staring at Elesa’s hand skeptically.

“Oh, he’s always been like that. I give him a hard time, he gets upset at me; deep down we’re best friends. But let’s forget about that for now, and focus on the the fact that I don’t even know your name.”

“Why did you follow me?”

Elesa blinked in surprise. “You stormed off in such a huff, I was worried. There are plenty of guys here who would take advantage of a pretty girl who looked like she was upset at something. And if that happened, Ingo would not be happy.”

“He wouldn’t care,” White said, hugging her Seel plush tighter. “I annoy him.”

“Sweetie, everyone annoys him. But, trust me when I say this, when I first saw him it was the most relaxed I’ve seen him in a long time.”

White perked up, looking at Elesa with wide and hopeful eyes. “Is that a good thing?”

“Considering Ingo is emotionally constipated, yes it is.” Elesa clapped her hands together, “I’ll tell you what: since it’s pretty obvious you like him, why don’t we go get something to eat and I’ll tell you how to break through to him. He’s actually a real softie underneath that constant scowl.”

Even if White wanted to protest, Elesa didn’t give her much of an opportunity to. The blonde laced their arms together and began leading her off to the nearest concession stand.  “Now the most important thing to remember about Ingo is that….” ~~~

The good news was that Ingo had finally done what he needed to do before it got too late in the day. The bad news was that he saw White and Elesa talking. He couldn’t hear them, but he had a horrible feeling that they were talking about him.  He breathed in through his nose and walked towards the two, deciding that he might as well accept his fate. Maybe that would appease whatever deity had decided to torment him.

“Ingo, hi!” White greeted once he was within her range of sight, waving a hand high above her head. She didn’t seem to be upset anymore, which was good. “Why didn’t you in-intro…” She cleared her throat, “introduce me to Elesa earlier? She’s the best!”

“Yes, Ingo, why didn’t you?” Elesa chimed in, resting her chin on the back of her hand and grinning like she was privy to some scandalous secret.  “You know I always make time for you and Emmet.”

“I have been busy,” Ingo replied slowly. “But listen, White. I didn’t mean to upset you earlier, and I apologize.”

“I told you he’d apologize,” Elesa said, grinning in White’s direction. The latter smiled so brightly, it was almost blinding. “We were just talking about how you could make it up to her. A ride for two on Nimbasa City’s famous ferris wheel! Honestly, it’s a crime she hasn’t been on it, yet. And I just so happen to have two tickets right here,” Elesa pulled two ferris wheel tickets out of a hidden pocket of her dress and waved them in front of her face like a fan. “Funny how that works out, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it’s almost like someone I know planned this.”

“I am as innocent as a baby Deerling.” The way she smiled betrayed that statement so much, Ingo didn’t even feel the need to comment on it. Elesa handed a ticket to White, “Sweetie, why don’t you go save a spot in line for the two of you? I just need to talk to Ingo for a quick second.”

“Okay!” White replied, snatching the ticket out of Elesa’s hand and practically skipping in the direction of the ferris wheel. “If you take too long, I’m going without you!” She called back over her shoulder.  

Elesa laced her fingers together and looked back at Ingo from beneath her bangs. “She really likes you. You realize that, right?”

“I’m not oblivious, Elesa.”

“And what are you going to do about it?” She rested her cheek on the back of her hands. “I’m going to give you my opinion. My serious opinion, no sass or teasing involved.  I think she’d be good for you. It looked like you were actually relaxed when you were with her earlier.” She held up a hand before Ingo could interject, “I’m not going to force you to go for it. I am going to tell you that, despite the self-deprecating bullshit you tell yourself, you do deserve to be loved. But,  don’t listen to me prattle on. You’ve got a ferris wheel to get to.” She waved the remaining ticket in his face. “Go on, get!”

Ingo gave Elesa a dubious look before carefully taking his ticket from her hand.

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Previous chapter (Comic): http://gcqaiumi.tumblr.com/post/174348681250