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coldslaws-gear-station · 1 month ago

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And here's the fanfic! Enjoy <3

How Familiar

Lush bushes, green grass, and moss grown trees. Ghetsis had told Alder that this forest retreat would be "healthy" for him, for him to become more connected with the wonders of nature. However the deeper he went into the forest, further into uncharted territory, the more nervous and lost he got. "Shit…" Alder mumbled to himself, the location and connection on his xtransceiver having gone cold. Truthfully he could summon out his Bravary and have it fly him straight back to the palace at any moment, but he really did not want to do that for… Reasons. But Alder wasn't anything but stubborn, so in a huff he continued further into the forest, convinced he had everything under control.

Dead leaves cracking and crunching under his feet, branches and thorns pulling at his poncho annoyingly, Alder swears if another branch smacks him in the face he was absolutely going to lose it. It started to seem like all this stupid "nature retreat" was doing was pissing him off instead of actually helping him. The further he went in, the more Alder was starting to notice more and more bug types within the area. Sewaddles, Caterpies, and Weedles clung to the lush tree lines, their evolutions watching him with peering eyes, ready to protect their nests and hives if need be. The occasional Spinarak hanging from a fine line of silk out of the trees to either watch him curiously, or to create a fine display of design with their amazing webbing, though sometimes Alder had to gently swat them away because they tried to cling to his face.

Eventually he came face to face with a massive vine grown wall, there was no hard material or anything inside it as a foundation, it was completely vine and moss. Alder peers up at the Pokémon clung to the tree branches, "Is there somethin' in here I shouldn't know about?" The Pokémon don't say anything, nor do they move, they just simply stare at him with blank gazes. Alder huffs and grabs at the vine wall, "Suit yourselves…" He tears at the wall, shoving himself forcibly through the wall, having to put considerable effort into breaking the vines, seems like the wall had been undisturbed for a very long time and the vines had time to strengthen itselves. Eventually though he manages to break through, seeing a massive clearing on the other side covered by a thick canopy of trees, cracks of sunlight seeping through giving the place a soft yet ethereal glow.

Parts of his poncho were torn and there were leaves and such wedged deep into its fur lining. "Great", he thinks to himself, now he'll have to get this deep cleaned and he'll also have to sew it back up when he gets back to the palace. There better be something here that makes all of his efforts worth it, otherwise he'll be pissed.

Traversing deep into the clearing, he makes note of all the berry trees and bushes. It's odd, as there's no sight of any Pokémon in the area at all, with all of its natural resources and food, why wouldn't any Pokémon want to live here? Something about that makes him uneasy, there's obviously a reason as to why and he's not entirely thrilled with the idea of finding out personally why. Eventually he does stop, having found what was feeding all of the lush plants within the area.

A huge pond, absolutely massive. The waters were crystal clear, Alder could see every rainbow like peddle through the surface. The sunlight glimmering down onto the water's surface, making it seem as if it was sparkling. It was breathtaking, "Holy shit…" The words fell from Alder's mouth, agape at the scenery in front of him. He scrambles for his xtransceiver, wanting to take a photo to show to Ghetsis later, he'd absolutely lose his mind over this! Something fast and blue speeds past him, the sheer velocity of it causes him to tumble forward, catching himself with his hand into the pond's water, definitely bruising the insides of his palms. However in the midst of this, he had lost his grip on his xtransceiver and it had gotten a good dive into the waters. "Shit! No!" Alder scrambles to try and save the machine, but the damage has already been done.

Water had seeped into the circuits, completely waterlogging the machine, the damn thing wouldn't even turn on anymore. "Fuck sakes…" Alder growled and sneered at himself with heavy annoyance. While it's true he can just remove the memory card and stick it into a new xtransceiver, making it so he didn't actually lose anything, now he had nothing to take a photo of this sight with. What are the chances he's going to find this place again? This was probably a one in a lifetime thing and now he had nothing to remember it with! Nobody's going to believe him if he tells the story to anybody without any damn proof!

Something rustled behind him, like a tree branch had been shaken or something. Alder looked over his shoulder with both annoyance and strange curiosity, only to remember a conversation he had with Ghetsis much prior…

"I can not believe you have so many kids…" Alder said in awe, looking through all of the framed pictures Ghetsis had of his children that laid in his office, Ghetsis shrugged, "Neither can I sometimes, this sort of thing just happens." Alder places back down one of the photos, "Dragons, I feel bad for the lady you had them with…" Ghetsis laughed and shook his head, "No no, only Natural is related to me by blood, the others are adopted." Alder looks at Ghetsis questioningly, "… You adopted five kids on a whim?" "It wasn't on a whim." Ghetsis snapped back, slightly annoyed. "I didn't even adopt them at the same time, it sort of just happened…" Alder keeps quiet, knowing the ques for when Ghetsis is about to delve into stories and such, you'd be surprised how often this happens.

"I remember the day I found the twins…" Ghetsis says softly, a hint of sadness evident in his voice. "They were so skinny and afraid, I had been trying to coax them into my care for a while at that point. They weren't fools, they could tell what I was doing, but they were still frightened of me nonetheless…" Ghetsis sighed, "They'd been on the street for a while now, at least as far as I could tell, I never pushed them on how long they were out there for and I will not begin now." Ghetsis smiles, "But I do love my darling prince and princess, they're such polite kids. I remember when I first got them into my care how they would try their hardest to make sure they weren't a burden on my house, they were never burdens, it took a while for them to see that though." Ghetsis raises his scarred hand in front of his mouth, trying to conceal his growing smile. "I also remember a time when they got their hands on my makeup, the absolute mess they made on their brother's face… I should've taken a photo!"

Ghetsis giggles some more, before lowering his hand with a hum, look off into the distance of his office. "They're good kids, I'm happy to see how they've shaped themselves. Ambrose has been taking a liking into being a teacher, I suppose he always had been one. He may be soft spoken but let me tell you how assertive that boy can be when he needs be! I think out of all of my children, Ambrose is the one who's out in the Valley the most, specifically the section where the baby Pokémon reside. It's cute, watching him play with all the baby Pokémon, how their eyes light up when they see him and how they sing praises in his name!" Ghetsis' smile is contagious, his cheeks starting to hurt slightly. "They love him, I'm happy to know he's found what he wants to do with life, to know he's happy and fulfilled."

Ghetsis reaches for his cup of tea, chamomile tea with one spoonful of honey mixed in, his throat being sore. In the midst of taking a sip his eye lights up, his cup making a clinking noise as it's slammed back down onto its porcelain plate. "Did I tell you about what's going on with Connie?" Alder shakes his head, "No, I don't think you have?" Ghetsis shakes his scarred hand in excitement as he grabs Alder's shoulder with his good one, "You have to keep it a secret! Connie will kill me if she finds out I told someone…" A sly smile spreads across Alder's face, how catty, "Your secrets are safe with me." Ghetsis nods, "So, I'm sure you're aware of my daughter's attempts in trying to court a lady friend, yes?" Putting emphasis on attempts are we? Alder nods, Ghetsis gives a sly smile. "Well, lately I've been seeing her around one of my volunteers… A nice red head, her name escapes me at the moment, but she's a sweet girl. But I can sense the chemistry between them! I'm certain Connie has finally found her special one! They don't think I know, but oooh do I know, I always know. A father knows everything, dad's sense and all that."

Ghetsis wipes a faux tear from his eye, a huge smile on his face. "My babies are all grown up now, I remember when they were only little! When we used to play princesses and dragons, I was always the dragon mind you and Natural was always the other princess and never the knight, it should've been a glaring clue when Ambrose always wanted to be the knight and never one of the princesses…" Ghetsis laughs softly to himself at his prior foolishness. "Or when I used to read them bedtime stories… How'd they giggle whenever I read the big bad guy's voice in a low pitch, how that would always rile them up more and they'd request another story…" Ghetsis seemed solemn for a moment, "They're all adults now, it feels like yesterday when they were only small children, their whole lives ahead of them… Where did all the time go?"

A sad tone washes over the room, Alder had never been a father, he'd never understand what it's like for Ghetsis, but he can sort of sympathize with him. Alder does wish he could be a father, to have all those sweet moments with his own like Ghetsis had described, but he's infertile, it's impossible for him to bear a child of his own flesh and blood… He knows he can just adopt a child for himself, but he's well into his fifties now, it's far too late for him to adopt a child now. It makes him despair, as well as slightly jealous of Ghetsis, he deeply desires the bonds he has with his children with his own hypothetical child.

"I also remember the day I found the triplets… That's a day I'll never forget, even in death…" There's an incredibly sad tone in his voice, there's more? "They'd clearly been on the streets for a very long time, in fact I wouldn't be surprised if they were born on it. I first encountered them on my way back from a conference. It had lasted longer than I would've personally liked, so I was walking the streets during the night…" Ghetsis sighed, a sad look apparent in his eye as he looked out the window of his office. "I found them being attacked by a group of men, a gang I had assumed, it was sickening, they were only kids… I had Atropos scare them away, he can look rather frightening in the dark, they ran away like the cowards they are." A bitter look spreads across Ghetsis' face, a scowl forming, though his face quickly relaxes and morphs back into a sad one. "I rushed them to the medical centre within the palace, I know if they had been taken to a true hospital they wouldn't have gotten care quick enough, they were bleeding too much…"

He lowers his head in shame, almost as if he's still guilty about what happened. "… I was too late in the end. Ares had lost an arm and Hebe had lost both her right arm and left leg. Only Hephaestus came out rather unscathed when it came to losing limbs, not accounting all of the horrific scarring all over his body…" Ghetsis' face grimaces in shame, it's clear this is still something he's upset about to this very day. "I managed to get prosthetics made for them, but they were just so traumatized… They didn't even speak a word to anybody until I think about three years had passed, Hephaestus still hasn't said anything to this day however, I assumed whatever had happened to them whilst on the streets caused him to go mute…"

His face lights up slightly, but only slightly. "I recalled the day Hebe said her first word, she was the first to say anything out of her siblings. I was doing the dishes, she had snuck up behind me and called me "Dad", now I'm sure she was trying to ask a question, but her voice was so soft and unsure, I almost missed it! I had turned around thinking it was Ambrose, though when I saw it was Hebe I had quite literally dropped a plate in shock." He laughs softly, "I liked that plate, it was my favourite plate. But I would've smashed a hundred of my favourite plates again for the chance to experience that moment again, I had cried y'know?" The sad atmosphere had dissolved away and turned back into a soft recallment of good memories. "Ares then followed suit, those days were very tear heavy. I couldn't help it! I'm a very emotional man and it was an emotional moment, those days are still very special to me. I'm happy they feel so comfortable to speak with me and their siblings now, even if it's in private, it means a lot."

It seemed like Ghetsis had finally stopped, having to take another sip of tea to soothe his sore throat from talking so much. "… That all sounds amazin', I'd be lyin' if I said I wasn't jealous though…" Ghetsis hummed in amusement, "I know, I can always tell when somebody lies to me." Alder huffs, "You know what I mean!" Ghetsis giggles, placing his teacup softly back down onto its plate. "You can always adopt, you know that right?" Alder lets out a singular loud laugh, a mockery. "At my age? In my dreams! I'm far too old for that now, I lost my chance to adopt years ago…" Ghetsis hums, taking another sip from his drink whilst crossing his legs over, thinking. "Well, you never know. Life works in unexpected ways, you shouldn't be so certain about the future if you can't see through it." "You're being vague and philosophical again." Ghetsis giggles, placing a hand on Alder's shoulder. "Don't worry about it, alright? I'm sure you'll do great either way, Firefly."

A boy, who couldn't have been older than fourteen, peered at him from a tree, crouched upon a tree branch, chewing on what appeared to be aguav berries. Shaggy red hair rested on his shoulders and face, thick and matted, there were areas where the sun had bleached it a light orange colour. His red eyes looked at him curiously, like a predator watching its prey. Oddly enough he wasn't skinny, he had sunkissed skin, about three shades darker than his own, the kid had some decent muscle as well. That was probably from climbing these trees, and his weight was assumed by how many berry trees and bushes in the area there were… That's why there were no Pokémon in this area! Torn clothing, what he assumed to be a white shirt absolutely torn to shreds and some shaggy black pants far too big from him, having the legs torn off it seemed. Bare footed and dirty, he was clearly abandoned in these woods.

"Shit." Alder thought to himself, what now? What would Ghetsis do in this situation? Um, "Hey there kid… What cha doin' up there for?" Real smooth Alder, real fucking smooth. And apparently it was also a terrible idea as well, because the kid bared his sharp teeth at him and leapt at him, trying to bite and claw the shit out of him. What came next was a big scuffle of Alder trying to wrestle the kid off of him, he was surprisingly strong! The kid, having the perfect leeway to do so, bit forcibly into his arm. "MOTHERFU-" Alder growled back the swear, it was out of reflex from Ghetsis preening coins from him when he swears. He grabbed the kid by his hair, like scruffing a Purrloin, and pulled him back. "Let go!" Fucking hell, this was NOT as easy as Ghetsis made it sound like it was.

The kid eventually loses his grip and lets go, Alder proceeds to scruff the feral thing and tear off his poncho, wrapping the kid up like the most fucked up burrito known to humankind. The kid wailed and screamed the entire time, he didn't cry, no he was just screaming out of rage, snapping his teeth at him in an attempt to bite him. "Dragons, would you chill out for a second!?" The kid just glared at him, growling and snarling, fuck sakes man. He definitely couldn't walk back to the palace with this feral creature in his hands, he grabs out his Braviary's ball and summons it out.

The bird, stretching its wings out, looks over and spots Alder, not Ghetsis or N. Puffing its feathers out in annoyance, it sneers back at his trainer. "Oh, can it will you, Ahote? Can you see I'm in the middle of a situation here?" It takes a moment, a grueling moment of Ahote looking up at Alder, then at the wiggling child trying to latch its teeth at Alder's neck and pull. Eventually it lowers itself in a huff and beckons Alder to get on its back, "Thank you." He meant it, he really did, but it came out more tired than he would've liked. Along the fly back home, the kid actually managed to fall asleep, he seemed to calm down being in the air, odd.

He couldn't help but feel uneasy the whole time during the flight home though, he just had that nagging feeling that something was watching him, following him… Maybe he was just being paranoid, and being paranoid wasn't doing Ahote any damn favours so he needed to quit it. When he did make it back home he busted through the palace doors, a bit rashly he will admit, though the kid didn't stir. "Firefly! You're back! How was-" Ghetsis cut himself off, looking down at the wrapped up nightmare child sleeping peacefully in his clawed up arms, he isn't as surprised as Alder thought he'd be though. "Oh." Ghetsis smiles, looking back up at Alder, "I see you've brought a friend." "Friend my ass!" Alder lifts up his arm, "Do you see what this little shit did to my arm!?" Ghetsis steps closer, gently grasping at his arm to look at it, a nasty bite mark apparent on his arm, having already bruised a terrible purple colour. "… That's rather unpleasant." "You think!?"

Ghetsis turns his head back, snapping his fingers at some of his followers, who quickly turn tail and run further into the palace. "Don't worry, I'll have somebody come check it out, in the meantime…" Turning his attention back onto the child, gently caressing the kid's dirt covered face. The kid nuzzles into Ghetsis' soft touches, it pisses him off. So while Ghetsis gets all the nuzzles and kindness he gets the piss bitten out of him? Tauros shit. "What are you going to name him?" Alder blanks, "… Huh?" Ghetsis giggles, looking back up at Alder in amusement, "I said; What are you going to name him?" Alder stutters and trips over his words, "N-n… Name him?" "Well yes, he's yours now, you should get to name him."

Have you ever had the feeling of your heart stopping? Of your blood going completely ice cold? That's how Alder was feeling. "M-mine? But I'm not…" "Well, you can give him up to foster-" "No!" Alder cuts off Ghetsis, a little more adamantly than he thought he would, clutching the kid to his chest. Alder clears his throat, slightly embarrassed at his outburst, "… No, he'd suffer in foster care, right? I can't… Do that to a kid." He pulls the poncho back slightly, the kid nuzzling himself closer into the warmth of Alder's chest, drool running on the side of his month from sleeping with it open… An odd sense of warmth spreads through him. "Then I will ask again; What will you name him?"

Alder pauses, unsure of himself. Naming a kid is a big choice, it's something that will stick with them for the rest of their life, he doesn't want to mess it up… "… Mphm." He struggles, too many options, too many choices, too many mistakes. "Take your time." He looks up at Ghetsis, then back down at the kid. "… Benga." Ghetsis hums, "Benga? Now that's an interesting one." Alder snaps his head back up to Ghetsis, a look of panic across his face, "Is that bad!? Did I make a bad choice!?" Ghetsis laughs, shaking his head, "No! Of course not! It's unique, special, having unique names is what makes somebody special." He smiles, soft and knowing, "I think the name is lovely, it suits him. You made a good choice."

Alder is shaking slightly, probably from the adrenalin wearing off finally. "… Okay, good, good." His legs feel like jelly, like they're going to give out at any moment. Ghetsis kisses Alder softly on the side of the cheek, a warm smile beaming across his face. "Welcome to Fatherhood, Atlas. I'm sure you'll do great." With that, Ghetsis began to walk away, leaving him with the kid he now can call his own… Ghetsis is walking a bit faster than usual.

It hits him. "I'm sure you'll do great"? He's heard that before, where did he hear that from… Ghetsis, as in Ghetsis Harmonia, as in the Prophet of Truth. The one who's said to see through time with the guidance of the legendary dragon, see through time… Life works in unexpected ways- "YOU SON OF A BITCH, YOU KNEW THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN AND YOU DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING!-"

-💌

BENGAR 🔥 🔥 🔥 HELLO BENGA. MY BOY. HE GETS TO EXIST . fucked up nightmare burrito. i guess if n was gonna be had the normal way then Some kid had to still be found in the woods. it's the natural (hehe) order of things

when you said something fast and blue sped past him i was like ? SONIC? ok dumbass /lh

i really do love benga though i need to do more with him. he's the silly and deserves love

#sorry this took so long to read #its LONG im impressed #also #went out yesterday and stayed up hella late. im so tired #💌 anon #long post #unova upside down

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