#i just really dont want this hippowdon wheeze

[yatgb]

So I caught a shiny hippowdon o-o

If anyone has a shiny cacnea, cetoddle, tinkatink, or rufflet I'd be more than happy to trade her

[blueluneacy]

Volo Ergo Sum

tbh i dont know why i wrote this but it kinda fucks so i dont care

i really like those "lmao volo lives forever and sees the player in their own time" things so. heres that.

volo/reader if you couldnt already t ell

Warnings: reader is kinda depressed lmao, dealing with grief, volo breaks into ur fuckin house, bad vibes, slight obsessive volo

will i make a sequel some day? maybe. anyways ask me about my volo thots

It was quiet but not.

Nothing was ever truly quiet, not that you were trying to make it that way, but the quiet here was different from the quiet you knew of the past, of Hisui.

When you were in Hisui, when you were alone at night, you could hear the caw of Murkrow, or strange wheezing of a Drifloon, or even a Gastly out and about. Back in the Sinnoh region, in the present, there was nothing. The hum of a refrigerator. The honk of a car. Who knew that you would hate living in a city now, after all that you had been through?

People said that you had changed, after you disappeared. What a phenomena, you disappear without a trace for a year, only to reappear in the middle of Celestic Town in old Hisuian attire, without a trace of your memory. Of course, that piece about your memory was a lie. There was no way you could explain what had happened to you without sounding like you were insane.

You couldn’t stand being in Celestic Town for long. Something about the ruins made you feel queasy. So, you moved to Jubilife. It was no longer a small village, but a bustling city. You thought you could be more at peace here, with the spirits of your now long gone friends. Instead, you just felt cold.

There was something about the events of your time in Hisui that just left you hollow. Why was that? What is that you had been gone so long, that you had become one of them? Was it the bit of hatred you had for Arceus, for uprooting you from your life, making you a stranger to your own world? You tried reconnecting with your friends, but after a while, people assume that you’re dead. They move on. Some even laughed, asking why you were acting like their grandparents now. Has your experience changed you that much?

Or was it the bitterness of what happened on Spear Pillar? You visited again, back in this time. You said that it was a hiking trip, that you just needed some time out and about, but really, who were you kidding? It was all just an excuse. And at the top, the answers that you wanted weren’t there. Nothing but the ruins of a place long lost, even more ruined than what they were in Hisui. How unfortunate. You wondered how much destruction was still left from your battle. You looked down, to feel the grooves you were almost certain the two of you caused, but there was no way to be sure. The claws of your Luxray digging in as he launched a Thunder Fang. The cracks forming in the ground from an Earthquake from your Hippowdon. But there was no confirmation of anything.

You didn’t like to keep certain pokemon anymore. You met a powerful trainer with a Togekiss, and almost burst into tears. It was silly, really. You were being silly. And yet, so much of your team simply didn’t exist anymore. Zoroark, Goodra, Avalugg. You had to say goodbye for good to so much, simply from coming back. You didn’t even ask to return here. No, after you finished your mission from Arceus, he plopped you right on back, as if nothing ever happened. At least Ingo seemed to be doing well, from what you had seen on social media. Perhaps if you tried to reach out, he would respond. But he was all the way in Unova, and you were sure that he was busy. Running the Subway seems like a lot of work. Not to mention, you never had the heart to remind him of what was most likely painful.

So, there was nothing to do but sit, looking out the window as you listened to your Glaceon snore. Despite everything, you liked being a trainer. It was more odd not to keep at least one Pokemon, after all. Best to keep things looking at least a bit normal with you. Three seemed like enough. People still commented on how you were such a powerful trainer, that if you put your mind to it, you could easily take on the Gym Challenge and maybe even the Elite Four. You just laughed it off, continuing to work your day job the way you always did. That sort of life wasn’t for you. If you could live the rest of your life in obscurity, you would be happy.

But it seemed that fate was quite the trickster.

Perhaps your time in Hisui made you more aware, more aware than even your Pokemon, of the sounds near the door. You turned, swallowing as you heard the door knob start to rattle. A robber? At this time of night? You quickly ran over to Glaceon, grabbing her and shaking her awake. Quick! Become an attack Glaceon!

She rolled over. Stupid Pokemon.

So, you sat there, watching the door open and swallowing. You might not have recognized his silhouette, changing with the times, but you remembered that damn Togekiss. He really never changed.

“Haven’t you changed? I would’ve thought you would be a great trainer in this day and age. You made it hard to find you!” That voice. You could recognize it anywhere, even if a hundred years passed you by. And well, didn’t they, in a way? Volo easily stepped inside your home, taking the time to even shut the door behind him and take off his shoes while you stood there in shock.

“Y… You should be dead by now. Or have I finally gone insane?” You laughed a bit, running a hand through your hair to try and cover for your nervousness. It didn’t work.

“Which would you prefer to believe?” He asked. You didn’t know how to answer. “Fate is a funny thing. It seems our fates really were destined to be intertwined.” He stepped forward, easily striding into your home as if he owned the place. He looked… Modern. It was so out of place, seeing Volo in a T-shirt and jeans. He wore heavy duty hiking boots and a thick bomber jacket, losing the cap and instead just leaving his hair tied back in a bun, same as before. He had changed too. Were you the only one stuck in the past?

“I-I don’t have the plates, and I couldn’t possibly know where they are after so long! You’ll have to look somewhere else!” You said, still stumbling back. You felt shivers go down your spine as you remembered your last battle, the thought of that horrible shadowy beast appearing in front of you once again leaving you near tears. You only have three Pokémon, for crying out loud! One that only recently finally woke up and hopped to your side, starting to bark at the intruding. Good job, Glaceon. You’re doing great.

“You know, it might not have been a long time for you, but it’s been an awfully long time for me, dear.” Volo’s voice was dripping with that same, awful obsession you recognized from your last encounter on top of Mount Coronet. But, then, it was an obsession with Arceus, with his ideals, however sick they might be. You couldn’t fathom what he wanted now. “That whole time, I wanted to see you. You, the person who defeated me, spread the plates around Hisui so I couldn’t get them, and then disappeared. I thought, after you were gone, there would be no choice but to be a response. And yet, there’s been nothing. Only 12 of them have been found so far, either way.” He was 12 in, that was far too close for comfort. You hated thinking about that. Not to mention, Volo kept stepping towards you, getting closer, closer, until you were finally at a wall, with nowhere else to run. You hated that, hated how blocked in you were in the city. You ought to move if you somehow survived this.

“But now that you’re here… Well, did you even try to be a challenge?” He asked, reaching forward to grab onto you, gripping your shirt tightly. “This whole time, I’ve been thinking about it. I thought at first I would just kill you, but that’s too sweet. Then I thought about how I could ruin you, but you’re not even worth ruining anymore, are you?” He asked. You couldn’t respond. All you could do was look away. He was right. There was nothing left of the person you were in Hisui. It seems that most things just die into the past. Your Glaceon hissed and hit at Volo’s leg, but all he did was push it to the side, looking directly at you. After a moment of silence between the two of you, he just scoffed.

“How pitiful. Lord Arceus’ golden child, abandoned and tossed to the wayside. It seemed time moved on without you.” He said, dropping you before turning to leave. “I’ll leave you to it, then. There’s no fun when you’ve lost your will.” You gasped. Was that really it? You should be grateful, you know that. But, he… The last piece of what was left, of anything you knew from your friends, from Hisui. He was once a friend, wasn’t he? Didn’t Volo once care about you too? You reached out, grabbing onto the back of his jacket, trying to keep him there for a moment longer.

“You’re Just… Going to leave? After all that time looking for me, that’s it?” You asked, trembling all the while. “Over a hundred years, and that’s all you have to say to me? You’re crueler than I thought.” You told him, just looking at the ground. You didn’t know what else to say. Perhaps there was nothing else to say. If only you could see Volo’s expression though, the grin on his face curling into something malevolent. Oh, how far you had fallen. Look how much of nothing you were now, now that Arceus’s blessing wore off. Alone in the world, with no one to turn to. Perhaps the hell of living so long was a blessing in disguise.

All this time, searching for you for revenge. To force you to heel, to make you suffer for the injustice suffered all that time ago. Volo imagined it so many times. The tears running down your face, the horror in your eyes, the quivering of your lips. It was all so deeply ingrained in his mind. But now? You were so soft, pliant even. What were you going to do? There was no hope, no resistance in your eyes. Only the soft wanting to go back to a time where you were important. You could be important to someone. This whole time, you were important to him. Isn’t that the best time of revenge, after all?

“A world without the suffering we have experienced. We are the only two people who innately understand each other, love. The only two people who truly understand the cruelty of existing in this world.” Volo’s reply was strange, but you kept listening. You hated it, but something in your heart responded to it. That was crazy, right? Only someone who truly had nothing going for them would respond to such a thing.

“You know better than anyone how to survive in the wilds. Join me to find the rest. Once we’ve collected the rest of the plates and you’ve grown stronger, you can make up your mind on whether or not to take them back from me.” Volo turned to you, hearing a soft expression that nearly made you melt. You hoped that looking away and the dark would help you hide your embarrassment. Old flames burn long, you supposed.

“You’re making a mistake. I’m going to stop you and keep things right, just like before.” You said, already starting to arrange things on the couch to let him stay the night. No way you’re packing your stuff to leave in the middle of the night just to leave. You needed to arrange things so that your fridge wouldn’t rot while you were gone, your job, the whole works. Luckily, you had quite a bit of money saved, and well, you could hold your own in a battle.

“I know.” Volo replied, already making strides to come close to you, refusing to let himself be too far from you lest you forget his presence, setting his bag down and watching as his Togekiss came closer to your Glaceon, as if trying to say hello. Glaceon hopped up, its fur pointed up in distress as it looked to you as if to ask what to do. You simply shot her a look, telling her to play nice. Don’t fight battles you can’t win. “Still, it’ll be nice to have a traveling partner, no? I’ve had other ones, but none are quite the same as you.” And he smiled as he watched your face flush, your nervous disposition suddenly rise. Ah yes, it was going to be so easy.

When you’re longing for comfort, it’s so easy to convince you that he was in the right. The two of you were kindred spirits, after all. And even if you decided in the end that you would face him again, well.

Volo said it once. He’s not above using force to get what he wanted. No matter how gently he was holding your hand.