#ingo having a hard time

[elithesia-autem-danguarde]

Chapters: 15/30 Fandom: Pokemon Legends: Arceus (Video Game), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Black & White | Pokemon Black and White Versions, Pocket Monsters: Black 2 & White 2 | Pokemon Black 2 & White 2 Versions Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Kudari | Emmet & Nobori | Ingo, Kudari | Emmet & Shou | Akari, Nobori | Ingo & Shou | Akari, Nobori | Ingo & Tsubaki | Melli, Kudari | Emmet & Tsubaki | Melli, Nobori | Ingo & Queen Ohnyula | Lady Sneasler, Kudari | Emmet & Hisuian Zoroark Characters: Nobori | Ingo, Kudari | Emmet, Shou | Akari, Seki | Adaman, Kai | Irida, Volo (Pokemon), Yone | Mai (Pokemon Legends: Arceus), Tsubaki | Melli, Hinatsu | Arezu, Susuki | Iscan, Wasabi | Sabi (Pokemon), Kikui | Lian (Pokemon Legends: Arceus), Yuugao | Calaba, Garana | Palina, Hamarenge | Gaeric, Teru | Rei, Perilla | Zisu, Shimaboshi | Cyllene, Original Female Character(s), Kamitsure | Elesa, Shaga | Drayden, Taro | Lacey Additional Tags: Legends Arceus AU, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Living in Hisui, emmet in hisui, warden emmet, Ingo Emmet and Akari all connecting, Friendship, Misunderstandings, I mean like LOTS of misunderstandings, poor communication kills, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Ingo really hating his amnesia, Eventual Happy Ending, Brotherly Love, Post-Canon, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, No real shipping in this fic, The Unova characters don't appear until like the last three chapters, But I'm tagging them anyway because they're still important, actions have consequences, This fic is as long as it is because no one knows how to communicate properly, Emotions, Big Sister Elesa, Uncle Drayden, Ingo Emmet and Akari are all autistic, Hikari | Dawn and Shou | Akari are Different People, Siblings, The Ride Pokemon are Considered Nobles Summary:

The Pearl Clan witnesses Ingo mourning the memories he just can't seem to recall. The Diamond Clan witnesses Emmet concealing the past that he fears would alienate him. Both groups are aware that something is suspicious, but don't know how to approach it when considering all of the other strange things currently occurring within Hisui and the interests of their individual clans.

Akari forms separate bonds with both brothers as she investigates who they are and what they mean to each other, but will it be too late to bring them back together after months of secrecy and poor communication? Or can Ingo and Emmet's brotherly bond endure even through hardships beyond what they ever could have imagined before?

[critterbitter]

Congratulations! Your Tynamo evolved into an Eelektrik!

(Bonus below!)

(The eel dog quadrupled in weight)

Link to submas masterpost!

[proxycrit]

Part 1 / Part 2

Emmet remembers when he and Ingo first brought Elesa to explore Celestial Tower, back when they were fourteen and thought they were immortal.

“Allegedly, the bell chime will bring ghosts home”, ingo had told emmet with the pompous knowing energy of a child who read way too much brochures. “It’s culturally significant! We must ring it.”

“Hmmm,” emmet had responded suspiciously. “Brother. The bell is at the top of the tower.” The implication stands: Ingo, there are thirty flights of stairs between here and the top, and no elevator to speak of.

Don’t be a coward, Litwick had told Emmet with the blaise tone of somebody who’s going to be piggy backing off of somebody else. Go ring the bell. Tynamo, sensing a litten fight, floated towards a loitering blitzle.

Ingo turns his lilipup eyes on Elesa, who’s squinting at the carved stone faces of the front door.

“Elesa? What do you think?”

Elesa thinks. She shrugs. “We already made our way here,” she said in accented galarian. “Might as well make it the rest of the way. Ganbatte!”

Emmet sighs. “This is a mistake,” he tells the two in exhaustive patience, but lets himself be dragged into the building.

Last time the twins were here, Ingo caught litwick— but not before she managed to nab a good chunk of Emmet’s soul. It’s not terrible; he felt fatigued for a week and bounced back pretty quickly, but it was the principle of the whole situation— celestial tower’s a pain in the ass and Emmet will stand by that until the day he dies.

Like right now.

The map isn’t working. Emmet checked it once. He’s checked it twice. He’s taken out his pen and written on it, which he would usually never do but desperate times call for desperate measures. The compass he brought spins useless circles. It’s like chargestone cave up here, but worse because instead if electric pokemon it’s all ghosts.

“We’re lost, yyup yup!” He announced to the crew. “I vote we eat Ingo first.”

“I love you too,” Ingo told Emmet placidly. “But we all know between the two of us, you’re the tastier one.” Litwick gives Emmet a thumbs up. Emmet gasps in mock affront.

“Elesa, help!”

Elesa gives the two of them a wary look. It took two floors for her to realize this is not just a weird temple with strange rocks, but a full out graveyard. She’s not very happy about that development.

“Don’t drag me into this,” she tells them. “Teme wa urusaii.”

“I will take that as a compliment,” Ingo reports back.

Emmet, who’s cheerfully struggles with Galarian on a good day, simply gives her a thumbs up.

The three painstakingly crawl their way up. And up. If all else fails, Emmet told himself, at least they can orient themselves towards high ground.

“We’re like pidoves,” Ingo gasps. He has fallen behind them on the stairs, with Emmet taking the lead through sheer spite despite his legs going numb on floor twenty two. “We, hah, we are attracted by the magnet of the bell, like, like probopass-“

“I am emmet! You are not making, sense!” Emmet called back. Elesa, who’s stuck between them and looking two steps from perpetual collapse, giggles.

“No, no hear me out, Ingo wheezes. “What if the bell’s a magnetic pole? And that’s why your compass doesn’t wo, woo, hahh, work.”

Emmet stops to rest, just because Ingo is using precious breathing air to infodump. Elesa gratefully slumps against the railing. Tynamo and litwick, lazy in their still small size, have settled on a weary blitzle and look very smug doing so. (Emmet is not jealous, he tells himself. Emmet is also lying.)

“The bell’s important,” Ingo had repeated.

“Okay,” Elesa responds. “If it’s important to you, then it’s important to us.”

And Emmet finds that he agrees with Elesa. Partially because they crawled up twenty fucking three flights of stairs, but also because Ingo thinks this is important, so it is.

And here’s the thing—

— emmet doesn’t remember much after that.

The rest of that trip was a blur of exhausted groaning and burning legs, and by the time the trio managed to breach floor thirty, people’s brains have all but dribbled out their ears. Emmet remembers being disgustingly sweaty. He remembers blitzle almost tripping to death and litwick’s swearing. He remembers tynamo sticking to his neck like a damp towel. He remembers Ingo’s excited sneasel smile, and the way the sunset bounced off of Elesa’s hair.

He remembers the brassy ring of the Celestial bell. It sounded like victory.

But it was Elesa’s cackle turned scream as Ingo swiped cold hands down her neck that sounded like home.

—-

So when the conductor at thirty one, lost and disoriented in the Impossible Place, heard the sound of a familiar bell, ringing over and over and over-

-the sound of laughter-

-EMMET! Elesa cried-

-like a homing pidove, the conductor, thinks nonsensically as something in him perks up.

(Emmet had always liked winning, more than anything else, and the sound of victory calls him home.)

—

Elesa catches lightning in a bottle. Elesa, arms outstretched, finds purchase in her brother, and does not let go.

Emmet is so, so cold, Elesa thinks as the wind steals air from her lungs. (That’s okay. She’s already breathless from a terrible business called hope.)

Emmet stares back. His hands flap against Elesa’s jacket. Elesa desperately drinks in his wan face and too wide eyes and his frost bitten lips. In a tiny, meek voice, almost lost to the wind, he asks:

“Are you real?”

Elesa lets out an ugly sob. Her tears whip away in the wind as they fall. Emmet’s frightened countenance turns immediately to alarm. His shaky grasp becomes a solid grip as they spin through the air, cushioned by chandelure’s psychic.

“I think so??” Elesa warbles. She sees Emmet’s eyes dart to her mouth. He’s reading mirroring her, she realizes with giddy delight— it’s such an Emmet thing to do, to read lips, and-

“I am Emmet,” Emmet breathes. His eyes have started to water. “Yyou are Elesa- Oh dragons, Elesa!?“

Elesa reaches. Hesitates.

Emmet grabs elesa by the lapels and crushes her tight against him. Elesa holds on, and the grief and relief in her accumulates into a wet sopping mess. She’s ruining his jacket, she mourns, but its okay because he’s dripping all over hers.

She can’t hear what he’s saying into her shoulder, can’t read what he says, but everything’s okay because every part of her is chiming

You came back

You’re here

I’m not alone anymore.

Around them, the air distorts as Chandelure’s psychic wavers, flutters, and solidifies. Gravity reverses its call as they settle gently on the ground, dust billowing in all directions.

The ghost pokemon drops next to them, shaking so hard the musical clang of glass makes Elesa flinch.

You fucks, Chandelure gasps. DON’T GO LEAPING OFF BUILDINGS, I AM NOT YOUR EMERGENCY PARACHUTE.

“I’m sorry,” Elesa gasps, still giddy from the adrenaline.

AND YOU! Chandelure howls, whirling on Emmet, who’s still staring at the ghost with huge eyes. He’s gripping on to solid ground with the energy of a man who realized he could have been a splat on the ground.

YOU LEFT!

Emmet winces.

You- You left us, you left me-

Ah, ah no, Elesa thinks as golden globules of light shed from Chandelure. This is what a ghost looks like crying.

Emmet holds out his arms. Chandelure drifts into his embrace, and shakes, and shakes, and shakes.

You left me, the ghost pokemon whispers. How dare you. How could you.

“I didn’t mean to,” Emmet whispers. “I’m sorry.”

Stop doing this to me, Chandelure demands. Golden brine joins human tears, like drops of sun trapped in wet glass. Stop going where I can not follow.

And Emmet holds his tongue, because he knows he can not promise staying. Not while Ingo and Eelektross are still in Hisui.

(In the back of Emmet’s hurt and shattered mind is a spark. Synapses connect. The cold breach of the Distortion does nothing to drown out the sudden flare of hope in Emmet’s chest, so great he can not breathe, so strong he can not feel, because there’s a path. A difficult, painful path through the Space that Can Not Be, but a path all the same.)

“Elesa, Chandelure-“ Emmet’s voice breaks. He wants to tell them about Eelektross. He wants to tell them about the terrible past that is Hisui. He wants to explain how the last five months were filled with horror and wonder and fear and hope.

Hope, he thinks. So he says this:

“I know how to get Ingo home.”

NOTES:

AAAAAND THAT’S ALL FOR THIS DRABBLE. ITS OUT NOW. I CAN FINALLY GO BACK TO POSTING HAPPY SHENANIGANS! (Now you know the shape of their story.)

Thanks for reading this monster of a post!

[parasolladyansy]

DxP REWRITE - Boundaries

Hmmm, that journal looks familiar…

Speaking of books, Sasmu reads a lot of them, & on multiple subjects (much like her great-great-grandson, Ikrit, does). In our world, such things of psychology weren’t discovered yet, but as the Pokémon world has proven to be ahead of our time in many ways, I don’t think it that far a stretch to say there are books on memories, dissociation, & boundaries in old Sinnoh. 📖 

Again, memory recovery is often a process, one that can be very taxing. It’s important to take breaks when one can, & take time to process (like Ingo with his journal). 

PS: I noticed I recently reached 400 follows here! Thanks so much! I really didn’t expect this many of you to be following me & this comic along, but I’m very grateful ^_^

🔼 Diamond x Pearl REWRITE 🔽

<< Previous / Next >>

[hoofpeet]

Ough (thinks about them

[maxaroniiiii]

[patriamrealm]

does Gaeric remember what he did after the frenzy?

At first no, but then the memories all come back and he's horrified.

He tried and to kill anything that moved, his people, Irida and the other wardens, those that tried to help him and reason with him, his kid ...He severely injured so many of them an the guilt, and remorse is unbearable. And he can't even do any more than he already is caring for Ingo, Akari, and Lian as they all recover.

The memories torment him for weeks and he feels that he should not burden the others with this, especially not the children, not when he was the cause of so much fear and suffering. Not when he feels he is a monster for what he did.

It takes weeks before he finally breaks down, and Ingo was there to help. He's glad it wasn't the his or Ingo's kid that saw it.

[xowlhousex]

I’m back from my small break and made more art. sorry if I was gone, I had to rest and I was not feeling well but I’m back again. (Honestly first time drawing bubbles in the background, sorry if i messed it up ^^’)

The screenshot

[feroluce]

Coming back to this previous ingo×irida-ish post because my job gives me an unfortunate amount of time to think and anyway, an alternative version:

While in the modern day, maybe Irida sees something online, or maybe some kind of traveling history museum exhibit visits Pasio etc, but the point is she sees old historical photos of Warden Ingo. And most of those photos aren't anything new or super surprising for her- hell, she literally remembers Laventon taking these exact ones. She's even in some of them.

The part that surprises her is that there are photos from later years that include Emmet.

Because at the point in time that Irida left Hisui through the rift, she had no idea who Emmet was. Ingo had told her about his Man in White, but that was all they knew. Emmet wasn't in Hisui.

But judging by these photos and documents, he eventually will be.

So Irida still takes Ingo's hands and promises to find him later. And she still sadly tells both brothers to make the most of their time here together, and make sure to live life without regrets.

Irida goes through the closing rift back to Hisui, and she tells Warden Ingo what she learned from her trip to the future. Ingo can't thank her enough; he just needs to wait, and they'll be reunited...eventually. At some point. Just no idea when.

And it lasts years. Irida goes out to the highlands one day, and she can tell this is a Bad Day because Ingo is just kinda sitting there, up near the peak, staring out over the vastness of Hisui and dissociating. Like he's trying to watch for something, just waiting for it to happen. Irida almost regrets telling him on days like these, but it's not as though she can take it back now.

Ingo doesn't particularly acknowledge her greeting, so Irida sits next to him. Still nothing, so she sidles over and presses up against Ingo's arm until he finally presses back a bit. He never stops watching the sky, though. Close enough.

"This waiting is...difficult."

"I know." Irida follows his tattered black sleeve down from his elbow until she can find his hand, grips his cold fingers between hers and squeezes. She's sure he'll arrive soon, though. As much as it hurts to see Ingo like this, watching him give up would be so much worse.

"Just keep waiting patiently...just hold on a little bit longer, ok?"

[ace-trainguys]

The @ultimate-submas-tournament is underway!

Smokestack from the Heroes/Villains au that @the-digital-pen and I have been writing for is up against Ingo from @inkinary 's Fractured Sky AU! I was excited to be able to draw them facing off (by which I mean, able to find the time and energy...!)

Fractured Sky au is a very neat concept - love the worldbuilding, the way wings and pacts work, and the way both Ingo and Emmet are characterized! It's good stuff! So either outcome of the poll will be a satisfying one to me.

[manchasama]

:> I have finished another chapter. 8> I am v.pleased. This is the toughest chapter out of all of them. I don't go into great detail, but it is Ingo's strongest reaction. Careful duckies, but also enjoy(?)!

Hard to Swallow Part 4 (Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 5)

-

"Ah, my good sir, wait just one moment!"

Ingo stopped at the familiar voice.  Coming up the road was Professor Laventon.  He was huffing a bit at the quick pace he'd set, and had a covered bundle clutched in his hands.

"Warden Ingo, I'm so glad to have caught you today," Laventon said jovially when he got closer.  "I didn't get the chance to thank you properly for your help with finding those pokemon for me!"

"Good day, Professor," Ingo replied with a tip of his hat.  "It was no trouble.  I trust all passengers have their proper tickets and are on schedule?"

Professor Laventon took a moment to parse his phrasing, before giving a sheepish grin.  "Ah, well, not exactly.  They are quite the rambunctious fellows, you know?  Won't listen to a word I say!  That little Cyndaquil especially loves to create such a ruckus."

Oh, that was quite unfortunate.  Ingo had thought he'd taken enough time to train them to being quite congenial partners.  The Cyndaquil had been such a quick learner when it came to battle strategies, and he'd been sure it would have been a star pupil for the professor's needs.

"I see," Ingo replied.  He had to resist the urge to straighten up, not wanting to loom over the other.  "Perhaps I failed to set them on the proper tracks.  I would be happy to run a maintenance session with them!  With a little more training, they are sure to be formidable partners.  I'm sure you will learn a lot from each other as you continue on your journey together."

"No!" Laventon protested immediately.  Ingo blinked in surprise at the fervor.  "Uh, that is to say, I don't think the problem is their training," Laventon continued, rubbing his head nervously.  "I must say it's probably a lack in myself to be able to control their strong personalities."

That was also fixable.  Ingo brightened up, voice rising with enthusiasm.  "Would you like some guidance?  While I don't remember where I came about such skill, many have vouched for my abilities when it comes to battling.  I'm sure we could get you in top form and battle ready in no time."

That didn't make Laventon look any more confident.  If anything, he looked more uncomfortable at the mere suggestion, face a little pale.  "Warden Ingo, while I appreciate your eagerness, battling is not for one such as me.  No, my passions are in observing and recording, rather than doing.  Perhaps that is my folly in this case."

"That is truly a shame," Ingo said.  "I think you would be a fantastic choice for a partner.  Your kindness and desire to understand pokemon is admirable.  If you ever change your mind, I would be honored to be your conductor for that journey."

Laventon had a bemused look on his face at that, but responded with equal good humor.  "Why, thank you!  I will be sure to do so.  Ah, but that isn't the reason I wanted to talk to you.  It may not be much, but I would like you to take this as thanks for your assistance!"  With that, he held out the cloth covered bundle between them.  He pulled the cloth off dramatically, revealing some steaming buns.  "Potato mochi!  A delicious delicacy made by our very own Beni.  He's holding onto the secret of that recipe, but I do hope to be able to record it someday.  Knowledge must be shared, not hoarded!  Ah," he paused with a sheepish grin, "look at me rambling on.  Please, have one while it's still hot.  While normally these are reserved for members of the Galaxy team, I would be delighted if you were to have some as thanks for your help."

Ingo looked at the pale buns, feeling a swell of nerves he couldn't place.  He wasn't sure why, but he always had a pang of anxiety when offered food from others.  Was it some past trauma that he could not remember?  He didn't consider himself a picky eater, and most everything he tried was at least palatable.  An offer of food was quite an honor, when it was one of the most coveted resources.

"Indeed," Ingo said, not wanting to appear rude despite his hesitation.  "I have heard many people praise these potato mochi before!  Though I don't feel I have done much that requires such acclaim, I will certainly partake."  He slid a finger against his wrist absently, and was surprised at the lack of resistance.  Why had he done that?  He looked down at his bare hands for a moment of incomprehension, before pushing the feeling aside and reaching out to take one of the buns.

The texture of the mochi was a bit odd, but the flavor of it was quite good.  It was good.  So Ingo had no idea why his breath was freezing in his lungs, or why his throat was so tight.  He tried to work his jaw, to at least swallow the mouthful so he could thank the professor properly, but all he managed to do was to grind his teeth together a fraction.  The urge to cough was rising, or to gag, and behind that Ingo could sense that if he didn't so something soon, he was likely to throw up.  

Desperately, he tried to keep his breathing under control.  He had to close his throat against the distressed noise that wanted to escape, not wanting to call attention to his plight.  But his eyes were starting to water.  And he could not swallow, he knew he couldn't, even if he could somehow magically unfreeze himself in the moment, he was not going to be able to recover from this. He hadn't even realized he was hunching further over until a hand met his shoulder, and he jerked backward in alarm.

Laventon also jerked back, not expecting the sudden move.  "My dear man, are you okay?  You look frightful!"

Ingo raised his gaze to meet Laventon's, and that was it.  He lurched a few steps away before gagging violently, eyes squeezed shut as his body shuddered.  A harsh cough shook him, and was followed immediately by another wave of nausea that left him panting.

"Oh my goodness!"  

Out of the corner of his eye, Ingo could see the professor hovering, though he didn't reach out to touch him.  Ingo could feel his face burn with humiliation.  What kind of reaction was that?  It was a simple act of kindness, the act of sharing a precious resource, and Ingo had been most shameful about it.  He was certainly old enough to handle food he didn't like.  Though, he had liked it.  Why had he reacted like that?

He straightened, not caring now if he towered over the other.  Tugging his hat low over his eyes, he wiped a hand across his mouth.  It did nothing to clear the clinging sensations that still threatened to make him gag again.  "My deepest apologizes," he said instead, unable to look at Laventon.  "I will clean up this mess post haste."

"Warden Ingo, please!  Do not worry about that.  Are you alright?"  Laventon was clutching the plate to his chest while he shifted from foot to foot.  "My goodness, I hadn't even thought to ask if you liked any before I offered.  It really is my fault."

Ingo wanted to protest, because his inability to properly accept the gift was hardly a failing of the professor, but more than that he wished Laventon would stop hovering and...and reach out.  There was a burning desire in him for a comforting hand on his back, for the physical presence of another.  Ingo rubbed at his arm, trying to dismiss the phantom sensations, while also dearly wishing they were real.  But he wasn't close friends with Laventon, as much as he enjoyed the man's company.  

Perhaps, he thought miserably to himself, he had had a parent or companion in his past life who would offer such comforts.  It seemed unlikely.  Casual touch was not considered polite or encouraged.  Not in the clans, nor in the variety of cultures that made up the Galaxy team.

Ingo forced his shoulders to relax, rolling them back to ease the knot of tension in his back.  Out of the corner of his eye he saw Laventon shuffle backwards a few steps, a nervous look on his face.  Swallowing, Ingo sunk into his coat, bending his knees subtly as he shifted his posture around in a way he hoped looked natural.  He disliked that he came off as so intimidating to others, and was doing what he could to mitigate it.  This episode had likely put him even further in the negative view, however.  

"It is not your fault, professor," he finally managed to say.  Taking another careful breath, he focused briefly on getting his throat to relax when it started to tighten again.  He could not seem to get rid of the sensation!  "I do apologize again.  It was a kind gesture, one of which I am sorry was wasted in such a way.  Perhaps I am coming down with something."  The platitude felt sour on his tongue.  He knew he was not sick, at least not in terms of a virus or otherwise.  The broken state of his mind was not something he could fix, however.

Right now all he wanted to do was retreat to the comfort of the mountains.  At least there he didn't feel like he was disappointing people's expectations.  At least there Lady Sneasler would greet him with a rough tongue swiping at his hair, determined to get it to stick up in new and interesting ways.  At least there he could tend to the sneaslettes, allowing them to climb over him in their rambunctious games.  At least there, the clawing loneliness in his chest would ease, if only for a little while.

"Oh dear oh dear," Laventon fretted.  "I was going to have you take the rest with you, but I suppose that a fool's endeavor now."  He frowned down at the plate.  "Ah well, I will have to think of something else I can do to repay you.  Are you sure you're okay, old chap?"

Taking another deep breath, Ingo forcefully pulled himself together.  He dug into the pocket of his ragged coat, pulling out the cloth he knew was there.  It was a matter of a moment to bend over and swipe at the mess on the ground.  He bundled the cloth around it, then stuck it deep in his pocket.  He'd take care of it later.  

"My cab is in working order," he said, avoiding looking at Laventon's face.  He tipped his cap again.  "If you will excuse me."  With that he strode away.  It was probably rude of him to leave so abruptly.  He couldn't find it in himself to care.

(When the next meal came, Ingo stared at the slices of berry in his hand that he's prepared.  Even without trying, he knew he would not be able to eat.  The phantom sensations had not stopped.  Not the ones that threatened to have him gag around his food.  Not the ones that felt like a warm hand on his back, a solid presence in his side.)

[gamebunny-advance]

Random Thought

So, a while back I posted a pic of all the Pokemon dudes that I like despite knowing basically nothing about Pokemon, and it's become a very shocking fact to me that despite their apparent popularity, the train dudes do basically nothing in their home game.

[kelpiemomma]

It's been a rough few weeks and I just got some bad news recently. Need a little bit of fluff in my life right now. For a prompt, how about Akari getting hurt, either emotionally or physically, and possibly trying to hide it from Ingo but him finding out anyway and helping her. Any verse would be fine.

i wrote 1k words of arms outstretch post-fic angst :,) this is definitely canon (to an extent, bc it's not yet finished, but the akari-problem is Real fjadsklfs) <3

-----

Unfortunately, Ingo hadn’t been with Akari in the realm Arceus had made for her. Therefore it was easy for it to slip his mind that she had trauma he didn’t always see. There were the obvious problems, of course. The way she clung to anyone around her, practically begging for the warmth of another body, was only getting better nearly a year after he’d gotten her back. She still frequently woke up from nightmares screaming and confused about where she was until Ingo could calm her down. Ingo himself wasn’t free from the repercussions either- every now and then he would walk into the kitchen and see a stranger making food, alarm shooting through him before he recognized his daughter. The fact that she had grown up some in their time apart didn’t help, and he mourned the years they’d lost.

But it was a long monsoon season that brought up one he’d failed to consider.

Looking back on it, it would make sense. Every time he’d met her within the dream area it had been raining. Heavy or light, a downpour or a drizzle, the rain had never stopped. While he had taken notice that every now and then her nightmares would be worse, that she would wake up screaming and terrified and refuse to let him go, the last several weeks had been so much worse. She had, of course, insisted that things were fine. That she didn’t know what was going on, why she couldn’t sleep, why when she did she would weep uncontrollably for several minutes.

Ingo was also beginning to lose sleep out of concern for his daughter. He slept lightly most nights, in spite of Emmet’s horrific snoring - the only time Emmet was louder than Ingo was at night - and each time Akari woke with a nightmare, Ingo woke with her. Jackie had pointed it out to Emmet who had forced Ingo to claim a sick day and stay home to get some sleep. Ingo protested, but when Emmet took all of their shoes with him to the subway he found himself sitting on the couch and staring out the window.

The rain had lessened for the first time in several days and was barely dripping, the sun breaking through clouds. Subway quickly made for the slim beam of light on the carpet, eager to soak up sunlight and warmth before it vanished again. Akari slipped out of her room, clearly exhausted. Her eyes had grown dark and were looking a little bloodshot. Ingo opened his arm in invitation and she collapsed onto the couch against him, pressing her cheek against his chest as she wrapped her arms around him. Ingo curled his arm around her shoulder in turn and let himself enjoy the peace. Gradually, Akari fell asleep on him, and for the first time in a while she was still.

And then the rain picked up again.

Ingo missed the first few twitches, mistaking them for her sleeping. He had been browsing his phone, looking through miscellaneous items for the house as well as new socks for work. The first whimper caught his attention, and then the grip tightening around him. He set his phone down and began to stroke his fingers through her hair, hoping it would put her at ease. It did, temporarily, but as the rain grew heavier and louder it ceased to work.

Thunder boomed, and with it Akari’s eyes shot open and she sprung to her feet. Ingo followed her up, saying her name before freezing.

She was standing in a way that he hadn’t seen in quite some time. Her shoulders were low, head hung down by her chest, and despite the fear she had been exhibiting in her sleep her breathing had also slowed. He watched as she took a deep breath in and let out a sigh before tilting her head back. Tears began to trickle down her cheeks as they stood there, Ingo uncertain of what to do.

“Akari?” He asked quietly.

The worst part was that she barely responded. She just turned her head a little and offered him a small smile.

“You’re here again.” she said quietly. A chill ran down Ingo’s spine.

“Here?” He asked.

She lifted a hand to wave lazily in the air.

“You know. Here.” There was a pause. “I’m glad it’s never wet. It’d be worse if it was wet.”

“If what was wet?”

“Everything! The rain never stops. I’m glad I can’t feel it.”

Fuck. The rain. Of course.

Akari was babbling on but Ingo had put his face in his hands.

The rain.

How many years had she spent in a downpour, never knowing when or if she’d make it out? She’d said that the time in Arceus’ little pocket dimension was funny, that she couldn’t say how long she’d been in there because time had never passed but that nothing ever changed either- including the weather. No wonder her sleep had gotten worse, that she’d been struggling to stay aware of where she was, because it had been raining non stop for days.

Ingo pulled his phone out of his pocket, texting Emmet we’re going on vacation. To the desert. For an undetermined time.

CASINO BATTLES???? Emmet immediately texted back.

We’ll discuss it on the way. Book the tickets.

ALL ABOARD!!!!!

Then he looked back at Akari, who’d gotten quiet again, and hated himself a little for taking so long to realize something was seriously wrong. Something beyond a flare up of discontent.

“Would you like a hug?” Ingo asked, because it was the only thing he could think to do. He didn’t know how long she would be lost in her mind, lost in her memories, for, but he wanted to provide whatever comfort he could. She nodded, and he quickly stepped forward to engulf her in his arms. “I promise, little one, I won’t leave you behind again. This time I intend to keep it, come hell or high water.”

[kurixta]

Uncle Drayden dresses up as Santa for the little submas boys!

[loverboypercy]

see my problem isnt that i cant write those long fics with all those big ideas, its that i keep getting caught up in scenes that i really should shorten/do not matter but Dont and then run out the hyperfixation

[newdestination]

----