#ingo is normally one to share what he has without question

[ypokosmo-theos]

emmetrain​:

There was someone after all. The unrest within his soul got worse instead of lessening–the itch to do something, be useful in whichever way possible -though it would be futile- was almost overwhelming.

( God, he was losing his mind.)

Millenia? Emmet was used to taking words literally. Too literally, in fact. But with every “I will call you once I have a tip”, and every “I care about your brother”, every lie, every pleasantry that was never truly meant–he was inclined not take it at face value now. Not anymore. It felt like a bleeding wound upon his very soul, for a humans such as he who valued the truth and even chose to make it his name, “Emmet”, he could not even believe in the words spoken without doubting, without bracing himself for lies in every turn.

With the person he challenged stepping out of the shadows, Emmet’s stomach churned–his eyes narrowed. The peculiar clothes were not with a criminal organization attached. The appearance was far from normal, even of those with the fashion that deemed normal a mortal enemy. So, why? Why did he still take a step forward, and attach the pokeballs back to his belt–his only defense, really, with how spent and exhausted the trainwreck of a body was. A state so tragic that back in his mind, he had to laugh.

Had he always been this weak? Nothing on his own. Nothing even when he should have fought with everything he had.

The amused smile, though horrifying given the circumstances, also calmed him enough not to head straight into the tracks of a battle.

“You, I have not questioned. Maybe, you will be the only one that can tell me the truth. I am looking for someone.” Emmet took another step forward, and reached to his pocket to open a poster that had been neatly folded–too new, possibly printed on that day. Every day ended with tears ruining the poster of the day, and to the pieces it would go as his hope went up in flames.

The missing poster had the picture of someone with the same grey hair, and same, unique sideburns the exhausted form had shared. Someone in black clothing, frowning through the picture–was he disappointed that Emmet was failing him yet again? … Of course. Of course he was. Emmet darted his eyes away from the judging gaze of the photograph.

“Have you seen this man? Subway Boss Ingo. He is from Unova, last seen in Nimbasa City. He…” Emmet took off his mask– cracks in his skin darkening the corners of the sickly smile on his face. “He is my twin brother. We are identical twins. So you might have seen me, but it may not be him that you saw–it’s… It is verrrry complicated, at time. Please stay on the line. I… I need to know.”

It wasn’t hard for the deity to sense the deepening darkness growing in the man before him. How close was he to breaking? He could almost taste the madness that this man was facing and was growing evermore curious about what exactly he’d gone through to reach this state. What exactly had he lost to break him to this point? The god of darkness was rather intrigued now, wanting this mystery to be solved. Perhaps it was his own growing influence over this man that drew him to this cave to begin with? He couldn’t be sure yet.

Hades watched the human put away those strange balls and cants his head a bit in interest. Perhaps the world has changed far more than he assumed. Strange how this man had assumed that they would be able to protect him should the god have been a hostile enemy. Another curiosity to add to this bizarre human. Perhaps later he could ask so that mystery would be solved as well. For now, he waited ever patient as the other stepped forward and spoke up. Tell him the truth was it? That would be no problem.

“Ask away young one, gods can only speak truths.”

He tilts his head thoughtfully at the poster produced from the other’s pocket. Was it a self portrait? No... While subtle the god could see the differences between the image and the man bearing it. Twins then. It was confirmed when Emmet speaks again and further affirmed at the removal of the mask. Sure, the man before him looked worse for wear than the one in the poster but it was easy enough to see.

“Though you shall not like my answer but I have not seen this man... He still yet lives. Where, though, is another matter entirely. Given you are here in such a remote part of the world though tells me you have exhausted most leads."

Hades knew this answer would break the man before him further and something in him disapproves of this. It was true however that this Ingo was not yet buried within the earth and still walked it somewhere, still linked so with his twin. While yes he was so close to losing his mind and completely falling into his realm of darkness he did not wish to see such a fighting spirit broken so completely. After a few more seconds of silence the god comes to a decision and takes just a few more steps closer to the other, gaze far softer than before and smile more sympathetic.

“I have decided to offer my aide young one... Tell me more the circumstances of his disappearance so I may discern the truth for you.”

ypokosmo-theos:

How long had the god slept this time? How many years had passed? He knew not this answer and didn’t feel inclined to try and discover it. It mattered not after all. Nothing will have changed so drastically that he would be surprised by it. Certainty in his mind about this is what he felt as he’d begun to exit his deep grotto within the ancient cave system. He’d left it a few times already just to investigate but always he returned to his home before too long.  Hades paused near the entrance to the tunnel that led to his grotto, feeling a great amount of darkness approaching. Someone close to losing their mind he imagined. That was a bit of a surprise actually since normally humans would send those so close to madness to their doctors to try and heal them. So then, what was this one doing so far out in the wilderness he wondered. Hearing the command nearly has him giving out a chuckle but not quite. It was more an exhale of amusement. “No one has tried to order me to do something in millennia. Intriguing...”

Deciding to investigate this person further, the deity stepped forward from the shadows of the cave. What Emmet would see is a lithe pale man with hair long enough to pool around his feet though it was neat and clean as if dirt was repelled by it. His clothing, if you could call it that, was form fitting black that had long fluffy fur on the shoulders, a deep V-neck went to the man’s waist but it looked as if the ‘clothes’ were a part of the man. A pair of obsidian black eyes peered out at Emmet, taking in all his details with an amused smile on his face. However, all this was nothing compared to the strange man’s horns and ears, features which seemed to shift and change in appearance as if they were shadows from a tree in motion from the wind. “You are a bold one, I will give you that. So then, I am here, what ever shall you do now?”

There was someone after all. The unrest within his soul got worse instead of lessening--the itch to do something, be useful in whichever way possible -though it would be futile- was almost overwhelming.

( God, he was losing his mind. )

Millenia? Emmet was used to taking words literally. Too literally, in fact. But with every "I will call you once I have a tip", and every "I care about your brother", every lie, every pleasantry that was never truly meant--he was inclined not take it at face value now. Not anymore. It felt like a bleeding wound upon his very soul, for a humans such as he who valued the truth and even chose to make it his name, "Emmet", he could not even believe in the words spoken without doubting, without bracing himself for lies in every turn.

With the person he challenged stepping out of the shadows, Emmet's stomach churned--his eyes narrowed. The peculiar clothes were not with a criminal organization attached. The appearance was far from normal, even of those with the fashion that deemed normal a mortal enemy. So, why? Why did he still take a step forward, and attach the pokeballs back to his belt--his only defense, really, with how spent and exhausted the trainwreck of a body was. A state so tragic that back in his mind, he had to laugh.

Had he always been this weak? Nothing on his own. Nothing even when he should have fought with everything he had.

The amused smile, though horrifying given the circumstances, also calmed him enough not to head straight into the tracks of a battle.

"You, I have not questioned. Maybe, you will be the only one that can tell me the truth. I am looking for someone." Emmet took another step forward, and reached to his pocket to open a poster that had been neatly folded--too new, possibly printed on that day. Every day ended with tears ruining the poster of the day, and to the pieces it would go as his hope went up in flames.

The missing poster had the picture of someone with the same grey hair, and same, unique sideburns the exhausted form had shared. Someone in black clothing, frowning through the picture--was he disappointed that Emmet was failing him yet again? ... Of course. Of course he was. Emmet darted his eyes away from the judging gaze of the photograph.

"Have you seen this man? Subway Boss Ingo. He is from Unova, last seen in Nimbasa City. He..." Emmet took off his mask-- cracks in his skin darkening the corners of the sickly smile on his face. "He is my twin brother. We are identical twins. So you might have seen me, but it may not be him that you saw--it's... It is verrrry complicated, at time. Please stay on the line. I... I need to know."

[ghostypetrainer]

Your reincarnated au. Emmet meets reincarnated Ingo and goes; that's my boy, that's him!!

This truly does raise the question as to how quickly both Emmet and Elesa recognize him!! He has the same eyes, but has a different face now even if he still has his signature frown as his default expression. They've gone 11 years without Ingo in their lives, still holding out faint hope that he's still alive somewhere, but also more ready to confront the more likely reality that he's dead. Surprise! Both of those are correct.

I like to think that subconsciously, they do recognize Ingo- especially Emmet. But the possibility of him having been reborn as someone else likely has never crossed their minds, so especially for Elesa, it's not the first thought. All she knows is that this challenger with familiar eyes has started to cry, and she's automatically drawn to comfort them. There's a familiarity there, but she doesn't now why at first until he opens his mouth and just spills everything right then and there. Even without the fact that he tells her things that no one but Ingo could ever know, she realizes that... oh. he's telling the truth. This is Ingo. This is Ingo.

She offers to bring him to Emmet herself- after Ingo collects himself and they have the battle he came here for in the first place, of course! He wins, but that's not a surprise. She'd only ever beaten Ingo on the rare occasion, so she can't see why it would be any different now! But I do think Ingo chooses to go see Emmet on his own, and she lets him. She doesn't warn Emmet because... yeah. It sounds like a bad joke without actually meeting him.

Emmet is having a normal day on the Doubles Line, when his latest challenger comes through the door. He looks at those silver eyes, and feels something click- somehow, he knows that's Ingo. He almost wants to reach out and embrace him, but he stops himself- what if Ingo doesn't remember him? That would be verrry awkward, so he swallows back the urge and starts the battle. On the other side of the field, Ingo wonders if Emmet recognizes him, but I think through the ensuing battle, they both come to understand that the other does know them.

Who wins or loses doesn't matter half as much as the tight embrace they share afterwards. Ingo is home- he doesn't look quite like Ingo anymore, but that's irrelevant to the fact that he's home.

[cherrygrudge]

I know some people need prompting to talk about their aus, so consider this your chance to talk! Please tell me more about the Of Subways and Toy Trains AU! Anything you want to talk about. Like how taking care of kiddy Ingo is handled or if he's going to get returned to normal at some point.

Haha, sorry for leaving this for a while - I got a bit busy with a few things and haven't really thought on this for. A little while...

So, I'll focus a bit on the first things you asked. Namely about Kiddy Ingo and how taking care of him goes, and also the question on whether or not he goes back to his original age.

Well. Honestly, the first thing is that Ingo has to get back to his original age the hard way. Or at least, it'll take a bit and he definitely won't be the same age as Emmet anymore. No twins, sadly. Or maybe there is, but TBH in this AU I'm at least focusing on the part when Ingo is still shrunk and not the far future if that makes any amount of sense.

And. Well, Little Ingo is a pretty independent kid. Or at least with how his memories were initially mixed up, he's pretty confident that he can take care of himself. Sort of.

Of course, Emmet is verrrry protective over his little older brother. I mean, he just got him back after a couple of years or so (even if he is shrunk), so. Emmet definitely keeps an eye on hi. as much as possible. The same goes for the Alpha Pokemon that Ingo's got with him, in this AU. Lady Sneasler definitely doesn't let him out of her sight often, at least! Not to mention his original team...

Uh. A lot of this was about a week or more ago - but. In the Discord server I was in that I shared this with - but after things... settle down a bit, a lot of the Submas Place is adjusted so that Little Ingo can do some stuff without having to call anyone or climb on a Pokemon to get stuff.

Stepladders, stools, maybe some kid-safe things... Ingo's shrunk to around seven or eight. I'm not too sure if I mentioned that on Tumblr, but yeah.

Little Ingo keeps his slightly beat up hat. It's a bit too big on him, but he refuses to let it go. Though he does have a fixed up coat - no tripping over his own coat in this AU... after the first few days and after an intervention. The tattered coat is in the closet somewhere.

He still handles the Singles Train, though - not exactly by himself. And only after a couple of months. For a little bit, he's just a spectator at Emmet's double battles. Tiny disatisfied-looking child with an oversized conductor's cap and also surrounded by Pokemon. Just kind of glaring at you while you battle someone who is smiling in a verrrry intimidating way.

...

Uh.

What else, what else... oh! Ingo is as loud as ever, obviously. It's a bit different since he's a kid in the AU, but the PA Systems did break again. One of the depot agents made a 'mistake' and they needed to replace the speakers.

(Yes, this is a reference to a certain comic. Mostly because I find it incredibly funny).

...

That's really all that comes to mind for now, so... I'll just, go now! Thanks for asking the question, Anon. Sorry it took so long.