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Chapter 14 - The Inflection Point

“Could've been worse…I still have one good shoulder…” William rubbed his left shoulder gingerly through the same oversized yellow sweatshirt he wore when they met. Lena shot him a pitying glance as she continued to sign the release paperwork. Next to her, Arthur nodded in solidarity while carrying William’s backpack for him, despite his initial protests.

“You’ll heal faster if you put as little strain on it as possible… plus, Lena would have carried it instead.” Arthur responded, Lena nodding in agreement before sighing to herself. William’s hand slowly trailed over the wrapping on his left shoulder, where the Beedrill’s Twineedle grazed him…

Lena forced herself not to say anything. With an overly dramatic, flourishing movement of the pen, she wrote her signature, flipped the stack back over, gathered all the papers neatly together, and handed it over to the hospital receptionist.

They took it and gave it a quick glance over, before nodding at Lena. “Looks all good, I gotta say… never expected to need to grab the air ambulance documents. You got a rare experience, kid.”

Lena winced, but William instead looked quite puzzled.

‘Do people not get airlifts to the hospital where he’s from...?’

...

‘...Oh, wait. He passed out. Right, probably didn’t remember any of it.’

The receptionist didn’t seem to notice as he scanned the signed copies of what Lena signed, putting them in a folder before handing said folder to Lena, along with a bottle of medicine that… Lena couldn’t recognize the name, meaning she needed to double check to make sure Dr. Yagokoro added nothing… concerning. “Specially prescribed anti-inflammatory medicine and painkillers… and copies of the documents for your records, just in case. You should be good to go from here, but if anything comes up on our end, we’ll reach out to the Ranger Union as notified.”

She nodded, taking the folder and pill bottle and gently slid it into her bag where William’s previous medical documents were as well. Thankfully, she sorted through her bag the night before to remove all the extra Nest Balls and properly return them… along with all of William’s catches that she had moved over to her bag at… some point, she couldn’t recall exactly when during the entire mess of the last three days. Regardless, her bag was quite neat right now, and she slid it in without issue and closed it back up.

Saying another thankful goodbye, she turned for the exit, William and Arthur close behind her. William gently rubbed his elbows as he walked, almost seeming to press into himself as they exited the door. Working her jaw slightly in worry, Lena glanced down at him, noting the far off look… clearly stuck in his own thoughts. On his belt were all three of his team members, returned to their Poké Balls for some long-overdue rest… but it was clear he hadn’t been… just out by himself for a while.

He had said hello to them that same morning after Dr. Yagokoro finished all her tests the night before. She explicitly mentioned early this morning when Lena came to grab William that they couldn’t rest in his sweatshirt hoodie until his shoulders were better to the distraught protest of Ronin and Viridi. The memory of her team's proper introduction to Viridi was… quite memorable.

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The scene of Venipede staring dead-on at Rina… mildly amused her, as neither of them moved an inch. Lena watched the staredown occurring in William's hospital room, the sun barely poking over the horizon as it was before eight A.M. She felt it was way too early to be awake after the last couple days, but Dr. Yagokoro cleared William to leave… and Lena wanted to get him out of there sooner rather than later.

The only thing keeping her awake was the cup of coffee in her hand as she watched the scene; Charon had already drank two cups and well on his wayto make a third. He would still shoot glances at William every now and then, who was slowly petting the Venipede and Ronin, clearly waking up slower without the luxury of coffee.

Finally, Venipede broke the staredown with a question. “Venipe. Venipedede.” (Hive Leader travel. Red Fighting Lady Hive come with?)

William paused his petting, his brain clearly processing the statement before he nodded lightly. “Yeah — yeah, we are… we’re gonna be together for the foreseeable future so… if you can, please introduce yourself Viridi.”

“Venven. Pede Veni. Vvven Pedepede. Peedeven.” (Venipede name Viridi. Viridi job is Comfrey Bugg. Red Fighting Lady. Big Yellow Aunty Oshawott. Blue Walking Herdier. What are name?)

William looked embarrassed at Venipede’s direct descriptions with sudden stuttering leaving him, his reaction in direct contrast to Charon, who barked out a laugh. Even Lena felt herself barely hold back a snort to prevent herself from coughing at her sip of coffee. Arthur being described as a ‘Blue Walking Herdier’ created an image of him wearing a cheaply made costume in her mind; the Aura Pokémon turned to her and shot her an affronted look that nearly made Lena double over in laughter.

“Zelzel! Flooaaat!” (I’m Rina, and I’m not an Oshawott, I’m a Floatzel! Ronin is the Oshawott over there!)

“Venven Pede. Vvven. Pede?” (Ronin say Rina is Aunty. Ronin is Oshawott. Floatzel not Aunty Oshawott?)

Rina’s face now mirrored William’s, which had turned a deeper red that rivaled the shade on Lena’s jacket. He moved his head into the palm of his hands slowly, either to hide his embarrassment or out of exasperation. Lena couldn’t tell as she covered her own expression to hide her laughter.

Ronin must have seemed a tad exhausted himself, turning to the Venipede. “Shaa… Wott… Osha.” (Viridi… she said that jokingly because she helped me train, we’re not actually related…)

“Venipede Ven. Pedepede.” (Viridi not understand. Aunts are related. Mother Sister or Father Sister. Hive Leader describe them.)

“Zeel-Float... Zelzel! Float!” (I mean, I guess I’m flattered... Wait no, not the move Flatter! Just like... y’know, it’s kind of you to think of me as part of your family, Ronin...)

Viridi must have picked up on that, because she turned to William. “Venven. Pedepede.” (Hive Master. I flatter you.)

....Or not.

William’s face wasn’t visible, but Lena heard a noise that sounded equally exasperated and embarrassed as he tried to bury himself deeper in his double-facepalm. Charon guffawed so hard he started coughing and was on his knees, trying to catch his breath. Ronin started flailing his little arms and Rina tried to explain to Viridi about how that’s not what ‘flatter’ means. Viridi responded that flatter means love, and she loved William as part of the Hive in her own broken language, which only made things even worse. And Lena?

Well, Dr. Yagokoro was now giving her a checkup after the Doctor thought Lena was having a heart attack.

Arthur, stoic as ever, attempted to save face.

“Ahem, moving on. I am Arthur the Lucario, at your service. I admit I have not been referred to as a ‘walking Herder’ before; I suppose if you must refer to me in terms of other Unovan Pokémon, you could think of me as a Zoroark with the temperament of a Bisharp.”

“Venipedede. Vven. Pedepedpe. Veni.” (Illusion Trickster and Dark Knight. Old Hive Master tell stories. Lucario is both. Viridi understand.)

Lena didn't need to look at their Aura link to feel Arthur’s pride being pierced like a Drill Peck at being called a ‘trickster’. Instead, she focused on trying to recover from... whatever that was earlier. Raising her hand slightly to get Viridi’s attention, she managed to hide her amusement in her tone as she spoke. “I’m Lena, and I’m a Top Ranger along with Rina and Arthur. Our job is to protect and help people and Pokémon everywhere. But if anyone asks, I’m an Ace Trainer training William, okay? Bad people might try to hurt William if they knew I was a Top Ranger with him.”

“Veni.” (Viridi understand.)

“I… explained as much as I could before you arrived, so won’t need to worry about other Trainer or Wild Pokémon getting the wrong idea.” William clarified with a still slightly embarrassed tone he tried to hide, Lena nodded and hummed slightly before pausing as her mind ran through Viridi’s own introduction again.

“It sounds like William assigned you a job, right? What is a Comfrey Bug?”

William’s head returned to his palm with a mortified ‘Oh, god…’ leaving him as Charon suddenly started to laugh louder. Viridi did not detect the embarrassment from her Trainer. “Venvenpede. Veniven. Vvven.” (Viridi is Comfrey Bugg. Comfrey Bugg mean protect Hive. Comfrey Bugg mean protect Hive Leader. Comfrey Bugg burr for Hive Leader when sleep. Hive Leader like burr.)

Lena couldn’t help but grin as William tried to give a flustered explanation about how he apparently said it while he was on all the medicine. She ignored it in favor of speaking to Viridi. “Sounds like you’re quite the cuddle bug then, huh?”

“VVeniveni. VVenven.” (Viridi not cuddle bug. Viridi is Comfrey Bugg.)

“Yes, and cuddle bug she may be, she nor Ronin are going to be able to travel on William’s shoulder for at least a week.”

To their right, Dr. Yagokoro had regained her own composure, Yomi next to her moving to disconnect the various monitors and patches on William. Dr. Yagokoro already started into a light instructional tone towards Lena, who fumbled slightly to flip open her Styler to take notes.

“As I’ve said, William’s system is fully flushed of toxins, and I’ve already begun work on a solution for any complications in the future. However, his left arm and shoulder will feel weak and sore for the next week. I want you to make sure that there is little to no pressure put on his upper body as a result… even his Silph Co. bag will need to be carried by someone for a couple of days…”

“Shaaawoottt!” (But I need to keep watch for bad people and Beedrills!)

“Vvveeenpede! Pepepede!” (Viridi is Comfrey Bugg! Virdi protect Hive Master!)

Charon snorted. “Typholo...” (More like you both want to sleep in William’s hoodie...)

The narrowing of Dr. Yagokoro’s eyes instantly silenced all three of them. “If you want your Trainer to heal properly so he can do that, you’ll need to make sure no tension or strain is on him as possible.” She then turned back to Lena, instantly resuming her speech. “On top of that, I’d recommend documenting any changes in his Aura you find as well with Arthur, and make sure —”

Lena struggled to type that fast, her Styler’s autocorrect working overtime. “H-Hold on — wait — I’m still —”

“ — also make sure that he takes the prescribed medicine twice a day by mouth with meals. If the medicine gets stuck, drink a glass of milk—”

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Back in reality, Lena shook her head. ‘A true tragedy… especially since none of them stay around the same size when they evolve.’ Lena briefly thought that William may need to get a bigger tent if Viridi evolves into a Scolipede and was still a cuddle bug, but didn’t comment on it aloud for now. It was still a long way from now for either from what she could observe.

As they continued to walk outside, the noise of Castelia City started hitting their ears now, the hustle and bustle of the city visible just outside the children’s hospital campus. Lena thought for a moment about what they could do in the city to take his mind off the past couple of days, but William spoke up first.

“Can…we head to the subway? We’ll need to go there to get to Aspertia City the fastest anyways…”

Lena frowned, turning to him as she thought about it… “You know, Castelia’s Gym uses Bug Types, we could take care of that Gym while we’re here… Charon would be more than enough to take it on especially at a zero badge level, or even a higher tier.”

‘Especially if he was trained to fight in conflict.’ The stray thought almost seemed to whisper in her ear, but Lena swatted it aside for now.

Now was not the time.

William shook his head, his own frown forming. “Again, I don’t think the League would… particularly enjoy that, nor would that be good for trying to keep a lower profile.” Seeing Lena’s confused expression at his words, he sighed as he crossed his arms in a way to grip his elbows. “The Gym Battles are all recorded. I’ve seen reruns sometimes on the TV back at Accumula for some battles. They use it for advertising, promotional videos, all that…”

Before she could go down that rabbit hole on how she felt about that, William continued on. “But that would mean Charon would be visible to the public on recording, and they would know exactly what Trainer he belongs to, which kinda… runs counterintuitive to what I want… yeah, my record will be available later, but… they’ll need to manually look for Charon then.”

Lena crossed her arms this time, mulling over his statement… she could understand wanting to keep privacy.

Despite that, his privacy would only last as long as his first Badge anyway with LeagueNet… but William wasn’t looking to be a career battler, so she guessed he didn’t have to worry about long-term sponsorships but…

Lena still didn’t know what exactly he wanted from his Journey, remembering that William avoided answering back in Straiton City. She didn't have the chance to ask as he spoke again, however. “And… to me at least, it makes no sense to use Charon when Ronin and Viridi need to get stronger, having Charon carry through the Gym would stunt their growth long term… especially since Viridi and I have had no time to get in sync…”

‘Okay, that last one makes sense, and… probably would be better long term.’ Lena conceded mentally, nodding with a hum as she ruminated on that… but her eyes flicked over to William’s stature.

He looked exhausted. His eyes had bags under them, and it was clear he was physically exhausted, especially after how much medicine they had to pump into his body. He looked exactly like someone would after a multi-day stay in any hospital.

Still, it was clear he was forcing himself to keep going for… some reason.

‘Is it to get stronger so that Pinwheel doesn’t happen again? Is it because he’s stressing himself out over the League and Interpol…?’

“Are you sure you don’t… want to rest in Castelia for a bit? We don’t exactly have a hard time limit…” Lene tried to placate, but William quickly shook his head more adamantly this time, his eyes narrowing as he stared forward.

“No, with Pinwheel Forest most definitely on my… whatever the hell counts as a record in this Region, I’d rather keep pushing forward… at least for now…” William said, sighing and… looking bashful. “... Plus, I’m not really a fan of, uh… big cities, they’re a bit too loud for me.”

“Well, I can’t argue with that…” Arthur said, understanding what William meant, most likely remembering times where he was overwhelmed when he just evolved from a Riolu. Lena glanced around the street off the hospital front… It wasn't busy as she had seen Castelia some days, but granted, it was still before eight AM, in a couple hours the streets would be swarmed by Pokémon and people… even more so than now.

“... The subway ride should take about an hour and a half… we can rest the rest of the day if I feel tired…” William replied in a placating way, yet a hint of hesitation still lingered in his tone. The Ranger started thinking it over, before she nodded.

“Alright… we’ll take the subway then. If Arthur can’t find an objection, I sure won’t have any of my own.”

William actually looked to perk up at that. Lena couldn’t help but smile as she filled the tidbit of him, liking trains or subways away in her memory…

One piece at a time to put together the puzzle… one piece at a time.

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The passenger cars for the Red Line were surprisingly roomy, but most likely because they wanted to give enough room to allow someone to release their Pokémon in the car itself. The windows provided an amazing view of the passing scenery, and especially of the water as they traveled across it, showing the sun shining and reflecting the car on the water… If Lena looked close enough, she could make out Mantyke and Mantine playing a game of trying to keep up with the subway train just barely beneath the water’s surface.

The rhythmic ‘click clack’ of the wheels rumbling against the tracks was a soothing experience. However, sadly, it would fall apart soon after the conversation that Lena knew was about to come. Arthur looked conflicted when Lena asked to return him, but he eventually acquiesced. This was supposed to be a one-on-one conversation for now.

Before she could prompt it, William must have noticed that change in atmosphere, speaking up first. “So… where do you want to start?” William asked, his eyes not turning away from the passing scenery, but it was clear they had to have this conversation either way.

With a sigh, Lena’s eyes glanced at the passing sights before turning back to William, leaning forward now and clasping her hands together. “Saw right through me, huh…?”

A light shake of William’s head was what she got in response. “Not really… just… probably the first time we’ve had in a while to just talk about what happened… one on one.” With another sigh, he shifted slightly, facing Lena now with his full attention.

‘Let’s rip the bandage off…’

“From… the beginning, I shouldn’t have put you in that position,” Lena started, making William frown and about to speak up, but she moved a hand forward to stop. “Please, let me say my piece.”

He hesitated, frowning but nodding, leaning back into his seat silently as Lena continued. “I’m a Top Ranger and yet… I put a kid into a dangerous situation, and nearly got him killed because I was following procedures from memory too closely, and didn’t realize the situation for what it was.”

William physically held himself back from interrupting her, but Lena kept going. “I could have insisted that you stay behind. I could have tried to get another Ranger to fly you back. I could have tried to find another room, I didn’t do any of that. I didn’t even call for backup via the emergency line, which was created specifically for a situation like that.”

“And then… I led you off Route, the very thing that started this mess in the first place… and then I expected you to know the damn procedures I was following, causing our actions to conflict and everything to spiral, I-I didn’t even call for backup like I should have when I tunnel visioned.” A sardonic smile formed as she looked at William. “I know you’re smart, and I’m not saying this to patronize you, but I don’t think you would have studied Ranger procedures, shorthands, or anything of the sort.”

William’s hands squeezed into a fist, and he took a deep breath. Lena could tell she had made a point to him at how he glanced away, allowing her to continue. “To add to all of this, I didn’t even review your medical file beforehand to know if you had any allergies or — shoot, any preexisting conditions before we started your Journey. As a designated guardian, I’ve just been a total failure. Then, in a panic, I called for an emergency airlift to get you to the hospital on a public channel. Your identity wasn’t over the line, but people are still going to look into it… it’s not gonna be hard to put together your identity once the first Gym Battle happens…”

The weight of all her actions felt like it was physically pushing her into her seat, and she could only sigh and lean her head back. “So… I’m sorry, I’m the one who screwed the Mission up, I’m the one who didn’t even check if you were injured immediately after, maybe I could have done… something, I-I don’t —” Her voice just clipped, as if it had fallen off the cliff of her own emotions. “I’m… sorry doesn’t cut it, and I know that, but I’m… I’m sorry, William.”

The only sound that followed for a moment was the sound of the subway with the rhythmic double striking noise of the wheels on the track. Lena waited for whatever criticism William would have for her.

It continued to stretch on, every second feeling like eternity before William took in a deep breath and exhaled, but still stayed silent, clearly processing his own words.

Then, like a spell, the silence broke. “If you’re going to take responsibility for your mistakes, then at least let me take responsibility for mine.”

Lena’s eyes snapped open as she turned to him, ready to placate William, but he started speaking faster than she could. “Yes, you made mistakes, but most of them can be fixed, or you’re already working on fixing them.”

“Yes, logically, you should have left me at the Pokémon Center, but…” He shrugged, before wincing in pain from the movement on his shoulders. Instead, he motioned around with the lower half of his arms, forcing a pointed look on his face. “What else were you supposed to do, given all the other circumstances? No Ranger would leave a sevenish or whatever year-old alone in a Pokémon Center packed with a bunch of other Trainers with a rare thought to be extinct Starter evolution, along with a young Starter Pokémon who hasn’t been in more than one battle with his Trainer.”

“I— I should have at least tried to find someone to watch you—”

“On a short notice? When there was an active Mission ongoing that clearly needed more help?” William countered. “Lena, you would have been stretching yourself too thin, only giving you more stress… and on top of that…” Shifting slightly, he pulled out his Pokédex, clearly making sure she saw it. “Would the other Rangers have found the Beedrill attacking the Venipede nest that night if we didn’t go off the path? If I didn’t use the Habitat feature to narrow down where they were moving too?”

Lena mentally scoured her memory. It wasn’t impossible but…

“No… you’re right. The queen Beedrill was trained… or at least, one of them previously had a Trainer… they would have known to avoid humans, Ranger’s especially, if we didn’t walk to them directly.” Lena defeatedly said. William nodded, before pausing and looking at Lena with a furrowed expression.

“Wait, trained? What do you mean…?”

“The queen was using Aerial Ace, Beedrill didn't learn that naturally. And… she was using Pursuit on fleeing Pokémon, a move that is most commonly used in battles on Pokémon fleeing as well.” Lena said, William thinking for a moment… falling silent as he thought about it…

“So it was released…?” William muttered, before frowning and shaking his head. “Sorry, it doesn't matter right now. What matters is that if we didn’t go over to the Venipede nest, the queen Beedrill would have still been out there, and other Pokémon homes around the forest would have gotten attacked like this.”

“B-But you got poisoned! Y-You almost died!”

“Which was a combination of me and Charon not explaining what was going on in the first place, and me running off to check on Viridi’s parent without telling you what I was doing because I panicked and wasn’t thinking with my head.” William insisted, stabbing the air with a finger to punctuate his words. “I wasn’t communicating, and then I made the big fuck up of separating away from the group. If I didn’t do that, maybe I wouldn't have drawn the attention and ire of the queen and gotten poisoned.”

Lena felt her own shoulders shrink, feeling a tad exasperated at William’s almost… refusal to blame her. “And I just said ‘defend yourself’, expecting you to know what that meant! And then I got angry because I didn’t explain Ranger Mission procedures properly to you so you could work with me during then. I should have called other Rangers for backup and support instead of focusing on the Beedrill!”

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William moved his hands apart in the air, his head tilting to the side in a ‘I’m waiting’ sort of pose, but his eyes still looking at Lena. “Then teach me.”

Lena blinked, mentally recoiling as the response hit her ears. “...What?”

“Then teach me, yes, we didn’t go over Ranger procedures before this. That was a mistake. Yes, you maybe should have called for backup, but hindsight is twenty-twenty. Yes, maybe you should have gone over it with me in better detail because it’s not expected for beginning Trainers to be working directly with a Ranger one-on-one, but I don’t think we expected to run into the clusterfuck we did.”

A pit swirled in Lena’s stomach, and her voice became firmer. “William, you’re a kid, you… you shouldn’t need to worry about procedures, o-or processes in emergency situations —”

“Can you tell me with a straight face that I wouldn’t be safer if I knew the procedures to follow along with you, at least?”

“But you shouldn’t need —”

“Yes, a kid shouldn’t need to know them, but if we’re going to be doing more Ranger Missions or Quests, I should at least know them just in case.” Taking a deep breath, William’s eyes fixed Lena on the spot, looking sharp and pointed as he continued. “I’d rather work with you than against you. Again, me and Charon didn’t tell you what was going on. You only realized when we were at the nest itself. There was no time to review procedures, make a plan, nothing. And then my team’s actions countered against yours.”

With a tilt of his head and before Lena could protest, he sighed and stared out the window for a moment. “We read the situation differently. Maybe we read it more aggressively than we should have, or maybe you did it too passively and tried treating it more akin to a normal Mission. I don’t know, but it’ll be safer for both of us if we’re at least on the same wavelength.” His head turned back to Lena, eyebrows raised. “Do you disagree?”

A breath left Lena, which was a mixture of disbelief, confusion, and… maybe even defeat. It didn’t feel like… a bad defeat, but it felt… bittersweet.

‘I might have preferred it if you were angry… at least that would make sense. You shouldn't be acting like an adult… you shouldn’t need to be the responsible one.’ She simply shook her head, trying to organize her words, trying to understand William. “How can you… be so forgiving? An adult failed here, and then you got hurt, poisoned, and then almost died. I know I’d be angry.”

A pointed look formed on William’s face. “I’m alive and getting angry wouldn’t… help anything, especially since I’m traveling with you.” With another sigh, William leaned forward, his hands locking together as he looked at Lena. “The only thing we can do is get better from this…”

Silence overtook the car again, Lena broke eye contact first, looking out the window and seeing her reflection in the glass as the sun shone through, before it plunged into darkness as the subway started speeding through a tunnel… the lights inside still reflecting enough for Lena to make out her own face in the glass.

“You’re too forgiving, you know?” Lena muttered, William staring at her for a moment and frowning again.

“It’s… easier to forgive others than yourself.” He finally responded after a moment, his eyes looking at the floor of the car. “It… doesn’t matter who’s more forgiving. What are we going to do about this?”

“I… need to teach you Ranger protocol, and communicate better with you.” She started, pausing for a moment before frowning. “I… I still don’t feel comfortable telling you exactly what you need to improve on. You shouldn’t have to hold yourself to the same standards as a Top Ranger or — any adult.”

William grimaced at her statement before sighing. “Then I will…” He muttered, falling silent and ruminating on his thoughts for another moment, visibly pausing and looking uncomfortable. “I’m… I’m still not comfortable making commands in battles. That most likely held me back even during then.” William said with a wince. He then sighed, seeming to sink into himself like Lena had. “It makes me feel like I’m responsible for my team's pain when they get hit, or I worry about making a bad call for them…I… I need to overcome that.”

“Were battles that… brutal? Where you were from?” Lena asked, hoping to get an answer to that lingering question.

William’s hand squeezed slowly, subtle enough for someone to ignore it, but a habit that Lena was picking up on whenever he was anxious about answering. “They’re not really a thing at home, so I’m just not used to it, I guess.”

Lena leaned her body forward, resting her arm against the armrest. “...Y’know normally, you’re pretty good at lying, but that’s a pretty weak one.”

William looked at Lena in surprise. “I’m not lying, just…” He frowned, working his jaw along with his words before he spoke. “I’m… I’m not telling the whole truth, you’re right. But they really aren’t common at home and I… I'm still not used to seeing them in person face to face still, and dunno how best to explain it.”

“And how am I supposed to believe that with everything else? Even in places like Alola, which doesn’t have a League, Pokémon battles are still deeply a part of the culture there. Even Almia and Fiore, where Poké Balls and ‘owning’ Pokémon are illegal, still get streamed League matches on Tv.” Lena countered with a light wave of her hand, pressing on more as she fixed William with a pointed look.

“On top of that… if they weren’t really a thing back home, I don’t think the battle between Charon against Rina and Arthur would have ended like it did. You knew that trick with Wild Charge and Rest. That’s not something a Trainer that came from a place where battles are uncommon would know, you certainly caught Rina and I off guard for sure...”

William’s frown stayed prominent, fighting with his own words clearly as he thought through Lena’s comment. “It’s… home didn’t get any… real footage of official battles, or anything like that…”

“But battles between Pokémon still would have happened? Even if they were wild.”

“If there were anywhere I lived… it was like Orre, but worse, no street battles, no League, and I only knew the basic ‘rules’ of battles because of what other people said or games…”

“Hold on, pause… games?”

William seemed to go a tad paler, but it might have been a trick of the light, as he spoke quickly enough. “There were popular games at home that… you could simulate Pokémon battles in basically, albeit, limitedly. It still was enough for someone like me to learn type matchups, and what a move does when I was young…”

Lena blinked back, staring at William… a slowly creeping realization dawning on her. “And… how do they play?”

“Uh… technically, you and the opponent select the move, and then the Pokémon who’s ‘faster’, either by pure speed or if the move is something like Extreme Speed or Quick Attack, goes first… and then this repeats until one Trainer loses. And it was sprite based… er — 2D images, or 3D, but… they never showed the injuries, or how the moves actually looked… that's why I'm... uncomfortable, I'm just outright not used to the injuries and… yeah.”

At this, Lena let out an (admittedly) dramatic groan and rolled her head back. “You’re kidding me… I lost to a battle simulator kid…”

“B-Battle simulator kid…?”

With a sigh, Lena explained. “Back in school… Before I was a Ranger, every so-often there would be an exchange program between somewhere like Pokémon Tech in Kanto, where they are more focused on… the information, rather than the practical experience of how to battle… those programs use only battle simulators.”

“...and I’m guessing they were a bit… lacking?” William asked quietly, wincing slightly.

“Yes, they almost always lost… and always got confused afterwards and insisted something was wrong…” She discarded the growing thought. Best not to go on that tangent… for now.

"That’s not important. You’re telling me you used games to base your knowledge on battling? You didn’t watch any real battles before coming to Unova?"

William looked a tad uncomfortable, maybe even embarrassed, as he gave a small tilt of his head back and forth that was close enough to a nod for Lena. “I mean, I saw some real battles when I was in the foster home on the TV, or at school during field days, but… mostly games, and Charon’s practical experience, yeah…”

She stared at William, blinking and laughing with a shake of her head despite herself. Before she could question her own mid-life crisis about her battling skills, she ran back through everything William said… his original comment…

“They’re not really a thing at home, so I’m just not used to it, I guess.”

It wasn’t an outright lie, just a lie-by-omission… which, all things considered, someone who didn’t have firsthand experience with William would probably take it at face value. It was impressive, in all honesty.

…She didn’t understand why he would try to obfuscate that. His explanation… it made sense to a limited degree based on some of his reactions. Albeit, it did make him seem incredibly sheltered which seemed to go against a couple other things she noticed…

Lena shook her head. She could pick that apart later.

Refocusing, shetried to push aside a slightly growing annoyance at herself for losing to a battle simulator kid. Crossing her arms, Lena tried to give a slightly stern look that probably looked more akin to a pout. “Hmph. The original answer to my question was still a lie-by-omission, so it’s close enough in my book. Where did you learn to ‘lie’ like that anyway? I don’t think your parents would like you doing that.”

“Charon... has experience in it. I don’t know if he’d be willing to talk about it, but I’m sure he could help you lie better if you ask him.” William replied carefully, glancing at his belt for a moment.

“What do you mean ‘lie better?” Lena asked, a slight smidge of offense in her tone.

William leveled her with a critical expression, almost as if analyzing her body language before responding. “To start, you freeze up and stutter a lot whenever you’re lying. That’s an easy way to show people you’re not telling them everything…” Raising his hand, he motioned to himself. “I try to give them something close-ish, as just giving some info lets the listener draw their own conclusions and lets their mind autofill the blanks… usually.”

The reasoning was… surprisingly sound, way too sound and aware for a kid, but… if Charon told them…

‘Well, Ghost Types usually tend to be more mischievous.’ Conceding the point, Lena simply glanced down at her own belt, the blue and reds of Arthur’s Great Ball catching her eye. “Well, you’ve never had a walking morality rope attached to you… even me coming up with that Ace Trainer cover story for you on the fly for the other Rangers at Pinwheel Forest has Arthur staring daggers at me, despite how necessary it was.”

Said Great Ball shook, and she felt a nudge of… some type of offense from Arthur. She wasn’t sure if it was her feeling like a lie was necessary, or from her describing him as a morality rope, or something else.

“...You'll... need to explain that to me later, so we’re on the same page.” William said slowly, a twinge nervous. Lena realized she hadn’t filled William in about it…

She’ll need to do that as soon as possible. Especially since she just sent the report to the League, Interpol, Ranger Union, and Clare about the events of Pinwheel Forest, and the current cover story…

“I will, sorry, It’s been hectic, and it was a spur of a moment thing… give me a moment to reorganize my thoughts and remember where we were…” Lena explained, recentering her scattered mind. As she ran through the conversation overall, like a lingering Stealth Rock on the field, she remembered the one thing about Pinwheel Forest they hadn't talked about.

William knew where Virizion was, and he thought it was common knowledge.

“Okay… back to you're original concern for yourself, I can help you with adjusting to battling, maybe let you use Rina while I use Arthur if it’ll make you feel better… but that aside… we still need to talk about how you knew Lady Virizion’s domain was Pinwheel Forest.” Lena said, trying to keep her tone even, but not aggressive as to not make William freeze up.

William’s face shifted despite her attempt, becoming even across his face, masking his emotions. Lena could still catch the shift to anxiety for a split second, which Charon’s Poké Ball twitching practically solidified it, but he didn’t burst out…

“Charon told me about her… I’m not going to just talk to every Trainer or passerby about where she was, so you don’t have to worry about me spilling whatever confidential information Legendary Pokémon are to the League, Interpol, or Ranger Union.” William said evenly, his eyes meeting Lena’s as he spoke.

She drummed her fingers against the side of the window and processed his statement… trying to find the best way to navigate this in her head first. Legendary Pokémon… some Regions considered them sacred, towering over normal Pokémon in a way that wasn’t just from raw might. Some said they were the pure personification of Type energy, or of the world itself.

And in recent history, that didn’t seem too far from the truth.

“You know why I would be worried though, right…?” She asked carefully, but William said nothing, which prompted her to continue. “My parents, when they were younger… There were always stories of mythical Legendaries, and maybe someone who’s claimed to have seen even the lake spirits or maybe even an Articuno during some migration season, but the sightings of Legendaries thought to be just myth were rare. Now though, in the last decade…”

“Their sightings have increased… along with some evil team of the week, around the same time.” William finished with an uneven tone, Lena nodding but pressing on.

“And on top of that, guess what’s usually been associated with most of their confirmed sightings…? As much as Jake was a… professional pain going about it, he brought up a good point about why it was Interpol’s concern…”

William looked deeply uncomfortable… and… angry? The second emotion Lena didn’t expect, but he spoke with a tone equal to it. “A literal kid who hasn’t become Champion yet gets involved with catching or encountering a Legendary Pokémon, or fighting off some team, because apparently the police couldn’t with their own thumbs up their asses.”

The sheer volatility in his tone surprised Lena, but… she couldn’t help but agree.

Teams like Aqua and Magma put them center stage, Galactic targeting Sinnoh’s lakes, and now Plasma…

Even places without a Pokémon League weren’t safe from a technically greenhorn Ranger, or young Trainer from stepping in, like Almia with Altru Inc, or even Orre with the S.S. Libra abduction…

‘The Almia Times never said how they got that clear photo of Kellyn catching Darkrai...’ Lena mentally scowled at the thought, but held her own expression steady….

All of this basically culminated in the various Pokémon Leagues and areas where the Ranger Union worked with them trying to find a balance of not informing the public of known habitats and the rest spots of such Pokémon with them becoming more common.

Sure, not every Legendary Pokémon had the same level of secrecy. The legendary bird Pokémon among the ones frequently spotted across the world, Kanto and Oblivia being the most frequent hotspots for them. And an excavation project might accidentally stumble across a legendary giant domain now and then to where there was even League mandated insurance to cover the cost of the event. Even in Unova, in recent memory, it wasn’t uncommon to hear about the Forces of Nature causing a mess, or even of the Swords of Justice assisting Pokémon and humans in need…

However, their ‘home’, their resting location, was always something unknown to the public, and kept under tight surveillance online, both for the Legendaries' privacy out of respect…

And for the safety of not only Trainers, but Regions as whole with the rise of Teams like Plasma or Galactic.

“So you can see why I would be worried, right? I mean… Interpol already sees that you are checking some of those boxes, which is one of the reasons why they wanted to 'control' the situation…” Lena started, making William frown and grimace.

He now drummed his own fingers on the side, a thoughtful expression on him as he was clearly calculating what to say. His face then shifted to a bit more of a hesitant expression… “I know you’re gonna… have to tell the League and Interpol that I know of Virizion at least in your report, but… what are the actual ramifications of that?”

Despite William not answering the question fully, a different train of thought entered her mind at his question. “Before I answer that… I’ve been noticing that you haven’t lumped the Ranger Union in with them as well… not that I’m complaining.” Lene tried to joke to bring a bit of levity, but only got a slight twitch of a smile from William that returned just as quickly to a nervous expression.

“I mean, you’re doing your best and you’re nice. And Erma brought in that doctor to help me…” He shot a smile in Lena's direction, before he turned away and seemed to glare at the wall. “The League though? I… the Unova Pokémon League at least, seems like an even more bureaucratic mess than back home, which is saying a lot. And they did seem to leave Iris out to dry from when I briefly met her. Maybe that was just Alder, though.”

Lena couldn’t disagree with that, her thoughts briefly turning to poor Iris that Alder left a mess for… along with things like the League overall refusing to consider the idea of Pokémon citizenship like in Regions where the Ranger Union is the de facto power…

Before she could go on that mental tangent, she turned back to William to refocus the conversation. “And Interpol?”

“Jake is a fucking twat.”

The sheer bluntness of the statement was enough to push a snort through Lena's nose, almost making her cough while collecting herself. “Y-You know, I should tell Ms. Clare how much you’re swearing.”

William shrugged and a slight smirk formed on his face. “Her words, not mine. Granted, she didn’t expect me to overhear…”

“Just don’t do it on camera, please. Gym Battles have audio recorded.”

“...No promises.”

Lena shook her head, her chest rising and falling with a light laughter she kept contained… but her gaze turned more appraising at William. “That isn’t the only reason, is it?”

William looked at her, his expression at first glance confused, but Lena could tell how carefully measured it was. “I mean… I don’t buy for a second that Interpol isn’t also on your… pardon my French, but Bouffalantshit-list as well…”

“French?”

“O-Oh, uh, Kalosian. Sorry, it’s called France where I’m from.”

‘Huh… interesting tidbit, but… not the time.’ Lena quickly filled that away, but nodded. “Fair enough, but I technically work in government and have had their policies go completely counter against some of the Ranger Union’s goals and impede our work…”

Her voice rose a level, and she couldn’t help but force a deep breath through her before she could continue down that rabbit hole any further. That would take more than the entire rest of the train ride. “...Regardless, I can understand a Ranger having a dislike for them, but… what about you?”

William fell silent for a moment… looking to the side as he gathered his words. “First off, they let Zinzolin escape. One of the head members of Team Plasma… and this is on top of Ghetsis already having evaded arrest for the past two years.”

Lena grimaced, the implications not lost on her on what William was saying… “That… is true… but they’re on national wanted lists, the second they’re spotted in public, every law enforcement officer, Ranger, League affiliated Trainers like Ace Trainers to the Elite Four in the area will be alerted and converge on them immediately… do they really concern you that much?”

William’s face shifted, his expression some mix of concern, anger, and… fear. “It’s…not just because I’m worried about lingering Team Plasma remnants, it’s some of the International Police’s decisions that I… disagree with, and… scare me.”

His voice trailed off, becoming unnaturally quiet while he looked out the window, seeing nothing but the darkness of the tunnels… Lena could feel there was more to that conversation. A lot more.

It was clear though that he would not speak any further on that for now, that much was clear… and it was now that Lena could barely tell how one of his hands slipped down to his belt, gently rubbing one of his Poké Balls in one of his anxious ticks.

‘I could… press, but…’ Lena took a deep breath and just nodded, accepting his ‘answer,’ for now. ‘I don’t want to push him today… he got out of the hospital, and I know that I’m already poking sensitive information that makes him scared enough as is… ’

Something nagged at her though, she knew she was forgetting to ask something… but her thoughts were scattered around so much she couldn’t remember where they were last in their conversation. “Uh… shoot, where were we before this…?”

William froze too, looking to the side… reloading his own memory. “I… it was about knowing about Virizion, and the ramifications of me knowing concerning the League and Interpol…?”

“Ah, right…” Lena thought for a moment, her mind going back to the day of the Route 10 and Victory Road collapse… working through the unpleasant memories to remember the procedure. “Certain Legendary Pokémon are known about, but the League does not publicize their locations, if they know about them at all. Unova is actually an outlier because it has the Swords of Justice interact with humans so often…”

William hummed at that info, digesting it as Lena continued. “Trainers who encounter them have a note on their private file by the League, just in case something comes up. The reason I was so surprised about you knowing about the exact location was because only experienced Rangers and Gym Leaders have that information when it’s relevant, and with it being spot on, that also surprised me. Even Ace Trainers rarely get that info… I’ve been in Unova for a while and… I’ve…”

Trailing off, Lena debated for a moment, looking at William who looked at her with a pointed… and concerned expression. ‘Screw it, might as well…’

“I’ve… seen Terrakion, in person.” The revelation caused William’s eyebrows to shoot up, while also making Rina and Arthur’s Poké Balls shake, but she ignored them, even as Arthur’s Aura gently reached out to her, and as much as she instinctively wanted to reach out to it, she clamped herself down to focus on William’s reaction.

It was obvious there were a lot of questions he wanted to ask. She could see it in his eyes. The how, the why, and the what… but he hummed and just nodded, leaving it be. “So, at most, they’ll just be a note on my file letting them know I knew of her normal home?”

She felt surprised that he wasn’t pressing more, but Lena also felt grateful that he could tell she was… uncomfortable about it. “Ah, yes, that’s about it… Interpol might … no, they will scrutinize it more, but… I specified in my… quick update about the situation that Charon told you… though, not sure how the Unova League will like that. Or maybe the other way around, either might press for me for more…”

“...And I could repeatedly just use the excuse that Charon told me,” William said, making Lena raise an eyebrow, but tilt her head, as if to concede the point.

“I mean… that’s true, but they might wonder, you know?”

“They can wonder all they want, but that story is true. Charon has met Virizion before. A couple times, if I’m not mistaken.”

“When did they meet?”

William pursed his lip and Lena briefly saw Charon’s ball twitch. “You’d have to ask Charon for the full story, but they first met shortly after Charon arrived in Unova. After that, it was usually whenever she needed help in the area. He hasn’t seen her for years now, though…”

Lena cursed in her mind. “Well... that makes things more difficult. A one-off meeting is one thing... like with me... but it’s repeated contact that starts raising flags.”

William shrugged. “Charon’s been alive longer than them. He probably has some sort of diplomatic immunity against their bureaucracy.”

Lena couldn’t help but catch a laugh leaving her throat. “I-I don’t think… that’s how that works.”

“Wasn’t there a Wyrdeer at some point that was some sort of political representative?”

Now that got Lena’s attention, her eyebrows raising in shock at him knowing such a foreign tidbit. “Actually, yeah. Barely over a… century ago? Right at the end of the Hisui era, I think… I need to review my Sinnoh history anyway… How did you know that? I thought history was your worst subject?”

William’s eyes glanced down at his belt for a second before snapping back up. “Charon was curious about how Hisui ended up after he left, so I did some research for him. That was one topic that came up.”

‘That lines up with him being a veteran of the Zdarovan Retaliation… he would have left before then… ’ Lena mused while glancing similarly at the Poké Ball on William’s belt… but shook her head before she could get derailed again. “You’re right, actually… speaking of, the remnants of the Diamond and Pearl Clans were one group who wanted to take Charon after they found out.”

At this, William’s face got complex, and Charon’s Poké Ball twitched again. “That’s… interesting… I wonder if —”

“This is the Accumula-bound Red Line. The next stop is 11 St. John Madden Square in Accumula City, estimated arrival time - five minutes.”

The sudden announcement of their destination made both William and Lena perk up, freezing as they glanced out the window…

“…Did we somehow miss Virbank and Floccesy Town?” William asked, a confused expression on his face, but Lena quickly shook her head.

“No, Floccesy Town actually doesn’t have a stop… I… guess we just missed Virbank in our discussion?”

William frowned, but nodded… thoughtful before he spoke again. “So… when we stop, do we get rooms setup at the Pokémon Center, and then go onto Route 19 to train…?”

The sudden change of topic made Lena pause again, but the plan seemed sound… but…

Her eyes traveled to his shoulder for a brief second, and then back to William's face. “Hold on, how are you feeling? Did they give you a dose of the medicine before we left?”

William shook his head and tried to wave her concern aside. Noticeably, he did this with his right arm. “I’m feeling fine… probably will crash tomorrow, but… might as well keep going while whatever they gave me in the hospital is still in my system.”

Counter to his words, the bags under his eyes she saw before they got on the subway were still there, along with the exhaustion of just leaving the hospital after being poisoned to near-death.

This is a pattern she had realized before when William pushed himself to run to Striaton City days ago, and then repeating today when he wanted to get on the subway.

And she wasn’t gonna let it go on. “Sorry, but… no.” And before William could protest, she used the best stern look she had seen Rina use on younger Pokémon. Surprisingly, it seemed to have an effect as he hesitated, giving her enough time to speak. “Don’t lie. I can see your exhaustion. You have literal bags under your eyes, and you just left the hospital. You’re taking at least the weekend to rest in the Pokémon Center. You have no reason to keep pushing yourself this much, and you can rest.”

‘Why do you feel the need to push yourself so much?’ Went unsaid, but Lena mentally filled it away. It was a question she would need to ask later.

William attempted to start a rebuttal, but he shifted his left arm and shoulder, causing it to grind against the seat, making him wince and grit his teeth. The noise caused his belt to rattle with his Poké Balls, making him turn to them. No one burst out, but he must have gotten the message as he slumped forward in his seat and just nodded with a sigh. “...Alright.”

Lena continued to hold her stare at him for another minute, before finally nodding. Her hand instinctively ran over her own Poké Balls on her hip…

Yeah… they’ll get stronger… better… they’ll make sure he’s safe this time. He doesn’t need to push himself until he burns out.

She’ll do her job right this time.

She had to.

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Beta Readers:

David “TheBlizWiz” R

Garmfild

SteelTrim