Roark hated open air, and it had absolutely nothing to do with that one time his mom took him flying atop an Altaria's back as a kid and he almost fell out.
He sighed disappointingly as he left the innards of the Underground and emerged into his city once more, pickaxe in tow and a veritable coat of dust and grime covering him from head to toe.
There was just… something about caves. About mining and working with one's hands that was too appealing to him. Stone was ancient, unyielding. To be able to dig into the guts of something as massive as a mountain or as expansive as the Underground and take back a veritable amount of treasure with you… what better Fuck You to nature's might could one man find? And even better, to uncover the remains of creatures that had once been and bring them back to life again, it was simply divine. It was the power of man. The power of one's own hands, of working tirelessly until no natural monument could possibly stop his advance. It was the strength and ingenuity to be able to extract treasure from even the most barren of materials. True art. The only kind he'd ever cared for, at least.
Roark frowned as a sudden gust of wind almost blew the hat out of his head, his bright red hair flying in all directions and smacking him in the face. God, he hated winter. It only made the outside seem even less appealing to him. He couldn't understand; why did people like it out here so much? It was too… big, too overwhelming. Anything could come at you at any moment, from any angle, and you wouldn't be able to react. The Underground was cozy, in comparison. Everything was where it was supposed to be. You could trust your life to those stone walls; at least you knew those had been built to code.
"Yo, Roark. Took your sweet time."
His lips pressed tightly as he bit back a retort to the bored-looking girl. Fucking secretary. He was well aware that his budget was the smallest out of all the Gym leaders –mostly due to him being the least challenging and professional of them– but he still would've liked the Association to send him an actual, certified secretary instead of a bored college dropout that kept going off to date girls instead of staying in the Gym and greeting the trainers. That had been last night's story too. He came back to find a note saying that she'd gone off to an opera house of all things, with some girl named Shadi. The fucking nerve.
Though to be fair, said attitude was part of why he hadn't fired her so far. Puzzling, that. Sometimes he failed to understand even his own mind.
"What, another challenger?" He hoisted the pickaxe over his shoulder and gave her one of his characteristic frowns. "Figures. Been a week since the last one; the pace had to pick up at some p–"
"It's not that."
He froze in the middle of shifting his weight, eyes narrowing. "Then? I told you to only call me for Gym battles, Mint! You want your pay docked again or what?"
"Fuckin' hell, chill." Mint rolled her eyes in that particular way that made his blood boil. "Your accent gets all thick and annoying when you get angry, old timer."
He felt heat rise to his cheeks. "I'm twenty-five you bra–"
"It's the Association," she cut him off, tone disinterested. "High-priority phone call, League related apparently."
She took a black Pokétch out of her pocket and handed it to him, Call On Hold flashing in bright letters on the screen.
"What!? From who?"
"Beats me."
He blinked a couple times, shaking his head. "Couldn't you have asked!?"
"Pay me a living wage and maybe I'll give a shit," she said, shrugging. "It was a guy, alright? Sounded young, with a kinda prissy voice. Hoenn accent for sure."
And just like that, all of his frustration vanished like a gust of wind. Of course. No one from the Association ever called him unless it was to scold him for the little effort he put into being a Gym leader, and they were too above him to bother with a high-priority call just for that. The only one in such a high position who would do that…
A smile formed on his lips. It'd been a while since he had a chat with the man; he was almost as obsessed with his hobbies as Roark was, only he actually knew how to handle his League duties on top of it and still find time to look sharp and professional in the meantime. Roark had always envied that about him. Might have been jealous, even, were it not because the man was so inherently likeable in his honesty.
Without another word he slipped the Pokétch into his wrist and brought the device close to his face, opening the call once again.
"Oi'. It's me, Roark."
"Ah, there you are!" Steven Stone's voice came through as clear and vibrant as crystal. He could hear a smile in the man's voice. "It's been some time, hasn't it, old friend?"
Roark suppressed a chuckle. "Well at least you're not calling me old sport anymore."
"Oh come on, you know that was Wallace putting on a really bad impression of me, what with all that old-timey slang and vernacular."
"He said unironically," Roark whispered to himself. "Anyway, nice to hear from you man. How's the Champion life treating you? I think I remember you telling me that work was preventing you from exploring that weird underwater cave you found that other time."
"Of course, the Seafloor cavern! A wonderful discovery; you would never believe what I…" He caught himself, the sudden spike of energy in his tone going flat. "Sorry, I shouldn't let myself get caught up in that. I'll tell you about that particular adventure some other time, trust me, but for now I'm afraid I'm calling for something much more unsavory than our mutual interest. Job-related troubles, actually."
Roark furrowed his brow. What was this about? Ever since meeting a few years back, all Steven had ever talked to him about was caves and rocks and the things only the two of them found interesting. Their respective jobs was the one thing they never talked about. Already got enough of that every day.
He walked away from his secretary as he answered. "Troubles in paradise?"
"Not… so much. Things have been going pretty well on our side, Phoebe's chamber almost being burnt down by Flannery during a friendly match notwithstanding. This is something else." Steven sighed on the other side of the line. He always sounded so tired. "By job-related troubles I mean that it involves the one part of my job that actually lines up with our shared hobby."
Roark's expression froze, realization dawning on him. Could it be…?
"You mean evolutionary stones."
"Yes. And judging by your tone, I gather you know exactly what I'm talking about."
He nodded, even though Steven couldn't see him do so. Then… it wasn't something local to his mines, then? On one hand it was relieving to know that all the complaints and scolding he'd received from down the supply line hadn't been his fault, but on the other…
"It's happening over there too?" he asked, a sudden tinge of anxiety in his voice. "The moonstones that were mined…"
"Useless, every single one of them," Steven said with a sigh. "And not just them; some of the ones that were mined a long time ago have suddenly lost their glow and become powerless also."
"We haven't reached that point here yet, but the same thing's happening with the mined ones. Actually got into a bit of trouble over it. The Association doesn't like when their evolutionary stones don't work like they ought to, y'know?"
"I've had to deal with similar issues, yes. That's why I'm trying to get to the bottom of this, and it is also why I decided to call you, Roark."
Roark couldn't help but let out something like a laugh. "You know I'm a Gym leader in name only, man, I ain't exactly the best person to help you out with this. Shouldn't the League's scientists be worrying about this?"
"…That they should, yes. But I'm guessing that, even after you voiced your complaints regarding this issue, they haven't gotten to it yet, am I right?"
His smile went flat, a sour feeling sprouting in his chest. "Yeah. Said they'd look into it whenever they could. They're apparently too busy to deal with this shit so I'm left behind to take the blame in the meantime."
Steven let out an offended grunt of understanding. "Team Galactic, yes? I heard your lot's been having trouble with them."
"Ugh, don't even get me started on that." He placed a hand against his forehead, sighing. "Anyway, that's why you called me, eh? Everyone's too busy on your end too and we're the only two who actually give a shit about this?"
"That's… one way to put it, yes," said Steven, a hint of nervousness in his voice. Roark figured the guy didn't fancy swearing much. "Mostly I wanted to make sure you were in the know. I'm aware of how strict Sinnoh's Association is with their mining regulations, and it wouldn't sit well with me if you were getting blamed for something that's not your fault."
Roark rolled his eyes, though he couldn't help it as the corners of his lips quirked up into a smile. "Ain't that sweet of you." This man cares way too much, he sighed, shaking his head. "You better not have lost sleep over this, you dink. I'll be damned if I gotta keep owing you stuff."
"I'm always losing sleep, Roark." There was a hint of resignation in his voice. "A short phone-call won't change that."
"I know, but you ain't the type to leave things half-done," he replied. "You've been investigating, yeah? What'd you find?"
"Not much I'm afraid," said Steven. "Everyone knows you have to expose the stones to moonlight at least once for them to be functional, but I've never heard of their light extinguishing after that's been done. Why, the giant moonstone in the Pewter museum had been glowing for hundreds of years! Until last week when its light went out, that is."
The Gym leader nodded to himself as he walked without paying much attention where to. He knew all this. It was the first thing you were taught as someone who specialized in mining evolutionary stones. First you dug them from the ground and then you exposed them to whatever they needed to be exposed to in order to work. Electricity, fire, ice, sunlight, moonlight, etc. Most of them actually lost some of their energy with time, with the exception of two.
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"Moonstones and sunstones never go dull because they're refreshed every 24 hours," said Roark. "And one of them… is not, now. So…"
"It makes no sense," Steven snapped back, frustrated. "The moon still comes out every night. Its light hasn't stopped reaching us, so what is the underlying cause for this?" The sound of fingers tapping against a desk reached him from the other side. "This mystery is intriguing, though also worrying and… not very appropriate, timing-wise. I wish I had more free time to investigate further."
"Beats me, man. I just mine the stuff," he said, shrugging. "Could ask Cynthia, though. She's from Celestic and they're pretty big on the moon over there. Maybe she knows something. Always seems to, that one."
He heard Steven gulp, followed by the sound of his finger-tapping intensifying. Yeah, figured. The man wasn't as much scared as he was wary of her; he'd told Roark that, every single time the two talked, Cynthia wasted no time in issuing a challenge to him, something Steven already got enough of during business days.
"I… tried, despite my wariness. But it seems like she's not available at the moment," he said. "I'm well acquainted with Lucian by now and even he wouldn't tell me where she was or when she'd come back."
"Well. Damn, then." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Dunno what to tell you, man. This shit's weird."
Steven made a noise of agreement and he could hear him reclining on his chair, a weary sigh escaping his lips. The tapping of the fingers had stopped. Silence stretched for a few tense seconds until the man spoke again, his voice full of worry.
"It might be nothing of importance, but…"
"Yeah," said Roark, pursing his lips. He knew exactly what Steven meant. Claustrophobia was one of those things he'd never experienced before, but such a feeling couldn't be far from the knot that had formed in his stomach a few weeks ago, the one that refused to disappear. "Yeah… I got a bad feeling about this too."
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Two surprises greeted Inyssa as she woke up –yet a-fucking-gain– on an unfamiliar bed. First, she didn't feel nearly as pained as she expected. Her broken nose, her bruised cheek, the agonizing pain from that Thunder Punch she took to the stomach, even her cold and exhaustion… they all felt like mild buzzes at best, as though she hadn't experienced them mere hours before.
And second… she was really fucking hungry. Her stomach began to rumble the moment she came to herself with a ferocity she hadn't experienced since those horrible times she'd starved herself as a kid. The feeling made her immediately uncomfortable, even before rising from the bed.
"Niss! Hey! You're awake."
Yet despite that, a smile found her lips nonetheless.
"Yeah… thanks, I noticed."
She took the brunt of Barry's hug and somehow managed to stop them both from falling back toward the bed, as nice as that would've been. The scent of his earthy perfume made her tense shoulders relax instantly. His grip was strong and reassuring and Inyssa would've loved nothing more than to stay like that, chin resting on his shoulder, were it not for the question currently burning within her mind.
"So…" She pushed him back slightly, enough to get a good look at the room. "I know I'm starting to sound like a broken record with how much I've asked this before, but… what happened?"
Barry leaned back, sitting on the bed next to her as he rubbed the back of his neck and let out a sigh. It wasn't a big bed, but definitely a comfortable one. In fact the whole room, as small as it was, gave out such a warm and cozy feel that she almost didn't feel the stinging cold trying to force its way past the closed window behind her. Pillows and wool ornaments were scattered about on top of furniture and some even resting on the thick, earthly-colored carpet covering the entirety of the floor, not to mention the multiple strings of fairy lights hanging off the ceiling in arcs.
She'd never been in a room that made her so desperately want to fall back asleep.
"How much do you remember?" asked Barry, squinting at her. "Like… do you remember all the cool stuff at the end? With, you know…"
"Enma." The name left her mouth without her prompting. A heavy lump formed on her throat; she'd just remembered that. "Y-yeah, I remember. Where…. Where is he now?"
Barry raised an eyebrow, though thankfully didn't comment on the expression she made.
"In the backyard . Eating with the rest of your team."
"Right." She nodded, perhaps too forcefully. "Right…"
Enma's back.
The reality of those words crashed into her like a train at full speed, smashing into pieces all of the questions she'd been ready to ask before. The room felt very hot all of a sudden. She swallowed and loosened her collar a bit, throwing the blankets off her legs and landing her feet on the floor.
Not now. Deal with that later.
"Where are we?" she asked. "Is this the Pokemon Center? Did you bring us here?"
Barry let out an incredulous chuckle. "Me? Niss, we were in the middle of a freaking blizzard without our Pokemon and you were half dead! Of course it wasn't me."
"Enma, then?"
"Nope." He formed one of those infuriating smug smiles which were so rare to him, yet she found herself wanting to smile too. "That's a surprise! I can call her upstairs if you wanna!"
"Her? What?" She blinked a couple times, then shook her head. "N-no, hold on. I…"
In order, she reminded herself. Think, then ask.
Memories flooded back into her. The Galactics, her fight with Pyxis, Enma and that Staraptor falling from the sky, a lonely, white-haired ghost girl flying through the air, helping her…
"Where's Vi?" she asked. "Is she ok?"
"Vi?" Barry frowned for a moment, then his eyes went wide. "Oh! That's who that was referring to! Who is she, the white-haired girl from before?"
"I… yeah." Inyssa grabbed the side of her head, squinting. "Kind of a long story. She…"
She summarized her talk and ensuing team-up with the ghost girl as succinctly and accurately as she could, considering most of that was still a bit of a blur. Still, Barry didn't seem to mind. He stared with wide eyes and a childish look of wonder on his face as she spoke, that beautiful bounciness of him coming back with every second that passed. By the time she finished recanting the story he looked like he would start vibrating from excitement.
"Oh my gosh… a real ghost person! And a ghost Pokemon too!" He threw both hands up in the air, a wide grin forming on his lips. "That's amazing! I wanna meet her so badly; do you think you could introduce us!? Please!?"
Inyssa rolled her eyes. "I might, if you answer my question from before. What did you mean by 'that's who that was referring to'?"
"Oh! Right, here!" Barry swiftly dug into his pocket with one hand and pulled out a small piece of paper, folded a few times. "She left this for you! Well, she left it in my pocket and I didn't realize until I woke up, but still! It's addressed to you."
Her eyes went wide. She lunged forward and grabbed the piece of paper, unfolding it with such urgency that she didn't have time to wonder how the hell could a ghost write a note in the first place. Once it was fully unfolded, she cleared her throat and began to read.
Yo, it's me. Vi.
I'm ok. Not alive and well, obviously, but you get what I mean. I think that Thunderbolt I took to the face might've messed me up a bit as parts of my… body? Parts of my whatever keep peeling off and turning into smoke and then reforming. Still, it doesn't hurt, so that's a start.
Anyway I took Holst from your boyfriend. Doubt he'll mind much seeing as he was my Pokemon originally but I wanted to let you know just in case. Carrying his Pokeball isn't easy. Neither is writing with a pen, actually. I can make my hands tangible for a few seconds but it's like holding my breath; can't do it forever.
Kind of a problem, which is why I'm taking your advice. I don't know if this Fantina lady is really gonna be able to help me but it's not like there's other appointments I'm due for; this is kind of my only chance at knowing what the fuck is going on with me.
So yeah, if you could send a message to your mom, maybe have her give Fantina a heads up that I'm coming so she doesn't sic her Gengar and Mismagius on me, I'd really appreciate it.
And… thanks. For slapping some sense into me. I'll make sure that doesn't happen again, alright? See ya.
PS: You looked pretty hot all bloodied and crazy. If you ever dump your boyfriend –and if you're into ghosts– hit me up.
Inyssa made sure to skip reading that part, color tinting her cheeks as she lowered the paper and took in a deep breath.
"So much for making friends with a ghost like I always wanted," she whispered to herself, then looked up at Barry. "How long have I been out? I don't know how long it'll take her to reach Hearthome but I should give my mom a call as soon as possible anyway."
"Oh. Hmm… like, twelve hours maybe?" Barry grabbed his chin with one hand, squinting. "It's pretty early in the morning."
Inyssa startled at that, head tilting to the side in confusion.
"Really?" She looked down at her body, raising both arms to the side. "Thought I'd… hurt more, I guess. I feel great other than how hungry I am."
Barry's face brightened, a toothy grin spreading on his lips. "Oh, that's the best part! That girl's weird Pokemon healed you with this beam thingy when you were asleep!"
"Beam… thingy? You mean Heal Pulse?" She grabbed the side of her head with one hand, frowning. "And who's this girl you're talking about? Where…?"
Steps echoed down the corridor outside, swift and clear. Both trainers looked up and toward the door as it flew open and someone emerged from the other side.
"That's my girl you're talking about, Dawn."
Inyssa blinked in surprise, eyes wide as plates. As soon as she saw the soft pink of the girl's hair she remembered what they'd heard before heading for the White Pillar Path.
"It was you," she said, almost whispering. "We thought it was Metchi because of the pink hair…"
Maylene raised an eyebrow, arms crossed under her chest. She wore a thick leather jacket over her usual training uniform, though despite the added bulkiness of it Inyssa could tell that the girl had gotten taller and buffer since she'd last seen her. A big, square-shaped band-aid covered the bridge of her nose, as usual.
"Still delirious?" she asked. "Mind telling me what on earth you're whispering about?"
Barry shot up from the bed, smiling. "She's okay actually! That heal-y thing really did help out a ton!"
"Told you. If anyone would be able to help her out it'd be my girl."
Inyssa squinted as a sudden pain shot up the back of her neck toward her nape. Mixed with a bit of frustration, most likely. What the hell were these two talking about?
"What are you doing here?" she asked, weakly pushing herself to her feet as well. "I mean not that I'm unhappy to see you but…"
"Trying too hard," Maylene interrupted her. "You don't gotta look out for my feelings, Dawn. I'm as sturdy on the inside as I am on the outside."
She walked toward one of the small wardrobes next to the door and did a short hop backwards, sitting on top as she let her arms fall on her knees.
"I'd almost reached Snowpoint by the time I heard the distress signal," she told her. "Come here every couple months to visit my girlfriend, y'see. Gym leader benefit. You get a lot more vacation days than you'd expect. Anyway, if I'd known you were coming too I would've waited and accompanied you through the path. There's been rumors of Galactic activity around these parts. Confidential information, of course. No one outside the Association would know."
Inyssa let out a Tsk. "Warning would've been fucking nice."
"I agree," frowned Maylene. "Still, it's a good thing I got there in time. Your Pokemon scared off those Galactic bastards, but you two weren't looking so hot." She turned to Inyssa. "You were delirious and with a crazy high fever. Almost thought you'd fry your insides before I got you here."
Wonderful. Just what she needed; yet another person to be indebted to. Looking down at the floor, she rubbed the back of her head and sighed.
"Thanks. And sorry for the trouble."
Maylene raised her eyebrows, seemingly surprised by how easy that had been. "Well… you're welcome, I guess. Nice to have you back on your feet." She flashed her a court smile. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions and there's some of my own I'll have to ask later, League business and all, but I'm sure you'd rather get some breakfast and fresh air before all that."
A deep rumble grew from Inyssa's stomach at the mention of food. "More than anything," she said, a tinge of desperation in her voice. "I feel like I could eat a Mamoswine."
"Same," whispered Barry. "Though that's just normal me."
Maylene let out a chuckle. "That's Pokemon healing for you. It's very effective but it also takes a lot of energy from you so you end up super hungry."
Inyssa nodded, one hand over her stomach. What had she said as soon as she entered the room? The place they were in…
"So… we're in your girlfriend's house then? She's the trainer of the Pokemon that healed me?" she asked. "Shit, I wouldn't wanna bother her or anything…"
"Ha! Trust me, she's more than happy to have some company, so you don't have to worry." Maylene jumped from atop the wardrobe and gave her a pat on the shoulder. "She'll be back from her job at noon. Said she'd cook up a storm to make sure you get all of your energy back, so look forward to that. Her cooking is seriously incredible."
Inyssa pursed her lips. "But…"
"No buts. She already said she wanted you two as guests. Besides, I got some questions of my own for the two of you later," she said. "But like I said, you should get some breakfast for now. Only have toast and coffee but it should last us 'til noon."
"I… I guess…" Inyssa bit her lip. "Some breakfast would be nice."
Barry raised a finger toward her. "That, Niss, is the wisest thing you've ever said."
"It's really n–"
"Let's get some breakfast!" Barry jabbed his finger forward, toward the door.
"H-hey, wait." Both him and Maylene turned to look at Inyssa. "You two go. I'll follow in a minute, I promise. As hungry as I am, I should really make this call before Vi reaches Hearthome."