Inyssa barely noticed as Pedri finally fell, the ground around him completely upturned, ragged spires of earth pressing against multiple parts of his body. Johnny's attack had been as devastating as she had hoped. And still…
With a pained sigh she placed a hand against her chest and tried to control her breathing. It was erratic, and not in a good way. Her lungs felt overwhelmed and like they didn't get enough oxygen all at once. Her temples flared, but not in a painful or uncomfortable way. Her heart felt like it alternated between beating too slow and too fast, never settling for one. It was better than the nothing from before, but not by much.
What the hell's going on? She thought. It's like… my body's fighting against itself or something.
But that didn't matter. Not now at least. Her eyes caught the glimpse of Barry's last Pokeball as it flew through the air, the light contained within falling to the broken patch of ground and forming a large, quadruped creature with long horns and a snout. Heat began to emanate from every pore of the Houndoom's body as she raised her gaze ever so slightly, setting it directly on her opponent. There was hint of hesitation or mercy in her eyes.
Inyssa's hand unconsciously moved to scratch her other arm. Why did she feel all weirdly itchy all of a sudden?
All right, Pedri was a little bit easier than I expected, but this is where it gets rough, she thought. There's probably no better Pokemon than Johnny to take on a fire type, but I doubt it'll be that easy. I better make this fast.
"Johnny!" she cried out. "Use Earthquake ag–!"
"Howl!"
The Quagsire didn't have time to move. At the other side of the field Wrathia leaned forward on her front legs and, from the bottom of her lungs, let out a howl loud and potent enough to make the air shake. It came at them like a shock-wave; Inyssa covered her ears as fast as she could but even then it felt as if an alarm had rang right next to her.
Johnny wasn't fast enough; the sound wave knocked him off balance and for the first time since she'd met him she saw a look of discomfort reflected on his usually blank face. His chubby knees wobbled and he swayed from side to side, mouth wide open.
"Now, Smog!"
It felt distant and dull, but Barry's voice made it to Inyssa as she took the hands from her ears and looked ahead. Wrathia, her black skin fuming with heat, inhaled as deeply as she could and threw her mouth down as she spat torrent after torrent of a thick, purple smoke which began to rapidly roll forward as it gained size and girth, obscuring both Barry and his Pokemon behind it.
Inyssa grit her teeth. A small, almost unnoticeable tinge of frustration flared within her.
"You think you're gonna get me with the same stupid trick you used against Wake?" She swiped the air with her right hand, frowning. "Johnny; Surf!"
The Quagsire shook his head to dispel the dizziness, after which the semi-transparent sac under his neck began to expand rapidly until it was as big as his head. With a rather wet, unpleasant sound he spat the water against the ground with such force that it bounced up to twice his size. The enormous wave traveled forward mercilessly, crashing in the middle of the field and swallowing most of the poisonous gas, dissipating what little was left of it up into the air.
"Agh! Cold! Cold!" She heard Barry's cries of discomfort as the now ankle-deep layer of water washed over him, soaking his shoes. "Warn me before you do that! Jeez!"
For the first time since the battle had started, the edges of Inyssa's lips perked up ever so slightly.
"You wanted me to give it my all, didn't you?" she asked. "You better not start regretting it now that you're about to l–"
If the small perking of her lips had technically constituted as a smile, then it would have died as soon as she took a look at the battlefield. The ground was destroyed and upturned, water pooling everywhere, and yet…
W-Wrathia! Where's Wrathia!?
Her gaze flew all throughout the park but no hint of the Houndoom could be found anywhere. She then looked up at the sky and… no, nothing. But that meant…
She caught the glimpse of a cocky smile forming on Barry's lips, and realization dawned on her.
"Johnny, Earthquake!" she yelled. "Quick, before–"
A crack appeared in the ground just behind Johnny, and a moment after dust and dirt exploded upwards as a dark figure rose from beneath, her eyes like burning coals. Inyssa felt her heart jump. She saw in slow motion as Wrathia wound her right paw back, dark energy forming around her sharp claws.
There's no time to use water! I gotta…!
She cried out, her voice weak and wavy. "Brick Break!"
Despite his slow nature, Johnny turned around surprisingly fast, meeting face to face with his terrifying opponent. Any other Pokemon might have been too startled or intimidated to act, but Johnny was different. He took a step back and readied an attack of his own, steam rising from his right fin as he threw it forward in a devastating punch.
However, just before it connected, Barry yelled again.
"Foul Play!"
Wrathia moved like lightning, rotating mid air as the Quagsire's punch went past her. The energy of her fake attack dissipated into the air as she opened her maw and then promptly closed it hard around Johnny's torso. The moment she landed, the entirety of her body was hemmed in thick, pulsing shadows. Still grabbing her opponent by the torso, she used his own strength against him and threw him up before slamming him down against the ground again, raising a small cloud of dust all around.
Inyssa was too shocked to react. Before her stood an image which would have brought her to tears from laughter if it had happened at any other time. Johnny lay a few feet from her, the entirety of his upper body buried deep in the ground and his small legs kicked from side to side in a fruitless attempt to free himself.
Son of a… She gulped, her brow furrowing. Between Howl increasing Wrathia's power and Foul Play using both the user and the opponent's strength against the latter… no wonder that attack was so strong.
However, if those wiggly feet were any proof of it, Johnny had not been defeated yet. Inyssa centered herself and opened her mouth to order an attack, but…
"WHRRAA!"
Both trainers nearly jumped out of their skin at Wrathia's sudden roar. Completely unprompted, the Houndoom took in a deep breath as flames began licking at the edge of her snout, a shining, pulsing fireball growing and growing within her maw.
"W-Wrathia?" Barry asked, tone full of confusion. "Uh, I didn't order another attack y–"
He was interrupted by the enormous pillar of flame which exploded from Wrathia's mouth, completely engulfing Johnny along with all the ground and grass in front of him. There was a sound like that of a jet engine, and then a heat wave washed over the entirety of the park. Even covering her face wasn't enough to save Inyssa from feeling like she'd suddenly been put inside an oven.
"Son of a bitch!"
"Wrathia! Why did you do that!?"
The Houndoom simply snickered and looked away from the now toasty lower half of her defeated opponent. Another explosion of cheers shook the air. Barry gave his Pokemon a strange look, half proud and half terrified.
"Well… sorry about that, Niss."
"Why are you apologizing? Aren't you supposed to be giving it your all too?" she scoffed. With a flick of her wrist she returned Johnny to his Pokeball. "How did you get Wrathia to do that before, by the way? I didn't think Houndooms could use Dig."
At that, Barry's face lit up with excitement. "Oh yeah! They can't usually, but I thought that since the ground was all broken and messed up already that she could improvise something like that! Wasn't it amazing!?"
She didn't reply, head down and hand hovering next to her belt. She should have anticipated a trick like that, she realized. Barry had always been especially good at thinking outside the box, both in Pokemon battles and in life in general. Her failure to remember that had cost her Johnny.
Her fingers brushed the surface of Shadi's Pokeball for a moment, before they moved to close around Kuro's. Though as she raised it to her side she found it difficult to open it. It was too heavy. Or was that just her body? Every movement felt like it took way more effort than it should have and the previous spark of determination that had momentarily flared within her now dwindled and slowly extinguished itself under the vast sea of the apathy covering her from head to toe.
What was the point of all of this? What was she trying to prove, anyway? She'd come out to train her Pokemon, to make them stronger in order to prepare herself to fight Team Galactic, but instead she had gotten roped into a stupid fight just because Barry thought she wasn't acting like herself. Wouldn't it be better… wouldn't it be easier to just throw towel?
…No. A quiet, hushed voice spoke inside her mind, and it took Inyssa a moment to realize it was her own. I want… I want to win. I want to…
She felt a sudden jerk in her muscles, as if an exposed wire had touched her skin. Her hand moved forward without her willing to, throwing the Pokeball as it opened into a blinding explosion of light. Kuro entered the battlefield with a powerful roar, the air crackling as small bolts of electricity danced around him like a protective barrier.
What am I…?
"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Barry's scream snapped her out of her trance. She blinked a couple times and looked ahead, her eyes clashing with his, a shining, almost solid gold. "It all comes down to this! Wrathia of the black flame against the lightning demon Kuro! One last fight to decide the match!"
The crowd went wild at his exclamation, and Inyssa wondered how a group of no more than a hundred people could be so goddamn loud. All around her cheers and screams of encouragement rang out.
"You can do it, flower girl!"
"Show us something flashy!"
"Give it your all!"
"Come on, Barry!"
"Make something blow up!"
Inyssa gulped, trying her best to block the sounds. That strange discomfort in her belly came back, turning the inside of her skin itchy and hot, so incredibly bothersome.
"K-Kuro…" Her voice came out barely a whisper, and yet somehow her Pokemon heard her amidst the booms of their audience. "I'm counting on you. Let's win this."
The Luxray let out a scoff, his expression clearly spelling out I don't need you to tell me that.
"Well, if you're not gonna make the first move…" said Barry. "Use Smog!"
"You're not pulling that shit on me again," she spat back. "Kuro, get her!"
Kuro shot forward before she even finished her sentence, turning into a black and yellow blur as the air bent around him. A wall of poisonous gas rose several feet above him, ready to crash into the field. Kuro simply smiled, his eyes gleaming as they spotted the body of her opponent even through the thick, oppressive smog.
The sheer speed of his advance tore the cloud of poison in a circle, not a single particle touching his body. He was a stone throw's away from his opponent, whose stance made it clear she wasn't intending to dodge. Both trainers held their breath as their Pokemon got closer and closer, and just when Kuro was about to crash against Wrathia…
If I'm right, Barry's gonna…
"Foul Play!"
Inyssa's lips curved into an actual smile. Just as she had expected.
"Stop and use Discharge!"
Wrathia pounced at her opponent, fangs glistening as they aimed at his throat. They closed with the strength of a guillotine, though the only thing they managed to catch was a whiff of air.
Both Houndoom and her trainer had assumed that the tremendous speed of their opponent's attack meant that he couldn't stop himself as easily, but they were wrong. A gust of air crashed against Kuro's back as he planted his hind legs on the ground, slowing himself and barely getting out of the way of those fangs. Then, not a second after, his fur began to rustle and stand on end as the air around them cackled intensely.
"Crap! Wrathia, go underground again!"
Even though she felt humiliated at running away from a foe, the Houndoom didn't quite like the idea of taking an incredibly powerful electric move straight to the face, so she did as she was told and jumped down at the hole in the ground she'd previously dug out. Just in time, as a moment after Kuro let out a roar and hundreds upon hundreds of lightning bolts exploded from his body outwardly, covering almost the entirety of the field.
Inyssa stared at the spider-web of bolts as they crackled through the air, feeling a strange and sudden pit on her stomach. Why…?
"Stay where you are!" She ordered, trying to ignore the feeling. "Concentrate! Like we did… last time."
Those last two words came out too weak for Kuro to hear them, though he understood nonetheless. The Luxray closed his eyes and lowered his head slightly, concentrating on every individual bolt of electricity all around him, waiting for his opponent to pounce at him from under the ground. And when she did… he would know exactly where to strike.
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Inyssa gulped. Her plan was essentially for him to use the electricity around him as a sort of radar to guide his movements automatically, using his reflexes alone to move his muscles instead of his brain. It was brilliant, really. And yet… it had backfired when she used it against Shadi. Why was she using it again, then? Shouldn't she have learned by n–
Her train of thought came to a halt as she realized something. Wrathia was taking her sweet time to come out and… why was Barry smiling so widely? What was he…?
"Now! Inferno!"
A sharp gasp escaped her lips. All around Kuro the ground began to take on a wavy red tint, steam rising from every crack and crevice. There was an explosion; rocks and dirt flew off everywhere as an enormous pillar of flame erupted from beneath the ground, completely engulfing Kuro and rising at least fifty feet into the air. Orange and white and red weaved together in a cyclone of flame, the only sound louder than its powerful roar that of Kuro's pained scream.
I… gave her all the time she needed to charge that, Inyssa thought, feeling her shoulders drop heavily. Usually Kuro is so fast that she'd never get the change to get that move off, but because I told him to do nothing and wait…
There wasn't much time to lament her luck, as Kuro's body was soon expelled from the pillar of flame as it vanished into the air, sending another, even more powerful heat wave all around. The Luxray hit the ground and somehow managed to stay on his feet, but he did not look good. Black patches adorned about half of his body, smoke rising from the still burning fur. His knees shook and his eyes were partly closed from the pain.
H-he's burned. What do I…?
From the now steaming ground across them appeared Wrathia once more, slowly walking toward Kuro with a confident, sadistic smile on her face. Inyssa felt her knees go weak. She shouted the first thing that came to mind.
"A-attack! Don't give her the upper hand!"
Kuro threw himself at his foe, a desperate, booming roar shaking the air around him. Flame and lightning clashed and danced together as both Pokemon attacked each other mercilessly, exchanging blow after blow without backing down a inch.
Not that Inyssa would have known. Hand on her chest, she was having trouble even breathing and keeping her sight focused, let alone paying attention to the fight. Her lungs burned and millions of tiny ants crawled just under her skin, making her shudder. She felt as if her head were about to pop open.
Why was she reacting like this? Wasn't this just a pointless battle? Who cared if she…
I want to win! She screamed inside her own mind, triggering what felt like a shock of electricity all throughout her body. No matter what, I want to…
It didn't make sense. She was supposed to throw away all those selfish feelings and simply concentrate of becoming the hero Shadi would have wanted her to be. All for her, all for the people of Sinnoh. All for…
"Come on Niss!" Barry's screamed reached her. "This is it, this is where we gotta give it our all!"
She looked up slowly, her face deathly pale and her lower lip quivering. What was he saying?
"I… I don't…" She shook her head slightly. "I can't…"
"Of course you can! Come on, isn't this what we left Twinleaf for!?" A wide smile stretched across the boy's lips, his eyes still glowing golden. "Don't tell me you forgot…"
She grit her teeth, the muscles on her arms tensing. "That doesn't matter! It's child's stuff! Shadi was right; I have to stop being so selfish and…!"
"And what!? Spend all your time training? Lying to your friends and family and treating them like crap? Why are you listening to what she said!?" he yelled. "She wasn't in Veilstone or Celestic when they were attacked, so why's she acting all high and mighty like she's some kind of hero, then!? She's just a piece of shit that…!"
"You don't know that!" Inyssa felt her throat clump, tears slowly welling up in her eyes. "S-she said she's doing all she can from the shadows. That she's going to stop all the bad things…"
"And until then, what!? Just let people be scared and die!?" Barry took a step forward and Inyssa felt herself shudder. She'd never seen such a furious expression on his face. "You think people want some… some schemer promising that everything's gonna be okay while she abandons them and goes to do her own thing? Is that what you want to become!?"
"N-no! A trainer should… what people want…!"
"People want someone who cares!" Barry's words echoed all throughout the park, drowning every other sound as they reached Inyssa. "Someone who'll listen to them! Who'll grab their hand and smile when things get rough! Someone kind and passionate and who doesn't see them as just chess pieces!"
Inyssa bit her lower lip, eyes narrowing.
"T-they want you, then."
Barry reeled for a moment, but then frowned and shook his head slightly. "No. They want us." He raised his hand forward toward their Pokemon. "Wrathia! Come back!"
The Houndoom barely dodged her opponent's claws as she jumped back a few feet, her chest rising up and down with the rhythm of her erratic breathing. Both her and Kuro were covered in a multitude of scratches and bite marks. Both looked on their last leg.
"You don't have to be her, Niss." His voice came out as barely a whisper, and yet Inyssa heard him perfectly. A tiny, familiar smile formed on his lips. "You can just be you, and still become everything you want to be. I..."
Everything around her came to a halt, as if the world itself had stopped. All the pain and frustration and anxiety froze inside her body, leaving Inyssa breathless as she shot her eyes wide open and felt… it.
Just a spark at first, barely a crackle within her gut, so small she would never have noticed it in any other circumstance. But then, as his words reached her…
"…I know you can."
She heard another voice on top of Barry's, a familiar voice, one she'd almost forgotten. Then, before she could remember whose it was, she felt the weight of a soft hand land on her shoulder.
"Niss…"
There was the sound of thunder, and then everything went white. Inyssa's scars flared up, millions of tiny, invisible lightning bolts running through her skin and flesh, and then to her lungs, heart and eyes, dispelling that heavy fog inside her which she had forgotten was even there. Jolting her awake, finally.
It was like a curtain had been lifted from over her. Inyssa felt that familiar spark behind her eyes as they turned a shining gold, and then…
"Greetings, Inyssa." Uxie's voice sprouted from the depths of her mind, clearer than it had ever been before. "I must say… it's good to be back."
Laughter bubbled in her stomach, rising up until she couldn't contain it anymore. She lifted her chin, a wild smile on her face, and felt as if she was seeing for the first time all over again. The dust in the air, their Pokemon, the people all around them, they were so clear and vibrant where they'd been so blurry and muffled before.
As she raised her hand forward, she felt her heart pumping, felt the blood rushing all through her body, filling her with warmth and that familiar itchy feeling under her skin, no longer bothersome or painful. On the contrary, it was exactly what she needed right now. A wide, confident smile stretched across her face as she threw her palm forward, eyes locked with those of her friend.
"I warned you… don't blame me for what's about to happen."
Barry's smile widened as he swiped the air with his free hand. "Same goes to you! Come at me with everything you've got, Niss!"
"Kuro…!"
"Wrathia…!"
Both Pokemon leaned forward on their paws, determination burning in their eyes. Kuro threw himself forward, the last threads of his energy barely keeping him conscious as he ran faster than he'd ever done so before, coated from head to toe in a sprouting veil of electricity. Across him, Wrathia planted herself firmly and growled, steam rising from every one of her pores. The black of her skin turned a blinding red and then a light blue as flames licked at the surface of her body, waiting to be released.
Their trainer's orders rang all throughout the park:
"Wild Charge!"
"Inferno!"
Time seemed to slow as they came into contact; Kuro jumping forward and Wrathia releasing the might of her attack directly at him. There was a flash of light, full of blues and whites and yellows which for a single moment mixed together and danced into each other as a shockwave grew throughout the air and ground, shaking the world itself, silencing the cheers of the audience and obscuring everything with its light.
Inyssa smiled, satisfied, and then everything went white.
----------------------------------------
It was a miracle Barry wasn't thrown to the ground by the force of the attack.
Still, it did pretty well at throwing him off balance. He barely covered his eyes before the light could blind him, and soon after the force of the explosion crashed against him hard.
Once the dust began to settle and his ears stopped ringing, he took a step forward and opened his eyes again. Dust covered every speck of the park, including the outskirts. All around him people coughed and moved out of the way. And at the center of the crash…
A sound halfway between a gasp and a chuckle left his mouth. There was a depression on the ground where the impact had occurred, earth scorched and upturned. And, at the very bottom, shaking from pain and with one paw resting on top of her opponent's unconscious body… was Wrathia.
The Houndoom formed a weak, lopsided smile of sharp teeth and, not a moment after, the entirety of her body went numb. She closed her eyes and collapsed on top of Kuro, out cold. Barry felt laughter in his stomach, but managed to contain it into a wavy smile. He would've expected people to start cheering again by now, but he figured they probably couldn't see anything yet, and even if they did they were still covered from head to toe in a layer of dust and dirt.
If Kuro hadn't been burnt before he'd probably be the one still standing. Well, at least I'm tied again with Niss…
Barry froze, eyes going wide.
Crap! Niss!
He skipped through the broken remains of the battlefield and headed directly for his friend, finding her… a few feet backwards from where he expected. She lay sideways on the ground, eyes hidden by her hair and grunting in pain.
"Niss! Are you okay!?"
He helped her sit up, not without difficulty as he only had one arm to work with, the other still in a cast. Niss stood still, her eyes back to that vibrant green and her expression lost and confused. She turned her head to look at him. Neither of them said anything for long enough that the people around them began talking and screaming again, now aware of the outcome of the match.
"Barry…" Her voice was thin and somewhat hoarse, as though she were out of breath. "I… I'm sorry."
He couldn't help but laugh. Somewhat awkwardly, he placed a hand on her shoulders and moved close enough to touch his forehead with hers.
"Hey, it's okay. It's gonna be okay."
"I'm sorry…" she repeated, voice cracking. "I just… I don't know what I was doing. I don't know why she said all those things to me, I was just trying to…"
"Niss." He squeezed her shoulder a bit. "It's okay, really. We can talk about this but… maybe someplace emptier."
Her eyes went wide and, as if pushed by a spring, she shot up and looked all around, finding more than a hundred curious and confused pair of eyes staring directly at them. Barry had never felt embarrassed enough to wish for the ground to swallow him, but the waves of shame emanating from Niss finally showed him how that felt.
"All right everyone, start scattering!"
A new voice rang throughout the park, startling them both. It was loud, rough and with a pretty heavy accent and it came from a tall, muscular man with disheveled purple hair who stepped forward from the group of people at their right. He walked forward a few steps, resting a shovel over his shoulder, and looked all around at the people gathered in the park.
"Didn't y'all hear me!?" He bellowed. "Fight's over, folks! Go back home and tell everyone about it if you wanna, but I'm taking it from here!"
The man glanced at Barry and Nyss before turning around yelling once more, ordering everyone to clear the park. Little by little, as Barry and Inyssa got to their feet and returned their Pokemon to their balls, the park emptied itself until only a couple people remained staring at them from afar. One of them, who walked straight toward them with a grim look on his face, made both trainer's blood run cold.
Barry felt Niss' fingers unconsciously close around his arm as Professor Rowan addressed them, his thick mustache twitching ever so slightly, like a warning from an Ursaring.
"Inyssa… Barry…"
"P-Professor!" Niss yelped, hands shaking. "I… we can explain…"
"It's… fine."
There was a pause. Both trainers blinked confusedly in unison, exchanging a glance before turning toward Rowan again.
"W-what?"
"Are we…" Niss gulped. "Are we not in trouble?"
Shockingly, Rowan's mustache twitched as a tiny smile formed underneath it, barely noticeable.
"Let's just say that you're lucky the Gym Leader and I happened to stumble into this little clandestine battle of yours," he said. "I can't promise that you're not in at least a bit of trouble, but… well, I'm sure we can discuss that tomorrow." He looked over at Niss. "Inyssa, you're paler than a Frosslass and you look ready to collapse at any moment."
Niss let out a weak laugh. "I… yeah, guess I look as bad as I feel."
"Get some food, and rest," said Rowan. "And come see me tomorrow, so we may talk. Lucas knows where I am, so simply ask him."
Both of them nodded, though Niss less energetically than Barry.
"Thanks, Professor!" he said. "We'll be there tomorrow, we promise!"
"I shall expect you with gusto. Now, if you excuse me." He looked over them, toward the park, and let out a sigh. "I need to discuss with Byron just how much paperwork this will cost us. Stay safe, kids."
As they saw the man walk away toward the strange guy with the shovel, they exchanged a look and a knowing smile.
"So…" Barry whispered, placing a hand around her shoulder to help her stay steady. "…wanna go back to the Pokemon Center and get something to eat?"
Inyssa closed her eyes and nodded, letting out a sigh. "Yeah. Food sounds wonderful right now."
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Night fell on Inyssa's room. The sliver of a half-moon began to form outside the window, giving just enough light to paint a blurry outline of all the objects and pieces of furniture scattered about. A single Pokeball rested atop the desk, the only one she hadn't used during the battle. Inside, Inyssa hoped, Shadi would be resting peacefully.
She let out of the breath she'd been holding, leaning the back of her head against the furthermost wall of her room. Her legs were starting to get numb from her pose. She ignored it and kept staring at the door.
Eventually, Barry walked through it, his steps so distinctive that she knew it was him even before he opened it.
"Niss, the…" The darkness of the room barely hid the puzzled look he gave her as he turned around. "…you know, there's two chairs over there. And a light switch."
She shrugged. "Floor's just fine."
"Well… if you say so."
Without another word of protest he let himself fall next to her, the bump of their shoulders sending a shiver through her cold skin.
"What'd they say?" she asked.
"Nurse told me they'll probably be all healed up tomorrow morning. Except Wrathia and Kuro, it might take another day for them." He tilted his head to the side to look at her. "We… might've pushed them a bit too far."
"Yeah…"
For the hundredth time that evening, her gaze fell on the lonely Pokeball atop the desk at the other side of the room. She gulped, and said nothing.
"Sorry for taking so long by the way," said Barry. "Had to tuck Auri into bed too. She won't fall asleep unless I'm next to her for some reason."
She smiled. "It's fine. Gave me some time to think."
"Yeah?"
She nodded, though she didn't elaborate right away. They had spent the entire evening resting and eating and helping her recover her strength, and yet Barry never once had pushed or asked what she was thinking or how she was feeling. Must've realized she'd been agonizing over how to bring it up ever since the end of their battle. And, judging by the way his eyes stayed that pretty brown the whole time, he didn't need Mesprit's power to do so.
Her fingers curled over the fabric of her jeans. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, letting it go after a few seconds.
"I… tomorrow we should go visit the Professor so he can give us our new Pokédex. Then we should hang out with Lucas and ask him to come with us to the library." There was a short pause. "He'll… probably know where to find what we're looking for."
Barry's eyebrows arched a bit. "You mean… about the lake trio and all that?"
"Not just that. I also… I also want to look for a certain Pokemon." She turned to look at him, lips pursed tight. "You… saw it too, right? Back in the boat, when Shadi was..."
If he was surprised, he did a good job at hiding it. She felt the atmosphere tense around them as he frowned and slowly nodded.
That… thing, that Pokemon seemingly made from shadows… they'd both heard from it and seen illustrations in paintings and children's books, what Sinnohan kid hadn't? And yet, to actually see it in real life…
"If that was what I think it was, then… it might be influencing Shadi somewhat." She finally managed to get the words out, which had felt so cold and sharp in her throat. "I know what you think of her and I'm not gonna force you to think differently, but if there's a chance that she's not in control of her actions, that she can return to normal… then I'm gonna take it." She set her jaw and looked directly at Barry, eyes full of determination. "I'll do the same thing you did for me. I'll help her, whether she wants me to or not."
For a while Barry's face seemed blank, devoid of expression, and Inyssa feared she might've said something wrong. But finally his lips curved into a tiny, familiar smile. He placed a hand on her shoulders and nodded.
"I'll help you in whatever you need."
She smiled back, feeling a dull ache in her chest. "Thanks."
There were a few seconds of silence, and then Barry placed a hand against the floor and pushed himself to his feet, grunting as he did so.
"Alright… I think it's time to go to bed," he said, voice strained. "Tomorrow's gonna be a big day so we should get some rest."
"…Yeah. I could go for another fourteen hours of sleep."
She got to her feet as well, though not without considerable effort. The exhaustion clinging to her body was much different than the one she'd suffered through a few hours before, but it was still there. In full control of her mental faculties or not, her frail body always stayed the same. Unfortunate.
"Well… good night, Niss."
Perhaps that's why she did what she did. She found herself in a strange state, tired enough for her mind to start acting funny, but not in a bad way. Blinking confusedly, Inyssa stared up at Barry's back as he walked toward the door, and a thought sprouted in her head.
I… I haven't thanked him yet, she thought. After everything he did for me, I didn't even thank him!
"Hey, Barry."
She walked over to him as he turned around, one eyebrow raised. As she stopped mere inches from him, she once again was surprised by how much taller he looked from up close. Heat rose to her cheeks.
"I wanted to tell you something before you go."
Barry smiled, one hand on the doorknob. "Sure, what is it?"
Alright, here it goes, Inyssa thought. Just thank him and say good night; easy as pie.
She parted her lips, and instants before the words were formed she realized they were not the right ones.
And yet, the part of her that knew didn't stop them from coming out.
"…Can I kiss you?"