Pranav lay back on the cot he’d been assigned to, his dirty and stained Galactic uniform replaced with the simple clothes he’d brought from his locker. He was still sweaty, and in desperate need of a proper shower, but the breezy shirt he wore did wonders as he settled back with a sigh.

Galactic was doing a full extraction now that the entranceway collapsed, with only a few to stay behind as a token guard to keep an eye on things. Whispers about an underground war being fought had taken the expedition force by storm, against Chronos supposedly. The two brothers couldn’t get a bead on any specifics before they were both ushered into the medical ward. But as it was, the healthy Grunts were to extract ASAP, while the injured but non-critical (them, basically) would leave after the rest had gone.

“How are the others?” He asked, turning to his brother who was resting in the cot beside him. Arun had taken a beating against his Kleavor, the medics present going pale at the mere sight of him. When they were topside he’d have to undergo a small operation in which they’d need to break his bones and heal them properly.

“Better.” Arun sighed, keeping his eyes closed. Valor sat in a stool beside him, practising with his new hands to peel a berry of some kind. “Elys’s burn is looking better. She’s pissed off though.”

Pranav snorted, “Of course she is.”

His brother hummed in response, and the two lapsed into silence. After the adrenaline faded from the whole mess neither could really find the energy to talk, doing their best to recuperate. Pranav didn’t even realize how tired he was until his body hit the cot. If it wasn’t for how dirty he felt he would’ve passed out there and then.

Alas, the sweat and grime that still clung to his skin had him frowning and lying still.

“Have you figured out what you’re going to say?” Arun asked after a while.

Pranav turned his head to shoot him a look, “Is now the best time to talk about it?”

“It’s just Jupiter here. And she’s focused on the evac. Besides, they cared about Remi…or they used to. They’ll want answers.”

“We were up against a Magmar, but it was strong. Aken was too injured to fight, and Remi ended up in front of me, taking a full Flamethrower.”

Technically correct. The events were true, just missing some key details.

“How did Remi die?”

“His body was in front of me, taking the full flamethrower.”

“That’s not enough, Pran.” Arun sighed, “You can do better. How did he die?”

Pranav thought for a moment, frowning at the challenge. Then a slow grin appeared as the words came to him, and he let out a dramatic sigh, “I killed him.” He began, emotion dripping from his voice, “Things were getting too hectic, and I wasn’t strong enough to save us both. Next thing I knew, his body was burnt and I had to get away before it burned me too.”

“Hm. Passable.” Arun hummed, settling into his cot once more.

“Passable? That shit was Oscar worthy dude.”

“Uh huh.”

“I’m basically Ryan Gosling.”

“Yeah.”

“Probably more handsome, too.”

“Nope.”

Pranav grinned, before a more contemplative look took his face, “We’ll be on the map after this. Cyrus is going to take notice.” He said, turning to look at Arun again.

“He will.” Was Arun’s quiet confirmation.

"Are you...upset?"

"Why would I be?"

"I mean...the original plan was to lay low and keep our heads down, right?"

"Pran." Arun said flatly, "You and lay low are two things that don't go together."

"My bad, my bad." He chuckled, the two settling back into silence once again.

Yeah...maybe he wasn't the best at laying low. But plans change, right? With this, they'd be able to get some recognition, better benefits, better pay. With money they'd probably dump most of their resources into researching and learning how to battle, healing items, guides, the works. Money would be great for connections too, what type of people would they meet out there? How far could they go?

“I dunno if I asked you, but what do you want from all of…this?” Pran asked, waving his hands in the air.

“Make sure you’re safe. Make sure we get enough to eat, to live.”

“But after that. When we get everything handled, what’s next?”

“Huh.” His brother said, looking slightly confused, “Now…that is a question.”

“I mean, we’re going on a journey. You don’t get isekai’d to Pokémon world without going on a journey.”

“Obviously.”

“Obviously.” Pranav echoed. “But…what then? What do you want?”

What will make you happy?

Pranav already knew what he wanted. Power. Money. Status. Vain, shallow, yes, but when was that a bad thing? Did the vain and shallow not rule his time? Did they not have the power to condemn the world to its end? He wanted–no–needed to be there. He needed to be at the table where players made the world move, to be a kingmaker instead of a piece.

Power meant running the circuit. He doubted he needed to win, but he needed to go far. Money he’d figure out in time, already he had a couple ideas circling in his head. If he could get his phone to work again, why not just stream some of his old songs for some revenue? He was pretty sure Travis Scott or Taylor Swift would be pretty solid hits in this era too.

But all of it, all of it did not matter if Arun was unhappy. With money he’d be able to get Arun whatever he wanted. Status and power would ensure nobody would ever touch them. They’d live long lives, as legends, as gods. They'd have the world in their palms, and nobody would be able to take it away from them anymore.

“I…I don’t know.” Arun said, accepting the half of fruit Valor handed to him, “I never really thought about it up until now. It’s always just been…survive.”

“We’re people, bro. People need purpose.”

“Guess so.”

“Well no need to rush it.” Pranav said, folding his arms behind his head, “You’ll find it eventually. We have our whole lives ahead of us to find it.”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Unless you get us killed with another braindead scheme.”

Pranav shot him a cheeky grin, “Maybe.”

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Arun awoke to Valor shaking him awake, and he let out a soft groan, looking about the room with groggy eyes. Confusion and worry hit him first, the immediate ‘Where am I? This isn’t the temple.’ was immediately stopped by the rush of memories from the previous day’s events.

Right. Medical zone. Nap.

Voices from outside were annoyingly loud, footsteps and marching orders given out as he could hear the distant “Time to go people!” and words along the same vein. Arun sighed, softly pushing himself up off his cot. Beside him, Pran mumbled something incoherent, his sleeping form burying himself deeper into the thin pillow given to them to block out the noise.

He sent a wave of curiosity to his little friend. Is it time to go?

Affirmation. It appears so.

“Wake up.” Arun huffed, chucking his pillow at Pran.

“Mmmph.” His brother responded from under the cushion, clutching it tightly to drown out the noise.

Arun stared at Pran for a few seconds, waiting to see if his brother would get up. When he (obviously) didn’t, he stood, clutching at his ribs with a low groan as he felt the pain flare up. Yeah. He’d definitely need that operation or whatever the Galactic doctors were touting at him.

A wave of worry from Valor. Still hurt?

“Might need some help walking buddy.” Arun smiled, “But I’m all good, help me get some water real quick.”

Valor braced himself against Arun’s leg, and the two limped together to their locker, broken and beaten as it was. He had to tug on it a couple times before it came loose, grabbing his water bottle and taking a few greedy sips before he glanced back at Pranav.

Still asleep.

A slow grin worked its way up Arun’s face as both he and Valor walked back to the cot. His friend sent waves of curiosity towards him, but each time Arun simply answered with a wait and see. When he stood above his brother, he decided to give him one more chance.

“It’s time to go.”

“Fivvmrmints.”

“You asked for it.”

He ripped off the first pillow, before dunking the rest of the icy cold water onto his little brother’s face.

“PFFBTTLB-!” Pranav shot up, arms flailing wildly as he sought to gain his bearings.

“Good morning.” Arun grinned.

“Fuck off.”

Arun shrugged, tossing the rest of the bottle to Pran who drank deeply despite sending a glare his way. Just in time too, a Grunt, one he didn’t recognize opened the flap to their tent and began to yett, “Time to go! If you can mo-”

“We’ve got it.” Arun said, cutting off the Grunt.

“Good. Get to the elevator in 10, you’ll be given your designated time to leave.”

“Mhm.”

The grunt turned to leave when Pranav called out, “Finally going home, eh?”

The Grunt looked back, a relieved look in his eye, “Tell me about it.”

It didn’t take long to pack their meagre belongings. A set of spare clothes, water bottles and…that was it, really. By the time they were out they’d spotted Hazel, Emily, and the others all talking quietly with one another.

Arun nudged Pranav’s shoulder, nodding towards the group that noticed them.

“They’ll want to talk about Remi’s death.” Arun muttered.

“I can handle it.”

Respectfully, Arun didn’t give a shit about Remi. Sure, it was unfortunate, maybe even a little sad. But Remi was in a line of work that involved danger, the risk of death was something they all faced. Besides, he knew the guy for less than a week, not exactly enough time to get himself acquainted with the man.

He didn’t know how much Remi’s death affected Pranav, however. He seemed…sad, but more so at breaking Arun’s desire towards becoming better people than the actual act itself. Still, the two brothers had enough tact to understand how to act about the death in front of the others, who appeared to care for him a little more.

The act of murder. Sometimes Arun wondered if it was a good thing that he and Pran were desensitized to it. Logically, it was better for them. Usually if one was in a situation in which they had to kill, it usually meant their own life was threatened, at least in his experience. It wasn’t as if they were going out of their way to kill, it was simply the time and place for such an act.

“Philosophize another day.” He mentally chided himself, turning his attention back to his brother.

“You guys alright?” Pranav asked, shooting them a good natured smile.

“I’m a little pissed I got left behind while you guys saw cool shit.” Elys grumbled, scratching at the bandages around her neck.

“You get a cool scar though.” Jaxon offered, dodging his sister’s smack “Silver lining.”

“...Felis.” Hazel said, as the group began walking together, “It’s true isn’t it. Remi is…?”

“I’m sorry.” Pranav said, looking away “There wasn’t any way to save him.”

There was a pause as all of them walked in silence. Arun was surprised he could feel the subtle hints of emotion rolling off the group. Hints of disappointment, sadness, anger. Was his ability getting stronger? Or were their emotions powerful enough for him to sense?

The silence broke as Pranav pulled something from his pocket. A golden chain with a pendant that he could see was clasped to hold two photos.

“I…managed to save this.” Pranav said gently, pushing the chain into Emily’s hand.

“Carlos,” Emily sighed, clutching the pendant tightly, “He’ll…he’ll want this.”

“I have Croagunk too, but I left him with the critically injured Pokémon. It was…it was bad.”

“Thank you Felis,” Emily said, her eyes shining, “Thank you for everything.”

Pranav shot her a warm smile, before looking at them all, “You guys have been great to the two of us, and I’m sorry I couldn’t repay you by saving Remi.” He let out frustrated a sigh, chewing his lip in thought before looking at them again, “I swear to you guys I’ll make it up to–”

“Don’t.” Hazel said, though not harshly, wrapping an arm around Pranav’s shoulders, “You did what you could man, that’s all that matters.”

“I know he was your friend…”

“He was. He really was…”

The ease at which Pranav could lie…sometimes worried Arun. To kill was one thing, to lie straight faced without giving away a hint of anything to the friends of those you killed was another. He chalked it up to not being able to understand how his brother’s mind worked, as Pranav could never truly see what was going on with Arun either. Was he scared of the fact he didn’t understand how he could pull off such a facade? Or maybe he was scared that it was affecting his brother in a way he couldn't see, something Pranav kept hidden.

He shook his head, banishing the thoughts. If it really was affecting his brother, he would tell him in time. Besides, it didn’t matter what Pranav did, he loved his brother, and he was certain his brother loved him. That was all that mattered in the end, it was how they survived for so long while the more capable had died around them.

“So…Sirius.” Jaxon said, pulling him back into the conversation.

He gave a small smile to the dark-haired man, “What’s up?”

“So Hazel said you want to participate in the league next year…?”

“Mhm. That’s the plan.”

“Alright cool. We’re coming with.”

Arun blinked, a little surprised.

“Jax!” Elys snarled, swatting her brother on the shoulder, “That’s not what we agreed on!”

“Uh huh, like you weren’t just begging me to ask him to joi–oh shit!”

Arun surmised it was experience, as Jaxon dodged the blow his sister sent, before she cleared her throat and scratched at her bandages in embarrassment. He caught Pranav checking the exchange, signalling with a quick ‘all good?’ to which he signalled back an affirmative.

“What my idiot brother was supposed to do.” Elys said, “Was ask if you wouldn’t mind letting us join you all.”

“I’d love to.” Arun smiled at her, “Hazel talked about Galactic sponsored trainers, I’m sure we could all go.”

“We’d have to really get strong then, spots are limited.”

“How come?”

“Tradition.” Jaxon shrugged, “Circuit’s not really meant for us.”

Arun frowned. Tradition. Was it tradition to send kids through crazy forests and terrains to prove themselves? It felt more like an adult thing to do, so why?

“Could you…explain it a little more?” Arun asked, “It just…it’s just strange to me.”

“Where the children dream, the adults shall build.” Jaxon said, as if reciting something, “Build the world that they dreamed as children, build the world where children can live their dreams.”

“Being an adult professional trainer isn’t a problem, you’ll see loads of them.” Elys added, “But they usually serve a purpose. Protection, power, status. Trainers who make it far sort of enter Cynthia’s inner circle to become symbols of power for Sinnoh. But the circuit itself? It’s a show of strength and fame. It’s only purpose is to reveal those who have potential among Sinnoh’s children, to turn them into icons versus a grander purpose.”

“Hm.” Arun hummed, his fingers tracing Valor’s Pokeball. It made sense, in a weird way. The sending kids out into dangerous wilds not exactly, but hey, culture could be weird like that.

“So why do you guys still want to go?”

Elys scratched at her bandage again, looking almost…shy, as she answered, “Well…Jaxon and I never really got our shot, I guess. Is it wrong for us to dream?”

“Never.” Arun’s reply was immediate, causing both siblings to blink at him in surprise. “Never.”

It was then they’d reached their destination, shuffling into the dreaded seat as they were strapped down into their elevator. He sat himself between the two, deciding he needed to talk to keep the fear of the coming ride at bay.

“I’ll…take a year off from Galactic.” Arun whispered, “So you guys can take the sponsorship. And my brother and I can…journey without it.”

“Lame.” Jaxon said, “We’ll just all win, keep it simple.”

“That…that works too.”

“Sirius? You good?”

“Just…just fine.”

“He’s scared of the ride!” Pranav called from two seats over.

“Awww.” Elys grinned, “Scared of a little turbulence.”

Arun simply shot his little brother a glare. Pranav mouthed something along the lines of ‘payback bitch’ before the elevator rumbled, and both of them instantly started to hold on for dear life.

“Going up!” A grunt called, smacking the gate before holding onto a safety rail, “Look alive Grunts! We’re going home!”

“Hey if it helps.” Jaxon grinned, “Just think of the blue sky when we finally step out.”

Arun nodded, squeezing his eyes shut and drowning out the noise with visions of the outdoors. The bright blue skies, the gentle grass, the laughter of people. He thought about Veilstone and its beautifully carved architecture, he thought about the feeling of hope that he could feel every night, and the relief he felt every morning when he realized it was all real.

It made the journey home just a little more bearable.