As he stood side by side with Sada watching the sun set get lower and lower over the horizon until it disappeared behind the tall buildings of Lumiose City, Turo felt for once strangely at peace. The thought of searching for that exact spot had hit him as soon as Clavell had told them where their little school trip would be.
He put one hand over Sada's shoulders, holding her close. She smiled, and simply rested her head on his shoulder, sighing contentedly.
« What did you think of me when we first met?» he asked after a long moment. He had often wondered about it.
« I mean... this weird guy dressed all in white appearing suddenly, not speaking a word of your language... » he chuckled, thinking back to the panic that he had felt.
« It must have been strange.» he added. Sada smiled before raising one hand to quietly grasp his, interlocking their fingers together.
« I thought you were from one of the tribes way south... I guess I was half right, in a way.» she answered with a laugh, and he couldn't help but smile a little bit himself at finally hearing that pure, enthusiastic sound again.
« What was your first impression of me? Other than "terrified", judging by how much you were shaking.» she asked immediately after, and he had to keep his expression neutral.
« Um-» he said looking away, trying to buy some time. Sada tilted her head, now with a little smirk on her face as she playfully jabbed him on his side.
« I... your.... your fangs. They were the first thing I noticed.» he mumbled after a moment, not without some embarrassment.
Sada blushed after a moment, raising her free hand to poke at one a bit self-consciously.
« ... They are not that strange, right? I... I have seen other people here have them...» she muttered, and he huffed and kissed her cheek.
« They are perfectly normal. I had just never seen them. » he said to reassure her.
« You two! I challenge you to a double battle!»
They were interrupted by a familiar voice and a loud shout, and they both turned away from the water and the steps they had walked down with some perplexity; Turo had never actually heard Clavell shout, not even in class to maintain order with some of the younger students: he didn't really need to, and the man seemed almost incapable of getting angry.
He, however, had to blink and make sure he was seeing correctly when a Clavell dressed in the most ridiculous assortment of clothes he had ever seen stomped towards them, followed by his Oranguru and Abomasnow. The Flabebé and Surskit scattered as the three approached, and Miguel let out a rather annoyed squawk.
« What... what are you wearing?» Turo asked, bewildered.
Instead of his usual round glasses, the man was sporting a pair of sunglasses with colored lenses, a pair of jeans that looked like they had been cut with a pair of scissors (he had never understood that particular fashion trend of this era), and the trashiest motorbiker jacket he had ever seen in black leather with some drawing of a Pokémon he couldn't quite make out in golden lines.
Most egregious of all however was the wig he was wearing, that took the shape of a truly massive pompadour.
Clavell stopped in front of the two and snorted, crossing both arms to his chest, another pose that definitely didn't suit him.
« That your Pokémon? They look pathetic! I challenge you two to a battle!»
By his side, Sada was as speechless as he was, mouth hanging half-open.
« Clavell...?» she asked.
« I have no idea who this "Clavell" guy is.» Clavell answered, raising one hand to flick his pompadour upwards.
« My name is-» there was a sudden, awkward pause from the older man as he obviously scrambled to think of a name. « -... Clive.»
A moment of silence followed his words, before Turo sighed and stood up. He was trying to force himself to keep a straight face, which was proving to be rather difficult, thanks to... everything in front of him.
Just... that hair...
« ... What do you want, Clavell?»
« Clive-» "Clive" said. He really wanted to stick to the part, didn't he?
« All right, Clive.» he said, rolling his eyes. He had no idea why the other man had suddenly decided to put on this whole charade. Was it just to distract them? Cheer them up? Or did people in this time really love to battle that much? He didn't get it.
« ... I'm really not in the mood for a Pokémon battle right now.» he said, throwing a look at Miguel. The Murkrow also didn't look particularly thrilled; he was rather enthusiastic about searching for and battling the newly - named "terastalized" Pokémon, but that was just because he got plenty of shiny, sparkly loot out of it in the form of Tera shards.
Battling for battling's sake didn't seem to be his thing.
« Let's just go back to the hotel-» he scoffed, turning away from "Clive" and nodding toward his Pokémon to follow. He had barely walked three steps when he felt a sudden rush of cold air, a barrage of pointed icicles darting right past him to hit the ground in front of him. Turo paled as the Murkrow squawked indignantly, furiously beating his wings to get away from the ice at his feet.
Sada gave an indignant shout and jumped back as more ice formed between her and himself, separating them. Her Pokémon scrambled to her side, Kim growling fiercely as her mane started to burn brighter.
Turo whirled around to face "Clive", and found his Abomasnow lower the arm that it must have used to shoot those Ice Shards.
... Had he seriously just attacked them? Or threatened to? He stared at Clavell, but the man's eyes were hidden behind the colored lenses of his glasses, face impossible to read. He had no idea what he was thinking. What did he even want?
« ... What is the meaning of this?!» he snarled, now suddenly furious.
He turned towards Miguel with some newfound determination. Fine, if he wanted a Pokémon battle for some stupid reason, he would get one!
He stared at the Abomasnow, not without some concern. Clavell's Pokémon were... obviously a lot more well trained than his and Sada's. Surely more than Miguel. He had won his first two Gym badges relying on type advantage and not much else; he honestly had to prepare more for the Gym challenge that preceded it than the battle itself.
Sada's Litleo had a double type advantage and could pelt it with fire balls from afar. Maybe he should leave the Abomasnow to her...? He turned towards her, only to realize that the wall of ice summoned between them blocked his view.
« Kim, Ember towards that... that tree thing!» Sada's voice rang out right at that moment, followed by a stream of fire shooting towards the Abomasnow, and Turo couldn't help a little proud smile.
It seemed like Sada had thought the same exact thing as him. Maybe Clavell wanted to see how they worked together? Was this some kind of test part of the school trip?
He turned his attention to the other Pokémon, the Oranguru. It was perhaps the most enigmatic of Clavell's Pokémon: he had seen it only a couple of times, and didn't really know what it was capable of. He wasn't even really sure about its typing.
« Miguel, use Wing Atta-»
« Thunderbolt »
Clavell's order and his Pokémon had been incredibly fast.
Turo flinched as his Pokémon screeched after getting hit by a lighting bolt the Oranguru conjured out of thin air.
That wasn't a normal screech; that was pure pain.
The Murkrow fell back to the ground at his feet, his wings twitching as he tried to scramble back up in the air, pupils wide.
What was Clavell even doing? Why order a move that was obviously so much stronger than what was necessary to win that fight?
He didn't understand.
« Miguel! » he ran to his Pokémon and picket him up; it cawed pitifully, snuggling up against his jacket, still twitching in pain. He swallowed, feeling a heavy lump in his throat, before turning towards Clive, or whatever stupid name he had chosen.
« Clavell, drop that act. You come here, you beat up my Pokémon... what's the point?» he snarled.
There was a long silence, before Clavell finally recalled both of his Pokémon and pulled off the wig.
« Well...» he said, adjusting his glasses and moving some steps towards him. « I would think about why I asked you about that Pokémon battle, earlier.»
That Pokémon battle...? It took him a moment to remember that talk about the Furfrou. It filled him with rage. So all of this was still about that?
« ... really? Did you really want to see us challenge that stupid trainer that much?»
« It's not about battling that trainer!» Clavell snapped. The ice barrier that had separated him from Sada had been quickly melting, showing him Sada similarly cradling her Litleo to her chest, the fire type looking like it had been repeatedly pummeled by the Abomasnow that towered over them both. Sada was sniffling as she pet the battered Pokémon, her Golett trying to console her by putting a hand on her shoulder.
« It's the fact that you've been thinking about nothing but how different things are "here", and it's destroying you. I can see it on your faces, and I can't stand it! You're both thinking about getting into Area Zero secretly hoping to find a way to go home, don't you? Do you really hate it that much here?» Clavell added, almost choking on those last words, and Turo felt his chest tighten, out of breath as he suddenly felt called out.
By his side, Sada similarly seemed to flinch, eyes wide.
He... he was much more perceptive that what he thought. Clavell walked up to both of them, clasping his hands behind his back like he usually did. With the punk jacket he was wearing, it looked ridiculous, but he didn't seem to care.
« Say you get permission to go into Area Zero, and find a way to go back... and then what? You will be separated again, I hope you realize that. I thought you two were...» he looked between the two, a line of uncertainty now crossing his face.
« ... close. Or did you plan to go together, one joining the other in their time? Is that really what you want? One of you would still be away from home... would it be that different from both of you simply staying here? Especially you, Sada? »
Turo had no idea what to say. They had both avoided to discuss what they would do once they were in Area Zero, just focusing on actually getting there first. But...
« ... why beat up our Pokémon to say that?» he asked in a growl, letting Miguel back into his Poké Ball to rest.
He would have to get to a Pokémon Center to cure him; he didn't have any Potions on him. He hadn't... thought he would need any, and now Miguel was in pain because of him.
«... I'm sure you can realize that alone. I'll wait for you back at the hotel. We have a long tour of the city tomorrow.» Clavell said, before turning around and walking away, leaving the two of them in stunned silence. Turo turned towards Sada, to find her still absent-mindedly petting Kim, murmuring words to reassure the little Pokémon in her language.
He wanted to ask her what she would do if they really found a way back home. Could he concieve following her in her time, back in the Paleolithic?
He... he couldn't. But for Sada... staying here in the 21th century or in his time wasn't really that different... right? Both were completely alien to her.
« ... let's go to a Pokémon Center.» he said, and she just nodded, calling both her Pokémon back in their Poké Balls.
As they walked back through the city in silence, he didn't ask in the end.
He was afraid of the answer.
---
They walked back to the hotel in complete silence, stopping in a Pokémon Center along the way. Sada kept holding Kim's Poké Ball, felling the warmth coming from the little sphere as she thought back to Clavell's words.
She had felt helpless as the Litleo kept getting pummeled by the much bigger Ice Pokémon, mewling in pain as she tried to get away.
How could people in this time simply just stand there as their Pokémon did everything for them? Another thing she just didn't understand. Why had Clavell decided to challenge them like that? It had barely been a battle to begin with, but she didn't understand what that had to do with his words.
She... she loved Kim. She was smart, and it amazed her to see how much stronger she had become and how she would listen intently to everything she said, and how much she slowly understood.
What had Kim to do with what they would do in Area Zero...? If she really found a way back home... Kim and Ötzi would come with her, right...? And... Turo... What would he do?
But... Those thoughts were pointless before they could even enter Area Zero. Until then, she just had to focus on their research, graduating from the Academy, and getting the League's permission by acquiring the Champion Rank... But while she could do the first two by herself, she needed her Pokémon for that last one.
She caught sight of Clavell as they entered the hotel; he seemed to have been waiting for them in the hall, now back in his usual elegant clothes. As soon as he saw them he got up and walked away to his room, leaving the two to walk to their shared room in an uncomfortable silence.
For once, she and Turo slept separately, each of them trying to stay near the border of the bed as much as they could, with the excuse of keeping their Pokémon near them. Kim jumped on the bed and huddled up under the covers against her back, warm and soft. Ötzi had walked to one corner of the room closest to her and clumsily sat down, even if he didn't really need to sleep. As for Miguel, the dark type was bright awake at night and she could hear him flutter his wings as he perched on the desk lamp on Turo's side of the room, cleaning his feathers that still lay in disarray after the shock.
Turo had been petting him absent mindedly, before his movements slowly stopped, and he had probably fallen asleep.
"Just ask him. You will have to talk about it sooner or later." She kept repeating to herself, trying to work up the courage to speak up first.
She didn't.
The next morning, they were taken on a tour of the city at first. Clavell was acting like nothing had happened, simply commenting with a "Mmm" when Sada had tried to bring up "Clive" again. If it hadn't been for that battle and his words, she would have found the whole way he obviously tried to pretend nothing had happened hilarious.
The tour brought them all over the city, which had undergone a lot of changes during the centuries. Lumiose had been the center of the region when it was still ruled by kings, home of nobles and only the richest people in the region, it had then slowly expanded and urbanized.
And there had been a lot of kings in Kalos, from the one of the war of 3000 years ago until the monarchy had been finally abolished and even the traces of who still descended from the royal family lost.
Sada saw enough paintings of pale-faced nobles wearing wigs and elaborate jewels to last her for a lifetime. The tour guide was going on and on about the artist's skill in depicting whatever important historical moment it was, but they all honestly all looked a bit the same to her.
She liked the paintings that depicted natural landscapes or how people imagined legendary Pokémon much more than paintings full of people in a ballroom wearing fancy impractical dresses.
And then, maybe in a way to end the tour across the history of Kalos by going back to its very beginning, the tour had proposed a visit to the natural history museum.
---
Turo had been somewhat wary of Sada's reaction the moment they had stepped inside the museum. He wasn't sure how she would take it, or even of what they would find there exactly.
Last night had been horribly uncomfortable for him: he had thought back to Clavell's words, the way his voice had almost cracked when he had asked if they hated it here.
He... he didn't, but... Clavell couldn't understand.
He sighed, and focused back on his surroundings, which for the moment mostly meant cabinets full of shards of chipped stone. Honestly, they didn't look all that different from just pointy rocks to him, but if they had put them there on display, it had to be because there were traces of having been made by humans in some way he just couldn't see.
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Sada, on the other hand, was walking by his side, eyes wide as she looked at all the objects.
« Those are... real...» she whispered after a moment, trying to get as close as possible to read the little printed descriptions. She gasped and grabbed his arm, and for the first time since arriving in Kalos, he saw her eyes start to shine with the same enthusiasm she showed in front of anything new.
Ironic how this time, it was actually because she was looking at something that was unfamiliar to everyone except to her.
« These are... even older than my people's! Humans used these same tools for thousands and thousands of years... Isn't it incredible?» she whispered, before pointing to what to him looked like a random piece of bone.
« That is a needle, and that one...» she walked past him, watching the dates on the displayed objects go closer and closer to the time Turo knew approximately her tribe had lived in.
The display cases also got slightly bigger, as more and bigger objects had survived the test of time. Not much though; most objects would have broken down or decayed away, unless they happened to have been preserved in some way.
Sada's steps got progressively slower as she happened to look at the biggest object present in the current room. Her face went pale, and her eyes widened.
Turo had to take only one look to understand her reaction.
It was the skeletal remains of a young child. The description talked about how it had been found carefully buried in a cave along with many objects, which had luckily preserved them so well to this day.
But Sada wasn't looking at the displayed text at all. Her eyes were fixated on the display, and she was clenching her fists, now suddenly trembling.
« You.... you put people in museums...?» she whispered after a moment, turning towards him.
Turo swallowed, not knowing what to say. His mind was completely blank: he could understand her outrage, in some way, but... it's not like... they did it ever expecting one of those people to actually show up and get angry about it...
« It's... to better show people what it was like at that time...» he tried to explain, but with Sada's eyes burning into him, he felt like the excuse was extremely flimsy.
« That doesn't show people anything about how we really lived! This is just... disrespectful! Was this what you were doing coming to my time? W-would you have done this to me?» she asked, and he stopped to stare at her, breathless.
« Sada... no... I would never... just... calm down...» he tried to put one hand on her shoulder, to comfort her, but she shrugged him off.
« Just... looking at us like... like we were some silly, dumb thing and not people... That's what this is. » she gasped, her breath short. All the wonder and excitement at finally having found some trace of her time was gone as she looked around. At him, at Clavell politely standing nearby pretending not to hear, at the other visitors.
« ... this is all wrong. » she said in the end, before turning around and storming off.
« Sada!» he hurried after her, his breath short.
---
Suddenly, all the displayed objects that she had been eagerly observing sickened her. She couldn't look at them.
Not when she knew that people simply came here to stare at them for a moment, but didn't really understand what they were for. How they were used. How it felt to create them, how much work and effort there was behind each of them.
She was terrified of looking at another of those mummies and recognize someone she knew. By a bracelet, or some other trinket buried with them... An irrational fear, maybe, she knew the chances were infinitesimal... but she couldn't look at them.
That could have been anyone.
... That could have been her, if she hadn't landed in this time by accident and spent the rest of her life with her tribe. She kept walking without really noticing where she was, or hearing the steps that hurried after her.
« This is a reproduction of the famous cave painting found in the mountain range near Snowbelle City. Access to the cave has been forbidden to avoid damaging the originals, but these pictures offer pretty much a perfect reproduction of them on a 1:1 scale...»
Her feet carried her to an almost empty room, where only a single object that took up the entire wall was displayed. The voice of a guide was explaining something to a group of elementary school children.
Sada raised her head, staring at the wall painting of her tribe for a long moment.
Her own handprint. Her mother's. Her father's.
... even Turo's line, that he had added around hers that time she had shown him the cave.
« We don't know what all these lines connecting these handprints were for, but all the ancient Pokémon depicted here makes us think that it could be some ritual that was done before heading out to hunt, maybe a way to pray for a successful bounty. » the guard was saying to the students, who for the most part were either listening politely or looked slightly bored.
Sada felt a fit of rage spike through her chest as she listened.
No... that's not what it was for... She wanted to scream at the guide that they had it all wrong.
This was their history! Their way of telling all who came after them what they had done, about their life, their family...
But nobody would believe her. They would just think she was crazy if she tried to correct them.
Nobody knew their history anymore.
Maybe just then, in front of a copy of one of the most important places for her tribe and her old life, it truly hit her that they were gone. Not just in body, but in spirit too.
Nothing remained of their language, their traditions, their beliefs and way of life...
Just her.
Hot tears started to fall freely down her cheeks, Sada doing nothing to stop them as she kept staring at the wall, not caring about the weirded out stares she was getting from other people.
She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around, finding not Turo but Clavell reaching out to her.
She threw her arms around him all the same.
« They are really gone... just... gone...» she wailed.
« I'm... so sorry. » Clavell simply said. Behind him, she heard Turo catch up to them, completely out of breath.
« Sada...» he looked at her, then at the wall, his eyes widening in understanding. He simply came close, putting one arm around her shoulders.
They stood like that in silence, the three of them, long after the group of students and their guide had left.
« ... Let's leave. » Turo said in the end after she had calmed down, but she shook her head.
« ... No. I want to look at it. It's... maybe the only thing that's left from... my people.» she whispered.
It hurt, but she wanted to see. To fix every last detail of it in her memory. Every line, every color, every symbol and what they meant, who every handprint had belonged to, before she forgot them too.
It was the least she could do.
---
In the following days, they simply wandered around Kalos, visiting little towns and just going whenever something looked interesting.
The Reflection Cave piqued both of their interests because of how similar it looked to what they had just dubbed as "Tera caves", but it seemed to lack the characteristics feeling of energy filling the air that places filled with Tera crystals had. Geosenge Town, the Tower of Mastery, Perfume Palace, Anistar City with its ancient, enigmatic sundial that glowed at sunset... there was a lot to see in Kalos.
Sada seemed to have found some peace with the fact that the region had nothing to do with her time, but not with how little of her time was known. But if anything, it seemed to have given her a new mission to strive towards.
« I'm going to study hard and show everyone how things really were at the time. I'm going to force people to believe me if necessary. People won't be able to say that I'm just making things up.» she had quietly said once they had stepped out of the museum.
Clavell had nodded at that, and given her a little encouraging smile.
« That is an admirable goal. »
As for him... Turo had no idea what to do. It's not like he could talk to people about how things would be thousands of years from now... couldn't he?
But maybe he could use some things from his time... The technology was too primitive (they still had barely even invented the touchscreen in this year), but... He had knowledge of things to come, he could easily take advantage of that.
But before he could think about (ironically) his future, he had a much more immediate problem.
He needed more Pokémon. Miguel had more or less adopted himself, and the type advantage he had against the first two gyms had made him procrastinate actually looking for more Pokémon.
For Sada, it was a bit easier to accept training new Pokemon because the very idea was still new to her.
He... just couldn't see himself training most of the Pokémon in this era. He had taken a liking to the Murkrow because he was a smart little bastard, they were both night owls and kept each other company, but most of the others were too... "wild" for him.
He was used to looking at unblinking digital eyes and smooth plates. He was used to ... Mirai, and that was it.
The Pokémon of this time, well at least a good part of them... they shed fur, or scales, or pollen which he was probably allergic to, they bled, and were just.... too organic and messy for him.
Which was probably weird to say, since that's how they had looked for most of history, but he couldn't help it.
Near Laverre City were the ruins of an abandoned hotel; Miguel had brought him there as they had spent a couple of days around the city, and Turo had followed, figuring that the little crow Pokémon had been attracted by all the broken windows and general gloomy atmosphere. The Murkrow probably felt right at home here: places abandoned by humans meant a lot of shiny loot.
He and Sada entered through a broken window at the ground floor: Sada had brought a flashlight, and turned it on to shine a cone of light in what looked like an old guest room.
Turo just missed having his bodysuit's glow that would have done the job for him. He sighed, and followed the woman inside, careful not to step on the broken glass.
Miguel was busy rummaging through a broken nightstand, raising a little dust cloud with every flap of its wings.
« I wonder why it was abandoned...» he said quietly to Sada, who just shrugged.
« It's strange, isn't it?» she said, stepping out into the corridor.
« What is?» he asked. She looked to be in deep thought as she shone the light ahead. A Trubbish scampered away from both of them, leaving a trail of garbage behind, mostly rotten canned food from the stench. Turo scowled with disgust and gestured for Sada to follow him in the opposite direction from the Pokémon.
« This place. People haven't used it for... how many years? Twenty? Thirty? Maybe fifty? And it's already so broken... » the cone of the flashlight wavered for a moment as she took a deep breath.
« It... really makes it clear that I should be happy that anything from my people is even still here. Not much, but... it's incredible that our painting is still there after all this time. It's something I can be proud of.» she said, and he squeezed her shoulder in comfort.
« That's one way of looking at it.» he replied in a low voice.
He kept walking through the ruined building; Sada's words kept coming back to him. How quickly this building had fallen into ruin, and been reclaimed by nature... it was a humbling thought.
He passed a corridor with many other guest rooms lined up, wondering what kind of people had spent the night there. A movement out of the corner of his eye made him turn towards one door at the other end of the corridor. Something had just moved into the barely open door.
Something that floated.
Maybe a ghost Pokémon, he thought, as he made a silent gesture to Sada and cautiously opened the door to peer inside.
The room was in complete disarray like every other, but something sparkled under the light of Sada's flashlight.
Turo's eyes widened when he saw a little round Pokémon floating near the opposite wall. It was hovering close to the electrical socket where an old mini fridge had been attached; it had what looked like a screw coming out of its body, and two magnets attached to its side.
The screw looked like it was covered in a bit of rust, creaking slightly as the Pokémon moved it a bit while it bopped up and down.
« That... is a Pokémon?» Sada whispered by his side. The Pokémon turned around: it had no visible mouth, and only a singular large eye looked up at them. The magnets crackled with electricity that buzzed all around it, making the old tv in the room briefly flicker with static.
« It's a Magnemite...» he said in a low voice, feeling a twinge of pity for the little creature as it floated to the farthest corner in the room, obviously scared of them. If he remembered right, they fed strictly on electricity... They weren't like Pikachu, or even Pawmo, electric types that could gather electricity as another source of energy but still ate food.
No, Magnemite were strictly dependent on pure electrical current.
Turo looked to the old, dusty electrical socket and realized that it was probably looking for food. He didn't know if there was even any power left in the old building.
« Give me your flashlight.» he turned towards Sada, who furrowed her eyebrows but obeyed. He switched it off, took the batteries out, and rolled one on the floor towards the Pokémon.
It eyed him wearily for a moment, before floating down and touching the two poles of the battery with its magnets.
After a moment, a slight buzzing sound filled the air, and it was clear the Pokémon was obviously feeding on it. Once it was done, it floated back up with more vigor, and started circling them without taking its single eye off the other battery in his hand. He offered it to the Pokémon, and it approached it after a moment.
Turo stared at the little steel type. A Pokémon that was dependent on a mostly human made energy source... in a way, it shared some similarities with the Pokémon of his time.
Pokémon like these could be seen as the precursors of what Miraidon and the other purely Artificial Pokémon of his time would become: made or clearly influenced in their evolution by humanity's development.
Looking at the rust creeping over its shining body filled him with sadness.
« There's isn't much food for you out there, isn't it?» he asked the Pokémon in a low whisper. It looked at him, and simply spun the two smaller screws on its side, first one time to the left, then to the right.
It's not like it could answer him like your typical Pokémon could. It couldn't growl, or purr, or vocalize with its own voice box, or even caw sarcastically at him like Miguel loved to do.
It just floated there in midair, and stared.
But as he kept looking at the little Pokémon, he couldn't help but feel that this was exactly the right Pokémon for him right now.
It was familiar and comforting but still different enough to not remind him too painfully of Mirai.
« Why don't you come with me? There's lots of electricity where I live... not just scraps from old cables and batteries.» he added, slowly raising one hand towards it.
The buzzing of electricity in the room grew stronger as the Pokémon seemed to grow suspicious of him, some sparks flying out of its magnet.
Turo hesitated, taking a step back.
« It could shock you. Be careful.» Sada admonished him, and he nodded.
He knew that very well. Mirai had been the same. When they were both very little, the then mini Iron Serpent would playfully bite at his shoes, occasionally giving him a little shock. That had never stopped him from staying near the dragon type, and that sound had become a symbol of warmth and affection for him with time, instead of danger.
He stepped forward before he could change his mind and put one hand over the Magnemite. It literally froze in midair, its single eye growing wide. Had it ever actually been touched by someone before? Could it even feel his hand?
After a moment, he could feel the Pokémon bob slightly upwards, leaning into the palm of his hand, and he smiled.
Apparently, it seemed to like that quite a bit.
---
It was their last night in Lumiose City. The next morning, they would fly back to Paldea, and start to prepare for their middle course exams. Until they were done with their exams, they would have less time for their research on Tera shards.
Turo had looked to have brightened up a bit after he had caught that metallic Pokémon in the abandoned hotel the other day. Sada could understand why; it was all smooth and shiny like the Pokémon in his time had been (would be....? This was confusing), and she had caught him more than one time looking thoughtfully at the house cleaning products "for stainless steel" in various shops.
"I wonder if they would work to get that rust out..." he had said.
They had spent those last couple days simply enjoying the dazzling city life of Lumiose City, so similar yet so different to the one in Mesagoza.
And they had... trained.
Luxurious boutiques with the most outrageous prices where you needed to have won a certain number of Gym badges just to be allowed to enter, restaurants where the waiters would challenge you to a Pokémon battle as soon as you sat down to eat, riding Gogoats through the oldest part of the city, getting to the top of the Prism Tower ... Sada had a lot of fun in the end, despite all that had happened.
Clavell had suspiciously disappeared that evening, citing wanting to check out some boutique for the last time before they departed. Sada had simply rolled her eyes: something told her that "Clive" was going to reappear again before they left Lumiose.
She was right.
"Clive" was waiting for them near the hotel, arms crossed to his chest in the same pose as the first time, Abomasnow and Oranguru already behind him.
« Ready for a rematch? »
She took a deep breath, and nodded as she grasped her Poké Balls.
Clavell seemed to want to start the battle like last time; his Abomasnow took a deep breath, and ice crackled towards them to form a wall between their Pokémon to keep them separate. She saw Turo brace himself to give a quick order, and nodded to herself.
Just like they had practiced these days.
« Miguel, Confuse Ray!»
The Murkrow flew high over their heads and opened his beak, shooting a colored beam of light towards the ice Pokémon.
Abomasnow staggered backwards and shook its head, confused. The ice that he was still forming crumbled, melting quickly.
« Kim, use Fire Fang!»
The Litleo leapt forward, taking advantage of the still confused Pokémon to run behind him and jump on his back, literally climbing it like a tree.
Sada had spent some time thinking about what had gone wrong during their first battle; once she had been taken by surprise, Kim just kept getting hit by the much larger Pokémon and couldn't even retreat away. Now, she hoped to use her small size to her advantage. Hooking her small claws into the thick fur of the Abomasnow, the Litleo opened her maw and bit down on his neck hard, spewing flames through her gritted teeth. The Pokémon's arms were too short to reach her in the spot she had chosen, and soon the Abomasnow could do nothing but furiously try to shake her off.
It was the same strategy she herself had used when she had first tried to ride Winged King, she thought with a small smile as she watched the Litleo growl determinately.
« Well done, Kim! » she quickly turned her attention back to Clavell, or "Clive", who simply arched one eyebrow but didn't say anything. His second Pokémon, the Oranguru, had stayed suspiciously still. She didn't like that. She had the impression that Pokémon was still hiding many tricks.
By her side, Turo was probably thinking the same thing judging by the way he was eyeing the simian Pokémon. They were sure that Clavell would try to end the fight as quickly as he had done last time.
And in fact-
« Thunderbolt!»
« Tsk-» Turo moved as soon as Clavell started to speak. Recalling his Murkrow, he threw another Poké Ball with his free hand, the Magnemite materializing in the spot the Flying type had just occupied, the bolt of electricity hitting it but doing practically no damage. It spun the screws on its body, twisting in midair.
« ... You caught another Pokémon.» was Clavell's only comment. Turo simply nodded stiffly, before clearing his throat.
« Use Thunder Wave on Oranguru.»
The electric type pointed both magnets towards his opponent, releasing a quick bolt of electricity that hit the Oranguru. It wouldn't stop it completely, but it would at least slow him down. Good.
« Now Electro Ball.» another sphere of electricity shot by the Magnemite slammed into the Pokémon, made much stronger now that its opponent was considerably slowed down.
Clavell scowled, turning his attention back to his Abomasnow. The ice type was still trying to get Kim off his back, and growing increasingly desperate after the many fiery bites it had received in the meantime.
« Snap out of it, Abomasnow! Sheer Cold!»
Sada gasped; she had heard about moves like that. They were dangerous, and even if inaccurate, they would simply aim to hit all around the area, just causing as much damage as they could. And Kim was so close, she would surely get hit...
The Abomasnow let out a chilly howl. The temperature all around them suddenly dropped massively, and Sada had to take a couple of steps back, shivering in her light clothes. It reminded her of how cold the winters would get in her time... and she was too far away to recall Kim. She heard the little Pokémon roar with fury and valiantly try to hold on, but in the end she collapsed to the ground, shivering.
« Don't worry, you did well...» Sada whispered as she stepped forward to recall her. She meant it.
The Abomasnow looked close to collapsing, the thick fur and tree-bark on his back looking quite burned, and it was breathing heavily. If they could get another good hit in...
She threw her second Poké Ball, making Ötzi appear in a flash of light. The Golett looked up at his much bigger opponent, and let out a little huff.
« You can do this. Just like we practiced. » Sada nodded. With one opponent paralyzed and the other almost exhausted, they had a chance of actually winning.
« Oranguru, Trick Room! Abomasnow, Wood Hammer on that Golett!»
Sada blinked , confused. She wasn't familiar with what that first move did, she had never even heard of it. Judging by how Turo cursed under his breath, it couldn't be anything good.
The simian Pokémon waved the big leaf it carried in one paw, and what looked like a rectangle of light surrounded the area of the battle, with their Pokémon inside. Immediately after, the Abomasnow moved with stunning speed, barreling towards Ötzi.
That was impossible! It was barely holding itself up just a moment ago!
« U- use Phantom Force!» she called out, hoping that the Golett would remember the new move they had spent the past couple of days practicing.
The Pokémon disappeared into the ground, melting with the dark pavement as its clay armour became intangible. The Abomasnow's enormous fist crashed into the spot where Ötzi had stood, and the Ice type let out a disappointed huff.
The Golett reappeared behind his opponent and raised one fist to swing into the already hurt back of the Abomasnow.
« Good! Now hit both with Stomping tantrum!» she added immediately after. She could already see Clavell's Oranguru start to move to intercept the Golett.
Turo's Magnemite was now being slowed down by the effect of the Oranguru's move, and both of Clavell's Pokémon were now actively faster than theirs. The pavement shook by the effect of Ötzi's move and both of her opponents staggered for a moment. She heard Turo take a quick breath by her side.
« Gyro Ball!» he called out.
Magnemite conjured another ball of light in front of him, before shooting it towards the Oranguru. It slammed into it with great force, and the simian Pokémon growled, but got back up, shaking its head.
« All right, I think we can end it here.» Sada watched as Clavell recalled both of his Pokémon. He seemed to look thoughtfully at both of them for a long moment.
« ... some of those moves... aren't things your Pokémon should know normally. » he said in the end.
Sada nodded. He was referring to Miguel's Confuse Ray and Ötzi's Phantom Force. The fact that he had immediately noticed and knew by heart what move Pokémon that were not even his honestly amazed her... or maybe, he had actively studied them beforehand. Which still said a lot about how much thought he had put into all this.
« Yes. We went looking for TM shops in each city we visited here in Kalos.» she said. They had talked a lot about how to defeat Clavell's Pokémon again, expecting a rematch from him before the vacation was over.
« Yes, I figured. And the way you quickly switched Pokémon to make use of type advantage was also interesting.»
« We did some battle practice in those restourants here in Lumiose... not on purpose, mind you.» Turo mumbled as an answer, and Sada had to grin a little, remembering his outraged face as he had been challenged right as their food was being served.
« People in Kalos are nuts. Who asks for a battle while someone's eating? The food will get cold by the time you're done... » he complained.
Clavell also seemed to smile a little.
« Well, yes, that's kind of the point... an incentive to have a quick battle, so to say. So, let me ask you one last thing, as a teacher of the Academy...» Clavell took off the wig, taking one moment to adjust his glasses as he took some steps towards both of them.
« Did you enjoy this trip? »
Sada took a long moment to answer, and she saw Turo furrow his eyebrows at her side, deep in thought. She thought back to those couple of days they had spent all around the region.
« You... you challenged us to that battle so we would be motivated to find a way to beat you in a rematch... and to do it, we would be forced to actually... explore this region. To actually... live it. » she said in the end, slowly, as a little smile stretched on her face.
She had thought about what Clavell had said.
No, she... she didn't hate it here after all. It hurt, and she still missed home, but she would have never been able to meet Kim, Ötzi and learn so many things if she had stayed in her time.
She lost her old life, but she would have missed out on so many other things if she hadn't.
Maybe they had been looking at things the wrong way. Instead of desperately looking for traces of their old life, they could build a new one here.
And that meant that she and Turo had to take some important decisions, together.
« It... it was fun, yes. I think I like Kalos... even if it's not my home anymore. » she added, and Clavell smiled in return, relieved.
---
Turo waited as they were back in their hotel room, just the two of them. Maybe this was the right moment to finally approach that subject they had both been avoiding since their first day here.
« ... did you really mean it? What you said to Clavell?» he asked as was getting ready to lay down in bed. He was giving his back to Sada, so he couldn't see her face, but he herd her stop as she was getting undressed.
« ... yes, I did. I've thought a lot about it these days. » she answered, and he heard the little click of her unhooking her Poké Balls from her belt and setting them down on the nightstand. He took a big breath, still not turning around.
« I... also had similar thoughts. I thought a lot about the fact that... it was fun travelling all around the region with you. That... » he hesitated.
Say it.
Right now.
« If it's with you, I wouldn't mind-»
«... Romero. If there really is a way back home in Area Zero... you would never follow me in my time, would you? »
Sada's words hit him like a blow to the face. Of course she would just ask him directly. In a way, it was exactly like she had done in what should have been their last meeting. He had turned away from her, avoiding her, while she had been the one to reach out and grab him.
He turned around and found her staring at him, fiercely, demanding an answer with both arms crossed against her chest.
He swallowed, and shook his head.
« I could never live in your time. »
« Like I could never live in yours.» she said after a moment.
« That's a problem.»
He sighed, lowering his head. Well, he had figured that was the case, but... it still hurt to hear. He heard Sada move, crossing the distance between them; a second later, she uncrossed her arms and hooked them around his neck, forcing him to slowly raise his eyes until he was staring in hers. She was smiling.
« So... the only way we can stay together is if we both stick around here, it looks like.» she murmured in a low voice, and he felt his heart start hammering in his chest.
« If it's with you, I wouldn't mind... spending the rest of my life here. » he finally forced himself to say, raising his arms to hold her close.
« We could... build our life here. Together.»
They would never have been able to do it if he had never messed up those landing coordinates all those months ago... if he had never met her, if they had never landed here, in this time, together...
He felt Sada slowly move even closer, cupping his face with one hand.
« Yes... let's do it. We could even... become a family...» she whispered, and he felt his chest squeeze almost painfully at her words.
A family with Sada. Something he could have never even dreamed about in his time. Something they could only do if they were together.
« ... yes. » he whispered.
They fell back on the bed as one, bodies intertwined.