The old room had been kept nearly identical since the two of them were kits, except for the various keepsakes Bo had collected and stored here over the years. Eight Kanto badges alongside eight Johto badges were stored within one shadow box. Galar’s completed puzzle of badges stood in a small stand next to a case holding eight Unovan badges, the regions they’d met Dani and Carter respectively. The three Kalos badges they’d managed to get before needing to leave sat next to the participation ribbon Princess had earned in a Contest there. Looking further, he could see the Hoenn Frontier symbols give way to the Sinnoh Frontier prints, both trimmed in gold. Lastly, there were the eight Sinnoh badges displayed next to the polished Lily of the Valley Championship Trophy. Most prominently though, at least to Baron, was the absence of the eight Hoenn badges that they’d earned. He idly wondered if Bo had thrown them away.
The two of them had been lying in their old bedroom for a few hours now as the night ticked away. Baron had been waiting patiently for his Brother’s usual stirrings to slow enough for him to be confident that his human was truly resting, rather than feigning sleep as he often did. As always, Baron knew he might have a long wait before the human’s mind finally quieted down enough for him to actually sleep. For his Brother, Baron was prepared to wait.
Baron’s earliest memories were filled of his Brother’s presence. Ever since his egg was placed in the crib next to Bo, they had been together. For four years, wherever anyone took the giggling toddler, Baron’s egg was taken with him. At the time, the little human might not have had enough aura or engaged in enough activity to help Baron hatch, but neither cared. It was Baron who Bo’s first word was spoken to and it was Bo that Baron first saw when he did eventually hatch. They had always been together, and Baron had known, even back then, that the two would always be together. They would fight the whole world if they needed to in order to make it so.
Bo nearly had had to fight the whole world in order to make it so.
A change in his human’s spirit wrested Baron from his contemplations. Looking over at the still form, he confirmed that Bo’s spirit was gradually slowing from a frenetic dance to an idle quivering. Once he was sure that Bo was no longer completely awake for the moment, Baron rose silently to his feet.
With a quick glance at his human, the Umbreon reached into himself. With familiar ease, he drew up feelings of weariness and slumber from the depths of his mind, infused it with a touch of placid normalcy, and let it drift out of him in gentle Yawn. Within a few minutes, Bo’s spirit settled into a light slumber and Baron nodded in satisfaction. He should have at least an hour now.
Baron stepped up to the unlocked window and slipped out easily into the dark night. Moving silently through the familiar grounds, he soon emerged in a flower field within a clearing. Sitting proudly at its center, an enormous rafflesia bloomed under the moon’s light. Baron gently touched his head towards its petals before sitting down around it. Reaching out with his spirit, Baron pulled on the moon above as easily as he breathed. His intent reflected back down on the land below, tugging gently at the rest of his families’ spirits. Message sent, he settled in to wait. It wasn’t long before the others started arriving.
Angel arrived first, teleporting himself into the clearing with a large yawn. The plump fairy still wore his sunglasses along with a dangly sleeping cap, as he smacked his lips tiredly. He too gave the flower a gentle stroke before plopping companionably down next to Baron, his puffy bulk bumping against the dark type’s side. Other’s getting so close to him might have irritated Baron, but Angel had been by his and Bo’s sides since they were kids. The once overly large & clumsy Cleffa had grown alongside them into their most reliable of brothers. He had protected, shielded, and supported every member of the family beyond anyone else. He’d never quite outgrown his social clumsiness, though.
“Hey B. We doing another naked moon dance or something?” Angel asked hopefully, bopping in place to demonstrate.
“We agreed not to talk about that night, Angel. Ever,” Baron growled out while his eye twitched slightly. That particular night should have been the first sign that Baron needed to delete his human’s stupid guru subscription, but Bo had just been so giddy about it all that he hadn’t had the heart to do so. Arceus, the things Baron did for his family. “We’re having a team meeting before training starts tomorrow.”
“Oh, what for?”
Before Baron could respond though, a bubbling cackle interrupted from under the flower. Looking down, he saw the shadow cast by the flower’s petals rise from the ground and materialize into Gizmo’s bejeweled grin, smiling up at them. “He-he-hee! Y’know B-bro, A-bro. Now that Bo-bro is awake again, nothing’s going to stop our big bro from plotting world domination once again.”
Baron just shook his head with a sigh, as their sister slid up next to them, patting the rafflesia as she did. She knew perfectly well he had never dreamed of anything as ridiculous as world domination. After all, the way he saw it, once he became the strongest mon in the world, he’d have no need to dominate it. If he did, no one else would ever become strong enough to challenge him. She just loved needling him with her little jokes.
Despite her antics though, Gizmo had long cemented her place in the family, being the first of their siblings that Bo ever actually “caught” as humans like to put it. When Baron, Bo, and Angel first set out on their journey, they’d spent a week traveling through Mt. Moon’s caverns while evading the Sableye’s pranks. Despite already being a little into her fifth century of existence with two children of her own, the ghost type was still on the younger side for her species and had been infuriated that Bo kept seeing through & foiling her pranks. When they’d eventually reached the mountain’s exit, Gizmo had insisted on settling things with a battle and accepted being caught after Angel won. She still didn’t stop her pranks, but she at least saved the worst of them for the family’s enemies.
Hopping up to sit on Angel’s shoulders, Gizmo looked like she might say something further but held off as excited roars filled the air.
“We’re here! We’re here, big bro, we’re here! Are we having a slumber party?” Princess called enthusiastically as she swooped towards them, the now familiar crashing accompanying her indicating that Saber wasn’t far behind.
“Yup. Come hang, baby sis,” Gizmo waved at her as she landed.
“Yay! Hi, Gizmo. Hi, Angel. Hi Baron,” she chattered rapidly before leaning towards the flower. “Hi Crown.”
Crunch* “Crown?” Saber snarled as they leapt into the clearing, the flowers & grass around them freezing and shattering at their presence. “That king bastard was obsessed with his crown. The thing was putrid with greed. Is this one of those?”
Saber prowled towards the flower as they spoke, reaching out to touch it. The rest of them acted instinctively, Princess lurching between the two while Gizmo and Angel hastily wrapped the flower in dozens of protective barriers. At the same time, Baron’s spirit surged out with tyrannical force as he pinned Saber in place with a Mean Look. Saber reflexively pushed back against his will, their instincts as a Legendary telling them that they should be stronger than Baron. Fortunately, while perhaps technically true, Saber stood no chance of overpowering Baron in their current avatar.
Once they calmed down, Baron eased up and looked clearly into his newest sibling’s eyes. Despite having only been with them a short while, Saber was still family, and Baron always strove to treat family fairly. The fact that the battle with Saber’s fully manifested self, after Bo first helped free them from the cave they’d been locked in, had been the first time his Brother had truly felt like himself once again certainly didn’t hurt. Anyone who could bring that about automatically earned a fair amount of leash in Baron’s books… Though he possessed neither a leash nor any books he called his own. Human expressions were weird like that.
Regardless, the Legendary did still occasionally need a firm paw while learning to adapt to society once more. Thanks to the actions of humans, the concepts of ruin & malice had become literally woven into their very being. And while the subsequent destruction their very presence caused wasn’t truly their fault, it was still important to take precautions. “Sorry Saber. A crown is a stupid piece of jewelry that’s worth a lot of human money.”
“You can destroy as many of those as you like,” Angel added helpfully.
“Crown, capital C, is our brother. He died several years ago, and this flower marks his grave. It is very important to all of us. So…?” he trailed off leadingly.
“No destroying?” Saber said hesitantly, then spoke more confidently as Baron nodded. “No destroying.”
“Thank you,” Baron said before releasing them.
“Sorry Sabs,” Princess apologized while hovering closer to her “younger” sibling.
“S’fine,” the icy feline huffed before giving an absent nod towards the flower. “Good to meet you Crown.”
“Aww, aren’t you just the sweetest,” a husky voice cackled from above, causing Princess and Angel to look up with an excited gasp. Despite clearly standing in midair, Wicked leapt as though from a high wire, flipping for good measure as she landed gracefully atop Princess. Wicked soon had her little sister’s three heads giggling with laughter as she tickled Princess with her fans. Once done, she hopped down and nodded deeply towards where Crown rested before turning towards Baron. “Sorry I’m late BB. Fay was using me as a pillow. So, who’s got the booze?”
While Gizmo cackled at the question, Baron once again felt a small amount of pity for Grandfather. It was no secret that the elderly Shiftry wished for his daughter to succeed him as the leader of their local grove, nor was it a secret that he dearly wished she’d start taking her duties more seriously first. Baron was fairly certain that second would always remain in vain. His sister was wild and capricious, picking up and putting down passions and skills as the mood took her. Truly, she was a storm to both their family’s enemies and peace of mind alike. Or, as she herself liked to say, Wicked is as Wicked does.
“No booze, Wicked.”
“Huh?!” she dramatically stumbled into a roll before popping up again. “No booze? The gangs finally all here, you told me to let the kiddo sleep, and it’s the night before we go back into training. You telling me we’re not here to party?”
“No, team meeting.”
“Aww.”
Baron held back another sigh as his sister rapidly changed gears and started joking around with Gizmo. The two had been close since before Wicked had even been born. When Grandfather had entrusted Bo with his daughter’s egg after he had proved himself a decent trainer during his first season, Gizmo had been immediately taken with it, proclaiming for all to hear that she sensed a kindred spirit. The mercurial imp had frequently whisked the egg away in order to whisper plans for future mischief to her. Baron doubted this was the sole reason for Wicked’s behavior now as Bo occasionally claimed, but he had to admit it probably hadn’t helped.
Speaking of things that probably didn’t help, Wicked had turned towards her younger sister with an all too innocent smile. “Sooo, is our Princess happy to have her mom back?”
Predictably, the fully evolved dragon immediately turned huffy at the question. “Rrrggh, no! Meanie is Meanie, not Mommy! I don’t care if Meanie is here or not! She’s just not allowed to leave, cause then Daddy would be sad!”
“Don’t worry baby sister,” Gizmo soothed quickly, her voice suspiciously dulcet & cloying to Baron’s ears. “Your Mommy’s staying so everything is fine.”
“Good,” Princess huffed before all three of her heads snapped up a few seconds later with a snarl. “Wait, no. Not Mommy. Dani’s Meanie, not Mommy.”
“I thought you just called her Mommy, though?” Angel asked, the actually innocent curiosity in his voice causing Baron to bang his head into the ground. Nearby, Saber’s head was bouncing back and forth between them like they were watching a ping pong match.
“No, you called her Mommy,” Princess retorted fiercely. “You did. I didn’t call Dani Mommy. Mommy is Mommy, not Meani-ack! No! I mean…you…RRGGH!”
Seeing his younger sister grow frustrated at her slip-up and begin to gather draconic fire in her mouths, Baron finally decided to step in.
“It’s fine Princess,” he called out soothingly while subtly exerting a fraction of his spirit to cut off the faint befuddling flow of dark & ghost type energy that had spread from Gizmo into the young dragon’s shadow. Shooting the ghost a look out of the corner of his eye, Baron continued speaking softly to his younger sister. “We know you just mean that you’re happy Dani is here because Brother’s happy.”
“Aw, that’s so sweet of you, sis,” Angel guilelessly added on.
“Yes, that! I’m happy Daddy’s happy. Thanks big bros!” she shouts happily before zipping over to rub her heads playfully against him & Angel. The fact that each of her heads was about as large as he was just made the whole thing even more adorable in Baron’s mind. Around him, Wicked & Gizmo shot Baron slightly exasperated looks, but he ignored them. Sure, Bo clearly coddled Princess too much, but Baron wasn’t anywhere near as bad as his Brother. It was just that Princess was still incredibly young for a dragon and her evolutions had never accelerated her maturity like they did in some other pokemon. It was only natural for a big brother to pamper her a little.
So what if she had shown prodigious talent and aptitude for battle since she was little, quickly growing to become one of the most powerful members of their family. So what if Baron suspected that, one day, she could even grow stronger than him. So what if she already had the kind of raw destructive power at her disposal that eclipsed all other members of the family. And so what if her occasional tantrums now had the potential to raze entire cities. Baron still remembered when she had been the poor abandoned runt of her clutch, left alone to wander Unova’s wilderness. She had been a sweet, innocent girl, who needed lots of love and affection, and she always would be as far as Baron was concerned!
.
..
…But he definitely did not coddle her like Bo did.
As though she could hear his thoughts, Wicked ultimately sighed and waved apologetically towards Princess. “Sorry sis. Gizmo and I just know how much you love those bedtime stories Dani used to tell you, and I know Brother still has a hard time getting the voices right. She’d probably still tell you some if you asked her, you know?”
“…No, I’m fine,” she mumbled quietly before perking up again. “Besides, I’m a big girl now. I just listen to Daddy’s stories to keep Fay company.”
Hearing that, her older siblings unanimously nodded and complimented her efforts as a big sister, though perhaps Angel was the only one whose serious expression was completely real.
“Indeed,” a singsong voice added on from behind Baron, a wave of cold air following close behind. “Us kiddies are truly fortunate to have a role model as caring as you, big sister, ho-ho-ho-ho-ho!”
“Thanks Song!” Princess beamed back at the cackling little sister in question, whom Baron estimated to be at least fifteen thousand years old based on some of her stories. Despite easily being the oldest member of the family, the Froslass seemed to love that her status as one of the weakest and most recent to join had earned her a position as one the ‘younger’ siblings. It still astounded Baron that someone who should have been able to accumulate millennia of battle experience was so content to be weaker than others, but he ultimately decided it didn’t really matter. Song’s devotion to the family & Carmine Village as a whole was unquestionable and she was always willing to lend an unconventional hand when one was called for.
Bo had caught Song during their travels in Hoenn after dozens of panicked villagers up in a small island town had posted a request for help, pleading for someone to get rid of the Froslass that kept turning people into ice sculptures. Knowing that the local rangers responding to the request would completely overreact (they all thawed out eventually and with barely any frostbite, the big babies), Bo had swooped in and bribed her with a new home here in Carmine Village. Now, she had an entire private collection of sculptures that Bo had gotten the materials for from some insurance company Gramps had recommended. Plus, the villagers around here didn’t flip out about every teeny, tiny spirited away incident.
“Anytime,” Song sang back to Princess as she floated from out behind Baron to gently pat Crown’s grave, despite not having ever met him in life.
“Apologies for our tardiness, older brother,” a strident voice suddenly rang through the small clearing as two more of the younger siblings arrived.
The Drapion scuttled regally into the flower field while the Gliscor glided above her in order to dangle from a treetop. Like Song, both of them stopped to acknowledge Crown despite having never met him. Unlike with Song, the label of ‘younger’ sibling was truly warranted for Honor and Fang, Bo having caught both of them as youths while traveling through Sinnoh. Ironically, despite the two scorpion pokemons’ similar biology, age, home region, upbringing, and the fact that both young pokemon had left their off route nests in order to grow stronger around the same time, Baron couldn’t think of two more different mons.
Even as a fledgling Skorupi, Honor always held herself with sense austerity, training and practicing for hours on end to grow stronger and prove herself. She might not have had the raw talent some of her siblings possessed, but no one worked harder than her. This was only proven further by the victories she’d brought them during her time with the family. In contrast, Fang devoted almost all his efforts into playing around and finding fun, new things to do. Baron had lost count of the number of times the Gliscor had disappeared in the middle of training, only to return with a horde of curious local pokemon or some interesting object he’d found. It would have been absolutely infuriating if Fang wasn’t also completely unflappable under pressure when called upon.
Nowadays, the only one still bothered by Fang’s fun-fueled behavior was Honor. It wasn’t anything new though. The two of them had practically spent their entire first year within the family bickering with each other, quite frequently coming to blows as they tried to argue their point through battling. Honor continuously insisted that the lazy slacker put in more effort, while Fang complained that the uptight workaholic needed to have fun every now and then. They still argued to this day, though, over the years, they had also found… other ways to vent their feelings once they were done battling.
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Or, as Wicked would put it. “Eh, you’re fine. Only half of us are here yet. You two can probably go back to humping for a bit if you want.”
Fang nodded easily, ignoring Honor’s sputters. “Cool, we’ll be back in like ten minutes or so?”
“We were doing no such thing! Nor will we being do any such thing,” Honor finally found her voice as she chomped her jaws fiercely towards him and Wicked to illustrate her point.
“Then why were you late?” Gizmo piped up teasingly.
“You just said we weren’t late,” Honor protested with a blush. “There’s only seven of you here.”
“Eight,” Wicked corrected with a sweep of one of her fans, setting a gale of wind blowing against a nearby tree. “Zuzu’s lurking up in the branches even though she should know she can’t hide from me in my own damn forest.”
“Watching, not hiding,” a voice quietly corrected in turn as the Zoroark’s lithe form materialized within the clearing, bowing low toward the rafflesia. Whether she was actually standing where she seemed to be, Baron had no clue, but that was par for course with her. Baron loved his entire family unconditionally, he really did, but if he had to say it, he’d admit Zuzu was strange. She barely spoke and disappeared & reappeared at random. She even disguised her scent and aura, making it near impossible to find her. And, for all that Wicked might boast otherwise, Baron suspected that the Zoroark actually could hide from her even here, within the small forest that the Shiftry had practically cultivated into her own personal domain.
The illusion fox had appeared out of nowhere when the group returned to Carter’s home in Unova from Kalos, wanting to join them without offering any explanation. Given the unmitigated disaster that had been Kalos, Baron had been immediately distrustful of her, but Bo had accepted, no questions asked. His Brother had insisted that she reminded him too much of their friend, Suzu, to turn away. Baron still didn’t see what Bo was talking about, even after Zuzu developed a habit of disguising herself as the human girl. Sure, her disguise was indistinguishable from the original and the two had actually struck up a fast friendship, but outside her disguise, the Zoroark acted like a completely different person.
Thankfully, Baron had long since learned to accept her quirks. Despite her aloof behavior, her ability to blend in and scout undetected had been invaluable over the years, especially when Team Plasma had re-emerged during their last stay in Unova. The chaos had gotten so bad in the region that the Unovan League had actually utilized their authority to draft non-League trainers into the anti-terrorist efforts. At the memory, Baron felt himself glance back towards where Crown laid. Yes, Zuzu’s cunning and stealth during that time had definitely earned her a place in the family, aloofness and all.
“Ahem,” Honor coughed, determined not to lose track of her point. “As I was saying, with only seven or eight of you here we’re clearly not-”
“Did-I-hear-seven?-It’s-seven!-No-it’s-eight!-I’ve-got-eight-in-the-back,” a sudden loud and tinny voice started echoing around the clearing at a rapid pace. The voices pitch wavered in and out like a bad voice modulator playing over an old radio, and most notably spoke in human, common tongue. “The-number-is-eight!-Anyone-got-nine?-No?-Eight-going-once.-Boom!-We’ve-got-nine!-Do-I-hear-ten?-Ten-in-the-back!-Number-to-beat-is-ten-Eleven!-Eleven-to-you-Anyone-for-twelve?-No?-Eleven-going-once!-Eleven-going-twice!-Wait-we-got-TWELVE!”
The gathered group all smiled slightly as IO twirled into the clearing while broadcasting what sounded like an auction sound byte, with Doc floating in behind them, both of them stopping to greet Crown before facing the others.
“Bonsoir,” The Malamar greeted with a grandiose wave, some of his Kalosian still leaking through. “Apologies for being late, brethren. I just needed to jot a few more things down for my paper before I forgot.”
“No worries, D,” Angel waved back. “Honor was just explaining that none of us are late yet and that she wasn’t not late because she & Fang were having sex.”
“Splendid! Tell me more,” Doc cried enthusiastically while the Porygon-Z whirled to look at Fang and emitted a sad, slide whistle sound effect, making Honor groan in aggravation.
Baron withheld a chuckle as Doc engaged the others with wild sweeps of his tentacles while IO chimed in intermittently via recorded sound files they had collected over the years. Technically, IO could speak like any other pokemon, but they always said they found non-digital media impersonal. When Bo had first found them inside an old PC in a warehouse in Johto, they had been willing to give battling a shot, but eventually discovered it wasn’t for them. Despite that, they were still arguably the most important member of the family, helping keep tabs of everyone virtually and keeping Bo from handing over their food budget to traveling Magikarp salesmen (even Angel would have noticed that it was just painted gold).
Doc on the other hand, had ironically only just started working on earning himself doctorates in neurobiology & psychology during the last few years. He needed to use a fake human name and mind-jack the occasional volunteer for the in person work, but he seemed to enjoy it. His first passion though, the thing that had earned him his nickname in the first place, was his self-proclaimed love for the sweet science. While his ability with hypnotism was only middling for a Malamar, Baron’s gregarious brother excelled at close quarters combat. If he didn’t need access to the internet or his lab for his academic work, Baron suspected he would have moved into the refurbished gym loft with Dani’s team.
As the others chatted back and forth, Baron took a moment to look around. Everyone in the family stayed here when not traveling with Bo, but they were rarely ever all together. With everyone gathered here, they had almost the entire family together except for a few notable exceptions. Fay was still young and needed her rest. Wrath would always be welcome, but she had her own team to look after now. Two others that had retired and left the proverbial nest occasionally swung by, but Baron was under no illusion they’d be here tonight. He hadn’t even bothered calling Sunnyside, the cantankerous Bombirdier having made it clear he only stuck around for the free food and entertainment. That just left a few still absent. As to whether or not they’d all come…
As if summoned by his thoughts though, a ponderous crashing that could rival Saber’s entrance reached the group’s ears, causing several of them to roll their eyes. Shortly after, Storm lumbered through a patch of bushes with a snort, his ponderous movements completely at odds with the predatory grace they all knew he could move with when he wanted to. Dipping his horn’s razor sharp edge in a salute towards Crown, the Samurott turned his ever-present scowl towards Baron.
“Baron,” he greeted with a quick nod while slouching in place. “Can we hurry this up. I’ve got to get back before that jerk starts screwing with my stuff.”
“Oh yeah, I get what you mean,” Gizmo laughed innocently. “My oldest son is always borrowing his little brother’s things too.”
“I’m the older brother!” Storm shot back immediately. “My egg hatched first.”
“I distinctly remember that professor saying Warrior’s egg was laid first though.”
“So what? That just means I’m faster than him as well as older and stronger.”
Angel gasped loudly at his younger brother’s words before lighting up in a huge smile. Jumping up, he bounced over to hug the water type. “You finally broke your tie with Warrior? That’s amazing! We’re so proud of you!”
The others gathered burst into laughter as Storm tried to glower but was unable to form a retort to Angel’s genuine praise for his presumed victory. It was rare for them to see the normally gruff pokemon flustered.
After Bo and Dani had elected to challenge their first tri-annual or “ace” circuit in Unova and placed highly in the conference, Professor Juniper had approached the two. She had offered both of them the rare opportunity of a regional starter, specifically one whom historical records indicated possessed a possible variant evolution that hadn’t been seen in recent history, in exchange for reporting back to her on their attempts to bring out the two’s dark typing.
While his biological brother, Warrior, ended up evolving into a standard, mono-typed Samurott, Storm had indeed developed his dark typing. While Bo’s parenting methods might have had something to do with it, Baron suspected that Storm’s own tendencies also contributed. Naturally cunning and bloodthirsty, the formidable pokemon had a sheer need for victory that even exceeded Baron’s own. He was willing to employ any trick and strategy available to win, something Baron respected about him despite his acerbic attitude.
Finally giving up on glaring his way out of Angel’s well-meaning hug, Storm just sighed. “Alright, alright, thank you, brother. Seriously though Baron, are waiting for anyone else or can we get things going.”
Baron bit the inside of his cheek slightly as he hesitated to answer. Technically, he’d called for two others, but if they hadn’t shown up by now… He sighed heavily in his mind. Sure, technically he didn’t need them here for this. As the unofficial eldest brother, Baron was perfectly capable of leading the family alongside Bo. Still, he’d just thought…
Internally shaking away his doubts, Baron straightened up to start the meeting, but paused as Wicked started laughing, peering off into the foliage.
“Ha-hah! We ain’t waiting for anyone anymore. Look out youngsters, the grannies are stepping back into the ring!” she called out uproariously, eliciting several cheers and whoops from the others as Astra and Huntress walked into the clearing.
The Gothitelle rolled her eyes at the cheering as she leaned down to rest a hand against Crown’s grave. “No one is stepping back into any rings, sister. We’re only here for moral support and to assist with your training.”
“I don’t know luv,” Huntress rumbled as she too leaned down to greet Crown. “If she calls me a granny again, I might have to make an exception to kick her spindly arse.”
Watching Wicked cower back in mock fear while the others laughed, Baron felt a complex mix of emotions. On the one paw, he had just been thinking that he wished the two would show up. On the other paw, he couldn’t help but kick himself a bit at his own relief. Astra and Huntress had made it clear that they weren’t going to be battling or fighting anymore, choosing to focus on their kids and helping out in other ways. Weird, but fine. Baron was perfectly comfortable leading the family on his own. He was… It was just that he may have been slightly more comfortable doing it back when Astra was there to support him.
That wasn’t to say he didn’t miss Huntress as well. While Wrath would always be their sister, Huntress’s addition to the family had been welcome addition of another… a much needed… eh, who the fuck was he kidding. Huntress coming into the family represented the only calming influence they’d ever had. Baron had tried to be calming, but apparently that meant he needed to stop picking fights with people that annoyed him sooo… Anyways, Huntress fit into the role naturally, with her aura of easy confidence and steady reliability. Just her very presence made them all feel steadier, more centered… more at home.
Astra was different though, at least to Baron. Astra had been Bo’s mother’s partner, and after she’d died, Astra had disappeared for a few years while she’d mourned. Once she came back though, she’d been a constant presence in both his and Bo’s lives, the only person Baron would ever really consider his older sister. When he, Bo, and Angel had left on their journey, Astra had come with them. She didn’t participate or even listen to Bo at first, but she’d always been there when they really screwed up or did something stupid. She might have waited until she was satisfied they’d learned their lesson before extending a helping hand, but once she did there never seemed to be any problem she couldn’t solve. It had often been humiliating and infuriating, but it had always been reassuring.
Even once Baron had surpassed her in strength, he could admit if only to himself that he had always felt more confident with his big sister there with him, as much as it annoyed him to admit. It was part of why her retirement confused & frustrated him so much, though he tried his hardest not to show it. Sure, back in Hoenn, she and several other members of the family had come closer to death than they ever had before. If that inspired her to spend more time with Huntress and start a family than wonderful. Saturday and Fides were awesome. But how it led to her deciding to stop traveling and battling with him was clearly insane, no matter how much Bo tried to tell Baron otherwise.
Clearly, the answer to almost dying was to get stronger so that it doesn’t happen again. Because really, how could his big sister just walk away from the thrill of battle and adventure? She and Huntress could just bring the kids with them. They’d be perfectly safe with him and the rest of the family around to protect them. Did she not think she could protect them? Did she not think Baron could protect them? That he wasn’t strong enough? That he’d fail again? How could she think that? How could she doubt him? He would never fail his family again. He’d fight tooth and nail until there was nothing that could ever hurt his family again.
“B?”
He’d crush anyone who would ever dream of hurting them,
“…BB?”
-and he’d start by tearing down the sky,
“…Big brother?”
- then snapping that stupid fucking dragon’s spine,
“B-bro.”
-ripping its fangs and claws from its body,
“Older brother.”
-pulping its eyes,
“Hey, bro.”
-and mounting its fucking head on a spike for the whole world to see.
“Baron!”
Then-
““BARON!””
Jerked from his happy thoughts by the loud cry, Baron looked around to see his gathered family staring at him curiously. Channeling every bit of his Brother that he could, Baron cocked his head to the side. “Sorry, I was contemplating the possibility of arcane forces beyond mortal comprehension. What were you saying?”
Amidst various head shakes and laughs, Astra rolled her eyes before speaking. “Seeing as we’re all present; we were asking what you wanted to speak to us about.”
Settling himself, Baron nodded before straightening up and meeting his family’s eyes. “Right. Thank you all for coming. I want to talk about this tournament coming up; about how important it is.”
Wicked raised an eyebrow at that. “Really BB? I know your excited to be battling again, but did we really need a meeting just for that? It’s been a minute, but we know the drill. Train up, show up, & fuck’em up. What’s there to talk about?”
Seeing a few hidden looks of agreement on some of the others’ faces, Baron was glad he’d called them here. Some of the older gang like Gizmo and Astra seemed to know what he was talking about, but the rest hadn’t yet clued in to what was really at stake yet.
“This isn’t just about winning a tournament or even getting a Gym,” Baron said, causing Storm to growl slightly. Baron ignored him though, taking a deep breath. “This is about our Brother, about us finally being able to help fix him once and for all.”
Tense silence greeted his words as the various assembled mons shifted in place. Just like him, they all loved their lunatic Brother with all their hearts. Even the suggestion that there might be something wrong with him hurt to hear.
“Daddy’s okay now,” Princess eventually offered weakly.
“Oui,” Doc agreed. “He was much worse back when you were, how do you say…?”
“Nine-tenths in the grave,” Gizmo supplied, causing the Malamar to wince but nod in agreement.
“…I know,” Baron agreed painfully but making sure to keep meeting their eyes. “I’m sorry that all of you had to go through that. I know I let you all down ba-erk!”
Baron grunted slightly as a small zap of dark type energy crackled against his nose. The source of the zap, Astra was glaring at him with as much anger as he’d ever seen and was visibly being held in place by her partner. Keeping a firm grip on Astra’s shoulder, Huntress spoke to him. “What Astra is trying to express mate, is that none of us have ever considered what happened your fault, just like we never considered it Bo’s fault.”
“And if we ever hearing either you blaming yourselves,” Astra continued sternly. “I will smack you upside the head with the closest meteorite I can find.”
“““Seconded,””” chorused the rest of his family, causing him to crack a small smile.
“Fair enough,” he nodded. “My point is, I know that our Brother was doing worse back then and he has been doing better now, but it’s not enough. There’s still something missing. I know that you all can feel it too.”
“He’s been asleep,” Gizmo said with rare seriousness. “He’s been wondering all over Paldea for the last few years and picking up work, but he’s just been going through the motions. He hasn’t truly cared about anything that he’s been doing. He doesn’t need me to physically puppet him anymore, or for Angel to force down his pain, but hasn’t really been living either. Bo-bro used to be more alive than anyone.”
“Exactly,” Baron agreed after a small pause. “He used to get up every day wanting to the best he could possibly be. This last few years, it’s like he’s been trying to fade into the background. The only time he’s ever felt like himself was back when we battled you, Saber. But since the Old Man called about the tournament, I’ve felt his spirit start to burn again. He wants to be a Gym Leader, to challenge himself, and to have all the people he loves back in his life. He’s starting to want to live life to the fullest again. We have the ability to give our Brother that chance. And just as importantly, I think the rest of us want that opportunity too.
I used to want to become the strongest in the world, to fight and fight and fight until there was no one left to face me. And then, I wanted someone to do the same in order to challenge me. I let that go for a bit while we all recovered, but now, now I don’t want to ever stop until I reach that dream. And, I want the rest of you there with me.”
There was a quiet pause as everyone absorbed his words. He saw a few nod while he felt the others’ spirits flaring up. He saw them breathe life into their smoldering ambitions once more. They felt furious and jubilant. Anxious and resolute. Wild and alive. Ultimately, it was Wicked who spoke up again. “What do you need us to do big brother?”
Baron felt a feral smile spread across his face at the sight of his family’s determination. “Just two things. Firstly, I need everyone to take the training seriously, to push themselves and each other as far as you can go. Strive to become better than we ever were before. And then, once we get to the tournament, I need you to be yourselves. Be wild. Be free. Be cruel. Be joyous. Be dark. Be evil.”
All around him, the faces of his family slowly warped to mimic his own, their spirits burning with a savage glee. “I want you to fight like each fight is our last and to destroy anyone who gets in our way. Tear them, rip them, and break them. For our Brother's dream and for our own dreams.”
Princess was the first, her heads rising up in the air to unleash an unrestrained roar full of savagery and excitement. One by one, the others joined her. From the wild Saber to the jaded Astra, each howled out their determination to the dimly glowing moon above them.
Baron couldn’t remember the last time he had been so excited.
“Alright then. In that case, we start up training again tomorrow morning, seven A.M. sharp. Sooo…” Baron trailed off, feeling a slight pull on his spirit coming from Gizmo. Glancing over at her ever smiling face, he noticed a slight glint in her crystal eyes flicking towards Wicked and some of the younger siblings. Baron mulled over her look for a few seconds before ultimately giving in to an internal sigh. “So if any of you do want to have a small party to celebrate us all being back together again, I suppose you should do it tonight.”
Seeing his younger siblings perk up happily & Gizmo nod in satisfaction, Baron felt a slight warmth suffuse him. “Just keep things in moderation,” he sighed
*
A few minutes later, the field had emptied out again. Wicked had led (or dragged in Honor’s case) the partiers off into town to raid old Iago’s liquor store, Astra and Huntress following along to ensure that destruction of property was kept to a minimum... Princess and Saber occasionally forgot how doors worked in favor of smashing through a wall. It was adorable, but it could get expensive. Now only Baron, Angel, Gizmo, & Crown dwelled within the meadow, just enjoying being together in comfortable silence.
“Soooooo.”
‘Or not,’ Baron sighed as Gizmo spoke in her mischievous tone of voice that always promised a headache for him.
“So, if you two aren’t partying with the kiddos, what’s the grand plan?” she asked.
“I don’t want to party.” “Grand plan?” Baron’s quick answer was drowned out by Angel’s curious question.
“Well of course,” Gizmo innocently answered Angel while ignoring Baron’s response. “After all, with the two of you home, Indigo’s hottest pair of eligible bachelors are officially back and open for business. It’s practically your duty to go out and paint the region red.”
“No-” “YES!” Angel cut him off with an excited shout, before turning to face him with an eager smile. “She’s right B.”
“No she isn’t.”
“I really think she is though.”
“I mean, I could be wrong,” the smirking ghost offered in a placating tone. “I can’t join you either, because I already have plans to hang out with my sons, but I figured that you two would for sure be swinging by that party in Goldenrod I heard about.”
“There’s a party in Goldenrod? B, did you hear that?”
“There's no party in Goldenrod, brother.”
“There's definitely a party in Goldenrod,” Gizmo continued ignoring Baron’s protests.
“How would you know that? You haven’t been back any longer than we have.”
“Heard about it from a friend of a friend," She waved away his logic hurriedly. "Anyways, the Goldenrod Gym crew is apparently hosting it.”
Gasp* “That’s awesome. You know we have to hit that party up B! All the pretty Wigglytuffs and Delcattys galore! Plus, if the Gym crew is hosting it, that means a certain Miltank is bound to be there,” Angel sang while elbowing Baron in the side and wiggling his eyes suggestively. “I seem to recall a certain, young Eevee having a pretty huge crush on her back in the day. Huh! Huh!”
“You know, I too seem to recall a certain, young Eevee nearly costing us a badge because he was so busing gawking at a certain Miltank’s utters,” Gizmo chimed in while arcane forces beyond mortal comprehension caused Baron’s cheeks to turn red.
Ahem* “There was no gawking. I don’t gawk,” Baron protested hotly. “I was just impressed by how strong she was.”
“Great, you should tell her that!” Angel cheered enthusiastically.
“You so should,” Gizmo goaded. “A-bro, you and B-bro should go there right now!”
“Alright!”
“Not alright! No! Angel don’t-” Baron tried to protest and back away, but Angel had already slung an arm around him. The last thing Baron saw before feeling himself being sucked away through a small hole, almost like being recalled back into a pokeball, was Gizmo falling on her back, howling with laughter. The next moment, he felt the world blur around him before he was pushed back out into it. Twisting his head around, he heaved a deep sigh as he realized that they were no longer on Mt. Moon.
“Angellll,” he growled softly.
The large Clefable at least had the grace to look sheepish as he rubbed his head. “Sorry B, I know you're in a hurry to get there, but Goldenrod is pretty far away and across Mt. Silver so even I can’t teleport us all the way there in one go. Just give me a minute to rest and I can take us the rest of the way.”
“Not my point Angel,” he sighed. “I’m really not in the mood to party.”
“What!?” Angel’s eyebrows shot up in unreasonable surprise, visible even from behind his shades. “But… Miltank?!”
‘You love your brother. You love all your siblings. You will not get upset.’
Gathering himself and turning to face the puzzled Clefable, Baron opened his mouth only to stop as a literally earthshaking roar pierced the air, followed by several loud crashing sounds. With each crash, the earth trembled around them. Something big, something powerful, and, judging by the oppressive aura bombarding Baron’s senses, something very angry was coming towards them.
“Angel,” Baron spoke softly. “Where exactly did you teleport us too?”
“Oh, all the dark type energy wafting through Mt. Silver makes it really hard to teleport past the mountain range, but I did manage to get us pretty deep into the mountain itself. We’re just a bit below the summit.”
As Angel guilelessly answered his brother, a towering figure stomped out of the surrounding woodworks. Only slightly smaller than Goliath, his heavy green armor riddled with old battle scars & his aura tyrannically crashing down on the area surrounding him, the Tyranitar glared fiercely at the two intruders in his territory. Angel responded by waving at him with a smile. “Hey there! We’re on our way to a party. Did you want to come too?”
The Tyranitar only roars at them in response as sand starts pouring from his shell and whipping into the air. “YOU DARE MOCK ME, MEAT? NO ONE INTRUDES ON MY DOMAIN AND LIVES!”
"Totally, totally," Angel slowly stops waving. “Hey B?”
“Yes?”
“I think this guy might be a little angry that we’re here.”
“Uh-huh. I think this guy might be about to attack us Angel.”
“Oh,” Angel breathed out while looking at the Tyranitar charging towards them. “Do you want me to try and talk him down?”
“…Nah, you rest up Angel,” Baron replied calmly as he stepped in front of his brother. Looking up at the enraged alpha predator baring down on them, he felt a grin start to spread across his face. “Turns out, I’m in the mood to party after all.”