Auster and Tricky slammed into Alec’s chest, gently tackling him to the floor.
He yelped as he went down, holding them both tight to his chest. They nuzzled into his chest as they celebrated, uncaring if anyone else heard. To him, everything else had vanished. The pain in Alec’s limbs quickly vanished as his brain focused entirely on living in the moment with his team.
Tricky purred and leaned in as Alec scratched him behind the ear. He always enjoyed being scratched in that spot.
From the corner of his eye, Alec noticed Lilligant watching them. Slowly, Alec broke off from his Pokemon and stood up to face the Noble.
Just like when they’d started their fight, Lilligant swept low in a bow. The impressions Alec got from it were completely different—seemingly grateful and relieved. Its posture and motion were exactly the same, yet Alec felt welcomed as he mimicked the motion.
He held his right arm against his chest and swept his left to his side as he bowed. He counted three seconds before rising again, in perfect sync with Lilligant.
It trilled and raised its hand to where its mouth would be, as if to cover a laugh. Alec again looked inward toward Lilligant’s mental presence—revealed to him by the Mind Plate’s power. There he found joy.
Joy to be in one’s own mind and consciousness again. Joy from appreciating the real beauty of the world, not some facsimile blurred by fast motion. Joy for the Pokemon of Cloudpool, now free from their torment.
Some of it overflowed into Alec, and he quickly found himself smiling and laughing, too. It was like the feeling of spending time with a best friend, where nothing funny happens but you still laugh regardless.
Lilligant trilled again. In response, a patch of grass about a foot in diameter in front of Alec bent to stand upwards like a wave of goosebumps. He knelt down to inspect it, already having an inkling of what was coming.
Just as he suspected, the grass parted and sank back into the soil, revealing a rectangular shape resting on the dirt, unblemished and glinting in the sun’s light. The Grass-type Plate.
“Are you sure?” he asked, looking up at Lilligant. It nodded, gesturing as if to say, “Take it.”
“Okay. I’ll keep it safe,” he said, reaching his hand forward—
…And nothing happened.
He blinked a few times, expecting a sudden wave of foreign feelings. “What’s happening?” he wondered aloud. Still, he felt something from the plate: His fingers thrummed with energy and his body tingled in anticipation.
He looked back at Lilligant confusedly, who seemed entirely unphased.
It worked with the Bug and Psychic-type Plates … why isn’t it working with the Grass one? he wondered. Twice before, I had a panic attack from the Plates’ energy, but why not on the third time? I didn’t do anything differently…
Then it dawned on him. Pokemon could only have two Types. Even when a dual-Type evolved and gained another Type, it always lost one of its previous ones. He could only have two Plates active at the same time.
He pocketed the emerald-colored object in his satchel, resolving to experiment with it later. There had to be a way for him to “give up” the powers of one of the other Plates in exchange for a new one.
“I’ll keep it safe, I promise,” he swore. The words felt light on his tongue.
Again, Lilligant trilled happily, hopping a bit and spinning around. Its mental presence still overflowed with joy.
It started to jump increasingly high, before leaping and bounding around the arena. With a wide smile on his face, Alec spun and watched Lilligant’s performance.
It’s so elegant, he gasped as it blurred through the air, finally completing the dance interrupted by the lightning from the rift. As it danced, Alec felt completely at ease—a stark contrast to its performance while frenzied, where he’d scrambled to stay alive.
After a moment, the energy in his body overcame him—he just couldn’t bear to sit idle any longer. With a whoop of victory, Alec joined in Lilligant’s celebration, jumping and spinning without a care.
Tricky barked and joined in, sparking with delight. Auster swooped down, barrel rolling in the air in a dance of his own.
Lilligant trilled ecstatically for finally having dance partners. Though Alec and his Pokemon had no sense of rhythm or flow, they danced from pure emotion.
And they danced for what felt like an eternity, swimming in their success.
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A few minutes later, Alec grew tired.
He reluctantly bade Lilligant farewell, recalling his team and beginning the slow journey back to the Diamond settlement.
After recalling his Pokemon and waving farewell to Lilligant, he turned back the way he’d come with a spring in his step. The stone stairs that he’d ascended on his way up seemed to grow shorter despite being the same length.
As he journeyed, he hummed a tune under his breath, still in disbelief. He looked upward for a moment, toward the rift in the sky. Confidence thrummed through him as he proudly reflected on the fight.
No one had gotten hurt, most importantly. Unlike last time, he’d emerged entirely unscathed. His team had progressed too, though he’d have to experiment during training later to ascertain their limits.
To his side, a noise drew his attention. A Psyduck waddled from the brush and shook the leaves from its head.
A memory triggered—of a specific Psyduck screaming and writhing in pain that he’d passed riding Wyrdeer. While there was no guarantee that it was the same Psyduck, the emotions remained strong.
I’m glad you’re safe, little guy, Alec thought with a smile.
For the rest of his walk, he kept noticing other Pokemon scattered throughout the ridge. A group of Budew waddling along. A flock of Starly and Staravia perched in a tree, pecking at berries. A Paras digging a hole and climbing inside. A Wormadam hanging from a tree, swinging gently in the light breeze.
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As the tops of the village walls appeared on the horizon, Alec began to walk faster. Solaceon Village didn’t have any watchtowers as Jubilife did, so they’d have no way to see him coming from far off.
His footsteps pounded on the dirt as he rushed forward, eager to share the good news with the Diamonds.
A strangely-colored blue shape adorned the brown tree trunks that made up the village gate. Alec slowed down and used his hand to block the sun, squinting for better visibility.
Adaman, he realized after a moment. From this distance, he could only make out the chief’s brightly-colored clothes. His shape seemed to move for a moment.
Alec resumed his pace. Adaman seemed to grow larger too, meaning that he was moving towards Alec as well.
When they were within earshot, Alec shouted, “Adaman!” He waved his arm up high. Adaman didn’t respond.
After another moment, when they were close enough for Alec to make out Adaman’s face, he noticed that he was grinning from ear to ear. They were growing closer, so Alec started to slow down.
Adaman did not slow down. He barreled into Alec, scooping him in a hug. “You did it!” he cried triumphantly. “Thank Sinnoh you’re safe!”
He released Alec from his hold and stepped back, allowing him to take a deep breath. “I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done for us. You have my immense gratitude, for years to come!”
Alec, breathless, simply nodded. “No problem,” he gasped.
Adaman shook his head in disbelief. “Come, hurry, we have to tell Mai and Arezu, they’ve been beside themselves with worry since you left this morning.”
He grabbed Alec by the arm and started to lead him back to the village. His firm grip and initial tug yanked Alec off balance, nearly making him stumble and fall. “Slow down!” he yelped.
“Oh! Sorry,” Adaman said, releasing his grip. “I suppose we can afford to take a bit more time.”
Together, they walked through the village, straight to the medical tent where Arezu waited.
Adaman, clearly uncomfortable with walking so slowly, pushed open the door flap with a sense of urgency. As he walked, he’d been awkwardly holding his arms close to his chest, as if he didn’t know what to do with them besides letting them naturally swing.
Alec hastily followed, eager to share the news with the Wardens.
Arezu remained exactly where Alec had left her that morning, resting on a bed. She’d changed her bandages but the discoloration of her skin was still visible—if not more so. Warden Mai sat on a nearby stool, keeping her company.
Alec and Adaman’s entrance immediately drew their attention: Mai stood up and clasped her hands, and Arezu sat up, wide-eyed.
“Alec!” Arezu gasped. She turned to Adaman. “Does this mean…?”
“Yep,” Alec cheerfully interjected. “Lilligant’s back to normal.”
Arezu covered her mouth in shock, letting out a short laugh of delight. Mai’s posture relaxed, shrugging off the stress and worry she’d been carrying.
“Really?” Arezu asked. Faint tears welled in her eyes.
Alec nodded wordlessly.
“Then what’re we waiting for?” Arezu asked with a cough, pulling back her woolen blanket and standing up. Her stance wobbled for a moment as her unsteady muscles struggled to support her but she quickly balanced herself.
Mai stepped over and offered Arezu support. The four of them headed back out of the village, where Mai called Wyrdeer.
Alec watched in awe as the Noble bounded over, emerging from the thicket. Together, Arezu and Mai climbed on its back and rode toward Cloudpool.
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A little while later, Adaman offered for Alec to spend the night in the village.
Alec had arranged for Dorian and his Mudsdale to pick him up at about noon tomorrow, to give him enough time to recover if he’d been injured during the fight. That meant he needed to find somewhere to camp for the night.
As soon as Alec mentioned that he needed to search for somewhere to set up camp, he objected. With all the emphasis they placed on time, it made sense that Adaman would object to something so tedious and time-consuming.
“After all you’ve done for us,” he had said, “it would be remiss to not extend our hospitality to you. Please, lend us your time.”
What Alec did not expect was an entire festival.
“Stored grain rots just as much as wasted grain,” Adaman quoted. “It’s a proverb straight from the pen of the Ancient Hero. It means to not let anything go to waste. We have the resources, we have a reason, why should we not celebrate?”
“I can’t accept this,” Alec stressed as he looked around. “You don’t have to do this for me.”
“We aren’t—We’re doing it for Lilligant,” Adaman said, an air of humor in his voice. He knew exactly what he was doing. “We’re only celebrating you indirectly.”
Alec let out a dry chuckle. “Sure, I guess,” he deadpanned.
“Trust me, this is nothing.” He gestured to the preparations going on around them. “Consider yourself formally invited to our next Heralding ceremony. Then you’ll see a real celebration.”
“What’s that?”
“A special festival we throw at the end of every year, to herald in Sinnoh’s gift of another year. A gift of that magnitude should be celebrated in kind.” He cracked a grin. “You’ll barely remember anything past sundown.”
Alec raised an eyebrow. “Why?”
Instead of responding, Adaman mimed raising a cup to his lips.
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All around the village, the Diamonds prepared. Some of them drove poles into the ground, others prepared food, and seemingly everyone was busy with some kind of festivity.
As Alec saw the food preparations, his mouth began to water. He didn’t have the faintest idea what half the dishes even were, but he was excited to try them. Being from Unova—the other side of the planet—Alec figured that he’d be in for a bit of culture shock regarding food.
He did a double-take when he saw a massive drum being brought out. It was nearly as wide as he was tall, made out of a gargantuan hollowed-out tree trunk with a canvas of Pokemon hide covering the top.
Even music? he thought incredulously. What Adaman had told him about festivals had made sense, but this seemed like a bit too much.
Admittedly, he was curious about Diamond clan music. Sue him, he was curious about their entire culture. Almost all of it was lost to history for whatever reason, and he was gifted with the opportunity to live through it.
Yeah, that’s how I’ll justify it, he thought with a laugh. If I’m stuck in Hisui, I might as well enjoy life here.
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The sun went down, but the settlement stayed illuminated.
A torch was tossed onto the heaping bonfire, a colossal six-feet tall, causing flames to swarm like a hive of Beedrill. The fire grew taller and taller. In a handful of seconds, half of the bonfire was ignited.
Still, the far side of the bonfire stayed unlit. To speed up the process, a few Fire-type Pokemon stepped forward—without direction from anyone in particular—and torched the wood.
“Shinx…” Tricky whined at Alec’s feet. He trembled against Alec’s leg, hiding away from the bright fire.
Alec knelt down, gently petting him. “Don’t worry,” he said softly. “It’s just like our campfire, just a bit bigger.”
“Shi shinx,” Tricky whined, leaning into Alec’s touch.
“It may be bigger, but it’s perfectly safe, see? As long as you keep your distance, you’ll be alright,” Alec comforted. The golden light cast a harsh shadow on Tricky’s face, quavering as the flames danced in intensity.
Tricky looked away from Alec’s eyes. He seemed to ponder his words for a moment, before reluctantly barking in agreement. Alec grinned and stood back up.
He tried to avoid looking directly at the bonfire, so he cast his eyes elsewhere. Around him, the Diamonds celebrated, standing in circles and animatedly chatting with each other.
“Alec!” a feminine voice called out behind him. He turned around and saw Arezu waving at him—with her wounded hand.
He headed over, amazed at Lilligant’s power. She stood by a few other people, whom Alec didn’t recognize. Mai was there, alongside two other men.
One of them spoke up, a tall man with long, indigo hair and an arrogant expression. “So this is the boy who did your job for you, Arezu. By the Almighty, boy, you’re skinny! I expected you to look a little, y’know, strong.”
Arezu smacked him on the shoulder, looking displeased. “Melli, he saved my life. Show him the respect he deserves.” She turned to Alec with an apologetic look on her face. “Sorry about him. Alec, this is Melli, another of our Wardens. He’s—”
“Not just ‘another of our Wardens’,” Melli interjected, speaking with a staccato rhythm. He straightened his posture, stood square to Alec, and raised his chin. “You’re looking at the greatest Warden in the history of the Diamond clan.”
“...Not q-quite,” stuttered another, a man with dark skin, a mostly bald head, and well-defined musculature. Despite his superior height, he stood with a slouch, allowing Melli to stand taller than him. “That’d be the Great Facet, n-not you, Melli.”
Melli rolled his eyes. “Well, obviously I was excluding him. Fine then, I’m the second greatest Warden in our history. At the very least, I’m a better Warden than you, Iscan. Anyway, I’m going to get something to drink. Would anyone care to join me?”
Suddenly, Arezu, Mai, and the newly named Iscan found the dirt very interesting. Melli hummed and walked off.
Alec gave the three Wardens an inquisitive look. “Is he always like that?”
Mai chuckled at Alec’s reaction. “Yeah, pretty much. We’re lucky he likes to stay holed up atop Mount Coronet with his Noble.”
“Shame Sabi isn’t here,” joked Arezu. “She’s usually the one to put him back in his place.”
The three remaining Wardens laughed. Sabi is probably another Warden, reasoned Alec.
“You haven’t met Iscan, have you?” asked Arezu, gesturing to the man who corrected Melli. “He lives in the coastlands, with his Noble, Basculegion.”
At the mention of his name, Iscan started shuffling his feet uncomfortably and fidgeting with his hands. He made eye contact with Alec for a brief moment, but quickly broke it to look elsewhere.
“I’ve never heard of that Pokemon before,” he admitted, smiling warmly at Iscan and trying his best to calm his nerves. He wondered what kind of Pokemon it was, since its name didn’t give any hints. It contained the word ‘legion’, so Alec assumed that it was either military-related or multiple Pokemon acting as one, like Dugtrio and Falinks.
“Y-you’ll have to, um, come by sometime, and meet them,” Iscan said, smiling briefly in response.
The four continued to chat for a while longer. Arezu asked Alec to recount his story for the others to hear, which he gladly did. He left out the part about seeing Arceus in the void. They were especially curious about his fight with Kleavor and Lilligant, asking him to spare no detail when describing them.
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The sun began to set, disappearing below the horizon with brushstrokes of earthy red, but the bonfire burned on.
In addition to the conversation and company, Alec also had the opportunity to try several delicacies of the Diamond people. It was all rather exotic to him, but Alec wanted to be a polite guest.
To his surprise, even the seafood wasn’t too exotic for his tastes. Back home, he’d occasionally eaten Sinnohan food like ramen and gyoza, but he knew that he was getting a variant adjusted for Unovan tastes.
Still, he was pleasantly surprised to find that their food was delicious, and Adaman was doubly happy to see Alec enjoying himself.
A while later, the stars appeared.
Even with the glaring light of the bonfire and its curtain of smoke, the splattering of stars was clearly visible in the night sky. The same sense of wonder Alec had felt when he’d first appeared in Hisui remained. It made him want to sit down with a few close friends and experience the feeling of wonder.
The other Diamonds seemed to feel the same way, as Alec noticed the volume of the voices around him diminish. Everyone craned their necks back, basking in the beauty of those pinpricks of light.
He intentionally chose not to check his clock, for fear of spoiling the special moment.
Some more time later, the bonfire breathed its last. The logs, weakened and eroded by the fire, crumbled and collapsed in on themselves with a sigh of ash. It happened nearly as Alec was beginning to feel tired as if its size had been calculated to the precise minute.
The Diamonds slowly began to retreat back to their homes, letting the noise settle back to the passive noise of wildlife and wind. The whoosh of the wind sent a chill along Alec’s arms, making him grateful for his warm hoodie.
“Let me show you to where you’ll be sleeping,” said Adaman. Alec dutifully followed him, too tired to make any conversation with him.
He led him to a generic-looking building with mud brick walls and a thatched roof, indistinguishable from the rest of Solaceon Village.
Adaman spoke in a hushed whisper. “You must be tired. I won’t keep you for any longer.” He bowed deeply. “Thank you again for all you’ve done for me and my Clan.”
Alec cracked a small smile. “Any time,” he said, ducking through the house’s leather door flap.
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As Alec slept, he dreamt that he was in a jungle. He and his Pokemon trekked forward, ducking under leaves and climbing over fallen logs.
The jungle was dense, meaning they were having a difficult time proceeding. Often, Alec would have to backtrack a few paces to go around a particularly troublesome tree, plant, or boulder.
At least I have my Pokemon with me, he thought, looking up to check on Auster.
But as he looked about above him, he didn’t see him. Instead of Auster’s brown and white plumage, Alec only saw an overcast canopy of green leaves. They blotted out the entire sky, writhing like a mass of tentacles.
Alec shook his head, feeling a layer of fog settle on his brain. Each forward step felt like he was moving through solidified concrete with twenty-pound weights strapped to his shoulders.
For whatever unexplainable reason, he kept pressing forward, instead of turning around to search for Auster. According to the laws of the dream, whatever he was traveling toward was more important.
He continued for a while longer.
He looked down at his feet, expecting to see Tricky’s signature black and blue fur. With Auster gone, at least he still had Tricky, right?
But instead of an adorable little kitten, Alec only saw a dense mass of ferns and bushes. They seemed to blur together, making him look like he was wading through a lake of green water.
And just like that, he was alone again.
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The thicket began to grow upward, enveloping his body. It felt strangely familiar.
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The leaves and vines wrapped around his limbs, though they didn’t feel thorny or coarse. They felt soft, like they’d been woven from wool.
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The leaves covered his eyes, leaving him in darkness.
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He sat up, feeling an empty feeling in his chest. To his side, Auster and Tricky slept softly, curled up against his side. The Mareep-wool blanket he was sleeping under was damp with his sweat.
Alec tried to parse the absurdity of his dream before it faded from his memory. What was in that jungle? Why was he so adamant about exploring forward?
He shook his head and rubbed his eyes. Even with all of today’s excitement, I still can’t stay asleep, he thought.
It was too dark in the room to read the hands on his watch, so he slowly stood up to hold it up to the moonlight. He was especially careful not to disturb the sleeping Auster and Tricky.
He squinted, reading the clock’s hands at 2:36.
He groaned, lamenting his lost sleep. His eyes, reacting to the change in illumination, quickly refocused and allowed him to see a hazy version of the room.
Alec sat back down on the bed. The usual heavy-lidded feeling of sleep was gone. Despite all of the action and excitement of the day, he did not feel tired at all.
The silence of Solaceon village was eerie and made his ears ring. Hisui was a quiet place without the movement of the day. Back in Unova, the city was never quiet. Even at this time of night, there was always the sound of a speeding car, a noisy neighbor, or something of that sort.
He exhaled deeply, for no better reason than to fill the silence.
In the silence, rampant thoughts ran wild in his head.
I haven’t heard from Arceus in a while, he thought. He recalled his promise, that he would be with him throughout his journey. But then again, he wasn’t owed any special attention. And either way, the conclusion would be the same: keep pushing forward for any hope of getting home.
The thought of getting home brought another uneasy feeling of sadness. He wondered what his mom was doing, all the way across the globe and several centuries in the future. Was she asleep, under the same field of stars?
Back home, when he was younger, she would always keep him company when he couldn’t sleep.
Reflexively, he wrapped his arms around his torso and hugged tight, trying in vain to shield himself from his longing thoughts. Thoughts like these always come during the middle of the night, when the mind can’t be trusted.
He shot a glance at the leather door flap, making a split-second decision. Well, I’ve got nothing better to do, he thought, standing up. I’ll go for a walk.
He quietly crept toward the door, moving slowly so as to not stub his toes on anything in the room. The air grew colder as he pulled the flap open, without its natural insulation to protect him from the cold.
The village itself was dark, nearly pitch-black. All the usual torches and braziers had been extinguished, leaving the dirt roads in complete darkness. A village like this had no use for any nighttime activity, so it naturally didn’t waste its resources keeping itself lit.
He sighed, feeling jealous of all the people asleep in their tents. If only.
Suddenly, his ears caught a rustling sound behind him. He slowly turned around, recognizing that the noise was coming from within his tent. He peeked through the door flap, seeing the moonlight catch a pair of large eyes within.
“Shinx!” Tricky whisper-shouted. “Shinx shi!”
“It’s really late,” he whispered, holding the door flap open for Tricky to walk through. “I didn’t mean to wake you up.”
Tricky quietly yipped. “It’s alright,” he seemed to stay. He stood by Alec’s feet, looking up at him.
“I was about to take a short walk to clear my head,” he explained. “Wanna come with?”
Tricky nodded. He yawned and stretched his forepaws, leaning backward in the universal “big stretch” pet movement.
Alec chuckled at the cute display. “Come on, then,” he said.
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Alec had a vague idea of where he was and a nonexistent idea of where he was going. At each fork in his way, he randomly chose a turn and made a mental note of where he was. Now that it was recontextualized in his head, this feeling of knowing where he was might have been a side effect of the Bug-type Plate.
But that’s something to worry about tomorrow, he thought. I’m taking this walk to clear my head, not fill it with more things to worry about.
The mirelands were also quiet and calm at this time of night. Like in the village, all the diurnal Pokemon were asleep. Alec even had to carefully navigate around a sleeping Hippowdon.
A few nocturnal Pokemon—namely Dark and Ghost-types—still roamed the fields. Alec wasn’t too worried about them, since he had Tricky with him.
Speaking of Tricky, the little Shinx walked quietly beside him. Alec wasn’t walking with any particular purpose so his gait was slow enough for Tricky to easily keep pace with him.
Alec came to a stop and sat down on a nearby rock.
“Hey, Tricky?” Alec asked, carefully speaking above a whisper. He would rather avoid disturbing or offending any wild Pokemon.
“Shi?” he questioned, sitting down and looking up at Alec.
“Why have you followed me for so long?” he asked. “I mean, you originally came with me those three months ago because I gave you food. What made you stick around after that?”
Alec wasn’t an expert in Pokemon biology and psychology. Still, movies and TV spread the idea that Pokemon choose Trainers based on their potential to help them grow stronger. They stuck around because they knew their Trainer could teach them new Moves and strategies to use in battle as well as battling alongside them.
Eventually, Pokemon in the media forged strong bonds of friendship with their Trainers. This surpassed their desire to grow stronger, now only keeping them together with companionship.
But Alec had neither of those when Tricky initially chose to follow him. He did help Tricky learn new Moves and battling strategies, but that came much later. He wasn’t even that strong, especially compared to Shinx’s mother Luxray, or something of the sort.
Shinx looked down. He murmured a few unintelligible words.
“Hang on a sec,” Alec muttered. “We’ll never get anywhere like this.”
Hesitantly, Alec mentally flexed the muscle that he used to connect with Wyrdeer and Lilligant; the one created by the Psychic-type Plate he held.
The nighttime landscape around him remained dark but Alec began to perceive more. He quickly identified the happy mental presence nearby as Tricky and mentally reached out to it.
“Shi?” Tricky asked, tilting his head. He was clearly confused by the unknown Psychic-type interference.
“Relax, it’s just me,” he reassured gently. “It’ll help us share emotions and communicate better.”
Tricky exuded an aura of hesitance but he eventually complied, trusting Alec. He felt their mental link grow stronger as Tricky reciprocated Alec’s connection.
Alec asked the question again: Why Tricky had chosen to follow Alec.
He felt a taste of hesitance and uncertainty from Tricky as he pondered the question. He pawed at the ground and paced back and forth.
“It’s because I gave you food that you started following me, right?”
Tricky nodded, and Alec felt a burst of emotions pour into his mental cup as the memories resurfaced. Acceptance. Hunger. Pride. Temporary.
Another gust of cold air blew across the clearing, rustling Alec’s hair and Tricky’s ears.
“But that wasn’t the case for much longer,” Alec guessed.
Friendship. Companionship. Safety. Unknown.
“Huh,” Alec said. He’d never experienced that unfamiliar emotion before. Its taste was on the tip of his tongue and it evoked a feeling of camaraderie and brotherhood.
For a wild Pokemon, the promise of easy meals was a surefire way to gain their trust. Many downplayed their intelligence, but they’d no doubt recognize such an opportunity.
Alec thought back to the day he’d caught and nicknamed Tricky. The little Shinx had simply followed him back to camp after he’d given him an oran berry. Tricky continued to bark and Alec paid careful attention to the stream of emotions.
Unease. Crossroads. Stress. Hope. Loneliness.
Alec got the feeling Tricky was referring to his choice to stay with Alec. He could’ve returned to the wild, growing stronger on his own, or he could’ve stayed with Alec and risked being injured by an untrustworthy human.
Then, there it was again. The unknown and unnamed emotion that didn’t have a word in Alec’s language, Unovan. As Tricky recalled choosing to stick with Alec, Alec sensed a great deal of this, puzzling him.
“I don’t get it,” he shrugged. “You’re saying that you came to trust me?”
Tricky sighed and shook his head. He hopped up onto the rock that Alec was seated on and sat beside him, looking out toward the moon.
“I’m like a brother?”
Another no. Tricky let out a deep yawn. Alec put his arm around him.
Tricky reiterated the same emotion, with notes of kinship and fellowship. You would feel this emotion when fighting alongside a fellow warrior you trusted to guard your back.
“I’m your packmate, then?” Alec asked.
A pack of wild Pokemon served many purposes. Firstly, it greatly increased the odds of survival for everyone involved. It made defending against predators easier as the strong could protect the weak and wounded. It’s very similar to how humans built cities and assigned each person a job according to their skills.
Hunting and providing was easier too, as more hunters could cover more ground and take down bigger prey. The only deficit was that any kill would have to be spread among the entire pack.
Suddenly, all the puzzle pieces fell into place. Alec, Tricky, and Auster almost exactly mirrored the structure of a traditional pack. Auster and Tricky held the front line in a battle, shielding Alec and allowing him to strategize for them. In return, he handled food and medicine for them.
Tricky snuggled against Alec’s leg. Brotherhood. Protection. Eternal-friend-forever-through-the-After.
…and that last emotion was a lot to process.
In a spectrum of emotions, it would’ve been adjacent to pain and somberness, yet reaching up to pride at the same time.
Alec sat with tears welling in his eyes. Was Tricky willing to die for him? No, that couldn’t be true. There had to be some other way to explain “through the After.”
But every way that Alec twisted it, still in disbelief, he couldn’t find any other way to rationalize it. The truth was simple: Tricky treasured their bond so deeply that he would lay down his life for Alec.
“I…” His voice cracked. He coughed and swallowed, trying to right his quavering voice. “I don’t know what to say. I… I don’t deserve someone as perfect as you, Tricky.”
In response. Tricky purred and leaned against Alec’s side. Alec absentmindedly began to run his fingers through Tricky’s fur.
Above them, the moon shined down, casting a gray light on their clearing. Tricky’s fur seemed to shimmer in its light. Both human and Pokemon looked upwards in awe.
And suddenly, a harsh glare caught Alec’s eye from his side.
He quickly looked down and saw a brilliant white light sitting next to him. He gasped, immediately recognizing what was happening.
“Tricky?” he asked hopefully.
The light shifted and undulated as it grew larger. The rough shape of Tricky’s ears shifted upward and grew smaller. His silhouette expanded as his mane fluffed up.
A massive grin split his face. He stood up and covered his mouth in sheer shock and joy.
A moment later, the light faded. Tricky—now a Luxio—stared back at Alec. He looked down at himself, shifting his weight from side to side and flicking his tail to experiment with his new body.
“Tricky! You evolved!” Alec exclaimed.
Tricky looked back at him like he was trying to find the right words to say. “...Lux? Luxio! Luxio!” he cheered. Once he got used to his new voice, he barked excitedly.
From their mental bond, Alec only felt joy. Pure, unconditional, absolute joy.
Tricky jumped forward into Alec’s chest, tackling him to the ground. He licked Alec’s face repeatedly as Alec laughed and struggled to get up.
And there they remained in pure bliss for what felt like hours, celebrating each other’s company.
Eventually, they calmed down and headed back to Solaceon Village. Tricky was clearly not used to his new size and kept stumbling. Sadly, he was now too big to ride on Alec’s shoulder—nearly level with Alec’s thighs while standing upright.
When they reached their room, where Auster was still sleeping, they made sure to be as quiet as possible.
“Let’s not wake him,” Alec suggested, to which Tricky nodded. “He’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
And so, Alec laid down to sleep again. They still had a few more hours of night remaining and despite all the excitement he felt from Tricky’s evolution, he drifted off in a few heartbeats.
Tricky, now too big to sleep curled up on his chest, laid down beside Alec, pressed up against his Trainer’s side.
End of Arc Two