Oh shit.
Those were the first two words that flashed into the brunette's mind as he sprinted around the corner.
After what he just saw, who wouldn't be shocked out of right mind?
Why did only HE see it?
Why couldn't he have stopped her?
Hell, why did that, whatever that was, happen in the first place?
He needed someone, anyone to tell.
Only that he remembered that he didn't know many people. He wasn't much of a social butterfly, unlike his Subway Partner.
Thinking back on it now, he had barely worked up the nerve to ask Touko to battle with him on the Multi trains when he first met her. Now, they were good friends, and had even exchanged Xtransceiver numbers so they could meet up whenever they wanted to take the challenge together, or just hang out. Like today. However, that was beside the current situation.
He had to find someone. Maybe one of her friends. Bel, who he had met once before? Or maybe that smartass Cheren? As he turned to dial his Xtransceiver, he remembered that he didn't have their numbers. Something that he would have to get later when given the opportunity.
Still, he needed to tell someone. But who did she know in Raimon City? No, who did he know that she knew?
The Subway Masters, of course! Or Master. Now that Nobori was in the hospital, there was only one. Speaking of which, he couldn't believe that Kudari had chosen to reopen the subway after such a short time span… But that was beside the point.
"…Kudari!" He shouted as he sprinted down the steps to Gear Station. "Kudari!"
"Touya?" Came the familiar voice from around the corner. "What's the rush?"
"Oh man, you're never going to-" As he spoke, he tripped on the last two steps and tumbled down the stairs, causing his hat to fly off his head, and his bag's contents to spill on the concrete. "Oh damn it…"
Stunned, Kudari stared at him for a moment before saying blankly, "Didn't your mother ever tell you not to run downstairs like that?"
Embarrassed, Touya's face took a light shade of red. "Yeah… sorry."
With a sigh and slight smile, the Subway Master gave the brunette a chiding look while he bent over to help him pick up his scattered belongings. "So, what did you need? Not many people come screaming down the steps to tell me something." A bitter expression graced the older man's face for but a moment. Touya didn't notice.
"Dude, you're NEVER going to believe what just happened." Touya said breathlessly. He took a deep breath as he picked up the last of his things and his cap, adjusting it neatly on his head only to see that Kudari was giving him a dubious look.
"Ja," He replied plainly. "Now, what would that be?"
"Touko just got carried away by one of her Pokemon." He said rather lamely. Damn.
Kudari merely stared at him in response. "…It used Fly?"
"Ye- NO! Well, yes, but that's not the point! It carried her away against her orders!" Kudari gave him a pointed look that told the brunette to elaborate on the subject in question. Sighing in frustration, Touya slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand before continuing. "Okay, okay. I was hanging out with Touko a while ago, right?"
"Right."
"And then suddenly, her bag started shaking. A MASTER BALL rattled out of it- It was shaking by itself. I mean, aren't Master Balls supposed to be absolute or something?"
"I guess." Kudari nodded.
"Okay. But anyway, that's not the important part!"
With an exasperated look, Kudari prodded his forehead with a gloved finger. "Then get to it already! We don't have all day."Or rather, to be specific, he didn't have all day.
"Okay, okay!" Touya said hurriedly. "Well… after it came out of her bag, the ball snapped open a couple of seconds afterward. Do you know what came out of it?"
"What, Arceus?" He chuckled jokingly.
"…I… I dunno. Can Arceus even be captured by a Master Ball?" Touya shrugged wonderingly at his own question before continuing. "Anyway, Reshiram came out of it. You know, the Reshiram from all the Isshu's legends?"
"Yes, yes, I know the legends! Twin Heroes. Truth and Ideals…" He murmured with an animated tone. Although, with this bit of news, Kudari uncharacteristically frowned. "Wait a minute. Why does Touko have Re-"
"Look, I don't know how or why she had a Legendary Pokemon with her!" Touya interrupted, shaking his head with a defeated look. "But it carried her off in broad daylight."
"And that's what you ran all the way here to tell me?"
"Yeah." Touya nodded.
"That she was taken away by a Legendary Pokemon."
"Uh-huh." Another nod.
"…When you could have gone after her?"
Touya stopped. He honestly hadn't thought about that. "Man, there wasn't even any time to react. She was freaking out just a few moments before! She wouldn't even let me say anything to her!" While he had come up with that excuse on the spot, it was true. He really didn't have a chance to react, much less send out his Braviary in pursuit of the two of them. Grumbling to himself, he scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
Kudari was still waiting.
"…It took off like a jet right after it threw her onto its back. I swear to Arceus that the fire from its tail would have killed me if I didn't back up."
"That… doesn't sound nice. This is possibly problematic, in any case if there's a Legendary on the loose. However, Touko caught it. She, being an exemplar example of a trainer, I'm sure she'll be just fine! Even if Reshiram is a Legendary Pokemon!" Kudari exclaimed jovially.
Sometimes, Touya wondered how he could remain so optimistic.
"…That, is a very good point." Touya said admittedly, scratching the back of his head. "Still, I wish I could have done something."
"Worrying about anything will solve nothing." Kudari nodded insistently, almost as if he were addressing himself rather than Touya.
"I guess you're right." He says finally, heaving a bit of a sigh.
After a moment of awkward silence, Kudari raised a hand and gestured to the brunette's jacket. "On an unrelated note, your clothes look rather… scorched."
"You're telling me…" Touya hummed absentmindedly. "Wait, what?"
He glanced down, to see that his clothes were indeed slightly scorched with blackish marks. Especially his on jacket. Letting out an audible groan, the brunette looked dejectedly towards his sleeves as he inspected them. How could he not have noticed?
Oh right.
Touko being kidnapped by a legendary was more important at the time.
… And is still is more important now.
"…And this is my favorite jacket, too." He mumbled dejectedly.
"I could have guessed. I've never seen you without it." Kudari stated in a matter-of-fact tone with a silly, almost childish grin plastered on his face. "Yet, what will you do about Touko? I'd like to help, but I-" He began to say as his smile faded partially. Even still, it remained ever determined. "I have a job to do."
"No worries. I'll come up with something eventually." Touya says as he musters a grin and gives a thumbs up. "Just focus on doing what you need to do, all right?"
It was easier said than done. Why was Touya so worried about that amazing girl with chestnut-colored hair and sparkling blue eyes in the first place?
… What was he even thinking that in the first place?
"Hah, danke." Kudari laughed, rubbing the back of his head in a demure manner and thusly crashing Touya's train of thought. "Someone has to keep this place in tip-top shape… Imagine if this place was kept closed for any longer. Not everybody can Fly around Isshu in a wink, ja?"
"True." He nods in acknowledgment. Another thing puzzles him, however.
"…So, how is Nobori doing?"
"Ah…" Kudari visibly blanched at the sound of Nobori's name. "He's…" The white garbed Subway Master's voice trails off quietly as his eyes direct themselves to the floor. It takes but a moment for Touya to piece it together.
"…He's getting worse?" He asks with a disbelieving tone.
"Oh, no! Not exactly, rather…" Kudari shakes his head rapidly, sighing with an uncomfortable look. "He's stabilized now, but there's no sign when he'll actually wake up, you see…"
"…That's…" Terrible. Horrible. That's what he wanted to say. He was familiar with the feeling of having a relative comatose, but he didn't exactly know how to share his feelings. After all, where could he begin? "That's good to hear. I mean- that he's stabilized and all." He said quickly, almost too quickly. "I'm sure he'll be up in no time. You just have to have faith."
Right. Like how he had faith that his older cousin would wake, despite it being years since he had fallen into his coma. It was wracking, to think of someone as great as Nobori would end up exactly like his cousin-
An empty shell of a man.
"I hope so. But, only time will tell at this point," Kudari inadvertently smiled once more, but this time Touya could tell that it was a hollow smile. He had known the Subway Master long enough to be able to tell the difference.
"But still," Kudari began with a thoughtful look. "I wonder."
"About what?"
"Where do you think it could've taken her?"
