2.1. Can It Be Real?

"What are you doing?" Reyes asked, coming up behind him.

"Catching fish!" Dominic replied, leaning off the shore to glare into the foaming river. Reyes sighed as per usual whenever Dominic talked. He was starting to suspect it was an allergic reaction.

"The water has too many rapids for—"

"There are fish down there, I feel it in my gut!" Reyes sighed even louder—an acute allergic reaction.

"No, that's the feeling of your stomach eating itself. Eat some Berries before you pass out."

"Shove it! Who asked for yer input?" He finally spotted a Remoraid zipping by and dunked his head under. He not only missed, but it bit his nose too. He came up snorting watery blood and flailing until Reyes bonked him on the crown of his head.

"Did you catch it?" he asked with a note of sardonic humor. Dominic growled and shoved his claws into the water only to get slammed by a Relicanth.

"Stupid rock fish," he grumbled, rubbing his bruised paw.

"Look, Dominic, the sun is setting and we've got to pick a tree or a burrow or something for the night." Reyes rubbed his face and let his arms drop like they were made of lead. Dominic noticed that the edges of his leaf blades were browning, becoming crispy and breaking away. "Oh, man, this is a pain."

"What, are you expiring or something?"

"Stress is bad for my system, as I am a plant. It should wear off in a few hours."

"Should," he repeated.

"Oh, don't worry about it." He started checking the insides of various rocky cliffs while Dominic tried the trees. Neither found a vacant space after two hours. When they came together again, Dominic noticed that the sickness was in Reyes' other set of blades too, although he tried to hide it. How did you help a plant anyway? The Pokémon Center wasn't an option considering where they were, and although Dominic had a lot of things tucked away in his mane, plant food wasn't one of them.

He also couldn't help but feel at fault for Reyes' weakness. After all, it was because of him that Reyes mouthed off on Alakazam to begin with and consequently lost his home, friends, everything. For three weeks they'd been skipping across out-of-the-way isles to keep in hiding, but it only worked part of the time. Although he was good at hiding it, Dominic knew Reyes was sick with worry, and now he was sick with sickness and Dominic wanted to jump into the river.

"Where do we sleep?" Dominic asked. It didn't matter to him very much considering he was nocturnal, but if Reyes needed to sleep at night, he would roll with it. It was the least he could do after condemning him.

"I'm not… Wait, I'm sure I saw a meadow somewhere." He pushed forward through some thick shrubbery, which ended in a row of oaks and pines before leading to a virtual sea of green grass almost as tall as him.

"Aren't there wild Pokémon in here?" Dominic asked, then he sneezed, and sneezed again.

"The grass is a species that most flesh and blood is allergic to, and from what I've heard, Ghost-types don't like the feel of it. We'll be safe enough here." He started stepping on the grass, clearing out a flattened bed of it.

"But—" He sneezed again, grabbing his runny nose. "I'll die!"

"On the contrary, this isn't deadly."

"No, but… Oh!" He pulled a gas mask from his mane and attached it to his muzzle. "Better!" Reyes gave him an even look.

"I'm sure you didn't have that when we entered Ever Grande."

"I'm only borrowin' it. I'll return it when I'm dead." He also removed a bright purple sleeping bag and offered it to Reyes.

"Did you…ahem…borrow that too?"

"Maybe?"

"Yeah, I'll pass." Dominic shrugged and curled up to sleep, but he couldn't and not only because it was nighttime. His mind felt full to bursting. Okay, it usually didn't matter, and in fact it wouldn't have mattered two months ago, but it was different now: he was dragging Reyes into his mess now. That wouldn't even have mattered two months ago—hell, he would've wished he could turn the revolutionaries all helter-skelter—but Reyes was different than just some revolutionaries. Even knowing about him, Reyes went all the way with him and even betrayed his friends. For what? There was a time that he thought he was the only one that could hear the voices of Hell—now, Reyes was close to that line too.

"Reyes…can you go?"

"You're conscious of me sleeping with you," he said dubiously. Dominic retreated slightly into his sleeping bag.

"Not because of that… I want you to go back and tell Alakazam that you were under my illusion. He's likely to take you back." He heard Reyes roll over to look at the back of his head.

"I don't understand you. Why is it that now, now, you seem to have a heart?"

"Because I can't!" His voice startled away the nearby foraging Pokémon but he couldn't bring himself to care. He wanted to bitch and moan but what right did he have to do so after effectively screwing Reyes over? He didn't deserve his kindness, he didn't deserve any of this, especially not the quiet peace he got from being with another living being. "I'm a killer! A destroyer! An all-around piece of shit! I don't deserve to think of anything but a burning death in the near future!" Tears rolled down his cheeks and he covered his face with his arms.

"Do you remember that little girl from Slateport, the one with the Frisbee?" Reyes asked out of the blue. Dominic sniffled.

"W-Why?"

"You didn't kill her, nor did you break her Frisbee or attack her Mudkip."

"I… You told me to return it…"

"And since when have you ever listened to me?"

"I…dunno…"

"That means you cared at least a little, right?"

"I guess…" He didn't feel convinced and Reyes shook his head a little.

"You had a family, Dominic, and you honestly said that you loved them… Why do you hate humans now?"

"I don't hate humans, I hate what I do to them." He remembered Ali, then Steven, and even those two guys from Rustboro. Every time he dealt with humans they died, and he just didn't think that the world should lose so much, especially in those times. "The King, he hates humans though. He's this big impossible—impossible monster, because-because how do you beat yer own mind? But I've given up at this point. I know I can't be saved, so I'd rather that ya save yerself."

"Maybe you can't be saved, and maybe it's smarter that I save myself, but at this point it's clear that I've abandoned logic." Dominic looked over his shoulder and saw Reyes sitting up, a smirk on his face. "You're an insane, twisted bastard and you kill when I don't want you to and you make stupid choices and you're more likely than not wasting precious oxygen and sustenance with your very presence…but."

"But?" Reyes laughed bitterly.

"You've opened my eyes, King. In some sick way, I'm glad to have met you."

"Reyes—" He choked on the word, killing Reyes' laughter instantly. "I screwed up. I screwed your life up. How can you be happy—in any way—" Tears rolled down his cheeks as his insecurities finally reached a head. "An-and you're gettin' sick on top of it all."

Reyes cringed and turned his leaf blades away from Dominic's sight. "I told you, it's—"

"Yer gunna die cuz of me!" he wailed. Reyes groaned and rubbed his forehead.

"Stop being so dramatic, Dominic." He reached out and rested his hand on Dominic's head. Dominic moved from his grip with a whine. "Why are you blaming yourself?"

"Honestly, if it had been any other rebel there under Alakazam's thumb, you wouldn't'a given him the time of day. But cuz it was me, you did." Reyes smiled a little.

"That's what you're blaming yourself for? You're a bigger idiot than I thought." Dominic chuffed and flopped on his face. "I'll admit, I wouldn't have turned my world on its ass for just anyone, but either way, I have morals. Something I thought Alakazam had too until today. I would have reacted the same in any situation. And in any situation, I still would have fought to help you." Dominic looked up to see him staring. He patted Dominic's head again, and this time he leaned into the contact. It was warm.

"So what?"

"I don't know," he said plainly. "We're taking things one step at a time now."

"Yer still gunna die, and it'll still be my fault," he said seriously. Reyes snorted and lay down, turning his back to Dominic.

"In case you hadn't noticed, you haven't succeeded in killing me yet."

He didn't remember until it was too late, the effect he had when sleeping too close to others. He woke up because he heard some noise and turned over to see Reyes' face twisted in pain, tears falling down his face. Dominic sat up, amazed, then annoyed with himself. He always brought out the dark of people's hearts. "Sorry," he muttered, taking up his sleeping bag and sifting through the grass to sleep a couple dozen feet away, except he couldn't really get back to sleep because the night had reached its peak.

He barely even closed his eyes before a voice pierced his thoughts: "What would Blaziken think of all of this?"

"Be quiet, you," Dominic muttered, squeezing his eyes shut tighter. The King crossed his arms over his chest, annoyed at Dominic's attitude, and kicked his side. Dominic still refused to respond until the King pushed him hard enough to send him rolling across the dirt. "Hey!"

"I asked you a question and I expect it to be answered." Dominic exhaled through his nose.

"Leave me alone."

"He'd kill you," he said in a loud voice, crouching at Dominic's hip. "And burn you until there's nothing left."

"Be quiet."

"And if there's nothing left, who will help your friend?" His voice turned mocking and Dominic gritted his teeth.

"What?"

"You know what I'm talking about. Things never change with us even if we think otherwise." Their eyes strayed to the Pokémon who risked it all to save their sorry ass.

"I like Reyes," he mumbled. "And I wish he'd turn tail and save himself, but he's too…good for that, uh-huh. I can't make him do it if he doesn't wanna."

"Well, try harder!" His lips pulled back from his teeth and his hair stood on end. Dominic blinked slowly, then understanding dawned on him.

"You…are scared…for Reyes."

"You're a fucking idiot," he retorted, folding his arms and jerking his body around to put his back to Dominic. "…You're scared for him, and I'm you."

"Uh-huh…" He couldn't help sounding a little giddy about it. Evidently, it was the wrong thing to say.

"Throw a motherfuckin' parade. The King has fallen so low as to worry to death over one stupid Sceptile."

Dominic sighed. "What do we do?"

"I…don't know." He chuffed, then his shoulders hunched, but it didn't hide his trembling. "I don't know, Dominic. I don't know."