Lena let off a slow breath as she tried to sip at a hot cup of tea, her hands still shaking from the adrenaline coursing through her. A small hiss of pain escaped her lips as a medic cleaned a gash on her ankle that had been made from the impact of Ingo tackling her to the ground.
It hadn't been his fault…he was keeping her away from the express train…
…explaining that to her Pokémon…was a challenge.
"Gah!" Lena yelped as the sting of hydrogen peroxide made itself known as it was poured against her open wound.
…her cry caused her Scizor, Greninja and Gengar to TOWER over the medic with blazing eyes, causing the medic to shrink and glance behind himself. He felt like a Caterpie being stalked by a flock of Fearow.
"Boys…" Lena looked up slightly, wincing. "...enough."
Nos crossed his arms and let off a 'humph', while Phantom turned and made his way to the blue Kirlia, who was hiding behind a Vibrava. Said Vibrava was perched on top of Lena's egg and was NOT allowing anyone near the egg. Said egg made a small movement…a wiggle…but nothing else.
Cye stayed near Lena, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall she was near, watching the medic like a Pidgeot.
"Miss Selena."
Lena looked up from her tea as the door opened, letting Ingo into the room, who started to head in her direction- only for Phantom to quickly step in front of him, glaring at him.
Ingo quickly stopped his walk, startled at first. He took a small step back, but kept a calm look on his face.
"Easy there, friend." Ingo placed his hands behind his back. "Your trainer is safe here…I promise."
The shiny Greninja narrowed his eyes…but Ingo didn't seem intimidated by him. No doubt this train boss had seen a thing or two.
"Phantom." Lena set her cup down and put a hand up. "Please be nice to him….he and his Chandelure saved the egg after all…we owe him a debt."
Phantom glanced towards his trainer…and crossed his arms, taking a small step aside for the train boss.
Ingo studied the demeanor of all the Pokémon in the room. All of Lena's Pokémon were OUT of their balls. No doubt the incident had greatly shaken them. Shaking off his musings, he slowly made his way to Lena.
"How are you feeling, Miss Selena?" Ingo inquired, a serious look on his face. "I apologize for such a blunt impact…I did not wish for a casualty."
"You don't need to apologize, Mr. Ingo." Lena looked up and smiled at him. "You saved my life…I was so determined to catch my egg, I….completely forgot about my own safety." She looked down at her hands. "HECK! I don't think I was even thinking about anyone ELSE either…I could have hurt someone going after my egg….so really, I'm the one who should apologize."
Ingo smiled very slightly. "I appreciate it…however I don't believe an apology is warranted from you. You only took off running after your egg had lost the safety of being under your watch. Besides, judging by how protective your Pokémon are of you right now while you are vulnerable tells me that you care far more about their safety than your own."
He tipped his hat slightly at her. "Just remember…watch your own safety as well. You wouldn't want to rob your Pokémon of their joy of being with the one they love."
Lena blushed lightly…and let off a small chuckle. "Thank you Mr. Ingo."
"Not at all, Miss Selena." He made a motion with his hand. "I'm happy to see your egg is doing very well. Which one of your Pokémon are you expecting from?"
"Oh." Lena looked down at the egg in her arms and stroked the shell softly. "None of them actually. I got this little one from a man named Riley back in Sinnoh."
She looked up thoughtfully. "I think it was on one of the islands I visited...Iron...something...geh I can't remember the name, I'm sorry" Lena shook her head and looked at Ingo. "I met Riley in a cave of all things and helped him clear up some delinquents. After we got everything settled, he offered me this little one, saying he felt I would give it the love it needed to grow. I promised him I would take good care of it." She looked down at the egg and let off a breath. "To think...I almost broke that promise..."
"You did not come near breaking that promise." Ingo motioned to the egg. "If anything...you were willing to sacrifice yourself for that precious little one." He tipped his hat at her. "The way I see it, you are an honorable trainer who loves her Pokémon."
Lena blushed and kept her eyes down. Being praised for something she had done that was...actually pretty darn STUPID was...nice.
...it was different...being viewed as honorable...instead of...
Lena paused and forcefully hardened herself. She was NOT going to allow Morty to enter her thoughts today...
"Now may I ask." Ingo spoke, thankfully dragging Lena out of her bitter thoughts. "Where were you headed? When I saw you in the station, you seemed extremely lost. Were you headed for a specific train? Perhaps once your wounds are dressed, I may assist you to your destination."
Selena paused, looking confused…before she gasped, putting a hand over her mouth. "Oh crap! The packages!" She looked frantic for a moment, quickly looking towards her Scizor. "Cye! Where did-"
"Scizor." Cye put up his claws to calm Selena down. He knelt down and dug through her backpack, before taking out the two packages that Elesa had entrusted Lena with.
Lena let out a breath of relief. "Thank goodness…I didn't need to return to Elesa with bad news after all this."
"Elesa?" Ingo now looked interested. "You know Nimbasa's Gym Leader?"
"Well, kind of." Lena reached over and took her egg away from her Vibrava, cradling it against her chest. As she did this, her blue Kirlia moved to hide behind Selena's back, watching Ingo nervously.
The egg wiggled slightly.
"As I told you and your brother when we met, I'm waiting for the Unova gym challenge to begin." Lena stroked her fingers over her egg as she looked at Ingo. "Since we still have another month, I met Elesa while exploring Nimbasa, and she offered me a part time job. Apparently she's a big time model, and she's scouting for talent."
She looked over towards her Scizor. "Cye, could you give him his packages please?"
Cye nodded and took a few steps towards Ingo, offering the Subway Boss the two packages. Ingo took them and looked over them for a moment. "Ah, Elesa wants us to advertise again I presume. Nothing new for Nimbasa's rising star."
Lena blinked at his reaction, the egg in her arms giving off another wiggle. "I…take it you know her then?"
"Oh yes. Elesa's a good friend of Emmet and I." Ingo looked up from the packages. "In fact, the Battle Station is one of the main areas she advertises for upcoming events, such as the Pokémon Musical, Contests, Modeling and more. The Battle Station gets plenty of foot traffic you see; so Elesa is regularly sending us things like this."
"Ah." Lena rubbed her head slightly. "So…I really didn't need to give you that spill then."
"I'm glad I'll be working with you for the next month instead of one of Elesa's rabid fangirls." Ingo replied, looking towards his packages. "You seem far more pleasant than those uncouth-"
"Wait, what do you mean 'working with me'?" Lena suddenly looked spooked. "I'm…working with Elesa…aren't I?"
"No no, you're working FOR Elesa." Ingo adjusted his hat. "You'll be taking reports from each of the areas you set the advertisements in. Since the Battle Station has the most foot traffic, I imagine I will be seeing much more of you for the next month."
He put one hand behind his back and gave her a formal salute. "I look forward to working civilly with you for the next month, Miss Selena."
Lena winced sharply and her eye twitched heavily.
Wait….WHAT?! She was going to be working with Subway guy and his show off BROTHER?! She needed to fix this! She needed to go to Elesa and tell her she couldn't do this! She needed to-
Lena suddenly paused when she felt something squirming in her arms and looked down…the egg….the egg was…
Several cracks started making themselves known…the egg was REALLY squirming now.
Ingo let his mouth hang agape, but put his arms behind his back, a very faint smile on his face. "What luck…your precious egg seems ready to say hello to you, Miss Selena."
Lena gawked and watched the egg crack more…before the top popped off completely, two blue ears poking out of the egg. After a moment, the head of a Riolu popped out of the egg, shaking his head a few times and looking up…
…His fuzzy vision cleared, seeing Selena gazing back at him in awe.
"...lu?" Riolu trilled, tilting his head.
Selena trembled and her eyes softened, reaching out and stroking her fingers against Riolu's face. "...I'm so glad to finally meet you." she mumbled softly. "...Anubis…"
