Chapter 20 - Arc 2 (Akala Island) Shadow Puppet

Although they had intended to stop in Paniola Town, with Hau leading the uncomfortably silent group, they were stopped just shy of reaching its borders from the rolling fields of the ranches by a young man in a black hoodie, shredded in parts. He paused once he caught sight of them, refusing to get out of Hau's way, forcing him to a stop; Selene and Elio exchanged a look before they cautiously flanked Hau (though he and Elio noticeably kept an awkward distance from one another). Selene thought she heard Lillie squeak or say something, but before she could question it, the man in black with shaggy, unkempt blond hair (at least on one side; the other side seemed… shaven? Though there were uneven patches there, too…) announced, "You're the four that have been causing trouble for Skull around here. I'll say this once. Knock it off. Skull has no quarrel with you."

Blinking as if she couldn't quite believe what she had just heard, Selene scoffed. "I'm… I'm sorry. What?"

He scowled at her. "I just said that I'd only say it once."

"Look," Elio resignedly huffed, pinching the bridge of his nose, his new Vulpix cradled in his other arm, "we aren't looking for trouble. We just got wrapped up dealing with your buddies because they were hurting pokémon. That's all. Now, I dunno about you, but I have had a day, and I'd really like to just go chill in the Center for now. So, if you could kindly get out of our way…"

"Skull doesn't hurt pokémon," the man in black flatly stated, narrowing green eyes at Elio. "Skull does take pokémon, yes. But they do not hurt them."

Hau irritably spoke up then, something in Alolan. As if for emphasis, his Pichu tried to growl from where it had once again taken to perching on his head (though it came out more as a squeal), and Popper barked in adamant agreement from Hau's arms.

"You're Kahuna Hala's grandson, aren't you?" Man in Black asked him quietly, as if to ignore everything he had said.

"Ae," Hau muttered, instinctively hugging Popper a little tighter. "You?"

"Hmph. Some pokémon have more sense of self-preservation than you. My name's not important," Man in Black grinned wolfishly back at him. Turning back to the others, he steeled his voice and growled, "I mean it. Skull's business does not concern you." Swiveling his neck quickly to focus on Selene, he pressed his lips to a thin line, crossing his arms. "Cause any more trouble, and I will not hesitate to put you in your place."

Officially pissed off and fed up with it all, Selene recalled her new Sandshrew with the Poké Ball the couple from earlier had given her, and her arms dropped to her sides. She clenched her hands to fists. Stomping ahead and into Man in Black's face, shocking him momentarily, she snarled, "Listen, here, buddy, I don't care about Skull. I am not here to solve Alola's problems. If you all wanna worship the sadistic island tikis or if the islands wanna go to a civil war over them, be my guest. I don't care!" Oh, she knew her words were ruthless, but in that moment, she didn't mind. She was hot, she felt as stick as honey thanks to sweat, everyone in the group was angry and annoyed and she knew she'd have to play mediator later as it were, and she just wanted to relax for the night… she didn't have the patience to listen to this edgy, irritating, blondie boy try to tell her otherwise! "I'm looking for my parents. They're missing. And after me and my brother find them, we're probably getting the hell out of dodge. So, if you want us to leave Skull alone, no problem—tell them to stay out of our way. I am not looking forward to getting their pokémon hurt for no reason anyway."

He looked absolutely stunned. Part of her might have lavished that if she weren't practically having a tantrum out of frustration. Flitting green eyes at her, he seemed to struggle for something to say, but a sharp pain suddenly coursed through Selene's left shin, and she yelped, jumping back from him. Instinctively, she bent down and clasped hands over the fresh wound on her leg, but when she glanced up to try to see what had happened, she almost screamed at the sight. A pokémon the likes of which she had never seen stood poised to battle ahead of the man in black; a heavy, bronze mask tapered with blades lowered to the ground, all while the beast clicked long talons against the earth, flexing them in a display of power. Lifting her hands from her leg, which dribbled with blood, Selene realized that the pokémon had scratched her, though there was no telling what it had sliced her open with. The cut was rather deep… perhaps it had hit her with one of the blades projecting from its head? Gawking in incredulous confusion up at the man in black, Selene's blood ran cold as she realized his clothes weren't tattered from age and use; the cuts were too clean and deliberate. All the while, she heard hell break loose amongst the rest of her crew.

First was naturally Elio. "Just who do you think you are?" he bellowed as he marched forward, ordering Macho to be ready to battle the unrecognizable pokémon at the man's side. The Torracat hissed, the black fur on its back spiking to the point he easily looked three times his usual size, and his flaming pendant blazed furiously. Curling his lips, Elio spat, "That's my sister your mutt there just attacked! She was just telling you we didn't care about your Skull Gang! You said you don't have a fight with us, well, you're pretty good at picking one!"

Next, Hau fell into step right next to Elio, the tension from earlier all but forgotten. "Popper, ae!" he called, lowering the pokémon to the ground. "Ready, ready for Disarm Voice!" Clapping excitedly once he hit the ground, Popper blew a large, pink bubble, balancing it on his nose in preparation for firing off at the man and his beastly pokémon.

Lillie remained weirdly silent, given her usual combative nature. Of course, Selene was still too busy staring the man in black down to pay her any mind. She swallowed hard. Those scratches… that pokémon… it attacks even him, but it attacked me to get me away from him… She dropped her blue gaze to that strange pokémon's hateful, stormy eyes. A rumbling, mechanical growl emanated from its throat, and then the scene all around Selene melted all over again, just as it had done those two times around Lillie and Hau. When it reformed, she found she could see this vision far too clearly; it was just so much crisper than the last two visions she'd gotten from Lillie and Hau… She wasn't sure if she liked that, honestly, afraid of what details she might catch given the higher definition.

She was beneath a rack, a metal rack, like the kind of rolling rack a hospital might use to transport surgical instruments. The scent of sterilizing cleansing spray razed her nose and made her screw her face up in disgust. Her heart was pounding uncontrollably, and voices carried on a conversation in the room around that cart. From where she was hidden, she could see the room was some kind of laboratory… Computers, keyboards, monitors, microscopes, and various other equipment lined pristine, white counters and the floor was nothing but clean, marble tile.

"It's fighting returning to containment, Dr. Faba, and we couldn't get it to obey any commands at all," a male voice announced. The doors to the lab suddenly burst open, and she heard that same, mechanical growling, except this time it was interjected with howls and barks and the sound of claws scraping madly against the tile floor. She could see that beastly pokémon's feet scrabbling madly to try to get a hold of the tile. "Me and James can't get it back in the Poké Ball…"

"I know that, I was watching you, idiot. Yet, knowing it isn't responding to commands, you bring it into my lab on the catchpole, so it can ruin the floors instead of waiting for me to come to the testing area?" a snotty, male voice snapped. His very voice made Selene grit her teeth. She didn't know why, but for some reason, just hearing him filled her with an undefinable rage. "So barbaric," he continued with a very fake-sounding dismay in his voice, "but I'll have to sedate it in order to get it back in, in that case."

"Sir… I don't think I could have held it off for that long, for you to come check on us… We sent off the alert that we needed assistance a long time ago…"

"Shut up and just hold still! Like I said, I was watching, I'd have come if you were in any real danger."

Oh, Selene wanted to burn him alive, but just as she was thinking about that, a shot rang out. It wasn't loud, not a burst of noise like a gunshot she had seen in horrible, cheesy scifi dramas, but a deep, rumbling shot, something she felt in her bones more so than heard. And just like that, the beastly pokémon quit scrabbling against the floors. With a single, mechanical yelp, its feet flew from under it and it collapsed to the ground, and Selene watched in abject terror as its gray eyes rolled into the back of its head. The red splash of light of a Poké Ball engulfed it then.

"I hate having to design my creation with such an easy weakness to poisons," the one called Dr. Faba complained, "but until we can get it under control, that's how it has to be… Now, begone, leave me be with my creation! I'll need to see what else I can alter to curb that natural disobedience…"

Heart still beating like it was going to thump out of her throat, Selene could hardly breathe as she heard the pattering of feet, and then the doors to the lab open, signifying the leave of the man who had brought Dr. Faba the beastly pokémon. To himself, Dr. Faba groaned, "I have to wonder why created creatures have to hate their creators so… Children, my Type: Full RKS System… So full of hate for the very people who give them life." He snorted contemptuously. "Might as well call this project 'Type: Null,' seeing as how useless it's been so far!"

Suddenly, Selene found herself rolling out from beneath that steel rack, of no will of her own. She leapt to her full height and wagged an accusatory finger at Dr. Faba. "You're the one so full of hate!" A male voice that sounded so unlike her own spilled out of her mouth, laced with venom. "Creators like you don't deserve what you make!"

Shocked, Dr. Faba, who looked exactly as ugly as his voice had made Selene imagine him, had staggered backward, hitting his back against the counter, and knocking a keyboard over on his hand. Cussing to himself, he flailed to catch the keyboard and the monitor that was being dragged with it, and Selene lurched forward to snatch the Ultra Ball he had dropped in the chaos. She succeeded, and whirled around on a heel, throwing her shoulder at the lab doors to open them. Cradling that Ultra Ball to her chest, she bolted down an alien, metallic hallway, breath hitched in her throat. Again, that masculine voice poured from her lips, unplanned: "It's just you and me, Null. He'll never hurt you again and Mom'll never hurt me."

"Selene?"

Shaking her head rapidly, Selene found her mouth dry as cotton as she looked around wildly. She realized after a delay that Lillie had a hand on her shoulder (after all, she was still getting used to Lillie's radical new appearance—that brown hair was something else!), looking her over with concern. "Yeah…?" Selene dryly asked her, realizing that hardly any time had passed in reality despite the vision feeling as if it had taken forever. Popper was still balancing that pink bubble and Macho was still hissing and spitting at Gladion's Type: Null.

She froze.

Gladion. Type: Null. When did they tell me that?

"Hau and Elio are handling him… are you okay?" Lillie asked her quietly, shooting Gladion odd looks here and there.

Surely, someone had to have told me that… I can't actually be seeing others' memories… Can I? She had come to hatch a plan to test her theory with Elio during the Water-type trial, but she hadn't actually expected it to be real! That was madness! No… Surely it can't be real. I heard the names somewhere while they were shouting, while I was out of it… Arceus, something's wrong with me… "To be honest," Selene whimpered, cradling her wounded leg again, "no…"

Lillie looked up at Gladion again. She bit her lower lip. "Me neither… Here. Hold my bag."

Before Selene could say anything, Lillie had shoved her bag at her. She dazedly accepted it, wrapping both arms firmly around the bag. Pressing her face against the smooth plastic, she found it was oddly cooler than the sweltering air around her. She heard a soft cry from inside and smiled halfheartedly. "Hey, Nebby," she offered. "Wish I could play, but… don't think right now's a good time."

She hadn't noticed Lillie had gone to join Elio to face Gladion.

Gladion hadn't expected Null to attack the girl, and now, he found himself in hot water. Both her brother and Hala's grandson had rushed to her defense, and he hadn't intended to fight them in the first place, not if he didn't need to. Yet, now, he really was finding it difficult to back down, to resist the challenge. Part of him knew picking a fight with two trainers—potentially four, if the Kantonian girl and her brown-haired friend decided to join the battle—was stupid, but… The way the Kantonian boy had lunged to the girl's defense, the way Hala's grandson had declared his determination to continue his Island Challenge no matter what in Alolan… It made a fire deep inside of him burn with something he couldn't quite place. Maybe it was hatred… maybe he was just so full of it nowadays he had a hard time remembering what it felt like. Disdain, maybe.

"Null is not a mutt," Gladion growled darkly to the Kantonian boy's accusations. Begrudgingly, Gladion took a step back and hissed through clenched teeth, "I did not mean for him to attack her. For that, I apologize. As I said before, Skull is not here to pick a fight with you…" Raising his chin as he sized up the Kantonian boy, Gladion couldn't help but add, "Not that I am sure why you are so upset… You jump to her defense, but do you know if she'd do the same for you?"

"The hell are you talking about?" he snapped back immediately, his Torracat hissing again for emphasis. "In case this slipped through that head of yours, she's my sister! Watch your mouth!"

"Family means nothing more than you share some DNA," Gladion snorted contemptuously. He heard Null start to scratch at his mask as he eyed Hau then. "No family will ever be as good as the friends you surround yourself with." He had practically spat the word like a bad taste from his mouth. It did put a bad taste in his mouth. He understood his irritation then. This Kantonian boy and Hau both… they were both so blind, weren't they?

"Is that what you tell yourself about the Skull Gang?" the brown-haired girl demanded as she skirted around the Kantonian boy, planting her hands on her hips. "That you've chosen a family way better than the one you were born into? Because they were just 'all' so bad?"

Glaring back at her, Gladion felt his lip twitch. He thought she looked vaguely familiar, but between the rude bluntness in her voice and the odd combination of wavy, pale brown hair, green eyes, and milky-white skin, Gladion didn't think he had seen her ever before in his life. "What would you know about me?" he scoffed. "Family's just something you have to put up with for a while after you're born. Once you get away, you should be glad." He shook his head and looked back at the Kantonians. The girl was still on the ground, cradling a bag, dazedly looking it over. What a sorry sight. Hadn't the girl said they were looking for their parents? "Look at you both. Running yourselves ragged after parents who probably abandoned you, if you're having to trek the islands to find them."

"You don't know anything," the Kantonian boy huffed. "Not a damn thing, shut your mouth and battle, since it's clearly a battle you want!"

"Friends can family," Hau interrupted, adamantly raising his right hand to press against his chest, over his heart. As Gladion focused on him, he glanced to his right, at Elio, then nodded stiffly. "Even if real family bad, make family. Family what you make, ae… not… not always good. Sometimes, even chose family fight. But get better. But can better, ae." He shrugged and smiled sadly. In Alolan, he softly said, "Look, I don't speak Galarish well. Family's a good thing to have, man. Sometimes, you know…" He shifted in place and flicked his eyes to Elio again. "Sometimes it just takes work. Thanks for showing up and making me remember that, I guess." He beamed then.

Glowering, Gladion sneered back in Galarish, "Are you even taking this seriously? Are you even taking me seriously? Anyway, even if you 'make' a family out of friends, why would you insult your friends by calling them that?" Gladion asked, raising a brow. "Pass." He then chuckled and shook his head at the four of them. "You all looked as if you were miserable together here a minute ago, before you noticed me. Are you really having that good of a time, with your little 'family?'"

"Families aren't always perfect," the brown-haired girl whispered, then closed her eyes and sighed. "That doesn't mean that you just give up on them, though…"

Whirling back on her, Gladion angrily stamped a foot and sneered at her, "I'm guessing that's easy for you to say." He was entirely ignorant to how regretful she looked right then.

"Ay, Gladdy! What's takin' so long?"

"Yeah! Makua wantin' to get a move on to—oh, shit, what's goin' on up here?"

Gladion lurched in place and then whipped his head to look over his shoulder, spotting the same two grunts that had alerted him of the Kantonians' harassment loping toward him. They reached him after a moment and flanked him, cocking their heads curiously at the scene ahead of him, already reaching for a Poké Ball each. Gladion saw the Kantonian girl's blue eyes light up in shock, as if she couldn't believe this was actually going to escalate to a brawl again.

"You two are seriously going to fight us again? We just fought earlier today, over the Drifloon! Aren't your poor Drowzee and Meowth exhausted…? I mean, even if they're healed, I'm sure they'd want a break…"

"Thanks for your pity," the female grunt snapped back at her, "but we got this far without it, so keep it to yaself." With that, she moved to pitch her Meowth's Poké Ball, but Gladion snatched her hand to stop her.

Staring back at the Kantonian girl still, Gladion gave her a small nod. "No," he softly told the grunt, "she's right. Fighting them right now isn't going to get anything done. I told them we weren't here to pick a fight with them, and we're still not."

The male grunt, puzzled, laughed nervously, "Well, why on Earth'd ya tell 'em that? They been screwin' with us, Glad! We need to be runnin' their skulls together!"

Ah, there we go with the puns. Rolling his eyes, Gladion facepalmed at his immaturity. "Listen, we want them to leave us alone. If we go beating them up for no reason, or steal any of their pokémon, that'll just make them want to fight us more in the future. Which will just get your pokémon and possibly you hurt. Got it? So, we're leaving them alone." …Dipshit. Is this how Guzma and Makua and them feel all the time? All these sixteen-year-old and under grunts are idiots. I'm not a babysitter.

The two grunts pondered what he said for a moment, then huffed. "Whatever," the male muttered. "C'mon, sis, let's get outta here. Glad's gone whack and I hate to say it, but Kanto girl's right. Not out here trynna get my Meowth all hurt over her ass."

"My name's Selene," the Kantonian girl shot after them, scrambling to her feet, and dropping the bag she had been holding so tightly. The brown-haired girl all but fell over herself rushing over to snatch the bag up as she did. Haughtily, Selene announced, "I have a name, so if you're going to insult me, I'd prefer you use it, and not that I'm out here trying to solve yours or the rest of Alola's weird problems, but maybe a little less racism and sexism might go a long way to making people care about your cause."

The two grunts paused and just blinked at her. "The fuck's a racism?" one asked.

Selene flushed red. "You know! How you keep calling me and my brother 'Kanto' or 'Kanto girl' or 'Kanto boy?' There's tons of Kanto girls and boys! And earlier you told her"—Selene gestured vaguely to the brown-haired girl—"that she was 'made well!' She's a person, she isn't made! And I'm sure we're not the only people you talk to like that! It's rude!"

"What was rude was you stoppin' us earlier from makin' a livin'!" the female grunt unceremoniously retorted. "Also, you the only Kanto boy and girl here I'm seein'!" She turned to her friend as they started to march away. "Me just trynna help Guz pay to get his buddy from Poni to come fix that crack buildin' up in the wall on the left side and she out here thinkin' racism. Who even got time to think about that shit?"

"Right?! Kanto's got they heads in the clouds!" her friend replied, snickering to himself.

Casting one last, long look between Selene and the brown-haired girl, Gladion followed them. "Null, by me," he called quietly. He looked away from the group before he could see the ghostly look of horror that crossed Selene's face.

He just couldn't shake the feeling he knew the brown-haired girl somehow, but he was more eager to get away from them all than to satisfy his own curiosity. They had their life, he had his, and he could accept the tense agreement they had come to. He'd tell Makua about how the group of four were on a mission to find the Kantonians' parents—wherever they had run off to away from their kids, he thought, fighting the urge to roll his eyes—and as long as they gave them a wide berth, they shouldn't be an issue.

Still, he was aggravated to have had that Selene tell him off for putting pokémon in undue danger… He knew better. He didn't need some girl to tell him how to keep pokémon safe, whether they be outside of Skull's jurisdiction or not. In fact, that thought had him quite hot under the collar, in a way he couldn't place.

Null stopped to claw at his mask again and Gladion hung his head, feeling defeated despite the fact they hadn't fought anyone at all. I know Null didn't mean to attack her, I just… wish I could get that stupid helmet off already…

"You… helped me," Elio said, stunned, as he awkwardly glanced up at Hau. A little stupidly, he asked, "Uh, but… but why?"

Hau's shoulders sagged as he picked up Popper again, who excitedly launched the pink bubble he had prepared into the sky, so that it harmlessly burst with a distant shriek high in the air. His Pichu calmly curled up on his head again. "Still mad," he mumbled tersely, "but not leave to Skull for that…" Blinking, as if confused, he nervously looked up at Elio. "Still… still friends, right? I… mad, yes, but…"

Catching on, Elio genuinely felt a bolt of shock. He's… he's saying that even though we got into a fight we're not just done? That's… that's not how it usually works… Distractedly calling Macho back to his side and trying to soothe the Vulpix in his arms (who had been upset by all the commotion), Elio offered an uncertain smile to Hau. "Y-yeah. I… I'd still like to be friends, Hau… I'm sorry for accusing you of… doing whatever to your Pichu…" If we can still be friends, anyway… I know I fuck up a lot… I'm great at that. Internally backpedaling from those uncomfortable thoughts, he halfheartedly chuckled. "'Sides. I still got a lot of memes to show you."

"Hah," Hau snorted, shuffling uncomfortably. "Ae. Meme-maker show me. Mhm."

With a snicker, Elio turned to Selene then, worriedly looking down at her leg. She had sat back down again, and she groaned as Elio overlooked her. "It's not that bad," she immediately protested, "so stop looking at me like that. I feel like you're gonna attack me with a band-aid rather than help me put one on."

"Let help," Hau interjected, and with a few words at Popper, the Brionne produced another bubble, a blue one this time. Hau bent down to Selene and Popper bumped the bubble with his nose at the cut on her shin. Water splashed over it as the bubble burst, and Hau produced a rag from his backpack then, lightly running it over her wound. She winced at the sting, but bit her tongue, clearly refusing to show her pain. Elio wasn't sure whether to roll his eyes at her or obsessively stare over Hau's shoulder to ensure he was dressing the wound to his liking; he knew Selene's stubbornness was the result of the Skull members riling her up, and he knew that Hau was likely more than capable of dressing a cut, but he just… felt so out of place!

Yet, afraid of upsetting Hau again, he ultimately convinced himself to take a step back and he found Lillie cradling her bag, chattering away to Nebby inside, pacing. He raised a brow at her. "Is… everything okay?"

"Fine," Lillie brushed him off without so much as looking up at him. "Just… just thinking. Got a lot to think about."

"Are…" He trailed off before he even got the question out of his throat. She doesn't need to hear anything I have to say right now, just like Hau.

Hau and Selene soon announced they were ready to get going, and Elio assisted his sister from the ground (and was forced to recall his Vulpix in the process; the poor thing was so frazzled, he thought it staying in the Poké Ball for a while might help it, anyway). As they started finally again toward Paniola Town, Elio was surprised by Selene leaning in close to hiss into his ear, "When we get to the Pokémon Center, we need to talk."

Those words always made his heart practically quit beating. 'We need to talk.' "A-about what?" he almost choked.

"Can't talk about it here," Selene puffed, "but we do."

Great. Can't wait.

Yet, distressingly, upon arriving at the Pokémon Center hostel, claiming a room for the four of them, and quickly grabbing some food from the café in the lobby, Selene had all but crawled into one of the bunks and passed out. She had claimed she wanted to wait and see if Hau and Lillie would step out of their own accord before going as far as to ask them to give her and Elio some privacy, but she had fallen asleep—followed shortly after by both Hau and Lillie—and Elio was trapped between wondering if he should have woken her up, and wanting to let her rest after the stresses of the day's events. Nerves had meant he had tried to wake her at one point, but Bowtie had ruffled all his feathers and snapped his beak at his fingers when he drew too close. Frustrated, Elio decided to let him be and claimed the bunk above his sister's, joined shortly by Macho.

Yet, when the Torracat curled up on his lap, Elio winced as he felt something dig into his back. Frowning, he leaned up slightly, to Macho's visible displeasure, and pulled something from beneath himself. When he looked over his hand, he found a red queen of diamonds playing card in his palm. A note was scrawled into the white space around the edges of the card.

"I think Ekans aren't the only ones who start eating themselves by the tail when they're stressed. Almost makes you wish you could just start over somewhere new, huh? With a brand-new face…"

His breathing rapidly picked up as he quickly crumpled the card, then shredded it into tiny pieces. Before he finished, Macho batted some of the tatters out of his hand, failing to notice as Elio clamped both hands over his own face. Who could know about that other than Selene, Hau, and Lillie? he thought desperately. Who would have written that and stuck it up here? Lillie? Hau? But when would they have done that? They all fell asleep and I'm still awake! I've been here the whole time! Nobody's been up here but me!

Turning over and firmly clenching his eyes shut, determined to get to sleep as soon as possible, Elio let out a long, tired sigh. I must be losing it. Why would anyone write on a fucking playing card and leave it in here? Maybe it's some weird sex thing I don't understand and the previous user of the room left it in here… Everyone knows Pokémon Center hostels are where you usually get some the first time, on your pokémon journey… He screwed his face up in disgust. Somehow, that is far more comforting than… whatever the alternative could be… Not that I think there really could be an alternative… No. Lillie, Hau, Selene—nobody would write that. Right?

…Right?