Pastoria City - Sinnoh Region
The past couple of days had been emotionally difficult for everyone involved, but no one felt the burden quite as much as Blaze did. In the interest of avoiding conflict with the rest of Adrian's team, he kept the thought to himself, but the reality of the matter remained, and Blaze struggled to determine the reasoning behind it.
Anxiety hung around Adrian like an oppressive fog, spreading out to eventually infect the Pokemon accompanying him, and even other humans sympathetic to the youth's plight experienced a pang of uncertainty and helplessness. Such emotions were painfully familiar to the Sylveon, or perhaps evolution had amplified Blaze's ability to empathize with others, because he couldn't remember being this sensitive to the moods of those around him back when he was still an Eevee.
It was during situations like this that Blaze was grateful for the sanctuary that his Pokeball represented. He could withdraw into a peaceful, isolated environment where he could sift through his thoughts and emotions at his leisure without being overwhelmed by everything he was taking in. In addition, being inside the Pokeball meant there was one less thing for Adrian to worry about, and prevented the Sylveon from feeling like he was a distraction or burden while Adrian worked on a solution to the situation involving Ember's disappearance.
He was still let out periodically, usually for food, exercise, or to interact with Avis and Aureia. The Vaporeon seemed to welcome his company more often than usual, and they helped bring Blaze up to speed on what was going on during those interactions, mercifully sparing him from having to witness every step of the process.
According to Avis, Adrian had made several calls to Sinnoh authorities, informing them of the situation, and practically begging for notices to be put out with his contact information in the event that someone, somewhere, came across the missing Charmander. Marcus had likewise included his contact information so that he could be notified to reclaim Ember on his brother's behalf if Ember was located or recaptured in Sinnoh, and Adrian had even entrusted Ember's Pokeball to his younger brother so that Ember could be more easily identified and transported once she was found.
From the sound of things, Adrian had done everything he could think of, but he was on a strict deadline, and ultimately was being forced to leave Sinnoh without Ember.
The stress of the situation had visibly taken its toll on the young man. His hair and clothes were untidy, his chin displayed a hint of hair growth, and his eyes were fatigued and weary. Marcus had accompanied his older brother back to Pastoria City to help finalize all the last-minute details, and to see them off.
The mood had been uncomfortably somber at the Pokemon Center as they waited for boarding time. Aureia and Blaze had sat apart from the humans, rarely speaking, but simply finding comfort in one another's presence. Ever since Ember had gone missing, Aureia had become noticeably more needy. She kept making excuses to be around him more, and while this might not have been a particularly extreme or jarring shift, it made the Sylveon slightly uncomfortable. Although an argument could be made that the courting season was almost upon them, and such behavior was normal, if not encouraged, Blaze instead suspected that Ember's disappearance had hit Aureia particularly hard, and that the Vaporeon's instinctive response was to latch onto him as a source of comfort.
He obviously didn't have direct confirmation, but his theory made sense in the context of Aureia having abandonment issues. She wasn't really acting more affectionately than usual, but she definitely wanted his attention. Blaze somehow doubted this was the most productive way for Aureia to cope with her anxiety over Ember's absence, but he didn't have any better ideas. Evolution hadn't made him any better at handling his own emotions or anxiety, so for the time being, he was willing to indulge Aureia's clinginess, as long as it didn't get too out of hand. Maybe once they were on the boat heading back to Johto, things would be stable enough for him (or Adrian) to address the issue.
A shout from Avis had interrupted his private musings, and at her urging, he had come over to inspect something involving the computer that Adrian had been working with. At first, Blaze couldn't understand what the Servine was drawing his attention to, even after she explained in a whisper that it was a video chat, a long-distance conversation where both parties could see one another via the screen. The Pokemon displayed upon the monitor had been an unfamiliar blue avian with fluffy wings, and he caught glimpses of two or three other Pokemon in the background before the image shifted to instead focus upon a female Flareon.
Blaze's breath caught in his throat, and his body went rigid. He met the Flareon's gaze, and his expression hardened. Even though it had been several months since he had last seen his sister, there was no mistaking her face, nor the large, dark-brown eyes that they had once shared as siblings. The eyes may have followed Celes into her evolution, but becoming a Sylveon had altered the look and color of Blaze's eyes, eradicating another connection to his former past.
In spite of this, Celes seemed to recognize him immediately. Relief washed over her features as she gazed back at him, her expression softening, and her eyes filling with tears. Blaze even caught a glimpse of the Flareon's fluffy tail swishing behind her, an expression of his sister's current mood.
To an outside observer, the sight of a Sylveon and Flareon interacting over video chat might have looked cute and endearing, but for those more directly involved, the tension in the air had grown so thick that it could almost cast its own shadow. Even Avis seemed to have noticed, if her hasty departure was any indication.
"Blaze?" Celes whispered, extending one of her paws towards the screen, as if to try and touch him and be certain he wasn't an illusion.
Blaze's first impulse was to pretend not to know the Flareon, to tell her that she was mistaken about who he was, and to try and convince her that it was a mere coincidence that he shared the same name as her brother. No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than his insides squirmed with guilt, and he rejected the notion without another thought.
"Hi, sis," the Sylveon answered dully, using the familial moniker to erase all doubts in her mind that he wasn't who she thought he was.
"Blaze?" Celes repeated, leaning closer to the screen, desperately fishing for another response that might unambiguously confirm his identity. "Is that really you?"
Blaze squinted at the Flareon. "Can I say 'no' to that question?" he wondered dryly.
"Oh, that's a great way to start things off," Celes retorted, her fur bristling indignantly. "I've been trying to find you for months and-"
"I didn't ask you to look for me," Blaze interrupted sharply, his eyes narrowing into angry slits. "Why do you think I never told you that I was leaving?"
Celes' ears drooped and she averted her gaze, focusing upon her paws instead. "Do you hate me?" she asked, barely speaking above a whisper.
The question caught Blaze off-guard, and he blinked, his expression softening for a moment. "Do you think I hate you?" he asked, speaking just as quietly.
"Yes," Celes answered bluntly, and she choked back a sob, the tears at last escaping her eyes and rolling down her cheeks. Blaze's stomach churned guiltily, and he longed to give his sister a reassuring nuzzle, except the computer screen was in the way. The Sylveon heaved a sigh, massaging his forehead with one of his feeler ribbons.
"I don't hate you, Celes," he informed her bluntly. "But I don't want anything to do with you, either."
"What?" Celes blurted, looking up in alarm, her lip quivering. "W-why?"
Blaze's expression darkened. "You're part of my past, and I want my past to die. I want to forget everything, and eradicate every connection I have to the clan, and my old life. I don't want to see you. I don't want to remember..."
The Sylveon's voice cracked, and his own eyes filled with tears. He actually had never imagined how much it would hurt him to say something like that to his own sister, to tell her that he didn't want her in his life or memories. She was never supposed to follow after him. She was the only good thing about the clan, and that was why he didn't want her around. The past burdened him, and the only way to be free of that pain was to tear it out and cast it aside so that he could rebuild a happier life from the ashes.
"Blaze...please," Celes begged, in a frail tone that made his soul hurt. "I just want to t-talk to you, when you get back from Sinnoh," she said, choking back tears, her voice trembling. "I-if you really d-don't want to see me again afterwards, I can accept that, but please...at least let me say good-bye properly before you leave again."
"What good would that do?" Blaze demanded. "If I don't want to see you, why insist that I see you again before you'll accept it? Why do you need to talk when I get back, if all you want is a proper good-bye? I could just give you that now and be done with it! There's no point in digging up the past when all I want is for it to be buried!"
"Because I think it was my fault you left!" Celes burst out, startling the Sylveon. She sniffled loudly, as tears rolled down her cheeks. "Do you have any idea how I felt when I realized you were gone? You were the only one at the clan that r-really cared about me...but then I evolved, and I know that hurt you...and then a few days later, you disappeared without telling anyone. I felt like it was my fault...felt like you hated me...and that nothing I did could ever make things right again..."
Blaze bit back a scowl, but didn't say anything. He obviously hadn't intended to saddle his sister with a sense of guilt over his departure. He had just done what he thought would be best for himself, no, what he KNEW would be best for himself. He wasn't some idealistic moron, content to just sit around and hope things got better. Change required action, and his opportunity to take action had been stolen from him. There was nothing about his clan upbringing worth salvaging, and even if by some miracle, the system could be improved, the clan's contempt for him ran too deep. He would never truly be accepted there. Forever branded an outcast, and no adjustment to the society would ever remove that mark from him. The best he could hope for was for the society to be forced to accept him, and that just meant he'd have to endure the clan's phony attitude. Every welcoming smile tinged with scorn, every word laced with contempt, all directed towards the lowly Eevee that would never be viewed as their equal, even if they were required to conceal their distaste for him. There would always be other opportunities to drag him through the mud. Slander could be whispered behind his back, and biases would continue to affect his chances of growth, happiness, or success.
That's why he had to leave. The clan was poison to him. He would never be happy there, and living with such a toxic life would eventually make him wish for death. He had no reason to wait, so he took the initiative and departed. Sneaking away was hardly necessary, because he doubted a single Eevee would be sad to see the sight of his back. But Celes hadn't been an Eevee, and he couldn't risk the chance that she try to stop him, or talk him out of leaving. She had been trying to adjust the system from her heightened position, urging the other leaders to reward positive behavior and discourage negative behaviors. His sister had good intentions, bless her, but it wasn't enough, and her actions only ensured that the male Eevee faced constant ridicule because his 'little sis' was trying to protect him.
"I knew you might not want to see me again," Celes continued, her voice trembling with emotion. "I knew you might still be angry or bitter towards me, but I had to try and fix things between us."
Blaze glanced around the Pokemon Center lobby self-consciously. Adrian was still standing nearby, observing the interaction, but also making a point of looking elsewhere whenever possible, much like how he acted whenever Aureia was behaving affectionately. Marcus was at a different table entirely, engaged in grooming Laura's fur, to the Lopunny's obvious delight. Avis had relocated to another area of the lobby, and Aureia hadn't moved from the lobby couch that they had been sharing. Refocusing on his sister, he saw that the Flareon had shut her eyes, attempting to stem the flow of tears, and she shifted her weight uncomfortably, her tail wrapping around her body self-consciously. This immediately reminded Blaze that, just like himself, Celes had other Pokemon in her immediate vicinity, and was probably mortified by her loss of composure.
"Celes, where exactly are you?" Blaze asked, a growl escaping his throat. He was trying to see more of the Flareon's surroundings, because while the screen didn't display much apart from the Flareon itself, he could definitely see that she wasn't in an outdoor environment, and that didn't bode well for this situation's development.
"Huh?" Celes blinked and sniffled, her brown eyes glancing to either side of the screen before answering in a softer, almost sheepish, tone. "Adrian's apartment."
Blaze cursed under his breath, and his eyes narrowed in anger. His ribbons coiled around his forelegs, making him feel for a moment like his body was tying itself into knots. Now he understood the real problem. He should have picked up on it from the moment his sister had mentioned him coming back 'from Sinnoh'. Somehow, she had known he was in a different region, and someone had even contacted Adrian on her behalf, and managed to coax Avis into calling him over. Part of him wanted to go over and smack the Servine a few times for her role in this, but he couldn't even be certain that she had done so deliberately. It was equally likely that the grass lizard had absolutely no idea why Blaze had been wanted. After all, Celes hadn't originally been visible when he had come over.
"This is stupid," he practically spat, glowering at his sister, who flinched at the intensity of his gaze. "I don't even get a choice in whether or not I meet with you, not if you're staking out Adrian's apartment!"
"Blaze, I-"
"Gee thanks, Sis, great choice you've given me," Blaze continued waspishly, raising his voice slightly to drown out his sister's objection. "I have to go back and talk to you, even if it's just to kick your stupid tail out of my life again, because the only way to avoid you entirely is to run off now before the boat leaves, or to bolt the moment the boat lands! I'm not going to just run off on Aureia like that - I'm a Sylveon, and she's going to be in heat!"
Celes' cheeks flushed, doubtlessly due to her brother's rather matter-of-fact declaration, if not the associated implications, but Blaze was too agitated to care, even knowing that a few of the nearest Pokemon in the lobby were casting curious glances in his direction. Then again, his sister was always super awkward about her body, probably as a side effect of being raised without any sort of consistent parental figure that could offer guidance or support in that area. The closest thing the young vixen had had to a mentor was Blaze himself, but males in the clan were usually educated slightly differently than the females, at least once they came of a certain age, so he couldn't discount the possibility that him sharing the fruits of his education was partially to blame for her developing this sense of modesty. Of course, now that the thought occurred to him, another concern flashed through his mind.
"Also...isn't your first heat supposed to come this year?" he wondered bluntly.
Celes fixed the Sylveon with a withering look that spoke volumes about her willingness to discuss the subject. That didn't surprise Blaze, either. Apparently, she was fully aware of the fact, and didn't appreciate him bringing it up. He could make a number of guesses about what her reaction might mean in regards to her personal life, but that wasn't the reason he had asked.
"I'm only asking because you insist that I have to talk to you before you'll go away," Blaze protested with a defensive growl. "Besides, I don't think Aureia would be okay with me being alone with you for very long."
Celes sputtered indignantly, and hissed something unflattering about the Vaporeon under her breath.
The Sylveon bristled immediately. "Excuse me?" he growled.
"Oh, you heard that?" Celes wondered, and the trace of a satisfied smirk graced her muzzle. "Good."
Blaze lunged aggressively at the screen, crashing into it with enough force to nearly knock it off the table, the device only being spared of that fate by Adrian seizing it at the last second, his expression alarmed. The Sylveon hissed, furiously gesturing with his ribbons for Adrian to put the computer in front of him again. The youth looked apprehensive, but rotated the screen back towards the Fairy-type, clutching the device to his own body and out of Blaze's reach, rather than setting it down again. However, the display had gone dark, indicating that the video connection between the two siblings had been lost.
Blaze silently glared at the blank screen for almost a full minute before sighing heavily, his anger vanishing as quickly as it had surfaced, leaving only a lingering sense of regret and irritability. Maybe it was for the best that their conversation had concluded there, to prevent one of them from saying or doing something they'd later regret. And maybe it was for the best that they had first talked over the video chat, because it left Blaze unable to physically retaliate or immediately vent his frustrations. It would probably be a couple of days until they'd meet up again, in person, and his anger over today would likely have faded by then.
The Sylveon sighed again, and jumped down from the table to the lobby floor, making his way back to the couch where Aureia was resting. It was stupid of him to get angry over an insult to Aureia, no matter how much he cared about her and hoped she cared about him. Maybe it had been a deliberate ploy by Celes to provoke him in such a way, all but ensuring that he'd have to meet with her to avenge the insult, or maybe she just legitimately disliked the Vaporeon. He knew they had met once before, in Ecruteak City, so it wasn't an impossibility.
He supposed it didn't really matter. There was something a little more pressing to worry about first, namely, what he would say and do once he and Celes were face-to-face again. Well, first I'm going to kick her stupid tail...and then...
It felt entirely too soon when Adrian informed the group that it was almost boarding time for their return trip. He spent a few more minutes discussing details with Marcus, who offered multiple reassurances that yes, he would keep his older brother informed of any and all updates involving Ember.
It was a strangely somber departure, overall. The human siblings embraced, wished one another well, and then Adrian led his Pokemon towards the dock where the cruise ship was waiting. Other passengers were lining up to board, travel papers in hand, which they showed to a uniformed human before being allowed to pass. As the number of people in line ahead of Adrian diminished, he withdrew Avis and Aureia back into their respective Pokeballs, while promising to let them out again once he had gotten settled on board.
Blaze fully expected to be called back next, but was mildly surprised when Adrian made no move to do so, even once there was only one person ahead of him in line. When it was Adrian's turn, he handed his papers to the guard, as well as some sort of card with his picture on it, and after a minute or two, they were making their way up the ramp leading onto the ship.
The Sylveon cocked his head inquisitively at Adrian, and mewled cutely to get his attention. Adrian glanced down and offered the Fairy-type a weak smile. "What's up, little guy?" he asked.
Blaze hesitated, but then pointed to himself with one of his ribbons, and used another to vaguely gesture towards the youth's Pokeballs. Adrian chuckled softly.
"No, I planned on leaving you out for now," he admitted, walking over to one of the ship's guardrails, and looking out over the ocean. Blaze squinted uncertainly and stood beside the youth, likewise observing the ocean waves splashing against the bank of the city. "Seems like just a little while ago we were boarding a ship to come out here, huh?" Adrian wondered aloud. He glanced down at the Sylveon. "Course...you were still an Eevee, then."
Blaze nodded slowly, and absently entwined one of his ribbons around Adrian's wrist. He could sense the melancholy air surrounding the youth, and was starting to realize that Adrian just wanted some company before settling in for the voyage.
Adrian smiled at the gesture, and knelt down to stroke Blaze's head with his other hand. "I'm glad you've started to warm up to me more," he told the Sylveon. "You're a cute little guy."
Blaze nodded, his tail wagging in earnest agreement, and Adrian chuckled, a more drawn out laugh than the half-hearted versions he had displayed over the past few days. It was also becoming clear to Blaze just exactly what was eating at the young man.
"You got along well with Ember," Adrian continued, looking out over the sea again. "Aureia's taking it hard, and even Avis is bothered...it's rough on me, too," he admitted. "I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm not really used to feeling completely powerless...you know?"
Blaze actually understood perfectly. In the short time he had known Adrian, the young man had always seemed like he was in complete control of the situation, even when he logically wasn't. The Pokemon he looked after seemed to respect him completely, and followed his directions, even if reluctant or insincere, like when Avis was forced to apologize to Blaze for invading his personal space. They looked up to him, and relied on him to guide them in the right direction. But in reality, the youth was as fallible as any normal human. Like many people, he felt lost, uncertain, and powerless to fix a situation that had affected him and those he cared about.
Blaze leaned up and nuzzled the youth's hand affectionately, thinking that the gesture, if nothing else, might improve Adrian's mood. Adrian looked down at him again, and stroked the Sylveon's ears in wordless gratitude. Neither of them spoke for another couple of minutes.
Finally, Adrian straightened, and walked along the deck towards the stairs leading below, where the passenger rooms were located. Blaze followed at his side, his ribbon still wrapped around Adrian's wrist.
"Sulking won't do me any good, though," Adrian mused aloud. He paused at the stairs, and gazed back towards the city, and by extension, the Sinnoh region as a whole. "Take care of yourself, Ember...wherever you are," he murmured.
