Sorry for the slightly longer wait. I've been busy. This also happens to be the longest chapter so far (about twice the size of the rest). In fact, it may be the single longest chapter I have ever written for a Fanfiction. In any case, I hope you enjoy and thanks once more for the reviews.
/
Day three had come around. Hurrah! Reggie found himself increasingly wishing that this hell on Earth he had invented for himself would end.
In his mind, he felt as if he could pretty much see how the next few days were going to pan out. His father and brother would stay together. From time to time, they would bicker maybe even fight a little. Ultimately however they would put up with each other. Not because they were family and wanted to preserve that special link between themselves which existed but rather that at the end of it all, both wanted to be able to depart from the other's company knowing that they would never have to see or hear from the other again. It had been what almost anyone could have predicted was going to happen and represented every single reason why this plan of his was doomed to failure from the very start.
He was under no illusions as he stepped out of the tent and greeted the rather crisp morning that his father and Paul would be like an ursaring with a sore head. Both would still be seething after last night's encounter and despite having had the chance to sleep it all off, they probably wouldn't have calmed down all that much. He knew that their rage could sometimes linger for days, occasionally weeks. As far as apologies or forgiveness went, you could forget it. That meant that he was in for some fun.
Leaving his tent, he found his father already by a small fire. He was busy with that morning's breakfast. Come what may, Brandon would do what it took to make sure they had what they needed. He always did. The man didn't stop because of a fight. It didn't matter what happened around him, he prided himself on being able to weather out even the worst of storms. His eldest son wasn't completely sure that was a good thing. People who couldn't always read others very well, people like Paul, they didn't understand, they mistook the coldness he used to protect himself as a lack of all emotion. Sometimes, Reggie was pretty sure that the Pyramid King himself was fooled by it.
"Hey..." He spoke softly to the man, eager to judge just how bad a mood he was in. "Good morning. Did you sleep well?"
"Well enough." He replied, gruff as always.
"Camping not really you're thing, eh?" Reggie asked settling next to him.
"No." The man responded his gaze fixed upon the pan for a moment. "I prefer it actually. Reminds me of my youth..."
Brandon's youth, a subject he knew precious little about. Well, he knew a lot and he knew next to nothing both at the same time. He could recall pestering his father for tales of his adventures when both he and Paul were young, more often than not, the man would give in and tell them. He could remember his little brother hanging on the man's every word and practically crying when the story had ended and the Pyramid King told them that it was time for bed. On the other hand, not once could he remember the man mentioning his parents or what other probably more sedate parts of his life had been like. He never explained why exactly but his answer was always along the lines of "It's of no interest" or "It's in the past".
It was a topic which needed to be treaded carefully around. One foot in the wrong place and his father's mood would only worsen. As such, he chose a subject which curiously enough didn't seem to bother the man quite as much.
"With mom?"
"After a while." The man nodded slowly in agreement.
"Did she like camping?"
"Yes..."
The man's voice trailed off for a moment as a soft but sad smile appeared on the man's face. Brandon didn't speak much about their mother. He would if you asked him about her but few actually knew he was married. True, the man still wore his ring but if anyone noticed, they rarely brought it up. It was true that Brandon wasn't the easiest person to ask a personal question to, something about his demeanor seemed to discourage others from doing so. With his eldest son or few friends though, you could safely talk about his marriage so long as you knew what subjects to avoid. "That night" being the big one which was best not brought up. They sat there for a moment before to Reggie's surprise, a gentle laugh escaped his lips. It wasn't that the Pyramid King didn't laugh, he just didn't do it much any more. Even though, at one time, apparently he'd possessed a decent sense of humor.
His eldest son eyed him cautiously, aware that an explanation for his outburst would likely follow imminently. Nostalgia no doubt, that was one of the few things which Reggie knew would get the Frontier Brain chuckling. He had to wait a few moments before his father told him:
"Some nights she would just lie there, looking up at the stars and wouldn't even bother with a tent."
It was hard for the Frontier Brain's eldest son to imagine that. Like it or not, his memories of his mother were coming increasingly faint as time went by and attempting to picture your parents young was always a difficult challenge. The youngest he thought that he could remember seeing either them was a photo from their wedding night. The events Brandon was referencing pre-dated that by quite a few years.
Even thinking about their mother in such a comparatively abstract manner for him was enough to cause him to relapse into memories of another time. He could still hear the woman's soft laugh as she sat out on their old porch watching her family. She always seemed to wear a smile. It didn't matter what the weather was doing or how bad things had appeared to be, she would always smile. That was what seemed to be marked the most in his mind, her kind and gentle smile. Always willing to listen, seemingly never angry… What he wouldn't give to go back to those days. He lowered his head, unable to stop the memories from rushing back. It wasn't that he ever tried to forget them, far from it but simply when he got started, he found it nearly impossible to stop.
There was a familiar feeling which began to sting his eyes. He knew it all too well, that sensation which came along with the knowledge that those times were long gone and he could do nothing but watch as they slipped ever further away. He tried to hide it from his father. The man's reactions to his sons' sorrows had been mixed in the past. Naturally, when they had been young, he'd had a lot of time for them although as far as Reggie could remember, he'd always had some trouble figuring out just what he was supposed to do about it. As time had passed however, he seemed to have increasingly less time for their sadness. It was all in the past. Yes, he was right about that much but still, his eldest son couldn't help but wonder if the man realized just how difficult it was for his sons, especially for Paul who had been so young, to put it all behind them like that.
A strong arm placed itself on his shoulder. He turned to face his father. The man wasn't even looking at him, instead, his gaze simply stared ahead of him into the flickering flames. The man's expression was impossible to decipher. He looked preoccupied, as if the presence of his son had only barely registered.
"Chin up boy."
It was a clear order and one which Reggie couldn't help but obey. He hated it when his father called him "boy", not quite as much as Paul did but not far off. To be fair, Brandon wasn't really one for names. Even with their mother, whom his son knew he had loved dearly, he seldom used her name opting for terms of endearment instead. With his sons, it was different, depending on word he used, they knew instantly where they stood with him. Paul was referred to as 'boy' a lot, as far as he was concerned that was never a good thing. There was little doubt with anyone that it wasn't the Frontier Brain's most affectionate way of addressing his youngest. Where the eldest was concerned however, he was inclined not to take offence.
His father was right, there was no sense crying about such things, especially not now. He had literally a thousand things to worry about, the past (at least that part of it) unfortunately wasn't one of them. With the back of his hand, he wiped away the tears, hoping to banish them for the rest of the trip. Neither of his companions would have very much sympathy, he knew that for a fact. For the time being, he would have to be strong. If that meant being cold like them, then so be it. He allowed himself to become quiet, contenting himself with watching the flickering flames as he helped his father prepare their breakfast.
Curiously, Paul surfaced of his own accord that day, just as they were serving the food. Either he had been awoken by the sound of them getting things ready or had been lying awake and simply wanted to hold off coming out to see them. Reggie could have believed either. His only question was what his sibling's strategy for the following day was going to be. Would he go back to avoiding their father like the plague and remaining silent or would it be all guns blazing as it had been last night? Naturally, he silently prayed for the former aware that it was probably the best that he could realistically hope for right now.
Reggie watched his sibling carefully, ready to intervene should he show any signs of trying to start up a fight with their father. Paul certainly started well, casting the man a freezing cold glare. Thankfully, it was only a second before he simply picked up his plate of food and settled at the opposite end of the fire. Brandon's angry gaze rested upon him for a moment before he too seemingly decided to let things lie and went about eating his food. The eldest sibling let out an internal sigh of relief, he wasn't sure he could have faced yet more fighting this early in the morning.
For once, he didn't mind the painful silence. He found that it allowed him a chance to think. If things continued the way they had started out, he had his doubts about whether any of them would be able to last a week. He was almost certain that Brandon and Paul couldn't be trusted to even pretend to get along. Every word they spoke was either charged with anger or only just managing to suppress it. As such, he quickly dismissed any idea he might have had about the time and proximity causing the two of them to eventually open up and remember what they had once been. That didn't leave him with too many options if he wanted to avoid having to call all this off so that they could all go home with their limbs still attached.
The most obvious thing he could do was try and get some conversation flowing between father and son. Whilst it might have sounded simple put like that, it was almost the exact opposite. For starters, it would require finding a subject for them to talk about which wouldn't lead to a fight. Short of talking about the weather, Reggie remained stumped. Paul especially had a knack for managing to turn pretty much anything with anyone into an argument. For a man who really should know better, Brandon could be quite easily baited into his youngest son's squabbles and sometimes would seize the opportunity to start one up himself by reminding the boy of his failings in a certain area. Which seemed to be legion as far as the Pyramid King was concerned. Of course, the rest of the Pokemon breeder's family could both quite easily ignore him all together or call him out on trying to get them to talk before turning on him.
Actually, the more Reggie thought about it the more he was impressed at how few fights they'd started since coming out here. Ignoring each other was an achievement in itself.
His second option was simply to talk to them. Individually of course. Attempting to have a sensible conversation about their relationship with the two of them within earshot of each other was a recipe for disaster. This would mean that he would have to find a time when both of them were alone and confront them then. With Brandon, that might not be very difficult. Getting him to see reason would be the challenge. His past experiences with Paul had left the man's nerves frayed badly; Reggie was fully aware that his father had practically given up hope with the boy. Maybe that was the first thing that he would need to have to change. If neither of them believed it was possible then they were unlikely to put any real effort into it.
Of course his little brother was another kettle of fish altogether. Whilst he could generally trust the Pyramid King to keep relatively calm and not bite his head off when he mentioned their family, the same wasn't true for his sibling. Paul could be ever so touchy at times and experience had taught him that his responses often weren't proportionate. You were always on thin ice around the lad and the waters certainly were freezing when the said ice broke and you fell through. Still, Reggie knew better than most that he had better be very careful when he decided to confront the boy. He would have to wait for a good opportunity.
With a battle plan now set up, Reggie remained diplomatically silent until they were back on their way. Once more, the rest of his family was staying almost religiously silent. Brandon led the way. Despite the fact that he was far less familiar with this region than his sons were, the truth was that even Paul trusted his judgement and experience. He was an outdoors-man by nature, used to having to explore ruins no one had set foot in for millennia. That and the fact that he had been on the road, travelling around for much of his life meant that no matter what the grudges they might have held against him, his two sons were inclined to follow his judgement.
The terrain was gradually becoming steeper, making progress increasingly difficult. It was rare for Reggie to come up this far, generally, he made a policy of avoiding potentially dangerous areas such as these. Already some of the cliffs and drops he'd seen were enough to make his head spin. Paul and Brandon weren't fazed by such things however or if they were neither of them let on to it. They seemed to embrace the challenge. Either that or they didn't want to appear weak in front of the other one. Were things different between them, Reggie imagined that he could have used that rivalry and had them both playing off of each other. As it was, he trusted that it would only lead to a potentially vicious fight.
They chose to stop for lunch on a ledge. They'd already climbed quite high and the view they had wasn't half bad. As he sat there eating some of the food, Reggie couldn't help but admire the scenery.
"Man… You can almost see Veilstone from here." He spoke more vocalizing his thoughts that actually trying to start up a conversation.
"I've never been up this far." Paul confessed looking out over the view. "I wonder what it's like from the top?"
"I bet you can see most of the region." Brandon muttered looking out over his surroundings.
"You can do that anyway from the Battle Pyramid." Paul reminded him glancing over towards the north and Snowpoint which lay somewhere out there.
"True-" Brandon conceded before shaking his head negatively. "-but it's not the same. Out here, you've got the fresh mountain air, the smell of the pines, that wind on your face. It isn't a bad feeling at all, wouldn't you say lad?"
Paul didn't reply, instead, he looked out into the horizon for a few moments. Brandon didn't seem to take offence at the lack of a response however apparently recognizing that the youngest was simply chewing his words over. Reggie also opted to remain silent, savouring a moment's rest and the taking the chance to take another few swigs of water. It was strangely calm up here. They were well off of the beaten track here. If they bumped into anyone, it would be mountaineers. He understood what Brandon meant as she sat there, just listening to the sounds of the wilderness which surrounded them.
"Have you been up here before?" Paul asked eventually cutting through the silence.
"A few times… Never reached the top though." The man informed them. "I came here with your mother – must have been in my early twenties – back when we were challenging the gyms. Can't say it's the region I know the best though…"
"You lived in Veilstone for like two years!" Paul reminded him, a fact which no doubt Brandon hadn't forgotten.
"Two years teaching ancient history to some college students." The man reminded his youngest son. "It was hardly the grand tour, I didn't get to do as much exploration as I would have liked and as you know, I prefer being able to stretch my legs."
"We'd noticed..." Reggie gave his brother a knowing look hoping it would suffice to avoid another fight.
Those years in Veilstone were so far away, he doubted that Paul would be able to remember much if anything about them. They were in the days long before Battle Pyramids and Battle Frontiers. Even in his mind, the idea that the family had once lived in the town seemed a little alien to him. Sure, he remembered chunks of it but much of it felt like it was a dream of some kind. He'd gone to visit their old house several times, Maylene had even been able to pull a few strings and get him inside it once by asking its new owners. Much had changed but some parts hadn't. It was strange but what had stuck the most in his mind was the fireplace. Those cold Sinnoh nights, his father would go out and fetch some wood from the garden. He could see his little brother, only just beginning to crawl around on the carpet under the loving and tentative gaze of their mother. The rest of the house was largely a blank.
He eyed Paul carefully. Nostalgia was a dangerous place for the youngest brother to be. Brandon would know this of course and hopefully wouldn't dive too deep into the past. For the moment, he seemed content to answer questions as opposed to actually bringing things up. Smart. With any luck it would be enough.
"Then you left..." Paul continued his voice level and calm.
"I left twice." Brandon reminded his youngest son, not dancing around the subject. "Which time are you referring to?"
"When you left me and Reggie." Oh well… There went that friendly discussion.
"Because you asked me to." The answer was plain and simple. "As I recall, you seemed to think that Kanto was too close."
"-but when you came back..." Paul ignored the man's reply. "It wasn't for us, it was for Regigigas."
"Ah, so you heard about that."
Brandon's tone spoke for itself. Of course, neither Paul nor Reggie had missed the commotion that the legendary's reawakening had caused. They had found themselves in Snowpoint at the time. When news of four extremely powerful pokemon coming towards the city at an alarmingly rapid speed and destroying everything in their path, the two brothers had naturally prepared to evacuate. It had only been when secondary reports about the Battle Pyramid going down had come in that they had put two and two together and gotten Brandon. Fortunately, before either of them had had enough time to really decide on a course of action, the evacuation had been called off. All was alright it would seem. Paul had left an hour later, heading south towards Sunnyshore and his next gym battle.
Reggie for his part had made the effort of calling his father to make sure everything was alright. Things were very vague on the ground and nobody seemed to clear on what had happened or who had been involved. Brandon had been evasive, assuring him that all was well. Just some poachers apparently. He'd looked a little shaken but not enough to worry his son any more than that. Naturally, it hadn't taken much for the pokemon breeder to associate the local legend of Regigigas with both his father's presence in the first place and what had happened. What he didn't know was that Paul had also made the same assumption. In a way it was hardly surprising, the lad wasn't an idiot after all.
"I won't lie. I came for Regigigas." The Frontier Brain answered after a few moments.
"Figured as much..." Paul muttered disgusted.
"You either want me in your life or you don't." Brandon snapped finally growing irritated. "Make up your mind but don't hold your choice against me!"
"So what? Your plan to capture it backfired?" It was an accusation more than a question.
"No." The Pyramid King raised his voice, his pride hurt by the accusation that he could be so stupid. "I've been hunting legends since before you were in diapers, boy. I know what I am doing. It was Pokemon Hunter J who awoke it."
"Pokemon Hunter J?!" Reggie repeated a little startled by the revelation. "Brandon, she means serious business. She makes it onto every Crimewatch we have in Sinnoh."
"And in Kanto." Brandon said casting his gaze to the north once more. "She is a piece of work and every bit as dangerous as they say."
"You took her on?!" Paul's eyebrows raised along with his voice. "And made it out alive?"
"Of course!" The Pyramid King snapped in anger before hesitating a moment and adding in a quieter voice.
"Well then spit it out!" It was clear by now that the youngest son had once more lost his temper. Although for once Reggie couldn't figure out what had caused him to snap. "Come on! I want to hear it from you! How did the great King of the Battle Pyramid take on Pokemon Hunter J and come out on top?!"
To Brandon's credit for some reason neither of his sons could figure out, he never lied to them. As in never. It didn't matter how much the truth hurt, he would just say it. It was amazing how hearing a tale first hand could cause him to realize just what censors were in place in their day to day lives. Evidently, somebody, somewhere had decided that the general public would be better off not knowing about Regigigas and the three golem's rampage. To be fair, the eldest brother was inclined to believe that concealing the information was intended to be for their own protection. In all likelihood, the last thing that anyone wanted was a repeat of the carnage as some would-be trainer woke the pokemon up again in an attempt to capture it.
Unlike when they were children, the Pyramid King didn't tell his story as if it was one. He didn't try to amuse them. He could have been sitting in a police station, recounting the events to some officers. It gave the whole thing a certain cold and distant tone to it for someone who had been personally present. He cut out some of the details, which no doubt would have taken him too long to go into. Instead simply giving them the basics. Even when he spoke about how he had been struck by Pokemon Hunter J's gun and turned to stone, he sounded like a man who was reading from an article in a paper he had been reading. A little more care and concern in telling his two sons, wouldn't have gone a miss in Reggie's opinion. The least he could of done was something like assure them that it hadn't hurt or that he'd had a feeling that he'd be alright in the end. Instead, it sounded to his eldest child like he'd been willing to throw his life away quite easily and with little regard to those he would be leaving behind.
This left Reggie a little shaken, up until that moment, he'd had no idea just how close his father and the family by extension had come to disaster. Simply ignoring the trauma of losing their last parent for a moment (something he hoped even Paul would suffer from), from a purely practical point of view it would have been a nightmare. As he'd already pointed out, they needed Brandon. True, he now had a job, that gave them a certain stability and the possibility to stay afloat but if Paul had the slightest inkling of just how much his father had chipped in, both financially and logistically over the years, he'd probably have a heart attack. For the moment, the eldest son was going to be angry at the man for holding such information back. Instead, he forced himself to remain calm, choosing to assume that it had been for their benefit, so as not to worry them or because of some sort of confidentiality issue with the police that he hadn't brought it up until this point and had always been so evasive.
Paul however, didn't seem to be as troubled by that aspect of things. Almost a soon as Brandon had finished, he cut in with his own question. Simply by the tone in his voice, Reggie knew that they were in for yet another example of the shining human being that his little brother seemed to be striving to become:
"So you're saying: you got turned into a statue, along with the regis and Regigigas restored you to flesh and bone?"
"That's exactly what happened." The Pyramid King nodded once.
"Damn shame." Paul got up from his seat on a rock. "If that pathetic excuse for a legend had any sense, it would have left you there."
"Language…" Brandon's voice wasn't angry so much as an exasperated realization that his requests were falling on deaf ears and he was now bordering on the giving up all hope.
Reggie had opted to remain silent in order to avoid fuelling his brother's rage any further. When
the boy tried to storm off, experience had taught him that more often that not it was best to get in his way. A few moments alone would allow him to blow off some steam and cool off enough for them to be able to almost sensibly talk to him. The eldest son watched his sibling walk off, putting some distance between himself and the rest of his family. He wouldn't go far, only out of earshot. Thankfully, no matter how enraged he was, the lad managed to keep enough of his senses not to wander off completely out of sight where he could potentially get separated from them and lost.
He watched the boy for a moment as he climbed higher before turning back to Brandon. The Pyramid King's gaze remained fixed only on the horizon. There was some sorrow there which naturally Reggie could only understand too well. This wasn't the first time that Paul had essentially wished that his father was dead to the man's face. It was a harsh sentiment by any standards, generally the sort of thing he really wished his sibling would keep to himself. Of course, whether he actually meant it or not remained to be seen. As odd as it might sound, Reggie sincerely hoped that the words were meant only to wound their father. The alternative wasn't something that the pokemon breeder even wanted to contemplate.
He would have paid money to be able to get inside of his father's head sometimes. Perhaps he could ask Anabel for some pointers on mind reading. If provoking him was what Paul was trying to do, then he succeeded in so far as he periodically got the man's temper to flare up. Just why the youngest brother persisted in doing this was beyond Reggie, it wasn't as if it ever ended well for him. The Pyramid King was someone who had such a degree of control over himself that it was almost impossible to tell if you'd actually managed to hurt him. That meant that for all of his attacks, almost none of them had the desired effect. For the most part, Brandon seemed to be wise enough to ignore the boy. When he did fight back however it was almost always the youngest son who ended up limping away from the fight (metaphorically of course, as far as Reggie could remember, the Frontier Brain had never raised a hand against either of his sons, no matter what they had done). Despite all that, it seemed impossible that anyone could be so cold as to not be affected by the way that his youngest treated him.
He was disturbed from his thoughts when Brandon let out a heavy sigh. He got to his feet a little stiffly. His attention remained fixed in the distance for a few moments. Unsure what else to do, his eldest son was about to speak. It would have been the same thing he almost always said at times like this. A defence or maybe an excuse for his brother: he didn't mean it, he's just a got a lot on his plate, Paul's a little difficult at the moment… All sentences he'd spoken dozens of times. Brandon, ironically beat him to the punch. The man's next words shocked Reggie.
"He's not a bad kid… Just doesn't know what to do with himself." The Frontier Brain turned around, sticking his hands in his pockets as he went. "I can understand that..."
His son said nothing, too surprised to be able to respond. Up until that point, Brandon had always held it against his youngest for the way that he acted. True, he'd been more understanding at the beginning when the departure of their mother was still fresh in all of their minds. The same couldn't be said however for when the years had rolled past and his anger had shifted from simply being directed at his father to turning on the rest of the world as well. He'd blamed he boy for not being able to control himself and put things behind him. Called him a stubborn and selfish fool to his face when he'd lashed out at those notionally trying to help him. Practically disowned him when his youngest had spat in his face and told him he wanted him out of his life. This was the first time that he'd even claimed to be able to understand what was going through his son's mind.
Reggie stood standing there, watching as his father walked off. He wanted to speak. Wanted to ask him just what he meant but something prevented him from doing so. Instead, he turned back to the horizon. The rest of the world seemed so far away when they were up here… An ice cold wind caused the young man to shiver. Letting out a sigh, he slung his bag over his back and started going after the rest of his crumbling family. For a moment there, just a few seconds, he'd actually thought that they might have been getting somewhere.
It was later that evening when they finally settled down for the night. They'd reached an altitude which lead the air to be down right cold once the sun went down. Thankfully, they were prepared. They continued with their usual arrangement of Paul getting the wood whilst Brandon and Reggie set up camp. It was once they'd set up the second tent that the eldest son turned to his father.
"Brandon-" He started to speak.
"Go on." The man instructed gruffly. "-But you're wasting your time."
He simply nodded once. There was little doubt in the young man's mind that his father was right. Still, he needed to try.
Getting up, he moved carefully but quietly through the rocky landscape to a small bit of woodland where he knew his brother would be. Paul took a disproportionate amount of time to gather wood. Reggie bet he could have done it in half the time or less and that wasn't because he was older and stronger. Neither him nor Brandon were under any illusions as to just why it took the youngest so darned long. He used it as an opportunity to escape them. Up until this point, they had seen no point in confronting him about it or trying to change things. They figured he needed his time alone. It did present one of the only chances however for him to talk to his brother alone and out of earshot of their father. He prayed, that with just the two of them, his sibling would be a little more open. He usually was: as in he ignored him as opposed to using one profanity or another to tell him to shut up.
When he found his brother however, he found himself stopping. He wasn't too sure what he'd been expecting. The lad to simply be sitting around on some tree stump angrily moping about the injustices in his life? Instead, Paul sat on a fallen tree, he had one leg folded allowing him to rest a drawing pad against himself. He sat there, sketching something out carefully. Somewhat taken back, he watched in silence for a few moments. His brother would draw a few things, occasionally pause to contemplate his work, before erasing some of the lines and starting anew.
Finally, after a few moments, he broke his cover walking out from behind the trees. His brother was either still oblivious to his presence or simply pretending not to notice.
"Paul..." He spoke softly finally drawing his brother's attention. The look of irritation was plain to see on his face.
"If you've come here to get me to apologize..." He began.
"No. No." Reggie raised his hands in mock defence. "I know better than to try to get you to do anything, especially apologize."
His brother looked away angrily. He supposed that the one good thing about Paul's constant moodiness was that it made him very easy to read, unlike their father. There was almost no room for doubt that he wanted to be left alone out here for a while and didn't appreciate the company. Ironic, with night slowly falling… There had been a time when his brother had been terrified of the dark and pleaded for the company of either his brother or his parents. What Reggie wouldn't have given to be able to go back to those simpler days.
Despite his brother's clear coldness, the pokemon breeder walked over, sitting on the tree next to him. When he got no immediate objection, he relaxed a little bit internally. If he hadn't been told to go away, then it meant that his sibling was willing to listen to some of what he had to say or perhaps had something on his chest that he wanted to get rid off himself. They sat there in silence for a few moments, listening to the sounds of the wilderness. Paul's gaze remained fixed upon the paper in his hands. He looked at it blankly, no longer drawing but using it as a distraction to try and forget the presence of his sibling.
"I didn't know you drew." Reggie spoke out eventually, breaking the silence.
"Sometimes." The younger brother grumbled. "Clears my head."
"Mind if I have a look?"
His sibling hesitated for a few moments before cautiously holding out the notepad. Reggie took it carefully, handling it as if it were made out of glass. It was comparatively rare for his brother to entrust any of his personal belongings to anyone. He'd never been all that material but his few possessions were things which he guarded preciously. Heaven forbid anyone damage something which belonged to him. His gaze remained riveted on his brother as he began to flick through the pages. It was obvious this wasn't a spontaneous outburst of creativity from his sibling but rather something that he had been doing for quite some time now. They represented people and pokemon for the most part and were mostly all sketches. A few had some color added to them.
Reggie was actually surprised by how good they were. It was odd but this was the first time that he had been made aware that Paul was even remotely artistically inclined. It simply didn't seem compatible with otherwise cold and tumultuous personality. Yet there was no doubt in his brother's mind as he contemplated the works that this was something which he cared about and was invested in.
"These are really good." He told his sibling after a couple of minutes. "Who taught you?"
"I taught myself." Paul replied taking the book back.
"I didn't know you were into that sort of thing." Reggie replied hesitating for a moment, wondering if his brother could remember who else had liked to draw.
"I'm not… It's just something I do." Paul folded his arms across his chest. "It's not like I go to galleries or anything."
"Mom used to draw."
It was always dangerous bringing their mother up around Paul. Brandon could usually take the chance seeing as his youngest seemed to loathe him no matter what he did but even he was careful. He only mentioned her in passing and never went into much detail. Usually, just stating that she had been somewhere at the time such as when he had mentioned her travelling through Sinnoh with him. More often that not, bringing her up even in a good and relatively harmless way would result in the youngest member of the family becoming hostile and a confrontation. In a way, Reggie could understand, he didn't want to be reminded that she was no longer there but equally it made it difficult for those around him not to talk about her.
You had to be careful if you chose to do so. Reggie had taken a chance and hoped it wasn't about to backfire in his face. Paul was taking his time in responding. Hopefully, it would be the good memories and not the bitter resentment which prevailed over him.
"I honestly can't remember that." He spoke quietly after a few moments.
"Yeah..." Reggie recalled with a faint smile. "She used to draw everything, you, me, Brandon, the pokemon, flowers… She painted too."
"Professionally?" Paul raised an eyebrow curiously.
"Nah." The eldest brother shook his head. "Just for fun. You should ask Brandon to show you some of the stuff she did. Unless he's changed, he should carry some of it with him in that journal of his."
"As if I'd ever ask for anything from him!" Paul snapped angrily at the mere suggestion.
"Seeing as their mom's, they're not really his, are they?" His brother tried to put it to him in another light. "They belong to the family."
That seemed to be enough to at least get him to think. That was always the difficult part with Paul. With his automatic response when something displeased him being to become aggressive, it made it nearly impossible to have sensible discussions about certain subjects with the lad. His family would be a prime example of one such subject. The fact that he hadn't immediately started shouting at the mention of their mother gave his elder brother at least some vague hope. It was clear that the suggestion tempted him, a fair deal. Unlike the rest of his family, the youngest's memories of his mother were a good deal fainter than normal given his age at the time. Therefore, anything connecting to her became a precious artefact, a connection to a past left behind long ago. Of course, that lead to the big issue which was that it was Brandon who had most, if not all of their mother's stuff.
It wasn't that he had hoarded it but rather that with Reggie only having a modest sized house for both him and Paul to share in Veilstone, their father had been the only one with enough room to be able to keep most of it. The few times he'd asked, Brandon had always been willing to let him look around. Granted, the man didn't like to hang around his wife's stuff but his son suspected that was largely because it brought back some painful memories. There was no doubt that he took care of it, protecting it from the elements and dusting the numerous items. Whether or not he actually went through it when he was alone was another matter and one which his eldest couldn't answer.
"Why are you doing this Reggie?" His brother asked after a few moments more of silence.
"Because I think it's what's right." He saw no point in lying or dancing around the truth and so told it to him straight. "We're a family little bro. You can't change that and neither can Brandon."
"We don't need him..." Paul practically spat the last word. "We're better off without him in fact."
"We need him." Reggie made an effort to remain calm despite his sibling's gradually growing anger. "Paul look how far things have gone without him… Like it or not, he's our father. I know you blame him for what happened but it wasn't his fault. Can't you see that now? There's nothing he could have done-"
"He didn't have to lie!"
The angry words were loud enough to convince Reggie to stand down. He'd overstepped the boundaries and there was no point in trying to reason with him when he was like that. Instead, his brother simply lowered his head but said nothing. No use in provoking him any further or in trying to apologize. Ironically, saying "sorry" tended to cause the lad's temper to flare up even worse. The sympathy of others was something which Paul neither appreciated nor understood and would push away without fail. So he left him there, aware that time was the best cure for his brother's foul temper and moodiness. He would rejoin them when he was ready and no sooner.
His father had succeeded in setting up the camp. The man cast his son a curious glance. The lad's expression spoke for itself. He could swear he saw the "I told you so" on the tip of Brandon's tongue but thankfully, it didn't come. Instead, he just turned away and went back to preparing food for the pokemon. Reggie joined him but neither spoke.
The silence continued on into the evening. The eldest brother was gradually becoming accustomed to it so that it was now white noise as opposed to the oppressing and painful experience it had been up until then. It was quite an accomplishment to stay as quiet as these two were for quiet so long. Granted, neither of them were exactly social butterflies. Scott was often complaining that Brandon could be a little more accommodating where challengers were concerned and the Frontier Brain's social circle could almost be counted on the fingers of one hand. The least said about his youngest sibling the better. Both, on all accounts seemed to have a knack for leaving a somewhat bitter taste in peoples' mouths and for saying exactly what was on their mind no matter how hurtful it might be to another. Despite that, Reggie found it hard to imagine that going for this length of time with only hostilities wasn't begging to tire even them.
Just as he was musing about whether or not the two of them would ever say more than a few angry words to each other over the course of a week, his phone went off. In truth, he'd almost forgotten he had it on him. It was his personal number, all of his work was currently being routed through Maylene who had very obligingly agreed to help him with his somewhat bizarre predicament. As such, he wasn't all that surprised to see that it was she who was calling him. On an amusing note, he wasn't the only one to be startled by the sudden ringing as both Paul and Brandon jumped to their feet, battle ready. Thankfully, both seemed to calm down quickly when they realized what it was.
"Sorry about this guys." Reggie replied answering his phone. No he wasn't, talking to a human being without having to worry about the potential outbreak of world war Pyramid family was a welcome release. "Hey there Maylene!"
"Maylene?!" Paul raised his voice markedly prompting his sibling to cover up the speaker so that the gym leader couldn't hear him.
"For once Paul..." Reggie spoke in a hushed yet angry tone. "Just shut it, okay?!"
"Who's Maylene?" Brandon questioned looking to both of his sons.
"The gym leader of Veilstone city." The eldest replied eager to explain to stop the barrage of questions he could sense coming.
"Please… She's a second-rate-"
He shot his brother an icy cold glare before getting to his feet. There was no sense trying to talk close to Brandon and Paul. For one, his little brother was sure to make himself a pain. Secondly, his father was bound to ask half a dozen questions and expect answers, regardless of whether or not he was on the phone. Thirdly, he simply wanted some privacy. He couldn't think that this would be anything particularly serious but all the same. There were some matters that he would rather the rest of his family remained unaware of or at least stayed out of.
Even as he was walking away however, he couldn't help but catch a bit of the exchange between Paul and Brandon. It sort of made sense somewhere along the line that the only time those two would talk would be to make his life a misery. Ordinarily, he would have shrugged it off, not being the type of guy to take offence at much but there were some things which he found himself almost completely unable to ignore.
"She's a complete disgrace the the gym leaders!" Paul informed his father after he had inquired as to just what the gym leader of Veilstone was like. "Seriously, a trainer with a magikarp could take her down!"
"So, I see..." The Pyramid King replied.
"Please tell me she's not the one you left your keys with!" Paul called out to him.
"None of your business!" Reggie called back irritated but not about to lie.
"You might as well have handed them over to some hobo on the street! They would probably have been safer!" Breathe… Reggie told himself, just ignore him.
"Paul, I'm warning you!" He couldn't help but call back.
"Knowing your brother, he's probably got a thing for her..." Brandon informed the younger sibling.
"I do not! Now both of you shut up or else I'm done cooking you dinner!"
A surprisingly effective threat it would seem as both were promptly silent. Evidently the prospect of losing the talents of their best cook was enough to convince both of them that they had better be quiet. He had no way of knowing just how much Maylene had overheard but hoped it wasn't so much. He knew better than most that she could be sensitive. It was something he suspected that the young woman would grow out of when she had a little more experience as a gym leader and hopefully some more confidence to boot. Given what he'd told her about his family, he hoped that she knew not to take it personally. Paul and Brandon were abrasive at the best of times.
He had become convinced that by the end of this darned week, he was going to be either grey or insane, quite possibly both if father and brother continued to try their hardest to make themselves nuisances. He continued to put some distance between himself and them. Not too much, just enough so that they wouldn't hear absolutely everything that was said and that they couldn't chip into the discussion themselves. Finally, he stopped a few yards away. He could hear that his friend was still on the line and exercising a laudable amount of patience.
"Sorry about that." He apologized to her.
"No problem. Sounds like you're having fun." Came the amused voice from the other end.
"You have no idea..." He let out an exasperated sigh, resting his head against a nearby rock.
"How are things going?" She asked him.
"Let me put it this way… If you told me my house had burned down, the destruction of my life would be pretty much complete."
"That good, huh?"
He'd asked Maylene to give him a call about mid-week just to ensure that everything was alright. On Veilstone's end he couldn't imagine what could have gone wrong but you never could tell. It was more to give him someone other than his father and brother to start up a conversation with that he'd done it. In his heart of hearts, he had been well-aware that by this point in the trip, he would likely be feeling lonely and isolated despite the presence of his family. In that regard, he had been proven right. It was a pleasant change to hear a friendly voice and one which he didn't have to fear would bring commotion and a potential argument.
"Well, no one said it was going to be easy." He replied with a sigh. "These two are stubborn. That's for sure. Paul's got it in his head he hates Brandon. Brandon knows that and he's convinced that Paul's beyond hope."
"I can see how that might be a problem." The gym leader sounded sympathetic.
"Yeah well… I'm not done trying." Reggie assured her in an attempt to give himself some more courage. "How are things your end?
"Fine." She told him much to his relief. "That client of yours popped round and paid. The pokemon are fine."
"How about yourself?"
"Oh, you know me. It's been pretty quiet recently, especially without you here." He found himself blushing slightly at the comment. "I've got one challenger tomorrow."
"And who might that be?" Reggie questioned out of politeness more than anything else. After all, he doubted he would know whoever that was.
"Some kid called "Barry". Would you believe he tried to fine me?"
"What? Why?" There were obviously a few strange cases in Sinnoh.
"No idea! Something about being late..." He could hear her puzzlement even from the other end of the line. "Anyway, I hope he's as good a battler as he is a talker."
Reggie smiled. It was good to know that his old friend was back on her feet. He knew what it was like to be completely blown away in a battle. His father and Paul were harsh mentors in that respect. They didn't mix their words and if they thought you weren't up to scratch, they damn well let you know about it. If you weren't quite prepared for it or if you were a little sensitive then it could be quite the blow to both your confidence and your self-esteem. Brandon was about as delicate as his signature pokemon, Paul even less so. An encounter with them was often a scaring event if things went badly. Ash would no doubt be a good example if what Brock had told him about their encounters had been true.
"I'll be routing for you." He told the young woman.
"Thanks..." There was a sudden uneasy pause at the other end.
"Maylene?" He questioned wondering if he'd just lost connection.
"Reggie, it's probably nothing..." The gym leader sounded nervous. "Cynthia told me – told all the gyms really – to be on the lookout for team Galactic. You remember them?"
He let out a heavy sigh. Yeah, he remembered them alright. They'd been in the back of his mind for quite some time now. It wasn't that he was particularly afraid of bumping into them again, he was pretty sure that whatever they had been doing in Veilstone had been a once off. It was more just what they had been doing which had bothered him. He knew the police had been involved and had already given his account of what had happened along with Maylene and Ash and his group of friends. Naturally he'd heard about the theft of the Lustrous and Adamant orb afterwards. Whilst it was possible that the organisation was simply stealing rare artefacts and then selling them to the highest bidder, there was something about the whole thing which bugged Reggie. He couldn't quite place his finger upon it, maybe it was to do with growing up with Brandon's tales of adventures and mysteries to do with ruins and ancient civilisations, many of which could be summed up by "it's best to leave such things alone" which made him a little more sensitive to such things.
If Cynthia was taking the precaution of warning the gym leaders and potentially getting them ready for a conflict, then that meant he wasn't alone with his doubts and concerns. He didn't know if that was reassuring or not. Still, it wasn't the time to ponder such things.
"Hard to forget." He replied after a few moments of thoughtfulness. "Those guys gave me the creeps."
"Yeah me too..." She still sounded nervous, causing Reggie to wonder just what Cynthia had told her. "You be careful, okay Reg?"
"Ah, you know me!" He made an effort to sound cheerful and carefree in order to try and banish all concerns she might have had. "Besides, it's not like we're going to run into them out here."
"Yeah."
"Anyhow, I'd better get back to Paul and Brandon before they start bickering again."
"I don't envy you that." She laughed softly. "You stay safe and sane."
"Too late for that last one." He chuckled as a reply. "See you soon May."
He felt sorry as he hung up the phone. He could have spent another few hours chatting to her. Sadly, his family and phone bill wouldn't allow it. Given that they were roughly half way through the trip anyhow, he'd be seeing her in the not too distant future. He let out a sight smile as he returned the camp fire and his family. To his surprise, he wasn't questioned any further. Evidently the threat of no more dinner was more effective than he had initially thought it would be. He noted it down as a potential weapon to be used later on if the two of them ever got on his nerves again. Not that he suspected it would matter much at the end of this trip, the chances were he wouldn't be doing much more cooking for his brother of father.
So they continued their nightly routine of not saying a word to each other before swiftly returning to their respective tents. Sometimes Reggie wondered if there were other families like his. True, not everyone could claim to have lived through what they had but he wasn't arrogant enough to presume that they were the only ones to have suffered such a loss. Back in the early days, he'd read some of these survivor stories but as he'd watched his family crumble, he'd realized that they had precious little to do with what he was faced with. He'd been young when he'd figured out that if he didn't try to fix things, then they would be doomed to remain forever broken.
Reggie starred at the flickering flames for a moment longer before silently getting to his feet. His father's tent was about as far away from Paul's as it could get. At least that meant that if they were to have a discussion, the youngest son wouldn't risk overhearing them. The Pokemon breeder entered silently. He found his father sitting down, a small lantern nearby lighting the pages of his old journal. The man wrote steadily with a pen which looked as if it had seen better days. He wrote steadily, words which were meant for no one other than himself it would seem. His son waited patiently, although the Frontier Brain either hadn't noticed him or more likely was intentionally paying no attention to the intrusion. Tonight, however, the young man had no intention of being ignored:
"What do you write in that thing?" He asked the man.
"Notes. Experiences. I suppose you could call it a diary of sorts." Brandon replied not raising his gaze from the book.
"I remember that thing from way back. It can't be the same one. It must be nearly as old as me."
"I've had it since long before you were born." The man explained still not looking up. "It was a gift from your grandfather, to your mother who gave it to me shortly after she met me."
"There can't be much more space left in it then."
"Are you calling me old?" The man raised an eyebrow, glancing over the top of the book.
"No!" Reggie raised his hands in self-defense. "-But I mean… Those things run out eventually, depending on how much you write."
His father shot him an inquisitive look. No doubt the man had figured out than he wasn't all that interested in the workings of a book. None the less, he seemed content to go along with the conversation for the moment. It was small talk, something to try and lighten the mood before things became serious. Brandon shifted slightly so that he could more easily see the young man. He paused for a few moments, his gaze drifted back down to his journal for a couple of moments. The Pyramid King mindlessly stroked the back of the book for a moment.
"I add pages when I need some more and remove old ones which are less important and store them somewhere else." He explained before closing it once more. "-but that's not what you wanted to talk to me about."
"No..." Reggie confessed looking away for a moment. "It's Paul."
"Ah. Your brother, of course..." Brandon left a pause, allowing his son to specify just what about Paul he wanted to talk about.
"Brandon, you said some stuff..." Reggie wondered how best to explain what was troubling him. "I thought you couldn't relate to Paul. That's what I've been all of this about."
The Pyramid King placed the book down on his lap before throwing his head back and letting out a heavy sigh. He stayed like that for a few moments. Reggie couldn't help but stare, for the first time in a long while, he found that his father looked tired. Not the sort of tired that came about from not getting enough sleep but rather that which came along from a weariness with life. He supposed that Brandon wasn't quite as young as he used to be, that was something which could be difficult to get his head around. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to his son, he opened his eyes just a crack.
"It might surprise you to know young man but I was once a teenager myself." The man's attention flickered back towards the notebook for a couple of seconds. "A stupid, arrogant, foolhardy teenager angry at the world."
Never before had he heard his father speak in such terms. What puzzled him was that he didn't know if he was referring to himself in particular or to all teenagers as a general. His words in themselves were angry, resentful. Reggie knew next to nothing of his father's teenage years. It was rare for him to bring them up as anything more than a passing mention that he too had once been young. That wasn't what surprised the pokemon breeder the most though. It was the fact that his parent would even remotely compare himself to his youngest. That was something that Brandon plainly didn't do. Generally, he tried to distance himself as much as possible in terms of responsibility for Paul. That meant drawing no parallels between them whatsoever.
"You're saying you know what it's like?" Reggie questioned unsure how to react or even what he was being told.
"Of a fashion. I'm saying that once, a long time ago, I wasn't all that different from how your brother is now which is exactly why I know that this little plan of yours isn't going to work." The pokemon breeder averted his eyes whilst his father continued. "It takes more than a week in each other's company to get someone like Paul to change. It takes something big. Something I don't think either you nor me are capable of or alternatively it takes time, lots of it."
"You said that you were like that once..." Reggie recalled fixing the man once more. "What made you change?"
Brandon turned away. He chose to look away, straight at the other end of the tent as opposed to his son who had asked the question. For some reason, that irritated Reggie. He was willing to be understanding up to a point but in a time like this when it was his little brother's well-being which was at stake as far as he was concerned, his patience for the Pyramid King's cold disinterest was wearing a little thin. He clenched his fists, making an effort to keep his temper in check and to wait until the man had finished – well, he wasn't too sure what the hold up was but he was going to guess that his father was musing about the past or something.
"A bit of both..." The man eventually declared.
Reggie had dared to hope for something a little more substantial but knew from one look at the Frontier Brain's expression that that was absolutely all he was going to get from him concerning that topic. It would have been very easily to lose hope with his family. They seemed to be trying so darned hard to make themselves irredeemable. Be it Paul with his constant hostility and general tendency to be a "jerk" as most people tended to phrase it if they were trying to be polite or Brandon who seemed to only be trying to drive the wedge further in between them. The eldest son could have hated them both. He knew that was a luxury he couldn't allow himself however. He owed it to his mother.
He found himself wondering how his mother would have handled the situation. Would she have been patient and understanding? That was the path he had tried to take. He'd spent hours wondering if it was a mistake, would his mother have drawn a harder line than he had? Perhaps Paul and Brandon would only respond to force equal or superior to theirs. For the life of him, he couldn't remember how she'd handled more stressful situations involving his father. He couldn't remember ever hearing the two fighting or yelling at each other. He liked to believe that she had always been an excessively gentle soul. He remembered going to her whenever he was frightened or needed help, she always seemed to know what to do. It was a shame that now, whenever and wherever he looked, he found himself alone.
Letting out a sigh, he prepared to face his father once. There was little that could be done as far as Brandon was concerned other than to try and be more stubborn that he was. Not an easy task, for a man who seemingly loathed childishness, his refusal to admit that he could be incorrect or wrong in certain cases certainly seemed infantile at times to those around him.
"You said so yourself… Paul's not bad. The kid just needs guidance..." Reggie hesitated a moment hoping that he wasn't about to go a step too far. "Dad..."
It was a plea. He sounded desperate and he knew it.
Whilst Reggie didn't feel nearly as strongly about it as his little brother did, he refrained from calling their father by anything other than his name so as to avoid angering Paul. Should he fail to do so, then he knew full well that the young trainer would make his life a misery. It had been so long since he'd called the man "dad" or "father" it felt strange to him, alien but also somehow cleansing. Initially, he had stopped simply in order to put an end to his brother's temper tantrums when the boy had claimed that "dad" was gone now, just like mom and that they shouldn't talk about him. Admittedly, that might have been a clue that the boy needed some form of professional help as opposed to his father's stance of "give him some time". In any case, it had been enough to calm the lad a little. It had gotten to the stage where they had practically written their father out of the equation all together, seldom mentioning him other than when it was absolutely unavoidable and even then, only to the fewest amount of people possible. Anyone who asked Paul about the man would usually get either a mouthful of abuse or if he was feeling especially well-inclined, something along the lines of "None of your business.", a favorite sentence of his which seemed to be his answer to half of the questions others asked about him. As for Reggie, for his brother's sake, he had simply opted for explaining that it wasn't something they really talked about. Most people got the message, unlike his sibling, he gave people the benefit of the doubt, knowing that most of them would read between the lines and realize how sensitive a subject it was. They usually stopped, not wanting to risk opening wounds. After all, contrary to Paul, the Pokemon breeder wouldn't hold the curiosity of others against them.
Admittedly, he didn't really know where his father stood on the matter. When it had all started, all those years ago, Reggie had explained his reasoning. The Pyramid King had been very understanding, if a little disinterested. He'd made it abundantly clear that they could refer to him as pretty much whatever they wanted so long as it was something suitable for daytime television. His eldest son imagined that despite what the man claimed, it must have hurt to have his own flesh and blood ignore him so openly. Brandon's heart might have been made of stone and ice but although Paul might have been a little too young to remember clearly, his brother knew that it was still there and that if you tried hard enough, you would ultimately be able to chip away at it and injure the man underneath. It wasn't much but from time to time, there was just a look of sorrow in his eyes - only present for the briefest of moments before he managed to banish it away to the depths of his being - but it was still there and spoke of an intense loneliness and pain which the eldest of the sons couldn't bare to witness. Maybe that was why the man tried to keep it hidden away like he did…
Ultimately however, it had been so long since either of his sons had referred to him as "dad" or something similar that Reggie found himself awaiting the man's reaction a little uneasily. He was all too aware that Brandon might not appreciate being reminded of his fatherly status which he often complained about where his youngest was concerned. More than once, he'd mentioned wanting to disown the boy. Granted, the words were spoken with anger and Reggie knew that in their family, you could generally discard most of what was said in such a manner as not actually being meant but still… It did cause him to wonder if the Pyramid King wouldn't be happier without his sons kicking around and periodically disturbing his life with one emergency or another.
That was however what he was hoping for. That using the word which he had banished from his vocabulary so long ago would trigger something inside the aging Frontier Brain and remind him that he was a father. That meant that from time to time he had to try stepping up to the plate. Brandon seemed to be chewing on his words for a few moments before eventually turning back to look at his eldest:
"You think I don't know that?!" He grumbled, his voice evidently resentful, low and angry but his face spoke only of pain. "He's been this way since- Well, you know when! Sometimes Reggie, people just aren't compatible! The truth is, I'm not able to help your brother and if that's why you called me here you're going to be sorely disappointed!"
"Neither of you are even trying!" Reggie snapped back, not about to let it go so easily. "As soon as you start to open up a little, it's like your automatic reaction is to start building walls again! Give it a shot! You said that you were the same-"
"I was like him once. A very long time ago. Don't go getting it into your head that if I were several decades younger your brother and I would be friends. I can tell you for a fact that if I had met him as a teen, we would have fought, badly." Brandon let out a heavy sigh before shaking his head dismissively. "The man I am now and the person Paul will never get along. Take my word for it! We're just too different..."
For some reason, that caused the anger to build up inside of Reggie to bursting point. He wasn't too sure what it was. In truth, he was somewhat aware that he wasn't thinking too clearly. The anger seemed to drown out everything that was around him. When he was a little clearer headed, he would no doubt have come to the conclusion that it was simply stress which had been piling up over days, maybe even months or years which was brought out by the fact that in his mind, he was the only reasonable person for miles around. Generally, the pokemon breeder wasn't a violent person. He left that up to his brother. Right now however, he found himself with his hands balled into fists and physically shaking as he struggled with the urge to punch his father square in the jaw.
The Pyramid King sensed it. He was certain of that much. There was just a look which passed through the man's eyes that spoke of the fact he knew he'd said or done something to push his son too far. Regardless, he didn't react any more than that. Reggie suspected that had he swung his fist then the man would have taken it and made no attempts to block, much less to fight back. That made any attempt to even try to strike him worthless in the young man's eyes.
Instead, he simply stormed towards the exit of the tent. It took him all of two steps. He stopped however at the door. When he turned back to look at his father, he shot the man a cold glare, fully intent on speaking his mind for once:
"You know, I've never said this to you or Paul but you're both idiots. I'm not even sure if it's sometimes or actually most of the time! The issue isn't that you're too different! It's that you're just the same!"
"Reggie..."
"I'm going to bed!"
Naturally, Brandon made no attempt to pursue. He looked genuinely sorry, that was all that his son cared to take in.
Reggie walked mindlessly into the night. He needed distance. The urge to scream was almost uncontrollable. Tears of rage stung at the corners of his eyes which he made no attempt to wipe away. Under his breath, the young man uttered curses which ordinarily he wouldn't have dared speak or even think. He hated them both. They had ruined his life. Yes, he had a life or would have had one had he not spent the one that he had lived worrying about his younger sibling and trying to convince his father the get involved. That would have been nice… He wanted to go back. Back to when none of this was his responsibility. Back to when he hadn't been alone.
He fell to his knees, tears cascading down his face. The freezing chill of the night registered suddenly and painfully. He felt freezing. It was a cloudless sky up there but both the moon and stars seemed to be impossibly distant. Rather than beauty, all he got from them was coldness. Sobbing loudly, he lowered his head.
"I can't do it mom..." He cried quietly in between sobs. "I just can't… I need you. Please come back. Come back!"
As always, his plea went unanswered. He had been expecting as much. No matter how much or how loudly he cried; it didn't matter how desperately he begged or for what reason, she was never there. Falling forwards, he cried, not even attempting to muffle his sobs.
To him, his father and brother were almost as far away...