Ash pressed a wet cloth against his forehead with one hand, wiping his neck with a second in the other.
"Are you okay?" Misty asked, holding a third cloth, ready to help if needed. She was kneeling in front of him, as he sat on the floor, leaned back against the wall. They were in a single-bed cabin, the single window showing the sun as it rose over the ocean waves.
"Fine." He kept his gaze on the tile floor just in front of him. "I just… I feel kinda…hot."
It's probably a side-effect of your body dealing with the…possession, Hikaru's voice echoed in Ash's head. I'm far more attuned to the Elements than you are, and I channel its energy through the body in a manner you are not yet accustomed to. Your body apparently reacts to the experience like a disease, and fights it off with a fever. You should recover in a few hours.
"I should be fine by the time we get to Slateport," Ash condensed the information.
"That's a relief," Aura said. The unusually large Lucario sat on the lone bed, her arms wrapped around her legs, holding them close to her body. Her arm had a bandage on her wound from the earlier confrontation. She trembled slightly from the cool air; she'd had to throw out her now-totally ruined jacket before they'd boarded the boat. "The last thing we need right now is trying to explain your condition to a hospital."
Nyx paced back and forth across the length of the room. "Either way," the Shiny Umbreon said, "I'll feel better once we're safe in a human city. If the Traitor can use the Elements again, then we're all in massive danger."
"Yeah," Misty said, absent-mindedly placing her free hand on Ash's shoulder as she turned her head to face Nyx. She didn't notice the teenage boy's face redden from the contact. "I'd like that whole thing explained, actually."
Hikaru? Ash asked the spirit.
I'm considering my options of how to communicate with the whole group with the most efficiency. I need a method that will put the least amount of stress on your body as possible, as well.
"He needs a minute to figure out how to talk to us safely," Ash relayed the info.
Your Lucario companion, Hikaru started, I sensed a large amount of energy flowing within her. She mentioned the name Arcanus. I assume she was referring to her father. Ask her what her mother's name was.
"Aura," Ash looked up at her, still trying in vain to ignore Misty's hand on his shoulder. "Hikaru wants to know your mother's name."
Aura blinked at him for a long, quiet moment.
"Why?" She started. "Never mind," she added quickly. "Her name is Sapphire. Or, was. I don't know if she's still alive."
Sapphire of the Viridian Forest?
Ash passed on the question.
Aura stammered incoherently. "Ye-yes," she eventually managed with a nod.
She can help, then. If you grant her the use of the Fighting and Steel Orbs, then I can merge my mind with hers. Her physiology will be better suited for the possession, at least for use in communication.
"Uh," Ash tried to decipher what the ancient Sage has said. "If I lend you the Fighting and Steel Orbs, Hikaru says that he can share your body and talk to all of us at once. If that's okay with you."
"If he's asking because Lucario can use Aura," she looked away, towards the wall, "you can tell him to just forget it. Even just trying to tap into it results in more pain than I can describe; if he tries to sync our Auras in any way, it will likely burn mine out and kill me."
I don't need her Aura, Hikaru insisted. All we need are the Elements, and her ability to use the Psychic Element. Beyond that, her genes will make up for any shortcomings.
"You don't; you just need the Orbs and your ability to use Psychic."
"Oh?" Aura blinked. "Then, why…?"
I'll explain to her. Privately.
"He'll tell you. If you want."
Aura looked at him for a long moment.
"Do it." She finally said.
Ash stood up, breaking Misty's light hold, which she still didn't seem to notice. He raised his left hand, the gauntlet flickering into view.
"All right, then," he said. He pulled two Orbs off of it, one a burnt orange, the other a silvery-grey. He handed them to Aura. "You can use these." She took one in each hand, and they grew from their small, dormant size to about that of an active Pokéball.
Tell her to just focus on the Orbs' energies and to keep her mind open with the Psychic Element. I'll handle the rest.
Ash did as the Sage requested.
"Okay," Aura said before taking a deep breath. She closed her eyes, and opened her mind, attempting to focus the energy from the Orbs to flow through her.
I swear, though, Aura thought, if you tell them about my mother…
Don't worry, young scion, Hikaru's voice echoed in her head. I won't divulge any of your secrets without express consent.
Uh, thanks. Aura snorted. I guess this is working, then?
Yes. Hikaru said simply. If you're alright with it, I'm going to speak now.
What about me?
Speak when you desire, Hikaru said with a chuckle. I'm only a guest; I certainly don't have complete control.
Aura hesitated, but said nothing.
"Well?" Misty asked, slowly standing up. "Is it working?"
Aura's eyes opened, but instead of their usual red, they were made of a piercing white light.
"Yes." It was her voice that spoke, but—like Ash's during the fight with the Traitor—there was a certain weight behind it that wasn't normally there. "I can now answer your queries."
"Yeah, that's Hikaru," Ash wiped his forehead with one of the cloths again. "He talks funny."
"I am countless years old, Ashura," Hikaru spoke through Aura. "Once, my manner of speech was quite common. What is your first question?"
"Who exactly was Erasmus?" Nyx asked. "The Traitor said he knew him, that he was the biggest threat. What did he mean?"
Hikaru turned Aura's head to look at the Umbreon.
"Erasmus was no Lucario; he was a Mew in disguise."
"A Mew?" Ash and Misty exclaimed in unison.
"Yes. There exists an Order besides that of the Elemental Temples. Before my fall as the last Sage-King, the Order that governed my homelands was headed primarily by Mew. They raised many Pokémon and humans alike, educating Knights and Sages, and when the last monarch's rule ended, they'd pick the next one from their progeny. The Traitor and I were both raised by these Mew, and several of them were our teachers. Erasmus was one of our sparring and combat teachers; he mentored me and several of my peers in the usage of the Elements for warfare. Under his tutelage, our Attacks weren't just capable of sport or defense, but of…killing. Of war."
"So, the Traitor used Erasmus's lessons against him," Nyx said.
"Exactly."
"Why did he betray you in the first place?" Misty asked. "I mean, what does he want? World domination?"
"I'm not wholly certain," Hikaru made Aura say with a sigh. "I'm certain that he does want to end up in a position of control over at least a sizable empire, but… I'm not sure why. When he attacked me, those many eons ago, he outright told me that he had no desire for my throne; he wanted to see it destroyed. That, and the fact that he infiltrated the Light Temple for a short while, probably a little over two decades ago, and left it without attempting to unleash destruction tells me that he wants something…more than just to rule."
"What?" Ash blinked at him. "He's already immortal. Or pretty damn close to it. Is he trying to become a god?"
Hikaru made Aura stare at him.
"If so, then we must stop him, no matter the cost!" He clenched Aura's hands into fists. "If he were to become a physical god, like Arceus, then nothing could stop him."
There was a long silence, before Nyx spoke up.
"What about how he used the Elements?" Nyx asked. "I'm only an Aide to a Sage, and I know that the Traitor wasn't supposed to have the ability to use them anymore."
"So much fer dat," Jerzy muttered from where he sat, huddled in the far corner. The masked Rattata seemed to be attempting to merge with the shadows of the dimly-lit room.
"Yes," Hikaru nodded Aura's head, "though it would appear that Moonsbane was just as surprised by his abilities returning as we were."
"About that," Ash spoke up. "He seemed to be pretty powerful for a human to start with. Are you sure that he—?"
"Yes!" Hikaru interrupted sharply. "I am very certain that his ability to use the Elements themselves were sealed. It was part of what I died for. Though," his voice—or, rather, Aura's—softened, "it still took a very long time to finish that process."
"I don't understand," Ash said. "Can you explain what you mean?"
"And how you did that?" Nyx added.
"Yes and no." Hikaru shook Aura's head. "Recall how I mentioned that the old Order was primarily governed by Mew and their appointed King. These Mew aren't all gone; while the old Patriarch perished the same night I did, a new Matriarch gradually took his place. She had two children, twins, a male and a female. They both grew up as warriors, though the Matriarch's daughter was fierce and proud. She became the guardian of a family—one of those who bore the Half-Mark that eventually passed to you, young Ashura—and protected their homeland for many years. Eventually, the Traitor threatened it directly. She had also been a part of a small alliance working to seal the Traitor's powers; she took this opportunity to finish the process herself. However, her attack cost the young Mew her life. There wasn't even a body left to recover."
Jerzy mumbled something even more incoherent than usual.
"How do you know about this, though?" Misty asked. "Aren't you…? I mean…."
"The same way I'm able to communicate with you now," Hikaru explained. "The bearer of the old Half-Mark was able to converse with me on occasion, though it required many years of training for him to be able to focus enough…." He shook Aura's head again.
So, Aura thought at him. How does that work, anyway?
"I shall explain how our communication is facilitated at a later point," Hikaru insisted. "The knowledge is still too dangerous for you to hold at your current strength. If Moonsbane were to somehow force it from you… suffice it to say, it is not a desired situation."
"To put it mildly." Nyx twitched his ears. "We need to keep whatever we can from him."
"How do you know about Aura's parents?" Ash asked.
Aura's eyes closed.
"Now is not the time."
"Is Aura telling us that?" Misty asked the Lucario. "Or is it Hikaru?"
There was a brief silence.
"Yes."
Ash and Misty looked at each other for a moment, then at the Lucario again.
Aura's eyes opened, the light was gone.
"He left," she said. "I couldn't hold on to him anymore." She rubbed at her forehead.
"It's okay," Ash said in a quiet voice.
"Are you okay?" Misty asked.
Aura slumped over slightly. She held out the Orbs.
"I'm okay. Just tired."
Ash took the Orbs back, replacing them in the gauntlet.
"I'm starting to hate that guy," Aura growled.
"I mean," Misty said, "I'd be worried if you were starting to like him."
"Not the Traitor." Aura shook her head. "Hikaru."
"Why?" Ash said.
"He's stupidly cryptic," Aura said, rubbing her head, "and he knows too much."
"What happened to your Aura?" Misty asked. "Why would using the ability you're named after kill you?"
Aura looked at her for a long moment. Her eyes flickered briefly, before they fogged over. She closed her eyes, laying back onto the bed properly with a heavy sigh.
"It's a long story. One I don't want to tell tonight."
Nyx lowered his body onto the floor, placing his head against it to hide his own gaze from the others.
"I'm not sure I blame you," he said quietly.
Ash looked at Misty.
"We should get some sleep," Aura said. "We can recoup when we get to Slateport, and plan our next step in safety."
She's right, Hikaru's voice was faint in Ash's head.
Ash looked out the window again.
The sea was deceptively peaceful, but it was no longer a secret how dangerous it would become with the next storm.
They could only hope they'd all survive it.
…
…
Silver adjusted his jacket against the slight chill of the evening air.
As a few light drops of rain his head, he briefly considered buying a new coat to get a hood to protect against the weather.
He slumped forward in his seated position on the bench outside the Center, his hair falling forward to shield his face from view.
Before he could even finish exhaling in frustration, the gentle drops escalated to a solid downpour.
A loud crash of thunder sounded in the distance, the echo throbbing in the young Trainer's skull.
Wonderful.
He buried his face in his hands, regardless of how little it helped with the current situation.
You're wasting time here, the velvet voice whispered.
Shut up.
They're weak. They're making you weaker. You need to be stronger.
I'm not weak, he retorted. I don't need anyone else to be strong.
He exhaled against his hands before rubbing them against his forehead.
And now I'm talking to myself. Just great.
All it would take is to listen just once, the voice insisted, and no one will ever make you feel like this ever again.
Silver's head pounded, each raindrop echoing like firecrackers in a canyon.
Shut. Up. Silver forced against the pain. I do not need you.
"Horrid weather, isn't it?" A voice cut through his internal struggle.
Wally! Silver turned sharply to face the teenage boy. Wearing his too-big dark green poncho with the hood up, he was leaning over the bench from behind, standing with his weight visibly focused on one foot, the other tapping against the ground lightly. He wasn't looking at Silver, apparently staring at nothing in particular across the street.
"I don't know what it is with you and being out in the rain without a coat," Wally didn't seem to notice Silver's startled reaction, "but you ought to stop doing it. I'd really rather you not get yourself killed."
Silver didn't respond, looking away with a sober expression.
"Plus, Brendan would be really upset." Wally's voice almost sounded like it was a chuckle—almost. "And, Lord knows he's a handful enough as it is without adding a depressive episode on top."
Silver looked up at him, unexpectedly locking gazes with his ice-grey eyes. He froze for a second under the gaze, before looking away.
"If I didn't know any better," Wally continued, "I would think you were trying to hurt yourself."
"I…." Silver didn't have a response.
I don't understand. A strange chill settled in his stomach. Why does he care so much? Why do either of them? They barely know me, and yet. Silver's frown deepened. Wally's risked his safety for me, and despite his apparently-empty threats, he's kept my secrets when it would likely benefit him otherwise.
How exhausting, the velvet voice whispered.
Silver's frown tightened in pain.
"Trust me," Wally didn't seem to notice, "there's nothing you could have done to justify that."
Silver stared at his shoes. He could feel the chill emanating from the soaked socks underneath.
How naïve…. The velvet voice gave a low laugh.
Shut up! Silver clenched his eyes shut.
"You…." Silver's voice felt like hot coals stuck in his throat. "You don't understand." He searched for the words to explain.
The words are pretty simple, the velvet voice whispered. Just tell him that you're a Rocket. Tell him you're the Rocket. Son of Giovanni, Leader of Team Rocket, destined to follow in his dark, bloody footsteps.
You cannot fight it, after all.
Silver buried his face in his hands.
"We killed a man."
The words were barely audible over the sound of the pouring rain.
What.
Silver looked up at him.
Wally was staring across the street, watching a pair of Wooper waddle happily down the sidewalk.
Silver didn't say anything, watching Wally's blank face for a hint that he was joking, or exaggerating, or….
"It was…about eighteen months or so ago; I'd just turned fifteen. We were in… a faraway Region, for one of Brendan's research projects." Wally's voice stayed level, and just barely loud enough for Silver to hear. "At first, we thought that we had struck gold. The Pokémon we found was…." Wally's voice stopped for a second. "It was one that humans hadn't seen in at least a generation, if not longer."
A Legendary, Silver filled in the implication.
"We'd spent weeks earning its trust; getting close enough that it actually allowed Brendan to touch it. He was writing about it, then. His writings were less in the style of a normal research paper, and more like… a memoir. Constantly scribbling and sketching in his notebook." Wally allowed himself a quick smile. "It was actually a pretty good read." His face sobered again. "I don't know if he'll ever touch it again, now."
He took several slow breaths, but his voice still didn't waver.
"Then, we discovered we were being…stalked. A poacher was after the Pokémon we'd… befriended, and had decided to follow us to get to it. And he was nearly successful. We barely managed to free the Pokémon from his traps, but…. He wasn't willing to let his prize go so easily." Wally looked down at the bench seat in front of him "He tried to give chase, but when the Pokémon was obviously out of his grasp for good, he turned his ire on us.
"We'd tried our best to just get away, but we were on foot, he had a motorcycle, and he wanted revenge for his loss." He paused for a long moment. "There was a canyon. We made it across. So did he, technically, but the ground wasn't stable. Brendan was able to grab me before the ground crumbled. So did the poacher."
Silver felt the chill in his gut rise into his lungs.
"We should have said something. Told him we'd save him, too." Wally sighed once. "We didn't. We let him fall." A long pause. "I let him fall."
"He probably was trying to take you with him." Silver finally found his voice.
Wally looked at him. This time Silver was able to hold his gaze without breaking.
"I saw the look in his eyes," he didn't directly answer the challenge, "right before he fell. Right when he knew it was over. When he knew he was going to die. In that moment, it no longer mattered to me that he was trying to hurt us, that he was hellbent on revenge on us for his loss. When I saw the fear in his eyes, the desperation, all that mattered was he was alive one moment, and because we didn't do enough to stop it, he was dead in another.
"No amount of justification will ever change the fact that I watched a man die because I didn't tell him we'd save him in time."
"You're hardly a murderer."
Wally looked back across the street.
"The distinction hardly lets me sleep at night."
Silver thought for a long moment.
"If it helps," he eventually said in a low tone, "perhaps consider that if you hadn't let him fall, there was a good chance it would have been Brendan watching you take that fall, instead."
Wally's eyes widened for a moment, before he narrowed them again, staring straight down.
Something clicked in Silver's mind.
He opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't find words.
He looked down at the ground again.
Silver remembered the look in her eyes. When he was held back—wounded and half-dead, himself—and helpless to do anything but watch. Helplessly, he had looked into her eyes when she'd realized that there was no way out this time.
When she'd known she was about to die.
Silver took a deep breath, before a short coughing fit claimed him.
Wally placed a single hand on Silver's shoulder.
"Come on," he said a little louder, "let's go into the Center before we both catch a chill."
Silver stood up, breaking out of the gentle grip.
"Sure."
Silver followed him into the Center.
…
…
Throughout dinner, Silver could not stop thinking of the look in Wally's eyes—brief as it was—when he'd said it was better that the poacher had died and not him. He could barely hear Brendan's voice as he regaled tall tale after tale of his adventures—alone and otherwise—in between bites of the steaming meal. The sparking glint in his eyes and his kind, energetic voice should have brought warmth to Silver's spirit.
But the chill wouldn't leave.
Even long-since dried and warmed from the rainstorm, it had lodged itself in his stomach.
When Brendan tore a large loaf of bread in half—the fresh heat visibly radiating upwards from the split—and gave the larger half to Silver, it turned to ice in his hands, and to ash in his mouth.
We killed a man, Wally had said.
But, it hadn't been the same.
They didn't do it out of malice. They had been kids—still were!—just trying to do the right thing, and then to escape with their own lives. They probably didn't even have time to think, despite how much it had clearly weighed on at least Wally's mind in the months since.
It wasn't the same.
When Brendan had slid closer down the booth to wrap one arm around Silver while talking animatedly with the other hand, explaining the details of a particularly thrilling discovery he'd made a year prior, the warmth wasn't enough to shatter the cold.
A chunk of ice was now lodged in Silver's throat, as well.
They had killed a man.
Brendan appeared to cope by doubling-down on life with gusto. How much of his cartoonish personality was a front to hide his pain—even from Wally—Silver couldn't tell. Would never be able to tell.
Wally coped by… growing up, by becoming the adult long before he ever should've had to. By steeling himself against the harsh realities of the world, and being proactive to make sure no one ever put himself—or Brendan—especially Brendan—in that position ever again.
They had killed a man.
But, instead of driving them apart, of breaking their spirits entirely, the trauma had instead bound them closer together. A flawed bond, certainly, but one that would be incredibly hard to break.
But, it wasn't the same.
Silver didn't commit any of the murders carried out by the Rockets himself.
But, he'd watched his beloved die at the hands of their evil, and he'd stayed.
He'd watched her blood stain the ground, and he'd joined them.
He'd contributed to their crimes, aided in capturing an innocent, all while knowing what its fate would be.
There was a darkness in him that was unforgivable.
There wasn't in them.
Now you understand, the voice whispered.
Yes, he understood.
For all your efforts to be different from your father, it continued, you have no real right to call yourself better. So there's less blood on your hands.
Is that because you're nobler? Or because you simply lack the will to… commit?
Silver frowned.
They will find out what you really are one day, it whispered. Not just the son of some corrupt noble or politician. The son of a crime lord. A criminal himself. One that lost his dearest friend, his beloved, to that criminal underworld, and chose to stay.
You had to be pushed out by someone better.
A brief flash of a memory before Silver's eyes summoned a small coal of hatred in his gut. But even that warmth was extinguished by the realization washing over him like a torrent of rain.
I have to leave.
He looked at Brendan, telling some sort of joke or other, and forced himself to not-quite-chuckle in response. The smile that Wally gave in response was like a blade between his ribs.
They can't know.
He didn't want to leave. He wanted this façade to be real, to belong, to start over. To have this sort of bond that was deeper than most friendships, a sort of love that wasn't like the one she'd had, but. Different. A kinship. He wanted to believe.
To try.
All these years, and he finally understood what this was. And he didn't dare to put the word to it.
If the hatred it would spark melted his resolve, he might give himself away.
Silver held himself together until after dinner, until he had the privacy of his evening shower, before he let his despair hit.
If you stay, they will find out what you are. Will it be before their blood is on your hands? You know you don't belong here. You never could.
Perhaps there's nowhere you belong.
Even as the hot water from the shower above him turned cold, he let it wash over him as he allowed himself to grieve.
He knew what he had to do.
He would stay for the masquerade. He'd already spent money for it, for one thing. For another, there would be a lot of people from around the world there. Maybe, just maybe, if he kept to the shadows and listened, he could learn something, discover somewhere he could go.
Somewhere he could live the rest of his life in obscurity and never harm anyone again.
You were never a hero, the voice reminded him. You never could be. Look what happened when you tried. Look what happened when your father tried to be a hero. He tried, and he ended up crawling right back again.
Silver would let Wally have this victory for one night, let him think he'd had the breakthrough he'd been hoping for. He would let Brendan think that he was finding happiness, and not the despair that he now understood he would never be able to run away from.
He wouldn't let them become victims to the darkness in his soul.
…
…
Misty stretched her arms briefly as she walked down the ferry's deck, just outside the cabins. To her left, the coast of Hoenn drew ever closer as the ship began its slow approach to Slateport's wharfs. It would be probably about an hour or so before it was time to disembark.
Misty's nerves were shot from waiting.
They all wanted to just get as much distance from… that monster as they could.
If there would ever be enough distance away.
Misty stopped, spotting Aura a few feet down the deck. The Lucario was leaning over the guardrail, arms crossed against it, staring into the water below. Her red eyes were narrowed in thought, her mouth in a tight, slight frown.
Misty tried to be casually as she approached, and turned to stand next to her in a mellower echo of the Lucario's pose.
They stood there for several long moments, neither of them speaking. In fact, if Misty hadn't noticed Aura's ear twitch in her direction briefly, she'd have believed that the Lucario didn't even notice she was there.
The sky softened as the sunrise behind them began to slowly chase away the last remnants of night, indigo fading to cerulean. The air was tinged with the taste of salt from where the ferry broke across the water. Misty looked at Aura. The gentle morning breeze was blowing against her fur, ruffling it in a nearly-friendly manner.
Misty looked back at the passing shoreline.
"It's kinda cold today," she eventually said.
"I might buy a new coat." Aura spoke, her voice raw.
A brief silence followed as Misty tried to come up with something more substantial.
"What'cha thinking about?" She finally settled on, hoping to get the Lucario to be more talkative.
"…'M not sure," she eventually mumbled. Her eyes narrowed further, barely more than red slits against the black fur of her face.
Misty exhaled.
Okay, time to be direct, then.
"So, your mom is from Viridian then?"
Aura turned her head sharply to stare at her, eyes widening.
"No!" She breathed.
"But, Hikaru said…?"
Aura's face softened.
"Oh. You meant Viridian Forest." She looked back to the water, exhaling slowly. "I thought you meant the city. Sort of, yeah. It's where she met…." She trailed off. "There are urban myths about the forest having a sort of… magic to it, that manifests in some of its inhabitants." She lowered her head to rest it against her arms on the guardrail. "It's just wishful thinking of course. Nothing really makes anyone more powerful or stronger than someone by nature like that. Not naturally, at least."
"You said before that you had a parent named Arcanus?" Misty asked tentatively.
Aura's expression hardened.
"My father. If he isn't dead, he may as well be."
Misty didn't know how to respond to that.
"And, your mother?" She changed the subject back.
"…I don't know. I haven't seen her since I was little more than a hatchling."
Misty took a long breath.
I don't know what Ash said to her that's gotten her more…open.
She felt a ball of courage form in her gut.
What the hell, maybe it'll trip her up.
"Have you ever had a mate?" She asked in as casual a tone as she could.
After a long silence, she dared to glance at Aura out of the corner of her eye.
Aura was leaning a bit further over the edge of the guardrail, one arm completely dangling over it. She was staring at the water with an odd expression, not quite anger and not quite anguish.
"…Yes." Her voice was almost drowned out by the sound of the waves below.
Misty turned to look directly at her.
"Wh-why did you say…?"
Aura took a deep breath, exhaling in a long, loud moment.
"I lied." She said. "And I didn't. It's… it's complicated." She paused. "We weren't really old enough, for one. Not that we were…." She cleared her throat. "It wasn't, uh, physical. Never even thought about it that way, to be honest. We were both in a dark place, and had only each other for…." She trailed off, before glancing at Misty briefly. "Well. There are some experiences that you can't share without someone without loving them at least a little bit, right?" She looked back at the ocean.
"What happened?"
"I died."
Misty stared at her.
Aura sighed, before turning around to look back towards the ferry itself. She leaned back against the guardrail.
"Besides," her voice much firmer now, "the past is in the past." She glanced at Misty briefly, before finally smirking. "Why waste your time on my dead love life, when yours is much more interesting?"
Misty jolted away from her—and the guardrail—her face reddening.
"Wh-what are you t-talking about?" She choked on the words.
The Lucario's smirk widened.
"I don't know what, but I know that something happened." She narrowed her eyes. "Or is there some other reason why he's been acting even more befuddled around you lately? Or, why you've—?"
"I'm going back inside!" Misty cut her off, turning sharply on her heels to start back down the deck.
Misty could hear the Lucario's amused laughter as she followed.
Could her face get any hotter?
Fortunately, they both managed to calm down to neutral expressions before returning to their cabin.
Inside, Ash was sitting in a loosely-crossed-leg position on the bed, Pikachu lazily draped over the top of his head. Nyx was curled up on the bed next to him, groggily blinking awake.
The room's small, aging television was on, the static feedback light over the display showing the news.
"…Refusing to answer rumors as to his upcoming presence at the annual Devon Corporation Masquerade, in Slateport in just…."
Aura pushed past Misty to stand in front of the television, watching it intently.
After her brief surprise at the movement, Misty quickly recovered and glanced at Ash.
I would never be caught dead at a ball, Ash had said. I don't think Aura would, either.
He was clearly remembering the same thing, as he chuckled after she caught his gaze. They held for a long moment, just long enough for them to both silently remember what else happened in that creek.
Ash coughed as they both looked sharply away from each other, faces reddening again.
God, Aura's right, we're being stupid about this, aren't we?
"Pikapi…." Pikachu sighed in frustration at being jerked back and forth on his makeshift perch.
"We should go."
There was a long moment of shocked silence.
"What."
Misty turned to face her, while Ash had bolted to his feet.
"What?" Aura half-turned towards him.
Nyx yawned loudly, before standing with a long full-body stretch.
"What's going on?" Nyx sounded lost. He blinked a couple times. "Where are we going?"
"Devon's one of the biggest corporations in the world," Aura said. "There'll be a lot of big shots there: high-ranking Trainers, CEOs, celebrities, maybe even a member of a region's Elite Four."
"Okay, and?" Ash still looked like Aura was sprouting extra ears.
"Rich people like to gossip," she explained calmly. "While it's normally meaningless fluff… well, it might give us insight as to what areas are safest for us to be in right now. Plus, we may be able to use politics in our favor to keep the Traitor at bay if we're able to sniff out what areas he's more likely to avoid, and which ones are higher-risk."
"Aren't we going to Johto next, anyway?" Ash retorted. "This is here in Hoenn?"
"One, I did say world, and two, all the more reason to snoop!" Aura smirked. "The CEO of Devon is the father of the current Hoenn Champion…and he's friends with Lance."
"Lance?" Ash blinked at her, a clear realization forming behind his eyes.
"How do you know all this?" Misty asked.
I thought we were assuming she had ties to the criminal underground, not to high society.
Unless…oh, god.
"All our travel time together, and I'm the only one that actually pays attention to the news in travel stations?" Aura raised one eyebrow at Ash, before glancing briefly at Misty.
The television cut through the long silence.
"The Kanto Baronry is one of the last noble families remaining in the surrounding regions," the newscaster explained behind their desk. "The current Baron Zolton inherited the title from his mother, the final person to have been ennobled by the old government." A poor picture of a dark haired man trying to cover his face with his hand appeared in the upper right as the inset image. Aura and both humans started at the picture's subject.
"Giovanni!" Both humans barked.
Aura simply stared.
"Notoriously camera-shy, even when attending social events, the Baron also inherited his mother's company, Beacon Industries, when she passed suddenly sixteen—"
"I'd forgotten that the Baron was the Leader of Team Rocket," Ash said in a quiet voice.
"Maybe I'm making a mistake…." Aura looked at the ground.
"No." Misty placed on hand on her shoulder. "This might be all the more reason to go. If Giovanni's going to be there, then maybe his goons will be, too."
"…That's part of the problem."
"There's no chance he'll recognize us, though," Ash pointed out. "You were never near the cameras, and the whole point of this party is to wear masks, right? At most, you'll just look like a larger-than-average Lucario to him."
Aura looked at him.
"We can say that I'm your trainer if you need," Ash offered.
"I thought you wanted nothing to do with this."
"The party itself, no." Ash shook his head. "But if we're heading back to Johto, it's worth it to know if Team Rocket's still on high-alert."
Aura looked at the ground for a moment, then nodded once.
"One question." Misty raised her hand. "How will we get tickets?"
Aura smirked at her.
"Your sister's still running the Gym for you, right? She's probably just high enough in the world of affluence to get us just two tickets."
"Afflu-what?" Ash asked.
Aura chuckled.
"So I guess we're staying in Slateport for a couple days. That'll give us enough time to replenish our supplies, and give Ash a bit of a break." The Lucario looked at him. "You might be over the initial fever, but we don't want you to have some unknown side effect from the possession while we're crossing the ocean—or worse." She smiled again. "Besides, I think you could do to get a little cultured now and then."
"I'm happy with my culture just like this." Ash frowned.
Aura laughed again.
It's like night and day with them now, Misty noted for the umpteenth time. Whatever he said the other day really got through to her.
Or, a soft voice suggested to her, she finally saw him almost get killed one time too many….
Misty looked at the ground.
"Well, Ah think—!" Jerzy piped up, appearing out of nowhere in front of Nyx.
"I think," the Shiny Umbreon interrupted, "that you're coming with me." He grabbed the masked Rattata with his mouth, grabbing him by the scruff of the neck to stun him briefly. Nyx then hopped off the bed and carried his captive out of the cabin and out onto the deck.
Aura glanced at the television one last time, before following out after them, flashing Misty a smirk along the way.
Shut up, the teenage girl thought reflexively.
"Do I have to wear a tux?" Ash asked her.
Misty shrugged.
They looked at the television, though neither of them could really focus on it.
Pikachu leapt off of Ash's head and curled up on the bed.
Ash scratched at the back of his head.
"So…uh," he hesitated, "what I said the other day? I guess I was wrong."
Misty gave a short chuckle.
Neither of them was—quite—willing to look at the other. The rest of that day weighed heavily in the air above them.
The silence was even heavier, cut through only by the gentle sounds of the newscaster continuing.
"…Continues to deny that his son—even more reclusive than the Baron himself—is missing, despite persisting rumors. International Police have only commented that they have no missing reports filed on the teenager. The Baron is known to have stated in the past…"
The lack of an inset image for Giovanni's son—the idea of that man having children at all baffled Misty—certainly supported the idea of him being a ghost to the media.
She had to imagine being the son of a man who was simultaneously a rich CEO, a noble, and a crime lord had to be exhausting as it was without adding paparazzi on top of it.
She had to imagine he was probably already messed up enough.
"Are we just going to pretend?" Ash interrupted her thoughts, his voice raw.
She didn't dare look at him, not with how hot her face felt.
"Pretend what?" She somehow willed her voice to remain calm, though she could barely speak above a whisper.
There was a long pause, as the memory flashed unbidden—or perhaps, not so unbidden—across her memory.
What are we going to do? She felt lost.
"…Never mind," he eventually said, also barely audible.
They both stared at the television, neither able to quite make out the words anymore, but neither of them quite able to turn away from it.
The Lucario stood outside the door, leaning against the wall just past the door frame and out of sight of the human teenagers. Her ears pressed back against her head, and she turned away to look at the ground for a long moment, before finally starting to walk down the deck where her friend had gone.
She stared at the palms of her hands while walking, as if they bore some black mark, before absentmindedly attempting to put them in the pockets of a jacket she no longer had.
The ferry jolted slightly, as it finished its approach to port, causing Aura to stumble slightly. She exhaled sharply, before looking up again and walking more briskly after the others.
…
…
A/N: Please see the link on my profile page to be directed to my AO3. While I will try to keep things updated here as I continue on again, better Author's Notes (this fic is still set firmly in post-Gen IV and before Gen V era, Fairy type currently does not exist, etc.) and any other fics I do will be over there. Also I find much harder and more exhausting to update over AO3. If anything happens that things go silent here, you can always find me there.
My bullshit will never die, mates.