Duncan rolled into the pharmacy. Bright, colorful boxes stood on bright, white shelves. Fluorescent light reflected on the Spheal's satiny skin. Everything glowed like ice on a sunny day.
"Can I help you?" the lady at the counter asked.
Duncan nodded and took out a small slip of paper from his purse, which was wrapped to his side in a way that would allow him to roll without damaging the items inside. The lady's eyes widened.
"Oh! I see. Let me just… get that…"
She reached over and took the slip of paper out of Duncan's mouth:
Patient Name: Wallace Papadakis
Date of birth: 2976年8月15日
Date: 2995年5月30日
℞: Lithium, 500 mg
Sig: PO nightly
Disp #: 30 (thirty)
The lady smiled. "Of course! I'll get it right away!"
-
Duncan came back home about half an hour later. Well, it was the new house in the new city, not yet home. Lilycove. It seemed like a nice city. Lots of shiny buildings. Lots of friendly people. Lots of friendly boats. It was like a round cube of ice, full of possibility and joy.
Nicole was waiting outside the new home, a big smile on her face. She hadn't looked this happy in years… many, many years. She was very happy as a Coordinator and a Trainer, but when her parents died… when Wallace became the leader of the colony at such a young age…
"Thank you, Duncan," Nicole said. "You did good today."
The Spheal squeaked happily, clapping his fins. ("I finally found where I belong! After so many years… I've found my place.")
Nicole smiled brightly. "I'm very happy you have."
But now things were good again. Wallace was getting the help he needed, and Duncan finally knew where he was meant to be: helping others and spreading joy.
-
Duncan rolled into Wallace's sleep-cave. Wallace was sitting on the bed, reading. He was like a fragile triangle: tapping on the book with his fingers, darting his eyes up from the book and back down, tapping his foot on the ground, shaking.
("How are you doing, Wallace?")
Without looking up, Wallace said, "Miku is having bad cutting thoughts. Miku needs to make them go away. Miku doesn't know how."
Duncan's training had prepared him for this.
He rolled into action, patting Wallace's foot.
("All right then! Let's use our coping strategies!")
Wallace smiled weakly at Duncan. "Is Winona around?"
"Did someone say my name?"
Winona was poking her head in the bed-cave.
"Winona," Wallace said, "I need… Miku needs help. Bad thoughts. Doesn't know how to make them go away."
This was the first time Wallace had asked for help! Progress!
"Why don't we go for a walk?" Winona asked.
"A walk? Sure. Walks are nice."
("Can I come, too?") Duncan asked.
A flash of blue light sprung from the Pokéball on the bed table. Victoria stared down at Wallace, cool anger simmering in her sharp eyes.
But Wallace didn't seem to notice, and he smiled. "Why don't you both come with us?"
-
The city was very pretty in the daytime. Very hot, yes, but the sky was blue as the sea, and the buildings shone like ice. In a way, hot and cold places were very similar, but their differences helped them sustain all types of life.
Winona and Wallace looked so happy talking about human things and birds and fish. It was so nice to see Wallace smile again. It had been years since he had been this happy. Maybe Wallace was like Duncan, stuck in a life that he wasn't meant to lead. Maybe Wallace had also finally found his place.
"Hey, at least now we'll get to have more Lilycove dates," Wallace said to Winona. "Maybe we'll even get to see the red light district together. I've heard there are some wonderful strip clubs."
Strip clubs? Those were the places humans went to for mating, right? Humans had a lot of mating rituals, but at the same time, they didn't like talking about mating. Humans were strange like that. Very wonderful, but very strange.
Victoria was looking at Winona with disdain.
Wallace's Pokémon partners were… odd friends, to say the least. Flamboyant and self-centered, all of them were. Spikes ready to strike at any moment, imposing rectangles, or destructive spheres.
Victoria was the most hard to read: she loved Wallace, but she was bitter to the doctors helping him, and she was bitter to Duncan. She was never explicit in that, but… he could tell she didn't like him. She had a vague shape of something, but Duncan couldn't pinpoint what that shape was.
Duncan stopped rolling, waiting for Victoria to catch up. Rather than continue to follow Wallace, Victoria stopped, sighing.
("What are you doing?") she asked.
("Why don't you like me, Victoria?") Duncan asked.
("I do like you. When did you ever get that idea?") There was a defensive, rectangular tone to her voice.
("You always look annoyed with me. And right now, you sound very triangular.")
("Triangular?")
("Angry. And sharp, like you could hurt someone. Wallace is like a triangle, too, but in a different way.")
Victoria shook her head. ("I don't understand.")
Duncan thought for a moment. ("Well, circles are round. Very friendly. But sometimes their friendliness causes them to spin out of control and into the wrong hands. Squares are firm and determined, but they're sometimes also stubborn. Triangles are dramatic and creative, but sometimes they can be violent and unstable.")
Victoria scowled. ("You're calling me violent and unstable? You're calling Wallace violent and unstable?!")
Duncan waved a flipper.
("No… Victoria, be honest: Why don't you like the doctors? Why don't you like me?")
"Victoria? Duncan?" Wallace called.
He and Winona had stopped walking, standing some distance away from the two Pokémon. Victoria began to slither again.
("Coming, Wallace—")
("Victoria, wait!")
An idea struck Duncan. He rolled over to Wallace and bumped against his leg to grab his attention.
("Sit!") Duncan pointed a flipper to a nearby bench. ("Talk about birds and fish and strip clubs! I want to talk square things with Victoria!")
Wallace cocked his head. "Um… sure! What are the square things you're talking about?"
Duncan didn't answer, instead pushing Wallace a little more firmly.
Wallace and Winona eventually sat on the bench. Wallace rested his head in Winona's lap as she rambled on about birds. Birds were nice! Very round. Very friendly. Wallace and Winona's happiness was round and bright.
("Why does Wallace need doctors?")
Victoria's sad voice was… not round. Not square. Not triangular. It was a sad, sad blob.
("Wallace needs doctors so he can get better.") Duncan explained.
("But why wasn't I enough?")
("What do you mean?")
("I'm their partner Pokémon!") Victoria's voice was just a bit louder. ("I should have been enough to help them!") She gasped. ("A Trainer is meant to teach and guide, and in turn, the Pokémon cares for them. But I… I wasn't able to do that. I failed to help them.")
Duncan thought for a bit. When he was a younger Spheal, he was determined to be the best battler or performer, even though it wasn't what he wanted to do. But with Victoria… Victoria wanted to be Wallace's protector, Victoria wanted to be the best protector, even though… well, she couldn't be a protector all by herself.
("Victoria, outside of caring for Wallace… who are you?")
("I'm Victoria! What a silly question to ask.")
("Not like that. I mean… do you have ambitions? Do you have dreams?")
("I want Wallace to be okay!") Her voice was sad now. ("I want to be useful! This is my purpose, and I've failed!")
("Victoria—")
But she ran off.
"Victoria!" Wallace called as he stood up. "Where are you going?!"
-
Victoria opened her eyes. Familiar white and blue buildings were there to greet her: the buildings of Sootopolis City.
There were many people going in and out the streets, going about daily business.
Wait. Where was Wallace?
She dashed up and down the street. Were they still in Lilycove? Were they hurt? Were they doing drugs or hurting themself or making themself sick?
No. They were walking down the street, Winona on their arm, and smiling. Their smile… It was the most wonderful thing in the world. Her happiness returned. Wallace was finally happy again. After so many years of pain, they were finally happy.
She slithered her way through the crowd toward them.
("Wallace!") They didn't seem to hear her, but it didn't matter. They looked healthy . They didn't look scrawny and exhausted anymore. Even with his clothing, Winona could tell he was healthy, happy. Happy happy happy.
("Wallace!")
They turned to her, and their smile vanished. Winona patted them on the arm and whispered something gently to them, and they nodded in response. What were the two talking about? Why wasn't Wallace happy to see Victoria? They were partners, friends.
Then Wallace approached, but with formality, not camaraderie, as if they were meeting with a foreign diplomat and not their sister through all but blood.
What's going on?
("Wallace? Don't you remember me?")
"Victoria." They remembered her name. They spoke in their voice, but their usual compassion was gone. "Our partnership was a very fulfilling one. I gave you strength, and in exchange, you gave me companionship. But we don't need that partnership anymore. We've been over this before. We must go our separate ways. Please leave my beloved and me."
A crack, like the one Victoria had heard when Wallace had hit the mirror in a fit of self-hatred.
No.
Then Wallace left Victoria. Wallace left Victoria.Left Victoria, back for Winona, didn't look back.
Her heart raced and her whole body trembled. She wanted to cry out, but her mouth was stiff, like she had been frozen with Freeze Dry.
Wallace was her family! Sure, she had her mother and father back at Juan's estate, but they weren't as close as Wallace. She and Wallace were two pearls from the same oyster, two kindred, inseparable souls. What would Wallace do without her?…
Probably do just as fine, if not better than when he had been with Victoria. They had seen their doctors and therapists. They had gone through their partnership with Victoria. They had no more need for someone to heal their scars, someone to stay up with them through restless nights of hallucinations and suicidal ideation, someone to protect them. They were at peace. They were finally at peace.
What would Victoria do without Wallace?
All her life, she had been by their side, pulling them back from the brink of ruin. Her life mission had been to protect Wallace. Her life purpose was to be there for them. But now that they didn't need her anymore… what now? If she stayed any longer, she would probably bring them back down, probably ruin their happiness.
But if it was the last time she would ever see them…
("Wallace!")
She didn't care if Wallace didn't hear her or didn't want to hear her. She stopped right in front of them and Winona. Before Wallace could protest, she cut them off:
("Before you go…") she swallowed. ("Before you go, I… you may not need me anymore, but if you ever do need me in the future, I'll always be there for you.") She rested her head on theirs. ("You can always come back home.")
Wallace wordlessly pushed her away.
"Sure."
They and Winona left again, and this time, Victoria didn't stop them. She knew it was futile, even dangerous. She wasn't needed anymore.
She watched the two until they disappeared in the crowd and the horizon. Then she began to cry. What was she supposed to do now? What was she supposed to do now? She felt like a part of her had been stripped away, and now she had nothing to fill that void.
What did she want to do now?
As she wandered the streets, as she tried to figure out the answer to her question, all of her wants circled back to Wallace. She had thrown her whole self into them. She prided herself on being Gym Leader Wallace's ace Pokémon, Coordinator Wallace's shining star, Wallace Papadakis's caretaker, but she… she was her own Pokémon. She was a strong battler. She was a talented performer. She was part of a whole, but she herself was also a whole, complete by herself. She had been part of an archipelago, but she was a whole island in and of herself.
Eventually, she came upon the edge of the Sootopolis Basin, the doorway to the Hoenn Sea. She carefully slipped into the water.
She let the waters take her in. Light glimmered from the sky above. Rocks, coral, sand…
It was lonely without Wallace. But they were with Winona, healthy, happy, well in body and mind. They were their own person, too, and… the time had come for when they didn't need a caretaker anymore. The baby Feebas had left the nest, metamorphosing into a beautiful Milotic. And now Victoria had to find herself.
Maybe she would travel Hoenn—no, the world. Maybe she would help other people and Pokémon. Maybe she would—
She woke with a start.
She raised her head from the floor and looked down at Wallace, who was asleep on the left side of the bed with their mates asleep to the right.
She looked down at them. They were frowning, muttering in their sleep.
"Óxi, Megalos… óxi… óxi…"
Victoria rested her head against Wallace's forehead as she began to say a prayer in her head:
Rekkoúza, Mesolavitís ton Ouranón, bless my partner's mind and heart. Bless their indomitable will. Bless… bless those who are easing the pain in their mind and heart. One day… I won't be needed as their caretaker. When that time comes, guide them down their own path. Guide me down my own path—
Wallace wrapped their arm around Victoria. She let them nuzzle against her neck as she shifted into a position more suitable for sleeping.
Whatever the future had in store was unimportant for now. What mattered now was getting comfortable, and drifting off to sleep.