Icirrus Arc: Troubling Thoughts
It was silent for a moment after Jacky had finished her explanation. Eventually, Mari spoke up. "Racking our brains about this won't get us anywhere at the moment. I am pretty sure we'll be able to put everything into context soon. Our path will take us to Opelucid tomorrow so we can take on the gym there, that should be our primary focus now. I won't let Jayden surpass me so easily. No way.",
"Did you make a contest out of this?",
"Yep.",
"Well... Do you think we can make it to Opelucid in one day?",
"I think so. I don't know how vast the Moor of Icirrus is, but if we leave early, we might be able to make it through and cross Tubeline Bridge.",
"Hmm... Sounds good enough. But I want to head to Dragon Spiral Tower first.",
"Ah, right. I almost forgot about that. Yeah, you promised to take Noivern there.",
"Yeah..." Jacky stretched out on her bed and looked at the ceiling. "...Maybe... it's goodbye then...",
"Hmmh..." Mari nodded in thought, and then tapped her chin. "Then again, maybe not. Noivern and you have established a really close bond over the course of this journey, so maybe, it chooses to stay with you instead. Best not to think about it for now."
"Good idea..." Jacky turned onto her stomach and looked over at her. "Hey, by the way, uhm... I... I asked Laslow for his number...",
"Oooh?" Her friend perked up, her interest immediately attracted. "Did you get it?",
"Yes. He gave it to me.",
"Did he text you yet?",
"No... Do you... think I should text him?",
"A short 'hi' to be 100% sure it works won't hurt, now, will it?",
"You're right. Okay, here goes..." Jacky took a deep breath before opening her contacts and looking for Laslow's number. She tapped on it to send him a message and got directed to an empty chat. She hesitated for a moment before she started typing: "Hi. I just want to make sure we've got everything right." She sent it off and waited. The message popped up as "sent" and "received", so it definitely went through.
She stared spellbound at the chat like a Talonflame waiting for its prey to let its guard down. Her breath halted when the word "online" appeared under Laslow's name. And then "typing..."
"He's responding!" she exclaimed. Mari grinned. "Aw, look how excited you are.",
"Oh, shut it!",
"What's he typing?"
Jacky waited patiently for his reply, then read it out. "'It's all good. It went through.' With a thumbs up emoji.",
"...Wow. Underwhelming. I expected more..."
Something suddenly crossed Jacky's mind. "...do you think Jayden already met his parents?",
"I don't know. Could be... I haven't checked in on him yet.",
"Maybe you should... Just to make sure he's okay. You could give him a call.",
"...Now? It's already past 9 pm.",
"Why not? I'm sure he'd be happy if you call him.",
"... Yeah, maybe you're right... I'm somewhat curious about what the current situation is.",
"Alright then." Jacky showed her a thumbs up. "I'm dead tired, though, so if you're gonna call him, please go outside for it, okay...?",
"Gotcha." Mari nodded, got up and headed outside.
She found a quiet spot and then tapped on her Xtranceiver to contact Jayden. It beeped a couple of times until a voice was heard on the other end. "Hello?"
Mari activated the video function. "Hello, Jayden. 's me.",
"Mari?" He still hadn't forgotten to address her normally, and one could tell just by his voice that he was smiling. "Hey. What's up?",
"Just checking in to see how you're doing. By the way, there's a button on the bottom left that lets you activate video transmission.",
"I'm using my Ceiver for the first time to make phone calls, okay? I don't know all the features of this thing. Wait a minute..."
Seconds later, his face appeared on her display. "Like this?",
"Yeah, I see you.",
"Ah, okay. I'm fine, by the way. I'm a little surprised you'd actually call me sometime.",
"Well... Happens, I guess. Where are you at the moment?",
"I'm taking a leisurely stroll towards Icirrus City. Spent the day working out and eating back the pounds I've lost. That was half my entire candy stock. I can't afford to get skinny, after all.", "We're in Icirrus right now, and we're moving on to Opelucid tomorrow. Did you have any trouble on the way? Did anything happen?" Silence.
Only after a few moments had passed did Jayden sigh. "...I ran into them. My... my, uh... family." It was crystal clear how hard it was for him to say that word and really mean it.
"So, they really did wait for you. How... how did you take it?",
"It was a shock to me", he replied quietly. "I just wanted to go to the gym... And suddenly, there were people in front of me who claimed that I belonged to them. That I am the son that was taken away from them a long time ago. Taken away by..." Unexpected anger crept into his voice. "I... I've been lied to all this time! My life... My entire life has been one damn LIE!"
She nodded and sighed quietly. "Yeah... I can't imagine what it's like finding something like that out...",
"I'm fine, Mari. Really. I know... that they were telling the truth... They showed me the picture.",
"Of you as a kid?",
"Yeah. Although it was mega weird and all... But I recognized myself. I know they really are my parents... Even if they're still strangers to me. How do you know, anyway? Are you behind this?",
"Well... We encountered your parents by chance. We wanted to fly to Twist Mountain but got caught up in a heavy storm and rain on the way, so we looked for shelter until it passed. They allowed us to stay at their place for the time and... well, they just... started talking. I don't know why they entrusted strangers with information like that, but my guess is they just never had the chance to talk about it to anyone before. They were very emotional about it, so... I couldn't help but tell them the truth.",
"I see...", he mumbled. "Well... Seems I gotta thank you once again... Even if it was mere chance you guys met, you're still the reason why they know I'm still... well, alive, and I at least know everything I need to know... Or wanted to know... I owe you anyway, so I have to start paying it back before it piles up...",
"No worries." Mari shook her head.
"What was it like to find out you had a sister?",
"Weird", he admitted. "Jade was more than incredulous when I... her big brother, stood in front of her. ...incredulous and angry.",
"Angry? Why that?",
"I have no clue." Again, he sighed and threw a piece of candy into his mouth. "She just suddenly started yelling at me, I couldn't really follow... I flew away for a little while after that... you know, to clear my head and stuff.",
"I understand that...",
"Skyla took me with her when she had to go to Sinnoh for a short business trip. It didn't take long... Half a day, maybe. I just... walked around mindlessly for some time.",
"You don't trust those monastery people for a Pokédollar anymore, do you?",
"Pah... Never again", he muttered, but he didn't sound angry anymore. "They lied to me to make me dependant on them, tried to manipulate me and dictate my life and then attacked me when I didn't do what they wanted. I'm positively done with them.",
"How's your injury?",
"Neglectable. Don't worry, it healed well.",
"So, knowing all of this... What you going to do from now on? You have a 'real' home now. With people who would welcome you back with open arms and... probably happy tears in their eyes.",
"That won't stop me from traveling on. I don't know these people. I wouldn't call that a 'home'. It's positive to say that, at this point... I don't have a home.",
"Don't say that... I'm sure you'll be able to settle in if you give yourself and your parents the chance.",
"..." He was quiet for a moment, and then sighed. "Maybe you're right, but I'm pretty sure Ja- ... my sister wouldn't want me there. So... I don't know about that... I don't want to make her uncomfortable in her own home.",
"I think she'll come around eventually when you give her some time. ...although... she's a brat. Let's be honest.",
"Probably... By the way, you can put your Ceiver down.",
"...Huh? Why?"
Someone tapped her shoulder and she flinched, spinning around. He suddenly stood behind her. "Because I'm right here.",
"You fucking jerk!" She yelled at him and laughed. "You could've made me aware in a million different ways instead of startling me like that!",
"Okay, okay, sorry." He raised both of his hands and then ended the call. "Anyway. Tadaaa, I finally made it here.",
"Congrats, redhead." She smiled at him and gave him a hug. "So, I assume you got all the badges so far?",
"Assumed correctly." He hugged her back and patted her back before letting go again. "So, I've told you what's on my plate right now. The way I know you, yours ain't empty either, right? So, what's down on your end?",
"Well... not much." Mari shook her head. "We just had to deal with a fall-out between one of Jacky's friends and his travel companion.",
"Hm... not the silver-haired guy, by any chance?",
"Exactly him. His companion was a controlling, jealous prick and he finally told her to fuck off after she went off on Jacky. More politely, of course. And after that, Jacky had a vision.",
"... a what?"
A moment of stunned silence passed before Mari remembered: "Oh, right, I didn't fill you in on that. Well, you know I'm a mind reader, but I'm not the only one with supernatural skills. Jacky has those... uhm, black-outs every once in a while, and... that's when she has her visions. Moments where she can see sequences of the past or the future.",
"...Oh", he replied and sighed. "Yeah, that probably should've shocked me under normal circumstances, but I know my girlfriend's a mind reader so that's the actual less shocking thing between the two. So, you mean she can foretell the future?",
"In a sense..." Mari nodded. "It's more like... they don't happen too frequently, more like whenever there's something that's relevant to her. Mostly, they're warnings.",
"Warnings, you say... So, she had a vision. Does that mean something bad's gonna happen?",
"I sure don't hope that's the case. She couldn't interpret too well what she saw this time, but she said some of the voices she heard were familiar. So it probably involves people we know."
"Hm..." He crossed his arms in thought. "So no more details than that?",
"Well, she saw a mountain. Don't know what mountain, just... a mountain. Most likely Mount Coronet, considering she also saw the Spear Pillar and Giratina." She noticed Jayden had a bandage wrapped around his left arm. "Hey... did you hurt yourself?",
"Mh? Oh, that?" He looked at his arm. "Yeah, kinda caught an edge in Twist Mountain. Couldn't see anything in there and accidentally hit something sharp sticking out of the wall. Nothing too major, don't worry." She missed the fact he didn't look at her when he said that... "So, back to the vision. Anything else?",
"Well, she saw the same figure twice. One time at the Spear Pillar... She said she thinks it just recently happened... She also said that person might've... challenged Giratina.",
"Huh..." He narrowed his eyes. "Just a figure?",
"Yeah, she couldn't recognize them. She usually describes her visions as tapes played on an old black and white CRT TV. The other time was at an altar or something?",
"I can't make heads or tails of this either", he said, but his eyes had become visibly darker. "Just stay alert, okay? It might end up meaning nothing, but playing it safe is always best for everyone.",
"Right you are." She nodded at him.