March 27th, First Year
Ingo was never a man for intentionally throwing himself into danger at a moment's whim. Not for the Pearl Clan even as much as he owed them and certainly not for the Galaxy Team. But as he crouched beneath Gliscor's outstretched wings, strips of grass and pebbles slicing his face and hands like shards of glass, he reminded himself after a new shock of adrenaline that his time waiting in the railyard as a decommissioned engine was finally over.
On his command, Gliscor dug its pincers into the earth and showered the massive bug-type before him with sharp stones. Rei's Sneasel immediately seized the chance to leap onto the back of the alpha. It sank its long sickle-like claws under the wing flaps and made quick work of freeze-drying the elytra and underlying wings.
The Heracross wailed and with terrifying speed, caught the Sneasel by its belly and threw it back-first into a nearby cliff. While its back was turned, Gliscor tossed up another curtain of rocks, giving much needed cover as both Ingo and Warden Lian crept closer.
Rei's Buizel darted forward, spraying the battlefield with water as his Sneasel rose and froze the turf. The Heracross stumbled forward, one of its legs sinking into the snow. Again, another shower of rocks bulldozed the battlefield and again, the Sneasel vehemently worked at freezing the alpha's wings to further slow it down and incapacitate it.
Ingo held the rope taut in his calloused hands, trading calculated glances with Warden Lian who gave him an affirmative nod. Together, they tossed the thick rope over the Heracross's neck, Ingo's Machamp taking hold of the end as Lian and his Goomy twisted the rope around its remaining limbs. Machamp tugged. The Heracross didn't stand a chance. It was yanked back into the mud with a satisfying snap, tattered wings flapping angrily as Gliscor raced forward to hold it down.
Ingo covered his ears as the alpha gave another deafening screech. With a practiced speed, Chandelure raced forward from the brush where she'd been hiding, enveloping the giant bug-type in ghostly flames. Ingo had been keeping her for last, his beloved but forgotten partner.
"It's been burned!" Warden Lian cried triumphantly. "Go on, gramps! Get 'em!" he squealed.
Ingo started forward, rolling a dull black pokéball into his awaiting palm: a heavy ball, a special pokéball for an equally special occasion. He gritted his teeth and with a muscle-memory unbeknownst to him, he wrought back his arm and launched the pokéball at the lesser lord's back.
Ingo stilled as the ball whistled, encasing the Heracross in a brilliant white glow. That- that wasn't supposed to happen! But then… he paused, the corners of his mouth curling upwards as his fingers clenched. Why do I feel overjoyed then? What did that strange noise mean?
The ball plopped back into the snow and to Ingo's utter astonishment, it rocked only once before leaping upwards in a dazzling display of sparks. Lesser Lord Heracross had been caught.
Silence. Ingo felt overly warm, even moreso when Rei dropped his pen and notepad, his jaws open wide with sheer astonishment.
Warden Lian was the one to break the silence. "You did it gramps! I knew 'ya could!"
Ingo swallowed back a tough lump in his throat as Rei raced forward, grabbing at his coat with unrestrained excitement.
"How did you do that? You have to tell me how you did that! That's- how- you-!" He began to ramble, his hands never once losing their grip on his coat. Did Ingo feel a little uncomfortable at the sudden closeness? Yes, but Rei was just a child.
He cleared his throat. "It is firmly contained, then?" He walked over and picked up the ball, inspecting the latch in case it was just a hoax. He bit back his exhilaration at the fact that he had, in fact, managed to subdue a lesser lord and catch it. And that Lady Irida would not be pleased with him when news reached her.
March 28th, First Year
"Do ya' think it's still frenzied in there?" Warden Lian piped up from where he sat on a twisting tree root beside Ingo. He took a drink of his waterskin, hugging the fur-lined covering to his tunic a little tighter. "I still can't believe you managed to catch it. A Lesser Lord. Who woulda' thought, huh?"
Ingo palmed the pokéball at his hip. "I don't believe this would be a good thing. Lesser Lords do maintain their set of tracks to better benefit the other passengers, do they not?" At Lian's confused look, Ingo began to speak slowly. "Catching Lord Heracross- will that not damage the environment even more?"
"Nah. I think Lord Kleavor's frenzy already got a leg up on that."
Having returned back to camp to report on their progress, the members of the Survey Corps almost immediately zoned in on him for not only catching a minor lord like Heracross, but for taking notes.
"Do ya'… do ya' think we should let it out already?" He gave the approaching group a tired glance.
There was a shuffling noise. Young Rei and Miss Akari of the Survey Corps crept closer, Rei holding his pen and pad aloft, his eyes shining as they moved from the ball containing Heracross to Warden Ingo. Ah. Right.
"Warden Ingo," Rei began, his voice light. "Can we pleeeease take some notes on Lesser Lord Heracross? This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Please, we'll be careful."
"I will release the alpha," Ingo dictated, "but only at a safe distance. Please do retreat behind the yellow line if I give the command. I want to ensure the safety of all of my passengers."
"Of course, of course."
Ingo had not forgotten that one of the Galaxy Team's main purposes was to study pokémon. He just did not anticipate the eagerness of Young Rei who, unlike his frightened peers, eagerly awaited his turn of studying the beast. It certainly reminded him of someone, but who?
It had also been Rei's opinion to attempt to look further into what he had dubbed as the "Bug Swarm", the phenomenon which was occurring solely in the northern fieldlands. They still had yet to hear from their second party which had departed for Deertrack Heights some time ago. And as much as the visage from the river before disturbed him, Ingo could not see fault in allowing for his passengers to gather a better understanding of what they were facing. It would benefit him in the long run as well.
Rei descended upon the giant beetle and sauntered forward with a confidence not even Ingo could quite match, flipping to a new page on his notepad as he started scribbling. Unheard words tumbled from his lips as he set down his bag and began pulling various instruments out.
The Heracross didn't react. If Ingo didn't know any better, the minor lord looked to be enjoying the attention, its horn wavering every now and then. If Rei asked, the creature would spread its wings and drop down into the grass like a placated Bidoof.
"It don't look so angry anymore," Lian chuckled. "It don't even have that red glow in its eyes. I wonder what put him in that fit from earlier."
"Most likely the coalescing bug-type pokémon," Rei answered without looking up. "Professor Laventon told me that bug-types are very social and often emulate the actions of their peers. Maybe there's some kind of aura coming from Lord Kleavor that's causing the pokémon to go crazy? The lord is a bug-type and so is Heracross. You think there's some kind of connection?"
"I knew something caused Lord Kleavor to get all frenzied, but I never saw what. Just heard a loud boom and then I got a uh-" he stared blankly ahead, pulling down his large hat to shield his eyes- "…nevermind all that." He fixed Rei with a look. "Now, I know ya'll are just trying to gather information to help out our lords, but do ya have to keep them locked up like that?"
Ingo blinked. "My apologies, Warden Lian-"
"No, no. Not you, grampa."
Grampa? When had he become 'grandpa'? If his face wasn't already pink from the cold, it would be an embarrassing shade of red. Ingo opened his mouth to speak but Lian beat him to the punch.
"What kind of info are you gettin' anyway?" he demanded, stooping to watch as Rei made another series of notes.
Rei grinned. "Just basic things: height, weight, foot tracks, its general appearance- that kind of stuff. The professor also told me that pokémon have 'typings' and those are usually the worst part of the surveys."
"Why's that?"
"Because you have to engage them in battle and look at what they toss your way. It's all fun and games until you figure out that the pokémon across from you is a water type when they use Hydro Pump." Rei quirked up an eyebrow at the creature before him. "No doubt, Heracross is a bug-type."
"It's just a pokémon. Why you gotta give it typings? Aren't they good on their own?"
Ingo's head began to ache in a good way. A memory was trying to surface. "Knowing a pokémon's typings is crucial to allow for the best combination between a trainer and their partner. Some pokémon have only one typing while others have two. The moves that a pokémon knows are always categorized to a typing which can be either effective or non-effective depending on who the target is."
Rei whipped his head around to stare gleefully at him. "Yes, yes, yes! Keep talking, I'm gonna take notes! Where's my extra pen?" Rei then turned back around. "Continue?"
Ingo gave a raspy sigh, a small smile on his lips. It wasn't often that people actually wanted to listen to him ramble. Am I really rambling or are these words from my mouth an echo of the tracks I've departed? He coughed, noticing the gathering crowd of scouts that were watching him.
He felt something akin to pride and embarrassment flood through him. The man-in-white would probably find this humorous, Ingo mused to himself. He'd think it out of sorts for me of all people to be teaching young trainers-to-be the basics of partnering with pokémon.
Ingo paused in his thoughts. There was that word again: trainer. Was he a trainer?
Back when Ingo had first come to his station in the Alabaster Icelands, he had happened to be taken care of by a wild Machoke, now his dutiful partner Marshall the Machamp, and a Blissey. Lady Irida and the rest of the Pearl Clan had deemed it odd that Machamp had chosen to stick around and Ingo had subconsciously begun to train his partner.
It wasn't until Ingo had helped fight off a territorial Abomasnow with his Machamp did Lady Irida and the rest of his fellow wardens start calling him a 'pokémon wielder'. It was both a taboo and a status symbol, neither of which he'd asked to be applied to him. The title felt… wrong. It didn't sound right in his ears. His pokémon weren't tools to be wielded… and yet Warden Gaeric had looked fearful of him after the battle had ended.
'Pokémon trainer' felt like the better term. He helped escort his pokémon partners to a higher destination and trained them how to better defend themselves or those they allied themselves with.
Warden Gaeric had asked him before what he got back in return for "training up a monster from being weak to frighteningly powerful". He had looked at him in the same way a gate guard would an approaching Zoroark; evident anger and stringent fear.
It was the same look most people gave him during their first meeting with him. It was the look the guards gave him every time he approached the Pearl Clan Settlement. Did people ever look at him like that in his elusive past? His subconscious immediately supplied an answer. Yes. Yes, they did.
"What're you thinkin' about over there, grampa?"
Ingo started forward. He breathed a sigh of relief upon noticing that the rest of the group was busy studying the Heracross. "My train merely rolled onto another track. I assure you, my cab is back where it ought to be."
Warden Lian chuckled, smiling underneath his bandages. "Good, because you're gonna wannna be present for this next part. Come on," he waved over his shoulder. "Looks like those scouts hatched a plan to get more info for fixin' the lord."
"Then lead the way, Warden Lian." He started forward before pausing. "And if I may ask, when did I become 'grandpa'?"
Ingo watched as his younger coworker twitched, his face immediately splitting into a grin before he hastily turned around and beckoned Ingo to follow.
March 30th, First Year
"Rei, can't you just keep your hands to yourself?"
Ingo kept his eyes fixed on the calm waters of the bay, both of his hands grasping the boat paddles as he steered the three of them towards the Heartwood Cliffs. It did not help that his two passengers, as necessary as they were to the mission at hand, were rocking the boat in their squabbles. Rei's Buizel shot him a glance and with a squeak, helped adjust the boat back onto its path.
"I'm not doing anything!" Rei retorted, his hands full of Ingo's coat.
The large, forested cliffs loomed up before them, sharp teeth-like rocks awaiting their boat as they sailed closer. It was thanks to the kind Diamond Clan members in the Sandgem Encampment that they managed to borrow this rowboat. It could only fit three.
Rei was the first to speak, his grimace both self-righteous and rueful. "I was right. Of course, a forest would be a nesting ground for a bug frenzy. If there's anywhere Lord Kleavor would be, it's at the center of something like that."
Ingo was horrified at the sight before him. Where the Heartwood once grew bountiful were now decayed tree stumps slimy with unknown residue. Not a single leaf fluttered in the wind. The snow had all been cleared by the beating of the frenzy's wings, nothing but barren dirt and rock remaining. Where there should've been a pale blue sky was a writhing mass of dark black bodies, their flights jerky and rough as they slammed head-first wave after wave into the remaining tree trunks of the cliff sides. The rocks were painted with their fluids.
Rei's grasp on his coat tightened, possibly to shield his vision. Akari made a choking sound and retched over the side of the boat, gasping for air as she came up. And Ingo? He could only watch as the miasma of frenzied bugs tore through another tree before wheeling back into the sky and regrouping around something large just shy of the cliffside.
The figure moved, two flat axe-like blades cutting through a part of the cliff to splash into the bay. The miasma followed after the unknown pokémon like a personal entourage but then, Ingo knew that familiar silhouette.
"Lord Kleavor," he rasped. "That is the Lord of the Woods."
