During one of his off-hours, Roark managed to make a call while poring over the plans for proposed tunnels down in the Underground. The sound of his phone ringing echoed around his office, which was occupied by tool racks and filing cabinets rather than soft furniture that would absorb the sound.
"So, Gardenia, I saw your battle with Kuroiwa."
She didn't respond for a moment.
"Eat shit, Roark. Literally."
There it is.
"It was a whole event," Roark explained. "People were crowding into bars and asking to get off work early to watch it. Totally bizarre."
The gym trainers had taken it seriously when he said that Kuroiwa was the trainer to watch for the year, and apparently the idea had good memetics.
"I told him not to hold back, and what does he do? He holds back! Didn't even use his ace," she complained.
"Did you give him an exception?" Roark asked offhand, shuffling papers in his hands while holding the phone with his shoulders.
"Why would I need to do that?" she asked, confusion clear in her voice.
"Kuroiwa's ace isn't keyed to a Pokéball," Roark said. "That's all I'll say if he hasn't told you anything else, because honestly, I'm a little bit scared of him. The guy's tall, built, and willingly trains Ghost-types. But anyway, yeah, he'd need an exception to use his partner in an official battle. Did he not mention that?"
Gardenia was quiet for a few seconds. Roark heard her put her phone down and take a few steps away.
"FuuuuuUUUUUUU-"
The Lights in the Sky Are Thunderbolts - XXI - All You Are Is History
Golett slowly rolled to a stop after dropping off on the elevated Cycling Road, their temporary wheels grinding harshly against the ground and the bike's body.
Hilbert's newly acquired scarf settled as the air around them stilled. He looked east, where the main range of Mount Coronet loomed, seemingly reaching as far upwards as the sun had hours earlier. The sky was a darkening orange that was slowly shifting to blue as the sun set. The traffic from and towards the tunnel that ran through the range had slowed to a trickle.
"Think we can make it through with a good time?" Hilbert asked, looking down at the spiral-marked console. Guides said that hiking through the range and the cave systems that made it up could take a full week even if you didn't get lost.
His heart pulsed and yanked him to the right, nearly out of his seat.
Not far away, he could just barely make out the valley of Oreburgh City to the south from the silos and pillars of minerals.
"I guess we could stop there for the night," Hilbert said, before he stretched his arms and felt them click back into place. Even if it would cause him to receive a few more nightmares, his spirit could use a bit of rest after everything in Eterna. And Floaroma. And-
His brow furrowed. When was the last time he had chosen to slow down?
"Thanks, Golett," he said absentmindedly, before revving up the motorcycle again.
As he approached the city limits, Golett broke down and dissolved back into dirt and stone, leaving him to walk the rest of the way towards the inn.
It was the same inn he had stayed in on his first trip through, and after walking in, he was pretty sure the same kid was manning the front desk.
The pimply boy perked up when Hilbert walked in. "Ah, Mr. Kuroiwa! Good evening, what can I do for you?"
Hilbert looked at him strangely. It had been around a month since he'd last been in Oreburgh; did Roark put him on some kind of VIP list?
"I'm just staying the night," Hilbert said, "Can I get a single?"
Yuki sent a breeze blowing across his skin.
"Make that a double," he said like it had been an afterthought.
"Absolutely," the boy said, before reaching into a drawer and handing him a key. "It'll be room twenty-one on the third floor."
Hilbert took the key and nodded. "Thanks." He turned on his heel before realizing he had skipped a step. "Hold up," he said, "How much is that going to run me?"
The boy shook his head. "Gym Leader Roark said that we should minimize your inconvenience as thanks for your services, Mr. Kuroiwa."
Hilbert's brow twitched.
"I paid last time I was here," he said indignantly. "This is a local business, isn't it?"
"Well, yes, but…"
"Okay, fine. Hypothetically, if I were paying for the full price, how much would that cost?"
"Um, twenty-one thousand Pokédollars a night, sir."
Hilbert did the math and offered the boy a thousand Pokédollar bill. "Front desk tip. I'll leave more for the cleaners."
The boy gulped and shook his head rapidly. "That's really not necessary, sir, we don't want to cause you any concern."
"Are you still in school?" Hilbert asked abruptly.
"Yes, sir," the boy said.
"It's Monday. School night," Hilbert said, waving the bill around. "I'm not gonna make you work for no reason when you should be studying or getting sleep or whatever."
"It really is fine," the boy started, before trailing off.
Yuki's anchor started loosening and floating off of Hilbert's shoulders, looking sharp at the edges like sheets of ice. The temperature of the room seemed to plummet, even so close to spring.
"Just take the tip, guy," Hilbert insisted, as if he was entirely unaware of the spirit's presence.
He did.
The next morning, after waiting for what felt like hours for Yuki to finish doing whatever she was doing in the bathroom, Hilbert was intent on getting out of town and back onto the road.
Naturally, he barely made it twenty steps before being interrupted.
"Hey! Mr. Kuroiwa, wait up!"
Hilbert turned around at the unfamiliar voice, his features quickly twisting in confusion.
A boy in a pressed school uniform ran up to him, arms and legs comically pumping in the air until he came to a stop. He ran a hand through his glistening dark hair and smiled. "Sorry about that, ha!"
He looks like the protagonist of one of Cheren's shows, Hilbert thought. Too pretty and too clear a complexion, especially for someone with all the muscle he could tell was constrained by the uniform. Clearly the result of some kind of extensive training montage.
"I'm sorry, have we met?" Hilbert asked.
"Ah!" the boy said, his eyes widening in alarm. "That's right, I never told you my name, Mr. Kuroiwa. I'm John Satō, it's a pleasure to meet you!"
Hilbert immediately forgot the name but shook the hand that he was offered. "You too. So, uh, where do I know you from?"
The boy looked dismayed. "It was in January…?"
"Ah, right," Hilbert said, still not recognizing the boy. "Sorry. I didn't get a lot of sleep."
The boy smiled. "It happens to the best of us, yeah? You showed me a lot, and then your friend came through and taught me a whole lot!"
"Right," Hilbert said, an inkling forming in his mind. Maybe someone he had battled on the way into the city? But what did he mean by 'friend?' "That's good."
"It sure was!" the boy declared, pumping his fist a lot like… well, it was a lot like how Hilbert did during his gym battles. Odd. "Mr. Ikari helped me train Wooper until they evolved while I trained my body!"
Who the hell is Ikari? Hilbert thought. "Cool," he said aloud.
"I've been following your career too, and it's helped me get along better with everyone in my class. I've never really been into battling before, but you've really inspired me!"
Hilbert was feeling a bit embarrassed by this point. He still didn't know who he was talking to and he recognized how corny he could be when he battled with Fuego. Like, seriously, who calls out "finishing move!" in an actual fight?
"I think your Fire-type is the coolest," the boy rambled on, "I liked the drill move you used against Gardenia! I'm trying to get Quagsire to do something like that, but they still can't use Water-type moves and the Ground-type isn't as malleable."
Huh.
"Yeah," Hilbert agreed, despite his own experience to the contrary. "That's really, uh, cool. I'm glad to help?"
"Thank you!" the boy said, bowing rapidly. "I know I already owe you a whole lot, Mr. Kuroiwa, but could I ask for a battle? I want to show you everything I've learned."
Hilbert tilted his head to the side, before checking his Pokétch. It was only scratched as shit rather than totally obliterated, so it was in pretty good condition by his standards. "You're gonna be late for school," he guessed.
"Ah, school isn't that important," the boy said earnestly, "I already know what I'm going to do once I get my trainer's license."
Hilbert tried not to glare at the boy. He almost mentioned that he hadn't gotten to finish trainer school, but quickly realized that doing such would probably motivate the boy in the wrong direction.
"Stay in school. Don't do drugs. Or whatever," Hilbert said, before shaking his head. "No."
"Please?" the boy asked.
Damn my irrational older brother instincts, Hilbert thought angrily. "Fine. After I win, you're not allowed to play hooky again."
"Sure thing!" the boy said, not deterred in the slightest as he withdrew a Pokéball from his school bag.
The two spread out across the street, which was thankfully clear of vehicular traffic. Some students, mostly girls due to the guy's inexplicable amount of charm, stopped at the edges of the invisible arena to watch.
Hilbert thought about which of his Pokémon wouldn't cause excess damage or harm to someone/everyone around them.
Hm. Short list.
"Shuppet, let's start this show!" Hilbert called.
The four-in-one spirit appeared in a burst of light, with each member of the quartet tumbling apart before forming up back to back to back to back.
"Follow up, Quagsire!" the boy responded, a grin splitting his face.
The Water and Ground-type appeared with a thump, disturbing the fine layer of dust that covered the smooth stone sidestreet. Its skin was a calm, lukewarm turquoise speckled with muddy brown that seemed to glisten in what little sunlight crept over Mount Coronet. It wasn't the tallest Pokémon out there- only standing a little below his ribs- but to Shuppet, it likely seemed titanic.
Hilbert looked closer and saw that, like the boy had suggested, the Pokémon had very small reserves of Water TE floating around in their spirit. They didn't have any more than Sinistea did when they used Withdraw. Curiously, there was a decent amount of Poison TE as well that seemed to feed off of the Water.
He shook himself out of his vision. "Zealy, do some Party Tricks."
The Hisuian Zorua plush nodded before hopping towards Quagsire pulsing with Ghost TE before, in the blink of an eye, they transformed into a beast with a flowing white and red mane, inch-long claws, and what would be a feral expression if not for the red buttons that sat where the eyes ought to. The illusion stood nearly as tall as Hilbert, though hunched over it seemed much shorter and much more threatening.
"Ice Punch!" the boy called.
Quagsire let out a proud cry before charging forwards.
"Teri, you're at a disadvantage, so stay back," Hilbert said at a low murmur, though he was certain that the rest of Shuppet would hear him. "Tedd, Pouty, attack from a distance. Soak them in Dark and then burn it away with Fairy."
The Torchic plush darted towards Hilbert and the edge, though didn't cross the imaginary boundary, while the Teddiursa and Poochyena plushies split up and ran around either of Zealy's sides.
"Tricky. I didn't know you had a Pokémon like that, Kuroiwa!" the boy cheered, despite Quagsire not having landed a solid hit yet.
He hadn't used Shuppet in any official battles yet, had he? Hilbert suddenly felt like he owed something to the spirit. Maybe a nice sewing kit? Some new buttons? Shuppet was pretty good about putting themself back together, but it couldn't hurt.
Zealy slashed against Quagsire's torso, leaving three jagged cuts surrounded by a purple haze.
Quagsire finally landed an Ice Punch, destroying the illusion and throwing Zealy across the street, glistening with frost.
Pouty spat an orb of Dark TE at Quagsire's back, and when it impacted, it seeped into their skin like heat on ashes.
Quagsire cried out and whirled on Pouty, charging towards them.
"Mud Slap!" the boy shouted.
Quagsire began channeling Ground TE towards their three-fingered hands, with their arms beginning to trail mud as it began growing out of their palms.
Pouty ran towards Quagsire and used Quick Attack to tap their raised leg and get behind them before running further away.
Quagsire tripped and their face slapped against the ground.
The crescent sewn on Tedd's forehead glowed. Their spirit spread out towards the sky before transforming into Fairy TE and blasting towards Quagsire's back like moonbeams.
Quagsire cawed and tried to roll over and get back to their feet.
"Beat Up!" Hilbert called.
Pouty's embroidered eyes glowed as they turned around and spread out their spirit. They latched onto the rest of the quartet, the spiritual energy leaking out of Hilbert's Pokéballs, and the bit of Golett that seeped out of his chest.
One moment, it was just Pouty running towards Quagsire. Next, it was the entire quartet. After that, it was a crowd of spirits that mimicked each of Hilbert's Pokémon.
Quagsire managed to stand just in time for the illusionary Machamp to deliver a flurry of blows, the false Fuego to drive them into the air with a drill composed of golden flames, and what looked like a dozen Shadow Balls to hit home right in the middle of their forehead.
Understandably, when the illusions faded and the alleged Water-type rolled to a stop, it let out a puff of breath and seemed to faint right then and there.
The boy recalled Quagsire in a stream of red light, looking disappointed before a smile worked its way onto his face. "That was great. Thank you, Mr. Kuroiwa."
"No problem. Now get to class," Hilbert said, thumbing over his shoulder.
The boy nodded and ran past him while waving, saying something or other about getting stronger by the next time they met before they left Hilbert's translation range.
Hm. Was his range a bit wider than it used to be, or was he imagining things?
Shuppet bounded up to him, the cuts in their 'fur' already beginning to mend as they willed their stuffing back into place.
"Great job," Hilbert said. He crouched down and gave each fourth of the spirit a high five before returning them to their Pokéball. Standing up, he prepared himself to get back on the road before being interrupted yet again.
"Hold up, Kuroiwa!" called a familiar voice.
Hilbert turned, annoyance quickly appearing on his face as Roark approached.
"It really was a good thing I caught you," Roark said as the doors to his gym whirred open. "It's been an odd few days."
"It's been an odd few months," Hilbert replied evenly as they walked down the hallway that surrounded the main battle arena and went deeper into the building. With the thematic decoration, it looked more like a mineshaft than a set of corridors.
"That's true," Roark said, sounding nervous as he laughed for whatever reason. "But it really has been a strange week. She insisted on finding "whoever inspired so much gratitude" and thought it was me."
"I see," Hilbert said. The mystery girl Roark had been mentioning didn't ring any bells for him.
"I told her that it was probably you that she was looking for and explained your situation," Roark said slowly. "She decided to stick around until you circled back through here."
Hilbert's eyebrow twitched.
"It's… probably better if you ask her for the details yourself," Roark admitted as they approached another door and knocked.
The room was dense with spiritual energy. Most of it was Grass TE which lent it a particular scent like honey and pollen, though he couldn't put it to a particular type of flower. Just stepping in seemed therapeutic, like it had forced him to relax.
He hated it. It was like his stints of sleep paralysis, as rare as they were.
There was a reed box sitting on a table with straps on the side and a lid propped up against it, partially revealing a cushioned interior. A cot had been set up in the corner on a row of boxes, all of the sheets already tucked away.
Roark gestured him in and closed the door behind him. Traitor.
It wasn't Hilda like he had been half-expecting, a turn of events which was much better for his heart rate.
The young woman who moved to meet him was small, though not absurdly so. She was obliquely Sinjohan, but from the paleness of her skin, he only had her features to guess from. Her hair was black and pinned flat to her head with nearly invisible clips on one side while loosely with a white bow on the other. She wore a shoulderless black dress and platform boots, making her a few inches taller to very little effect.
"Greetings," she said, curtseying after a slight delay. Her voice was quiet but unbreakable like a palm sapling. "My name is Marley Kujaku. Thank you for all that you have done so far."
Something flickered around Hilbert, airy and petal-like, but he couldn't tell exactly what it had been. He got the impression that he was standing at the top of a hill, surrounded by a field of flowers.
He began thinking of Floaroma.
His brow furrowed.
"Have we met?"
"Unlikely," she said, shaking her head. "But I have felt you, of that I am certain." She reached out to his heart with a cupped hand.
"Pause," Hilbert said, stepping back and crossing his arms in an 'x'. "This is weird, even for me. You mind telling me what's going on here? What's your deal?"
She blinked, before nodding and stepping back. "I apologize. Shaymin has directed me to find you."
"Who?" Hilbert asked.
The air was filled with a sour, bitter smell like particularly bad coffee.
"You are… not from Sinnoh?" she asked.
Hilbert looked away. "Mom was," he hesitated, "but we left after Dad got drafted for the Conflict. The recruiters were desperate and she thought they would try to grab her too or there would be reprisals." It hadn't been a popular war, he'd learned that much in trainer school. "I don't remember much."
"I see," she said, before raising her arms and stepping in for a hug.
Hilbert stepped back, confused. "What are you doing?"
"It is difficult to be honest. I am thankful that you were able to do so," she explained. "Gratitude is important above all else, so I must express it at every opportunity."
"I'm vaguely uncomfortable about this," he said. "Please don't."
She just looked at him before nodding. "I understand."
There was a moment of dead air.
"Anyway, Shaymin?" Hilbert prompted.
The air seemed to prickle like rose thorns for a moment.
Hilbert glared at the box where the room's energy poured out from. "Is that them?"
Marley didn't answer, instead walking over to the box and reaching in.
The Pokémon couldn't have been more than a foot in diameter, as she picked them up easily in her arms. Their fur was green and wavy like moss and grass, adorned with a pink flower on their head. Their body and limply hanging paws were white like swaths of birch tree bark.
The Pokémon yipped at him.
Hilbert wasn't quite sure how they managed to make the air taste smug.
"I see," he said slowly, which was actually a rough translation of one of Hilda's favorite sayings, that being, "Are you fucking kidding me?"
The second version was left unsaid, naturally.
"Shaymin as a species are regarded as a myth, thought to be apparitions or delusions of the past," Marley explained, "But I've always believed that they were out there somewhere, so Shaymin chose me as their retainer. Their power comes from Gratitude, and so they would like for me to accompany you."
Hilbert tilted his head to the side.
"Huh?" he asked eloquently.
"You, by your nature, are capable of creating large amounts of Gratitude through action," she explained. "Shaymin will regain the strength they have lost over the generations past by being in proximity to those feelings. As their retainer, I must accompany them wherever they go."
The smell of sea salt and wine flooded into the air.
She looked at the obvious Grass-type then back up at him.
"Shaymin says there are multiple tools at my disposal I can use to convince you."
"I'm good," Hilbert deflected. "Listen, I'm not really looking for companions. Have you had the same dreams that I have?"
A bitter, sickeningly sweet poison stung his nostrils. It smelled like the burning ozone that accompanied thunderstorms.
"I have not," she said, "Shaymin has."
Huh, Hilbert thought. He remembered that Fuego had a dream before forming, but he figured it was a one off event.
"I'm trying to stop that from happening," he explained. "I'm not dragging people along when I'm probably going to get myself killed."
"Martyrs are even more capable of generating Gratitude," she said with a shake of her head.
Hilbert's brow furrowed. Did Shaymin brainwash this girl?
"You might die," Hilbert said. "That's my point."
"Unlikely," she said, her expression entirely still.
The air stopped flowing. It was the sudden and total absence of smell that threw him off balance.
Shaymin's spirit slammed through Golett and into his, forcing it open before he could react.
Hilbert was no longer standing in a room in the Oreburgh City gym at the bottom of a valley surrounded by mountains.
All around him, on rolling hills that stretched as far as the eye could see, were millions, maybe billions of flowers. There were petals of every color he could think of and then some. It looked like a giant stained glass window that had been shattered and scattered across the world. The horizon seemed to only keep going, with no end in sight, and to look closer made his head begin to pulse painfully.
He tried to look away, but that didn't calm his spirit in the slightest.
To call the monolith in the distance a tree would be like calling the ocean a puddle. Even in the distance, it filled an entire half of his sight. It stretched towards the heavens and even further beyond, branching out so that each of its limbs covered the sky.
As quickly as the vision had come, it was gone.
Hilbert sank like a stone, just barely catching himself by putting his hands on his knees. His pupils shook as he tried to take control of his breathing.
"Shaymin will protect me," she assured him.
"Right," he said weakly. "They'll protect you."
Hilbert shut the door behind him, letting out a breath he hadn't known he was holding.
Roark, leaning on the wall just outside, smiled. "So, the problem's dealt with?
Hilbert almost glared at him, but realized that the pressure had probably been more intense on Roark than himself. He settled for a flat look and said, "She's getting her stuff together. We'll have to stop by the Pokémart on our way out."
"That's a relief," Roark said. "I was worried it would turn out to be like Machamp again."
"Nothing like Machamp is going to happen again," Hilbert asserted. "I promise."
"Thanks for that," Roark said. "I do mean that."
"I don't doubt it. Hey." He fished the Fire Stone he'd found at the Ironworks out of his bag and showed it to Roark. "I've been experimenting with evolution stones in my spare time during training. This one is pretty low quality but it's giving me the results I'm looking for. You said you'd give me anything I needed from the mines, right?"
Roark gave him a thumbs-up, forcing a can-do attitude. "Absolutely!"
Hilbert felt really awkward about taking advantage of the man's charity so blatantly. It was like saying something other than "fine" or "good" when someone asked how your day was going. Answering truthfully made you look like a jerk. "This is the only time I'm going to ask for something," Hilbert finally said.
"Right."
"I need the scraps from cut evolution stones," Hilbert said. "Any slivers, dust, hell, point me to the refinery and I can get it myself. All of the low-quality stuff you can't use or sell, I'll take."
"...That's all?"
Hilbert actually did glare at that. "Well, now that you mention it, no, it isn't. I need about fifty pounds of platinum for Golett."
Roark's eyes widened and he took an affronted step away. "I'm not sure if we even have that much on hand. What do you need it for?"
"My patron gives me power in the form of electricity," Hilbert said. "Whatever conducts best."
"Ever considered copper? Or silver?"
"Copper isn't high enough quality and silver has an anti-spiritual association," Hilbert said. "Platinum is also tougher and won't melt if it's got too much energy moving through it. Otherwise, I would use silver, yeah."
"That's…" Roark appeared to be running calculations in his head. "That's more than fifty million Pokédollars, Kuroiwa. I can't spare that."
Hilbert shrugged. "Ah. It is what it is. Just give me whatever you can spare."
Truthfully, he had been joking about taking the platinum. It was the most expensive thing he could ask for and actually use.
Roark nodded and said, "I'll see what I can do."
AN:
Chapter's out a bit early, I have shenanigans of my own to get up to. Not my best work, but it's a transition.
Shuppet actually gets to battle, lol. They seem pretty popular but I wanted to make sure they had some representation.
Marley's surname comes from Yugioh's Mai Valentine, because they share a given name in Japanese and I thought the personality polarity would be funny.
Roark's whole deal is overwhelming gratitude towards Hilbert, because proving that ghosts are real is sort of traumatic to a normal person, his power is really poorly defined in-universe, and he held up a few thousand tons of earth with his willpower and massive balls. It's really an "I'm going to die if I piss this guy off" thing.