I leave Delcatty's in a huff. I still can't believe she didn't think to tell me—us—about all this as soon as she found out they were here! I can understand the demanding nature of her job, sure, but…but this…this is my family.
As I head back to the dorm to find Stephanie and the others, I actually run into them in the lobby en route to the prison. "Gwen?! Elliot's really here?!" Stephanie says running up to me, "he is, but…" but what? Yes Stephanie, our beloved son is here, in an underground prison, but my dear friend, Master of the Exploration Center, is going to leave him there until who knows when? And maybe she'll feel inclined to give us updates, maybe she won't.
"Gwen?" "Huh? Oh, yes, he's in the prison with Serperior…but Delcatty is uh…she's not going to release them until she sorts out the uh…legal matters," I say feebly. "Legal matters!? But Elliot's just a child!" "I guess the family that he and Serperior attacked hold a powerful grudge…I've just been up to Delcatty's, and she basically said she's doing what she could, but it'd take a little time." I say, hating how pathetic the answer is, but not wanting to delve into precisely how I got the info out of her.
Stephanie looks furious, but I get the sense she knows there's little we can do right now short of breaking them out ourselves—which is something I honestly never want to go through again. She sighs, the tension slowly draining from her face, leaving a tired expression behind. "Ok…ok. Let's go see them," she says sadly.
As we set off, I remember one more tiny detail. I pull Stephanie aside from the others for a moment. "Stephanie, I uh…I'm not sure how to explain this but…" she searches my face as I fumble my words, "when I went to see them…and told Elliot who I was…he didn't—couldn't—believe me. I'm not sure he even realizes he's been turned into a pokemon himself." Stephanie's eyes go wide. "Oh! He's an impidimp, suits him, huh?" I say, trying to lighten the mood. A tough call, given the situation.
"Wait, Gwen…are you seriously telling me Elliot…he's not going to realize it's us!?" I tell her about his tantrum, which only stopped when I introduced myself as someone else and said I'd help look for his parents. "He…I mean, he knows our teams…maybe seeing everyone together will help him fill in the pieces? But if not…I don't know how much we want to force it, it might just freak him out even more than all this." I say, vaguely gesturing to the…everything.
Her brows furrow and eyes water slightly, then she sighs deeply, "ok…if you think it's the best way…we can try. But it's going to hurt the whole time." "I know," I say, thinking back to how he cried for his mommy—for me—and how I couldn't give him that comfort. Not like this.
Once we're back in the prison, Elliot springs to life, reaching through the bars, "Noivy! Sevi! Lookit look!" He says, pointing out each of them in turn to Serperior, who's regarding us curiously. "Stephanie? Is that you?" He asks as she nervously steps forward. "Haha, yeah…different, huh?" "It suits you. Good to see you again." "…likewise." She says, not sounding particularly happy.
Rotom zips between the bars and around Serperior's head, "I can't believe you got arrested again! Two for two! You're a real punk you know?" She says grinning. "I…do seem to be in the wrong place at the wrong time…" he offers weakly. "It's because you attack first and think later. You make it the wrong time," Dragalge says simply. "Ooooh, burn!" Rotom jeers. "I'll have you know I've been looking after a super powered child single handedly since we got here! It's tough!" "Hey, what about me?" Noivern huffs, "I've been looking after you too! Some help you were, you got us roped in to that party in the first place!"
"Alright, alright," I step in, "no need to get heated, I'm sure everyone tried their best…given the situation. How's Elliot doing?" I see him laughing and chasing Rotom in the cell.
"He's ok…but he's still asking about uh…well about you two." Serperior says awkwardly, looking between Stephanie and I. Right, of course…I just wish there was some way we could just explain to him…but no matter how I turn it over in my mind, I can't think of a way to just make him accept it. Stephanie watches Elliot as he plays, tears rimming her eyes.
We hang around catching up until a guard eventually comes in and forcefully tells us visiting hours are over. "Bye bye! Bye eevees!" Elliot says, waving at Stephanie and I. I give a shaky laugh…"bye bye, get a good sleep!" "And be good!" Stephanie calls. The rest of us exchange our goodbyes, and then we leave them behind in the prison, the trap door closing behind us.
It's nice to be back in the fresh air, to see the sun setting. I feel a twinge of guilt that we're all out here while Elliot and Serperior are stuck down there. Our pokemon continue ahead of us back to the Center; when they're out of sight, Stephanie breaks down. "Gwen…I can't do it…! He's…he's in there…confused and missing us and…and…what are we going to do?" I hold her, "shhh…it's ok…Delcatty is, one way or another, trying to work it out…and Serperior's looking after him…it'll be ok…" she suddenly pulls away, searching my face. I'm feeling a little unnerved by her sudden shift in affect. "Why did he do it?" She whispers.
"Huh?"
"Your stupid, impulsive pokemon—why did he do it? Attack someone?! It escalated the whole thing way out of hand!" She's yelling at me now, suddenly furious. I'm a little perplexed…why is she acting like this is my fault? I'm upset about it too…"Hold on a minute…he was trying to protect him! There was already a situation! Elliot started it!" I say, referring to him biting that kid—he's never done anything like that before, I think halfheartedly. "But they wouldn't have arrested a little boy for that!" "But they did, didn't they!? They could've just arrested Serperior, but no, they put Elliot in there too!" I can't believe we're having this argument, right now in front of the Center's entrance. She looks at me, fuming, tiny trails of smoke coming from her nose. I can almost feel the heat pouring off her—although, with her being a fire type, maybe I can. "Look, it sounds like the family wasn't going to forgive Elliot for attacking their kid…if he didn't protect him…who knows what would've happened? He could be sitting alone in prison right now…or worse!" "He might not be in prison at all, is the point!" She retorts.
This is getting us nowhere…"ok, fine, if it wasn't for Serperior, Elliot might not be in prison…but there's not much we can do about it now, is there?" "You could accept for once that your partner is a menace! He got you in trouble last time, and he's done it again now!" "For Arceus' sake, not this again!" It's a conversation we've had multiple times, usually following him annoying her—'Gwen why do you let him get leaves all over the living room?' 'Gwen get him off of Seviper!' 'Gwen have you tried recently to put him in his pokeball?' The list goes on. I know she cares for him as she does the rest of my pokemon but…I don't know, sometimes he just gets on her nerves.
I rub my forehead, trying to reign in my temper. "I know…I know this is all hard…for both of us…but we need to stay strong, right? For Elliot? For our team? I'm sorry that we're caught up in all this…but as soon as Delcatty gets them out…I'll try to see if she knows any possible way we can get home. If anyone would know, it's her."
Stephanie studies me, working to steady her breathing. "Alright…ok. I'm sorry, for lashing out. It's just so…" she trails off. "I know, I'm sorry too," I say, hugging her again. We stand there for a few moments, then slowly head back inside. If the others heard our argument, they do well pretending it didn't happen.
The next day we spend most our time visiting the pair in the prison. The following day is much the same. I've been asking the reception desk multiple times if there are any updates from Delcatty, but so far nothing. Elliot's been getting more and more antsy as time passes. "I'm bored! I wanna play OUTSIDE!" He says, stamping his foot. "Don't worry Eli, we'll get you out soon," "only mama and mommy call me Eli, not you," he says, crossing his arms and looking away, pouting. "Elliot…be nice, these are…are good friends…of mommy and mama," Serperior says, making a face, as though looking for confirmation.
I feel Stephanie tense beside me at his words—I don't think she's quite forgiven him for 'causing all this,' as she put it. But that afternoon, when we're sent away, Elliot wants to hug her and I, the 'eevees,' as he calls us, through the bars. When we pull away, I see Stephanie crying—of course, it's through my own tear-blurred vision.
The next morning, I see Delcatty pacing by reception. "Ah, good morning everyone," she says, stiffly addressing the group. "I have some good news! Sir Gallade and his family have agreed to drop the charges against Serperior and Elliot, so, as of this morning, they're free to go. Gwen? When you have some time I…I think we need to talk," she says, looking at her feet and pawing at the ground. I nod dumbly, too preoccupied with her news. They're actually free! Now we can finally look for a way home! Elliot can run around, touch grass, fall asleep in my arms! A stupid grin spreads across my face.
Then I look up and notice Delcatty's far less joyful expression. I tamp down my excitement, for now anyway. "I—Stephanie, would now be—" "go for it," she leans to me "I don't think she's really asking," she whispers in my ear. "Right, I'll join you guys later," I turn to Delcatty, "ok, you have my full attention, where do you want to talk?"