Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.
Akari couldn't believe she had to do this again.
In the two weeks since she'd quelled Kleavor's frenzy, she'd continued to catch and study Pokémon in the Obsidian Fieldlands.
Then, one of the Diamond Clan wardens—a redhead named Arezu—informed Kamado that another Noble was in a frenzy. This time, it was Ursuluna, in the Crimson Mirelands.
(According to Rei, ursaluna was the evolved form of ursaring; not that Akari knew what an ursaring was.)
The Crimson Mirelands was a good eight hours away from Jubilife, so by the time she and Rei arrived at the Mirelands Camp, the sun was setting. Akari let her Pokémon out; there was no reason why they couldn't enjoy the evening. Brooke and Matchbox (recently evolved into a Pokémon called quilava) chased each other; Aurora stayed by Akari's side.
The camp was mostly empty, except for the Security Corps guard and a member of the Supply Corps—what was his name again? Eizo?
Akari froze when probably-Eizo approached her; Aurora hopped onto her shoulder.
"Hey," he said. "You're the skyfaller, right? The one who quelled Lord Kleavor?"
Akari nodded mutely. Figures. She could apparently quell powerful Pokémon that could kill her, but she still couldn't handle adults interacting with her.
"I'm here with a request from Shinon," Eizo went on. Shinon was a member of the Medical Corps. Akari flinched a bit as his hand moved, but forced herself to relax when he was just holding a piece of parchment.
Akari, of course, couldn't read what was on the parchment.
"Shinon says she needs leaves from a plant for some medicine," Eizo said. "But Anise told me privately that the leaves are from a petilil, not a plant."
Akari still remained silent, not sure whether she was supposed to respond or not. There was an awkward halt in the one-sided conversation until—
"Anise wants you to get her the petilil. When you have it, bring it to Anise, not Shinon," Eizo said.
"Yeah, okay," Akari mumbled, staring at the ground. "I—um, yeah. I will."
There was an awkward silence that stretched on for a few moments.
Finally, Eizo spoke again.
"Well, I need to get these sootfoot roots back to Jubilife," he said. "Good—uh—good luck with that petilil."
Even Akari detected the doubt present in his voice.
"Um—bye," Akari muttered; when he left, she took a seat next to Rei and shifted Aurora to her lap and stroked her brown fur. Aurora purred in content.
"It still seems weird that you're so—uh, awkward with people but so good with Pokémon," Rei said. "What's your secret?"
"I can do magic," Akari deadpanned. The moment she said it, Akari felt unbearably anxious. If he thought she was making fun—if he decided he hated her now, she didn't think she could take it.
Rei snorted.
"You know, at this point, that wouldn't surprise me," he said dryly. "Any other secrets you're hiding, oh powerful sorceress?"
Akari let out a small laugh as a wave of relief swept over her. It was fine. He knew it was just banter.
"My Arc Phone is the source of my power," Akari said.
"I knew there was something weird about that thing."
They both burst into laughter; something warm fluttered in Akari's chest, as well as a sense of triumph.
Rei was honestly the only kid close to her age she'd ever spoken to. In fact, prior to Hisui, Akari hadn't spoken to very many people at all. Constance had always told her not to, and that "no one would want to talk to a worthless bitch like her anyway".
It was…nice to know that Akari wasn't terrible at talking to Rei despite her inexperience.
And it was nice to prove Constance wrong about her. Maybe—maybe she was good for something other than catching and battling with Pokémon.
Don't get carried away , Akari told herself, continuing to stroke Aurora, who seemed to be drifting off to sleep. Even if she suddenly had friends now, even if three people (three!) liked her now for some reason, it didn't mean she was suddenly—well, her luck in battles was because of her Pokémon. The only thing she was actually good at was catching Pokémon.
Still, Akari's heart continued to twang with a warm, jubilant feeling. She didn't think anything —not even memories she could do without—could bring her down.
The next day, Laventon arrived and briefed them on the Crimson Mirelands—apparently, it was teeming with poison-type Pokémon. The Solaceon Ruins was just across the Golden Lowlands, on the other side of some wooden logs being used as a bridge. Akari and Rei headed there, catching Pokémon as they went.
Inside the Solaceon Ruins was a dark-skinned old woman in Pearl Clan garb and a bibarel.
"I'm Calaba of the Pearl Clan," the woman said as they approached. "Warden Calaba to you." Calaba looked at Akari, who felt very small under her gaze. "Well, look at that. You have a Celestica Flute."
"Um—yeah," Akari mumbled, staring at the floor of the ruins. She tried in vain to push the Celestica Flute further into her uniform. "Warden Mai and Adaman gave it to me."
"You're the one that fell out of the space-time rift, aren't you?" Calaba asked.
Akari nodded.
"I've already heard about you," Calaba said. "And about how you quelled Kleavor in his frenzy. You know, I can't help but wonder if there was a better solution. What you did was hardly different than beating a Pokémon into submission, after all."
Akari felt like she'd been dunked in ice-cold water. In fact, she could feel it, the icy water of the Thaler's tub, how the temperature pierced her skin like knives—was she sick again?
Except—she didn't feel sick. And now she could hear Constance screaming at her, telling her how worthless and ungrateful she was, and the belt struck her back again and again and again—her back felt like it was on fire—
" Akari !"
Akari flinched as someone grabbed her hands; the inside of the Solaceon Ruins swam into view.
Her face was wet.
Akari suddenly very much wanted to disappear; Calaba was staring at her like she'd grown another head, and Rei was looking at her, pale-faced.
"You uh…kind of spaced out," he said.
"It's nothing," Akari muttered. "Just—got distracted."
Rei looked doubtful, but he didn't press the issue.
Calaba was still staring her down.
"Um—I—" Akari gasped. Anxiety was clogging her throat, that awful black feeling she was so used to threatening to swallow her up. "I'm sorry…"
"Why are you apologizing to me?" Calaba said coldly. "Think about that poor Pokémon you and your own Pokémon pummeled until he couldn't cause anymore problems."
Akari flinched, once again, feeling the agonizing burning pain of a belt lashing her back.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I was just trying to help…"
Calaba didn't even acknowledge her whimpered apology. She glared at Akari. There was no forgiveness on her face, just condemnation and dislike.
Anger, Akari's mind supplied. She's mad at you. You can't do anything right can you? You try to help, and managed to mess that up.
Akari cowered as it got harder and harder to breathe; she knew what came next. Panic surged in her like a tidal wave. Tears were springing into her eyes.
Akari glanced around, then ducked behind Rei.
They were friends. He'd…protect her, right? He'd protected her in the past, like when she'd come across that alpha rapidash.
Unless it was different now because she'd done something wrong, but—she didn't want to get hit. She wanted Rei to—
Think she was worth something—
—help her, as selfish as that was.
Akari clung to the back of Rei's Survey Corps uniform, and hid her face as tears started coming down and just wouldn't stop . She was trembling (why couldn't she stop shaking?), and she suddenly couldn't breathe.
This was pathetic. No wonder Constance had smacked her around.
Akari was taking several deep breaths, trying to calm herself (and get air in her lungs), trying to stop the tears and shaking—mainly in vain—when she heard Rei speaking.
"Hang on, Akari didn't do anything wrong! She said Kleavor was suffering. She helped him," Rei said. "We want to help Ursuluna, too."
"Of course she told you Kleavor was suffering," Calaba returned, though her voice was a touch softer. "Maybe she even believes it. But even if Kleavor was in pain, brutalizing it until it does what she wants is not the answer."
At the word 'brutalize', Akari curled up and held onto Rei tighter.
"Kleavor was grateful for what she did! And a lot of people and Pokémon aren't endangered anymore. With Kleavor in that state, it was only a matter of time before he killed someone," Rei said. "Look, Akari loves Pokémon. She'd never hurt one. She's a good person."
Akari blinked; no one had ever defended her like this before. Her tears were starting to slow and a warm feeling surged in her chest.
However, that awful black feeling was still there, still looming.
"She loves Pokémon? And yet she keeps them imprisoned in those little balls?" Calaba said.
"They're not imprisoned," Rei said. "They're a way for us to learn about Pokémon. So we can co-exist. That's what Akari's working for. That's what we're working for. We catch them to help the professor study them, so everyone can understand Pokémon better. To make Hisui safer."
"It's still a cage," Calaba said stiffly. "No matter how nice you try to make it sound."
"Akari never makes any Pokémon stay with her that doesn't want to," Rei countered. "If it were a cage, then why would she let them go when they want to leave? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of a cage?"
"And I'm just supposed to take your word for it?" Calaba asked, not looking convinced in the slightest. "I don't need help from your sort. Nor from that whelp from the Diamond Clan. Be on your way. While I apologize for any—discomfort—I may have caused—" here Calaba's gaze drifted towards Akari—"I have much to do, and I'd prefer to not be distracted any further."
Calaba went deeper into the Ruins, towards the wall; a chunk of it was missing.
Akari let go of Rei and edged away from him, watching her go. Underneath the anxiety and general crummy feeling in her gut, she felt a ripple of anger.
How dare she. How dare she. How dare she think Akari would ever beat a Pokémon into submission. Akari knew how that made one feel, that looming, all-encompassing feeling of abject terror that made you just comply and hope for the best.
She'd never inflict it on anyone else.
"Akari? You sure you're okay?" Rei asked.
"Fine," Akari said, more shortly than she'd intended. She took a deep breath. "Sorry. I'm fine. Really. Um—Rei? Thank you for defending me before."
"Oh—no problem," Rei said. He met her gaze. "I meant it, you know."
"Yeah, I know," Akari said. "I'm sorry I didn't do the same for you…"
As she said this, she felt stabs of guilt. Did that make her a bad friend?
Rei blinked.
"It's fine," he said. "Really. It's not like she gave you much of a chance to say anything…"
At that moment, as Rei trailed off, Akari stiffened as she heard foot steps, and turned around, ready to hide herself if need be.
She relaxed when she saw it was Volo. Volo was safe, he wouldn't hurt her.
"Hello, Akari!" Volo greeted her. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything! I was hoping you could show me the strength that could quell even a frenzied lord?"
"Um…okay," she said. Maybe a battle would make her feel less crummy.
"Excellent! A battle with you might let me experience even a fraction of the power the nobles wield!" Volo said, taking out a pokéball.
Smirking, his gray eyes gleaming, Volo sent in Togepi.
Akari sent in Aurora.
"Oh, an eevee!" Volo said. "Have you been making good use of my backstrike technique?"
"Yeah," Akari said, partly as not to disappoint him, though it wasn't like she hadn't been using it. "Um, thank you for showing to me."
"No problem! Anything for my favorite customer! Now, let's get down to it, shall we? Togepi, Tackle!" Volo said.
"Baby Doll Eyes!" Akari said.
Aurora was faster, and moved first; she walked forward, and gave Togepit a pitiful look and whined, like a dog who was begging might.
Togepi hesitated, and the tackle hit softer than it should have.
"Tackle, Strong Style!" Volo commanded.
"Aurora, look out—" Akari began, but it was too late; Togepi's attack hit. Aurora took the attack and was sent skidding back several inches.
"Aurora!"
Aurora pushed herself up and nodded to Akari, signifying that she could still battle.
Okay. Relax. Don't hesitate.
"Swift, Agile Style!" Akari said.
Moving at almost blinding speed, Aurora unleashed her attack.
"Now, Swift again, Strong Style!"
The star-shaped rays slammed into Togepi again, this time much harder than the previous Swift.
The force of the attack sent Togepi to the ground; a moment passed, during which Togepi didn't move. For a moment, Akari thought she was down, but then, Togepi shakily pushed herself to her feet, dashing those thoughts.
"Togepi, Draining Kiss!" Volo commanded.
"Aurora, Quick Attack!" Akari said.
Aurora moved first; Quick Attack always seemed to go first, Akari had noticed.
Aurora slammed into Togepi, knocking her to the ground. This time, Togepi did not get back up, instead going back into her pokéball.
For a split second, Akari had thought that was it; then—
"You're not the only one who's caught more team members," Volo said, pulling out another pokéball.
Volo sent out a Pokémon called gible; it looked like a shark, but had legs.
"Aurora, Baby Doll Eyes!" Akari said.
"Gible, Bulldoze," Volo said.
Aurora, once again, pulled out the puppy dog eyes and let out a cute whine. Gible faltered, but still went through with the attack.
As Gible attacked, dust came sprinkling down from the ceiling.
Suddenly, Akari realized that maybe it hadn't been a good idea to hold the battle inside the ruins. Well, too late now…she just hoped Calaba wouldn't be mad.
When the attack hit, Aurora let out a pitiful cry and collapsed to the ground.
"Aurora!" Akari cried, her heart clenching.
Aurora didn't get back up; Akari recalled Aurora.
She had to think. She didn't know what a gible was , let alone what type it was. But the move Bulldoze was a ground-type move—so sending out Matchbox would probably be a bad idea, even with his recent evolution.
Which left Brooke.
Akari pulled out Brooke's pokéball. Without wasting any more time, Akari sent Brooke out.
"Bui bui," Brooke said, and Akari could tell how eager she was.
"Brooke, Aqua Jet!" Akari said.
"Gible, Bulldoze, Strong Style!" Volo said.
Brooke went first; like Quick Attack, Aqua Jet always seemed to go first.
Brooke's attack knocked Gible off its feet, but got it back up—then unleashed another Bulldoze—this one much more powerful.
As the attack hit, Brooke was thrown off her feet—but got back up again, seemingly undeterred.
Of course, Brooke never backed down from a battle. Ever .
"Aqua Jet, Agile Style!" Akari said.
"Gible, Bulldoze again!" Volo said.
Brooke, once again, slammed into Gible while surrounded by water, even more quickly than the previous attack.
"Water Pulse, Strong Style!" Akari said.
Brooke's Water Pulse did hit hard—but it still wasn't as effective as she'd hoped.
"Gible's dragon typing nullifies any weakness to water-type attacks, I'm afraid," Volo said.
Dragon?
Akari had gone through some of Laventon's books—the ones she could actually read, anyway—and had copied down a type match-up chart from one of them. So she knew dragon-types existed, but had only seen goomy so far.
…of course the baby shark is a dragon, Akari thought in a deadpan. Goomy hadn't looked very dragon-like either and yet it was a dragon. Pokémon, it seemed, didn't always look like their typing, it seemed. Still, curiosity niggled at her mind. Did it breathe fire? It'd be cool if Gible breathed fire. Oh, did goomy breathe fire too? Akari knew from her battle with Lian that goomy could blow bubbles, but if it could breathe fire too, that would be epic .
Gible launched its attack.
"Dodge it, then use Water Pulse!" Akari said.
Brooke tried to dodge, she really did—but she was now noticeably moving slower. Akari frowned; that…was unexpected. She'd been here long enough to know that String Shot made the opponent move slower. Perhaps this did, too?
The attack hit; Brooke was sent to the floor.
"Brooke!" Akari cried.
For a moment, she thought Brooke was down, and prepared to recall her—but then, Brooke forced herself to her feet, and released a Water Pulse.
"Gible, avoid it and finish it with Twister!"
Akari didn't know what kind of move Twister was, and she didn't find out. Because the second Gible jumped out of the way of Brooke's Water Pulse, she told Brooke to use Aqua Jet.
Brooke's attack connected, and Gible went down, retreating into its pokéball.
She'd won; Akari tried not to feel too pleased with herself. It was due to her Pokémon, after all.
"Good job, Brooke," Akari said, stroking Brooke's fur. Brooke trilled in pleasure.
Akari looked over as Volo approached her, and stood up straight.
"You truly have prodigious strength!" Volo said, healing up both of their Pokémon. "Well now! I think that settles it. I must ask your help in retrieving the stolen wall fragment. With your skill, it should be a cinch!"
Akari felt herself flushing at the praise. He really shouldn't heap this much praise on her—but people responded better if she just accepted it.
"Thank you," she said, rather shyly. "Um…wall fragment?"
"Yes," Volo said, gesturing deeper into the ruins, to the missing chunk in the wall. "Some bandits pillaged the Solaceon Ruins and made off with a fragment of the wall engraving!"
"Bandits?" Rei asked, sounding a bit alarmed.
"You've heard of the notorious Miss Fortune Sisters, correct?" Volo said.
No, Akari couldn't say that she had.
Volo seemed to take her silence as a 'no' and went on.
"They're a trio of bandits that typically hit us Ginkgo Guild merchants. They're recognizable by that ghastly face paint they wear. Mistress Calaba is doing everything she can to regain the fragment, but at 99 years old—it's a bit hard for her to chase leads all over the place. So, what do you say, Akari? Why not help find the fragment for the warden?" Volo said.
While Akari wasn't thrilled with the idea of confronting a trio of bandits, maybe if she and Rei got the fragment back then they could give it to Calaba in exchange for being allowed to help Ursaluna.
Besides, the Miss Fortune Sisters probably had it hidden somewhere—like a hideout. Maybe if they waited till the bandits were out, and took it then, she wouldn't have to confront anyone.
Assuming, of course, that she and Rei could find their hideout in the first place.
Akari exchanged a glance with Rei, then nodded.
Rei looked at her, but didn't say anything.
"Oh, and I'll be happy to help, too, of course!" Volo said. "They swiped my wares, and I'm certainly not about to let them get away with vandalizing Hisui's ruins!"
Volo paused for a moment.
"You know, I did see the remains of a campfire in the Golden Lowlands. Perhaps you could start there."
Back across the bridge and next to the river, Akari and Rei found what was left of a campfire surrounded by stumps.
Not exactly her idea of a bandit hideout; she'd been expecting a cave, or a shack.
At least, that's how it was usually portrayed on the shows Constance and Scott would watch.
Akari examined the firepit; there was currently no fire roaring, but the smell of smoke hung in the air.
"It looks like somebody was here recently," Rei noted.
Akari nodded, then let Matchbox out of his pokéball.
"We're looking for a wall fragment—made of stone," she said. "Can you help us look around here?"
Matchbox nodded and looked around for a few minutes—then started digging at one of the stumps. Now that Akari took a closer look, the soil around that particular stump looked different, like it had been moved recently.
Akari came over to see a large chunk of stone hidden under the roots.
After Matchbox fully unearthed it, Akari reached down and picked it up. She brushed the dirt off it, and saw an engraving—or rather, part of one.
"Wait," Akari said. "Is this the fragment?"
"Must be," Rei said. "Never seen characters like those, though…"
The engraving looked like stylized English letters; but the only other person who seemed to know English—or rather, Galarian—was Professor Laventon.
"Should we head back?" Akari said. "Before they—"
Akari froze as she heard footsteps.
They're right behind me, aren't they?
"Well, well, well," a voice said. "What do we have here?"
Yep. Should've kept my mouth shut.
Akari whirled around to see three women in face paint approaching them.
Akari swallowed a lump in her throat; it seemed they wouldn't be able to make a clean getaway after all.