We're finally back with chapter 13! This time we have a more Via-focused chapter as we end off the Exhibition Match Arc. Via and Jackson still have a lot of tension, so will we see that resolved today?
2027 - Unova, Vertress City Stadium
Via rushed through the crowd of people scrambling out of the stadium after the battle concluded and the winner was announced, excited to meet Retsuko in the locker room to celebrate his and Kaz's victory.
Riatsu had, unfortunately, gone back to work to figure out a case as a result of a mysterious break-in at one of Star City's many nightclubs.
Kyu had gone back with her to "Get some more food" which Via knew was just an excuse for him to spend more time with Riatsu.
She continued to make her way to the room but turned a corner to find Madame Asther standing there waiting for her patiently.
Via jumped up in shock, nearly knocking over Vye who hissed at her in response.
"Just the girl I was looking for..." Asther said expectantly.
"Uhhhh-" Via mumbled, pointing at herself in disbelief.
"I know about your little... problem, Olivia." Madame Asther continued, softly.
Via narrowed her eyes at the woman, who towered over her.
"You're Madame Asther. This region's dictator." Via said presumptuously, pointing her finger slightly.
Asther extended her hand out to the shorter girl.
"I don't believe we've met. Formally, that is." She said.
Via hesitantly shook her hand.
"You're actually just the person I wanted to see. I need you to take me to get the light stone. I know that you have it in your possession." Via demanded.
"My apologies, but I cannot afford to allow someone of your situational standing to come into contact with one of this Region's national treasures. I am aware of your special relationship with the legendary Pokémon Reshiram, but that was during a state of emergency. This is a completely different matter than the team Plasma Attack."
"Whatever you think you know about what's going on with me is wrong. Please, I need to talk to Reshiram, you don't understand!" Via begged.
"I'm afraid I can't do that," Asther said. "However, what I can offer you is this: An Explanation. What you're experiencing is a result of a reaction. You have an ability lying dormant in you. The power of a god. Even your little Braixen is being affected." Asther said.
Via raised a brow in rejection of Asther's absurd statement.
"What are you talking about-" Via questioned.
Asther raised both of her arms and looked up at the ceiling blissfully.
"The burst phenomenon. The result of the complete fusion of humans and pokemon. A process in which the pokemon becomes a form of spiritual armor that the Gijinka can don in battle. An ability passed down for generations. An ability originating from the legendary pokemon Arceus, creator of all life, and bestowed upon us by the plates of his grace. Power of all legendary pokemon in your hands. The power of Reshiram. The descendant of Fluer." Asther preached.
She looked down at Via from her gaze into the heavens.
"This exhibition speech gave me the prime opportunity to search the entirety of Unova's Popululus in hopes of finding a Gijinka with a special stone. An oracle. You, like Kyu Yeonghon and Retsuko Kourada were identified. You are a Gijinka, Oliva.
Via looked at Asther in pure shock. She had no idea how to comprehend any of this. Reshiram's special interest in her, her immunity to being harmed by fire or being cold, the runes she'd been finding ever since visiting Kalos, and her constant visions. The fire...
This explained everything.
"So I'm... A Gijinka? Some sort of descendant of an Ancient demigod with the power to fuse with a pokemon thanks to Arceus's plates. And what, Kyu and Retsuko are too?"
Asther nodded, a villainous smile creeping onto her face.
"Do they know?"
Asther nodded yet again.
"The purpose of the exhibition match was to help set up a means for Retsuko and Kyu specifically to receive training in order to harness their abilities. They too, like you also have the power of a legendary pokemon due to the plates. Though... You were a special case due to your easy-to-find connection with the legendary pokemon Reshiram." Asther explained.
"It's Vye, isn't it? And I'm guessing that I'll be sent off somewhere random with them to receive this same training?" Via questioned.
"The choice is yours, Oliva. Come meet us at the Star City transportation centre next Wednesday if you decide to comply." Madame Asther said, walking off and leaving Via to absorb all of the information she'd just been given.
"I have so many questions... Where do I even begin to-" Via thought, catching herself as a single tear streamed down her cheek.
She rushed to the locker room even quicker than she did before, holding back tears of frustration and confusion, but stopped at the entrance to her destination.
Just as she prepared to open the door, Kion walked out and paused at the sight of her.
"Via." He said quietly.
Via's face grew red and she looked down in refusal to meet his gaze.
"Not the time, Kion." She snapped.
She walked past him, bumping into him slightly with her shoulder as she entered the locker room to find Retsuko carefully putting his hairclip back into his hair using the mirror on his locker.
He'd changed back into his casual street clothes, opting to keep up his disguise in wishes of not having to deal with paparazzi.
"Hey Retsuko," Via replied, cheering up.
"Yurrr. What's up?" Retsuko greeted Via, giving her a short with two fingers.
"Nothing, I just wanted to congratulate you on the big win. Where's Kaz?" Via replied.
"Dead asleep in her Pokeball. She needed the rest anyway." Retsuko explained absently, closing his locker.
His expression brightened as if he'd remembered something important.
"Speaking of Kaz, can you do me a favor?" Retsuko asked nervously, rushing over to her.
"Aha," Via responded as they walked out of the room and began to make their way out of the stadium.
"So uhhh. Basically, Kaz messed up Neptune's left Seamitar really badly. Shattered it in a kinda cool looking Katana shape, and Kion said it was cool and that she could keep it cuz a new one'll grow back, but I still feel bad." Retsuko trailed.
Via gave him a look.
"That's not the point. -Anyways, I was wondering if I could commission you to make me a scabbard for Kaz to hold her new Seamitar. -Katana? Thingy?" Retsuko asked.
"Of course, I can! I've never made anything like that before, so I'm not sure how I should go about this though." Via pondered, putting her hand to her chin in deep thought.
"I've got it. I'll use a mold!" Via added, snapping her finger.
"Figured it out?"
"Mhm!" Via replied.
She looked down at Vye warmly.
"This is good. I needed something to help take my mind off of things. Better to put me to work so that I can get some time to process everything..." She thought.
2027 - Unova, Star City I.P.F. Headquarters Medical Center
Saabrina held Kaz's blade in her hands, carresing the edge of it with her finger.
"So... Kaz picked it up and it just reshaped itself into this?" She asked Retsuko, and Kaz, who were sitting beside each other in front of her.
Retsuko nodded.
"I don't even know what happened. It was such a rush. I guess Neptune threw his seamitar in the air and Kaz caught it and used it out of instinct. You told me before on the phone that Kaz has a disability right? She's not able to make use of the water that she generates in combat. Well this thing must have given her a medium to do that."
"That still doesn't explain how the blade was reformed into such a specific shape. This type of Katana looks kinda like Grandpa's from back home in alola. Wanna give it a go?" Saabrina asked, extending her hand out with the blade in it.
The weapon wasn't too long for a small buizel to use, but it also wasn't so short that it wouldn't be able to be easily weilded by Retsuko.
"How would I even go about igniting it?" Retsuko asked but as soon as he grabbed onto the handle, the Katana-like seamitar handle exploded into a blade of water.
Retsuko stumbled back in suprise, flailing around with the blade.
He took a deep breath, correcting his form.
Kaz looked at him in awe as he perfectly executed 4 swings in a combo before returning the sword to his side.
"This feels... Surreal." He said.
"Hmm..." Saabrina thought out loud, biting her lip slightly.
She took the sword out of Retsuko's hand and Kaz jumped up in reaction as Saabrina was launched back with immense force as soon as she came into contact with the blade.
The water dispersed and retracted, falling to the floor.
Retsuko and Kaz both rushed to her side in response.
"You alright sis?!" Retsuko asked urgently as Saabrina struggled to her feet in his arms.
"Yeah I'll be fine. Note to self: Don't touch the artifact of a Demigod while it's activated." She jokingly spat.
"So it only reacts to Kaz and I?" Retsuko asked as Kaz picked the blade back up.
"Seems like it. My information about everything regarding the whole Ja-Gin-Kah thing is limited for obvious reasons so all i know is the science. When you activate the burst, Kaz becomes a type of energy that we'll classify as Burst Energy that surrounds you. Until you get a better scope of your abilities that's all I know for sure. You didn't have a definitive form before. From the footage that I was shown, you just looked like a maelstrom of rage." Saabrina explained.
Retsuko smiled and nodded at Saabrina, putting his jacket back on and disconnecting the pads that read his body from him.
"Sorry I couldn't help more..." Saabrina said apologetically.
Retsuko shook his head as he returned Kaz to her pokeball.
"Nah, you did the best you could. All this does is solidify the fact that I need time to harness this new 'Gift." Retsuko said.
He left the I.P.F. Headquarters and met up with his team of Pokemon who all came out of hiding from different corners around the building.
"See anything out of the ordinary?" Retsuko asked Rio, the head of the surveillance squad.
Rio shook her head and so did the rest of his team.
Retsuko sighed in disappointment.
"Right. Head back home and rest, you guys. I'll meet you there after i find Kyu and Via."
2027 - Star City, Retsuko's Apartment
Retsuko met up with Kyu and Via, who were waiting for them outside of the 8th district and the trio made their way back to Retsuko's apartment.
As soon as Retsuko closed the door, Kaz burst out of her PokeBall and began to leap around joyfully, pulling out her blade and swinging it around.
Kuu began to chase after her, hooting angrily at the sight of the mess she was making.
Rio watched them peacefully, yawning and turning around to greet Retsuko, who gave her a pat on the head.
"Where are Ace and Hai?" Retsuko asked, dodging a stray flying pan that smacked Kyu in the forehead.
Kyu angrily grabbed Kaz and snatched the Seamitar out of her hand, leaving it on the table.
"Canroc-Lycan." Rio responded with a shrug.
She plopped back down on the couch where Via sat down and joined her.
Kyu and Retsuko sat too, and Via turned to them.
"We need to talk." Via said
Retsuko leaned back, tossing Kaz's PokeBall back and forth between his hands.
"Oh boy..." Kyu mumbled.
"Does the term 'Gijinka' ring a bell to either of you?" Via asked reluctantly.
Kyu and Retsuko paused, their eyes widening in shock.
"Vivi, how the hell do you know about that?" Kyu asked slowly.
"I see." Via said, disregarding Kyu's question as hs had confirmed her suspicions.
Via lifted up her hand to reveal a swirling vortex of fire surrounding it.
She snapped and it dissapeared at the cost of her comfort.
"Do you know what that means? Wait, you're one too? This can't be a coincidence anymore. Out of the billions of humans on the planet, why specifically us three?" Retsuko asked.
"The Gijinka were bestowed the power of legendaries. Maybe it's because we've encountered and fought with a few of them?" Via wondered.
"Yeah but that doesn't make us special or anything. Listen, I am way too tired to be dealing with this right now-" Kyu said aggressively.
"The Madame of this region approached me earlier today. She told me everything. Then said that she would be sending the three of us to some sort of ancient temple in Sinnoh?" Via added.
"You too, huh?" Retsuko questioned.
"So she's targeting Via now too? I'm worried now. She's got both of my siblings working under her and Kion, Carmen, and Gill at arms reach. She manipulated everything in her favor..." He thought.
"We don't have a choice. The Orakuru aren't just your problem anymore. They're a threat that's targeting the entire world. And I'm not gonna let that happen. I want to protect myself and my brother's family. Algeria's future." Kyu said, slightly irritated.
Retsuko sighed. "Then I guess that's that. We're meeting Asther."
Hours later, Via walked into the bathroom and opened up the cabinet above the sink, stripping down naked and rinsing her hair.
She took a bottle of hair shampoo out of the cabinet and began to massage it into her hair, making sure to scrub it thoroughly. She removed the adjustable shower head from the stand and turned it on, allowing the water to flow onto her as she sat on the stool beside the shower to rinse out her hair again.
Once she finished this process, she grabbed a towel from the rack in front of her and tied her hair up in it.
Replacing the shower head, Via stepped into the shower but as soon as the water touched her skin, everything around her faded away.
Two Years Prior - Unova, Vertress City: Unova League Finals
Via and Vye rushed through the Vertress City stadium to get to the stadium
While visiting Gill, Via hadn't expected the final match of the Pokemon League to blow this far out of proportion.
Via dodged people fleeing from the stadium and looked through one of the specation gaps to see Kyu enevloped in a disfigured evil version of Nagatae, everything around them exploding due to the power of the attacks that they were letting off.
"So we meet again..." A famillar, feminine sounding voice rang through Via's head.
A flamelike draconic rune appeared under her, spinning slowly.
Via blinked and found herself face to face with the legendary pokemon reshiram, leaving Vye alone and confused.
"You! Reshiram!" Via said in awe, struggling to form a sentence.
Reshiram mouthed an inaudible sentence.
"What are you trying to tell me?! H-How do I stop this? All of this!? All of the destruction is being caused right now! I keep seeing these runes that always send me to this... This... This fading realm! I keep seeing you because of the light stone but I can never understand what you're trying to tell me!" Via pleaded.
She extended a hand out to Reshiram, but the Legendary Pokemon faded away, leaving Via alone.
She found herself in a room-like place where everything around her was burning.
Small light candles everywhere.
A bed fit for a princess in the center of the room.
Suddenly, the shadowy figure of a man entered the room, walking slowly towards Via who backed up until she was cornered against the bed.
Unable to move, Via screamed as loudly as she could but she could feel that her voice was being muffled.
The man forcefully grabbed her face, pulling her closely to him, and then uttered one simple sentence into her ear.
...Kyu knocked on the bathroom door in hopes of getting Via out of the room to do his nightly routine, but the door wouldn't budge.
"Yo, Via when are you getting out? Is anyone even there?" Kyu said as he knocked harder.
Retsuko jumped down the stairs after hearing the noise and turned to Kyu.
His expression turned from alert to annoyed immediately.
"You woke me up, man. For what?" He growled.
Kyu shrugged.
"Guess I'ma do my skincare routine later. Via won't get out of the bathroom." He said as he walked off, disappearing into the Living room to play video games.
Retsuko watched him leave and then turned to the bathroom door.
He knocked on it a few times, pressing his ear against the side of it to see if he could hear anything.
Feeling his sock get wet slowly, Retsuko looked down to see water dripping from the floor and spreading out from under the bathroom door.
He could faintly running water but couldn't hear the breathing of anyone in the room.
He heard a heartbeat but it was faint.
Retsuko's expression quickly became distressed as he called for Rio, yelling across the house and alerting his Lycanroc to his location who dashed over to him quickly.
"It's locked and there's not a key for it, so use crunch on the door, but for Arceus's sake, PLEASE don't break it too badly." Retsuko requested.
Rio nodded and charged black energy into her jaw, chomping down on the door with a short surge of power.
Retsuko kicked the door open and found Via unconscious on the side of the running shower, barely covered by a towel that was dangling off of her body.
Retsuko awkwardly covered his eyes as he rushed to her side.
"Vee! Vee, wake up! Please!" Retsuko begged as he rocked her motionless body back and forth.
He wrapped the towel completely around her and placed her on Rio's back, taking off his hoodie and tying it around his waist.
"Take her upstairs to the guest room." Retsuko ordered, to which Rio quickly complied.
He ran up after her past Kyu, who was occupied with his losing battle against a fighting game NPC.
Retsuko pulled his hoodie off of him and did his best to put it onto her.
"Wake up Vye and bring her to me!" Retsuko said urgently to Rio.
Moments later, Rio returned with a worried Braixen on her back.
"Lycanroc!" Rio howled as Vye jumped off and hopped onto the bed next to Via.
Vye pulled the stick out of her tail, igniting it, and held it over Via's head.
Via slowly woke up and found herself face to face with Vye, and Retsuko, who was sitting on the bed leaning above her.
She sat up immediately, inspecting herself and sighed in relief after realizing that she wasn't lewd.
"I passed out?" Via questioned.
"Seems like it. Everything good? You seem off today..." Retsuko wondered.
"I've been getting these visions. Visions of- the past? ...I'm not even sure how to explain it."
"What exactly did you see?" Retsuko inquired.
Via looked away from Retsuko.
"Y-You didn't see me, right?"
Retsuko's face grew slightly red.
"Nope. N-Not at all. You were wrapped in the towel by the time I found you." Retsuko explained.
Via pulled Retsuko's hoodie over her shoulder and slid her arm into the sleeve.
"Good." Via said bitterly, causing Retsuko to flinch.
He was about to ask Via another question about her vision, but Kyu appeared from behind him.
"Is everyone okay-" He asked loudly, startling Retsuko.
Out of instinct, Retsuko grabbed Kyu's shirt collar and pulled him right into his knee, leaving Kyu with a large red mark and a nosebleed on his face.
Retsuko backed off, noticing it was Kyu.
"Sorry man, you kinda came out of nowhere. It was a reflex..." he said, sheepishly scratching his head.
Kyu laughed steadily, swinging his arm over Retsuko's shoulder and gesturing forgiveness, and then suddenly punched him, knocking the wind out of Retsuko.
He stuck his tongue out playfully and smiled.
"Just a reflex!" He mocked.
Via rolled her eyes, blowing her bangs off of her face again.
"Boys..." She groaned.
Via stood up slowly from the guest room bed as the doorbell rang.
"Now who the hell could that be at this hour?" Kyu questioned, dodging a tackle from Retsuko.
"I'll get it..." Via mumbled, pulling herself up and walking towards the door.
Retsuko extended his hand out to Via in warning.
"Vee, I seriously don't think that's a good idea!" Retsuko said, but was tackled back to the ground by Kyu in retaliation.
"You bastard!" Retsuko exclaimed as he went in for a jump kick at Kyu's head.
Via walked downstairs and over to the front door, opening it to find Kion waiting patiently.
He turned to the doorway and his face lit up as soon as the two of them made eye contact.
"Hey. You're actually just the person I wanted to see. Can we talk for a bit?"
Via held on to the doorframe, biting her lip.
"No, now's not a bad time. What's up?" She replied.
"Care to step outside?" Kion questioned.
Via walked out with her arms folded, and Kion's eyes widened upon seeing her.
"Oh shit, did I catch you and Retsuko-" Kion began to wonder out loud, but Via jumped forward, covering his mouth with the palm of his hand before he could finish his inquiry.
"WHAT? NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT. Ugh, why would you even think that you idiot?! Always jumping to conclusions-" Via said.
"You do know that you're borderline indecent. I mean, the only thing you're wearing is Retsuko's hoodie."
Via looked at herself and at Kion. She then forcefully closed the front of the hoodie and turned away from him.
"Me and Retsuko are NOT together, Okay? Besides Kyu's here so even if I wanted to- I MEAN- Just- What did you need?" Via asked.
Kion took a deep breath and looked at her.
"I know I did or said something that made you super pissed at me when we broke up, but the last thing I want is to lose you. I've been racking my head for months trying to figure out what I could have done better, and believe me, I want to fix things with you because I seriously don't want you to hate me forever."
Via sighed.
"So you don't remember saying that dating me was 'A Joke?"
Kion tensed up as she said it.
"If I remember correctly, you looked me dead in the eye and said what we had wasn't even a relationship. You called me a pasttime. You never bothered to talk to me, you never cared about anything relating to me, you didn't even attempt to be friends. We were on and off, toxic little shits. Like, what was the point of anything that happened?"
Kion remained silent.
"Jax, the second I met you I was head over heels. You were all I could think about. I was so blinded by a childish crush I had that I didn't even look at our sad excuse for a friendship in the first place. Why did you even say yes when I confessed? Now you're just gonna sit here and act like you completely forgot about everything you said?"
"I- I didn't. That's actually exactly what I came to talk
about. So you're saying that after everything, you don't want to associate with me at all?"
"YES. I don't want to associate with you anymore because you bring unnecessary drama and negativity that I seriously don't need in my life. It's bad enough that you're a narcissist, but everything that you did, everything that you said, it's stuck with me. It's not that I hated you, it's that I couldn't deal with you anymore. And I'm not gonna have a repeat of two years ago."
"I understand. If that's truly what you want then I'll respect your wishes. But if you could hear me out for a second?"
"Go on." Via replied.
"Why don't we just start over? As real friends this time."
"What do you mean by that, Kion?" Via questioned.
"You're right about me being a narcissist. It's never gonna be a small thing that should be dismissed. Sure I think I'm better than others, but that's not the whole scale of it. One part I constantly deal with is emotional invalidation. Two years ago, when I looked at you, I didn't feel anything. I've always had a hard time grasping onto certain emotions. Up until what happened at the Pokemon league, I hadn't felt any real emotion in years. And then I lost the only chance I had at even being friends with you cuz I got too arrogant, then too intimidated, then too much of an ass, then I fucked up. I've just been tearing myself up ever since then because I really, TRULY fucked up with you. Big time. I can't take what I said back. And you're right, our relationship was terrible. You have every reason to hate me with a burning passion, because I definitely deserve it. I'm not asking for a second chance. this is probably like my 80th. But I just wanted to let you know that I know what I did was wrong. And I'm sorry, Via. Fully and truly." Kion said, looking at via intently.
Via stood in silence for a short while.
Seconds passed.
Then one minute.
Then another.
Finally, she looked back at Kion and nodded.
"Wait, you actually forgive me!?" Kion exclaimed in confusion.
Via smiled warmly.
"That's- It's the first time I've ever seen you say something so genuine. So yeah, I think I believe you." She said, slightly happier.
Kyu walked up to the doorstep with a yawn.
"You done yet? You're letting all the cold air in..." He said weakly before pausing at the sight of Kion.
"Uhh. Hi. When the hell did you get here?" Kyu questioned.
"I was actually just about to leave!" Kion said, springing up.
He dapped Kyu up, waved goodbye to Via, and then left abruptly, leaving both Kyu and Via in shock.
"Was he just... Nice to me? He just dapped me up!" Kyu said more excitedly than he meant to.
Via giggled, walking back inside with Kyu.
"You and Retsuko go get some sleep." She said, patting Kyu's back.
Kyu fell onto the couch and passed out, leaving Via by herself as Retsuko had gone to sleep early after being drained from his wrestling match with Kyu.
"That's the first time I've ever seen Kion pour his heart out like that…" Via thought.
She took Kaz's seamitar from the table that it had been left on and took out her supplies.
She then folded her arms, extending out her hand and closing one eye so that she could use her thumb to make measurements in her head.'
She took out an acrylic mold kit and smiled.
"Like I said, best to put myself to work."
That's a wrap! The next chapter will be the last chapter of the Intro arc as I've decided to finish this up as early as possible so we can get in to the meat of the story. We'll be back next week! (Hopefully)