March 5th, First Year
Peselle had cleared her to leave just a day later than she had expected, sending her off with an extra satchel full of gauze, cloth wraps, and glass vials full of what she had called 'potions' and to change out the bandages along her side at least three times a day. She'd given Akari a stern look and had warned her, for the umpteenth time, to not go waltzing about into uncharted territory and to stay focused on her task. Akari had understood her clearly the first time the nurse had lectured her; she didn't need to be told a million times.
So she headed back to her borrowed barracks room, grabbed all her things, and slammed the door shut as hard as she could. She didn't want to be in that room as long as she could help it, even if it was the only roof over her head that she had. Rei and Jaku were already waiting at the gate when she arrived, though like everybody else, they took no notice of her at first.
"-and when we're down by the plains, Tot here should be a big help against those Buizels."
"True. Dusk is a fire-type so I'm pretty much a liability once we get there. Maybe I oughta catch a Shinx."
"Do you think that alpha Rapidash will be there again?"
"God, I hope not. That thing was massive."
Akari cleared her throat and gave her best winning smile. "Good morning!" It sounded much too high to be sincere and she lost volume near the end.
"Mornin' Akari," Rei yawned. Akari stared. Rei donned a new set of what looked to be armor, specifically chainmail as it rattled when he moved. His neck, shoulders, torso, wrists, and legs were adorned with dull iron plating obscured by a thick fur-lined version of the standard Galaxy Team uniform.
"I told him he was overdressed," Jaku snickered.
"Hey, you need to be prepared for the winter!"
"So you're preparing to fight what exactly?" Jaku wasn't wearing any armor that Akari could see; just her clan tunic, a large rucksack, and what looked to be a sword on her hip. She drew away from the gate pole that she leaned against, her Cyndaquil snuggled in the collar folds of her tunic. "Alright, the gang's all here. Now we can get a move on." She sent a suggestive glance at Rei who returned the look in kind with a raised eyebrow.
Akari paused. Were they talking about me? The two didn't elaborate on what the look meant and as much as Akari wanted to pry the meaning from Rei, she wanted to remain on Jaku's good side. The two had fallen together. Akari was more than sure that they were supposed to remain together and that whatever Almighty Sinnoh had planned for her, that they were supposed to lump Jaku in too. And it was… lonely in Jubilife. Harsh, even.
She was a little bit jealous that Jaku was fitting in nicely with her clan and seemingly making friends with everyone. Maybe it was the reluctance from Commander Kamado, but most of the scouts just seemed to tolerate her. Sure, Rei was endeared to her and so was Professor Laventon, but they openly regarded her with pity. It stung. Do I even have any real friends here?
She followed behind the two as they grouped up with the scouts and the Diamond Clan members and set off toward the Obsidian Fieldlands.
March 8th, First Year
Akari let her mind wander as they walked during the third day. She didn't believe for a moment that anybody would notice her trailing behind. Rei and the rest of the scouts had taken up the head position in spread-out clumps while Jaku and the Diamond Clan members were all bunched up a few paces ahead.
The villagers of Jubilife were merciless. They had just about everything under the sun to criticize her for: her appearance, the ratty clothes she had fallen with, how thin she was, how she walked, how she talked, how useless she was, how she was a child, how unnatural it was for her to like pokémon. They were afraid of her. She bit her lip. Even Jaku had called her a child. Pity; that's what it had sounded like to her. Jaku had to have been a few years her senior, maybe even as old as Mister Volo, the kind merchant she'd met a few days before. But unlike , Jaku did not smile. At least, not in a way that reached her eyes.
Jaku had hardly said anything when they'd ended up on Prelude Beach. As a matter of fact, the older woman had seemed out of it. Not concussed but more like "the lights are on but nobody's upstairs" kind of out of it.
Akari knew, in a tucked away hidden memory, that her faith in a higher being was foggy at best; not all there. Maybe in her past life, she'd believed in some almighty god that would protect her. But here? After being treated like a vile creature and tossed out into the wild to catch innocent creatures? After being bitten and scratched and yelled at and gossiped about? After passing her task with flying colors only to be kicked to the back end of the Galaxy Team and treated like a burden?
Whatever being had sent her there, she would eventually bring them down and make them answer her. Why had they destroyed her memories? Why had they sent her there? What was her purpose? Was she ever going to go home? She hated being there in that strange place with those mean people and those vicious pokémon. She hated being looked down upon with pity. And most importantly, she hated that she didn't know what was really and truly going on.
Rei didn't understand her frustrations in the least, taking her strangled silence and awkward tight-lipped smiles to be her agreeing with him. Though Rei was plenty friendly and a well-liked guy, he seemed obsessed with gaining her as a friend. He tugged her along by her sleeves, the hem of her uniform, and anything else his hands could grab onto. She didn't like how clingy he was.
"Maybe that tablet's got the right idea," he'd said, swallowing his order of potato mochi. "Maybe if you 'seek out all pokémon', whatever sent you here will send you back home?"
Yuki was a little better if only for the fact that he didn't treat her with pity. He was a little obnoxious and impatient, but he treated her with respect; like a rival of sorts. Out of all of the scouts, he was the only one who was entirely open to befriending pokémon. Apparently, his family had roots in the Gingko Guild and were pro-pokémon due to them traveling around and needing assistance so much.
She wished Yuki were there instead of Rei. Yuki wouldn't ignore her. Yuki wouldn't leave her out of conversations or talk about her behind her back like Rei did. She glared at the black-haired boy at the head of the group and then glanced away. No matter. Yuki was already at the fieldlands encampment. She'd catch up with him there.
"Oi. Are you already spacing out back here?"
She saw Jaku's hand waving in front of her face, narrowed eyes squinting at her. Then the ranger nodded. "Yup, you're still alive back here. Excellent."
"Of course I am," Akari retorted, recoiling away from the sudden closeness. "Was just thinking, is all."
"Well, look alive then. We're back in the fieldlands."
"Your favorite place," Rei added with a grim smile as he too came to a stop to join their little group.
Jaku shook her head. "Maybe this time, I'll get mauled by an alpha Luxray; give Kamado something to really talk about." She shook her head and started toward the cluster of white tents tucked against a stone hollow. "Is that the camp you were telling me about, Rei?"
"Yeah, that's the one. Let's go!"
"You do realize that the Diamond Clan won't be bunking with you, right?" Jaku deadpanned. "We'll be over that hill-" she jerked a thumb to a clearing obscured by thick fir trees- "so keep it down over here, will you?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sure thing, grandma."
"Little punk."
Rei was already moving toward the encampment, nodding at the gate guard as he and the other scouts approached. Akari fixed the strap on her pack and followed.
She hadn't been familiar with just how big the galaxy camps were when she had been taken to do her trial. The first time, she had only been in the long yellow metal tents near the front of the camp; those were for the survey scouts. From what she'd been told, the ones further near the back were for the medical crew, the logistics team, and for authority.
Their tents weren't permanent, but they were sturdy and slightly comfortable. They were certainly warmer than sleeping in the wilderness. Seeing them from Aspiration Hill back then was a reassurance that somebody was there in that vast wilderness, but for some reason, she didn't feel comfortable sleeping out there. Even amongst other people.
"Well, well, well! Look who finally showed up!" A rough hand came down on her shoulder. "Akari, where've you been? And what took you so long?" Akari turned to face Yuki who was shaking out his bedroll, a Starly perched behind his ankles.
"Pesselle kept me an extra day due to my injuries. That and we came in with the Diamond Clan."
"Who? Oh! You mean those guys-" he pointed at the traill of smoke rising from the treeline- "those weirdos? Wasn't- yeah, yeah! The commander sent for them. I think I remember now. So they're just gonna follow us around or what?"
"I think so," Akari muttered. She continued inside of the tent to set up on any spare cot she could find. Yuki practically dragged her over to a pair of cots with the declaration that he had saved one for her and Rei. "I mean, the commander did threaten them with war. Don't you think that's going a bit overboard?"
Yuki sniffed. "I mean, maybe. We are the closest ones to the bug lord's seat. And if the Pearl Clan can't deal with it then somebody needs to take care of it before it starts coming our way. The lord is the Pearl Clan's thing; not ours. They're making it our problem."
"They are not-"
"They are too-" he enunciated, nearly jabbing her in the face with his finger- "and if you haven't noticed, all this hubbub about the lord is disrupting trade routes and keeping us from doing our jobs."
"I don't think the commander would care about that last part."
"…The trade routes or our jobs?"
"Our jobs, Yuki."
Yuki shook his head. "The commander cares. The man is intimidating, sure, but just because he dislikes pokémon doesn't mean that he wants to keep the same status quo. I mean, the guy trains pokémon!"
Soon enough, both Rei and Akari had finished setting up their cots. She made sure not to leave everything behind as Yuki had mentioned that they might be venturing too far to return before dusk. After all three had grabbed their remaining rucksacks, they ventured out to the gate of the encampment, meeting the guards as they were given a quick brief.
No sooner did the brief end did three Diamond Clan members emerge from the treeline, sabers at their hips and donned with their own rucksacks; Jaku was among them. She trailed at the back of the group, giving them a small wave as they all grouped up.
"So, we're all in agreement about the destination for today?" Jaku started. "We're all going to Sandgem Flats, right?"
"That's right," Yuki confirmed. "There and back as far as the divot."
One of the Diamond Clan members looked confused and turned to whisper something in Jaku's ear. She cocked an eyebrow and gave them a quiet response. She then caught Yuki's questioning gaze. "We'll be tailing you guys. Think of us as your bodyguards. We're just here to observe; nothing else."
"Where's the divot?" one of the clansmen asked.
"Right here!" Rei declared, pulling out a well-worn canvas map from his bag. "See right here where there's a divot in the river?"
"Going down toward Sandgem Flats?"
"Yeah. We've been tasked with heading straight down along the river. It's pretty steep there so we can't go any further to avoid slipping and falling into the river. Last thing we need is somebody to croak from hypothermia. Captain Cyllene said we're not allowed to head up into the Floaro Gardens either so we can't sidetrack around Lake Verity."
"That's good. We're not allowed to pass through Deertrack Heights either," one of the clansmen muttered. "Warden Mai said it's off limits due to Lord Wyrdeer needing to rest with minimal distractions. If only it were spring. We could just take a canoe to the docks there instead of walking."
"Let's just hope we don't accidentally cross into the territory of a lesser lord," spoke another man from the Diamond Clan.