Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.
Akari got her chance to take Rei's advice two days after Lilligant was quelled.
She was just leaving Choy's shop when a villager ran up to her.
Akari instantly flinched and her heart started pounding, and she came to a halt.
She silently counted to ten and tried to slow her breathing.
Calm down. You need to give them a chance, remember?
Suddenly aware she was wringing her hands, Akari shoved her hands into her Survey Corps uniform.
Where they started twisting into the fabric.
Well. At least this way her fear was less obvious.
Akari glanced up at the villager, and instantly saw he was upset about something.
Anxiety clogging her throat, Akari nearly bolted then and there.
Had she done something wrong? She couldn't remember talking to him before. Had he wanted to talk to her, but she didn't notice or ignored him, and now he was mad—God, she was so stupid, why couldn't she just do this—
"You're the skyfaller, right?"
The villager's voice, tinged with desperation, cut into Akari's spiraling thoughts.
She looked back up at the villager; he was ashen-faced and lines of worry were etched into his face.
"Uh—yeah. I am," Akari said—or rather, whispered.
Get a grip, Akari. God, you're so pathetic.
The villager made a grab for her; Akari tensed up, as she felt the sting of a slap, the burning sensation of being pulled by her hair, the belt, being pushed down the stairs—
"Sorry! Sorry! I'm sorry," the villager cried, taking a step back. "I shouldn't have—I didn't mean to freak you out."
And yet it still happened. Funny how that works, Akari thought, tasting something unpleasant and bitter in her mouth.
But instead she mumbled, "It's fine. I overreacted."
Sure, maybe she could look people in the eye now for the most part (except perhaps Kamado), but actually speaking louder than a whisper was another matter entirely.
"It's—I'm Zeke," the villager—Zeke, apparently—said. "It's my sister. Wanda. She's missing."
Wanda?
That name sounded familiar…
"She's a member of the Security Corps," Zeke said. "She went to the Crimson Mirelands and didn't come back."
With that, recognition dawned on her; Wanda was probably the Security Corps member who sometimes came into Galaxy Hall to talk to Laventon on her down time.
When this happened, Akari usually headed to the pastures—Laventon was one thing. But Wanda? How was she to know how to act around her?
But now she was missing. She could be hurt.
"Arezu told me how you found her with that Ursaluna!" Zeke cried. Despite still being a warden, Arezu was now also working as a hairdresser in Jubilife. Somehow. "I—could you find my sister the same way?"
Akari nodded.
"Um—the scent," she said, "Her scent, I mean—"
She was cut off by Zeke handing her a handkerchief; Akari automatically took a step back before mentally smacking herself and reaching out to take the handkerchief.
"Please hurry," Zeke said.
"I will," Akari said, trying to smile. It didn't work. She felt vulnerable. Exposed. Like she was walking through a minefield.
She turned and headed towards the gate.
Laventon met her at the gate, intending on accompanying her to the Mirelands. Akari hadn't questioned how he'd found out; if he and Wanda were friends, as seemed to be the case, then he probably would know she hadn't returned yet from the Mirelands.
Technically speaking, Akari was not supposed to leave the village unaccompanied. She was not entirely sure if it was Kamado who made this rule or if it was Pesselle.
"Wanda's lovely and capable, really," Laventon had during their trek to the Mirelands. "It's just…her sense of direction is a little…lacking, I'm afraid."
When they arrived at the Mirelands, the sun was setting.
Akari set out with Ursaluna anyway.
As Ursaluna traced Wanda's scent, she fretted about what she'd say when Ursaluna found Wanda. She barely knew anything about her; how could she know what might set her off and what wouldn't?
But she needn't have bothered; when Ursaluna reached a cliff by Gapejaw Bog, a figure in a Security Corps uniform came into view in the darkness.
Ursaluna let out a cry, and the figure—a woman—turned around.
"Oh, thank goodness," the woman—Wanda, presumably—cried. "You're with the Galaxy Team. After I was relieved of my post, I was heading back to base camp, but then I got attacked by some wild Pokémon. I think I lost them, but—"
A sudden cry pierced the air.
Or not, Akari thought, recognizing the sound.
And yep. Turning around, she spotted a gastly and racing—or rather, gliding—towards them.
It was too late to try and just catch it—the gastly was too aggressive right now. Akari sent out Brooke.
"Aqua Jet, Agile Style! Then Water Pulse, Strong Style!" Akari said.
The attacks hit in rapid succession; the gastly staggered slightly, but recovered. Dark purple wisps of shadowy energy appeared around the gastly—then, as it let out a cry, the same energy struck Brooke.
"Brooke!" Akari cried, but Brooke only let out a grunt and remained standing.
That had been…Hex, right? Akari had seen it once before, from a drifblim in the Obsidian Fieldlands.
Akari could throw a pokéball, but the gastly still looked pretty lively. Using Swift or Quick Attack was out, since normal-type attacks did not do anything against ghost-types. She'd found that out the hard way against that drifblim.
That had been embarrassing.
"Aqua Jet again! Strong Style!" Akari said, and Brooke unleashed the attack.
This time, gastly was taking longer to regain its bearings. Akari took the chance to throw a pokéball.
It shook, and sparks flew.
Akari went to pick up the pokéball when she caught sight of a bright light out of the corner of her eye.
Akari whirled back around to see a bright light enveloping Brooke. Her heart leapt and her nerves were briefly forgotten.
Brooke was evolving—and suddenly, that was the only thing that mattered.
When the glowing faded, there was a floatzel standing where Akari's buizel had been moments before.
"Brooke, you evolved! Congratulations! Here, you've earned this!" Akari gushed, hugging Brooke before handing her a grain cake. Brooke, looking incredibly proud of herself, immediately dug into the treat.
"Um—excuse me," Wanda's voice cut in; Akari jumped, immediately feeling a wave of shame. She should have controlled herself better; now Wanda would probably get upset because she'd forgotten her place for a moment.
"Sorry," she said quickly. "I just—um. Sorry."
"Why are you apologizing?" Wanda asked. Akari shrank down even further. "I—never mind. Just…thank you. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been here."
"Um—you're welcome," Akari mumbled. Speak up, damn it.
"You're Akari, right?" Wanda said. "I've heard about you from Thomas—" at that, Wanda halted, and even in the moonlight, Akari could see her face flushing brighter than Matchbox's flames. "I—I mean Professor Laventon. Professor Laventon told me. About you."
Akari raised an eyebrow at Wanda's suddenly sheepish demeanor. It wasn't like she didn't know they were friends. What was the big deal?
Should she say that? But she seemed embarrassed, maybe it would make her mad…Akari decided it was safest to stay quiet.
"You wouldn't happen to know the way back, would you?" Wanda asked.
"The Mirelands Camp isn't far from here," Akari said. "It's northwest. Professor Laventon will be there."
Wanda nodded, and promptly started walking south.
Akari nearly called out to her; what was the correct course of action here? If she corrected Wanda, she might get angry with her—and that never ended well. But if she didn't, she'd just get lost again.
As Akari weighed her options, anxiety threatened to clog her throat. Akari wrung her hands, fully starting to panic. Rei wasn't here to help her. She was on her own.
She could…send one of her Pokémon to guide her. Yes, that'd probably be best. Akari turned to Brooke to tell her to guide Wanda back the right way, when—
"They're not that bad. Really. You just have to get to know them."
"You'll never know if you don't give yourself the chance to find out."
Rei's voice echoed in her head.
Akari hesitated, feeling a swirl of guilt, fear, and frustration. She'd told Rei she'd try to give the villagers a chance. But it was just so hard . She wanted nothing more than to hide herself away so she'd be safe.
But if she did that, Rei would be disappointed.
Akari took a deep breath—and steeling herself, called out to Wanda. Her voice was still soft, but more like a gentle breeze rather than faint air.
At the sound of her name, Wanda turned, looking curious.
"The camp," Akari said, forcing the words out. "It's the other way."
She gestured northwest, then braced herself for the inevitable.
It never came.
"Oh—right, I knew that," Wanda said quickly. "Totally."
She started walking again, this time in the right direction.
Wanda wasn't angry. She wasn't angry—and Akari had actually spoken up. She'd actually done it.
A euphoric feeling of triumph swelled in her, and Akari followed Wanda.
Rei would be so happy.
I hope you all know that Laventon/Wanda is indeed a thing in this verse, and so is Hop and Leon being Laventon's descendants. That's why Leon's sense of direction is so bad.
Akari's current team:
Matchbox (M) - Quilava
Brooke (F) - Floatzel
Aurora (F) - Eevee
Sasha (F) - alpha Hisuian Sliggoo