Upon waking up the next morning, Infernape, Ampharos, and Aggron started talking to each other about the day before. They had been placed in the same room for they had some similar injuries, Infernape was taken here to figure out how in the hell he had survived an explosion like that. The current theory was that Infernape's fire typing had protected him from the flames, though still had suffered from blast lung. A lung disease caused by, you guessed it, explosions. As for the shockwave, they best guess they were the blast yield wasn't enough to eviscerate him into a bloody mist.
Infernape remembered reading somewhere that according to DNA modeling and subsequent testing, Pokemon were much more durable than their predecessors. They could survive a lot more than the old ones did. In fact, the title old ones were too powerful a descriptor. Perhaps the 'moderate-to-mediocre ones'' were more accurate. He whistled, silently thanking Arceus for making him strong enough to survive, giving him time to reflect on that decision as Aggron pressed him about it,
"Jeez, you didn't need to scare us like that."
"I-I thought you were dead," Ampharos said with worry in his voice. Infernape grimaced as he rubbed the back of his head,
"I thought it was an escape. I redeem myself. I save you guys, I die before I lose everything, simple," said Infernape. Aggron quietly whispered, "Infernape…why didn't you tell me sooner? I-I could've helped."
Infernape shook his head politely and laid back down. He had some reflection to do. Laying back down, Infernape focused on his mind. He had survived. By some miracle, he had survived. Why him? Of all the people that could've been spared, why him? He was no one, less than the dirt itself. That day eight years ago proved that. Nothing would ever go his way and he would always fail, so what is the point of letting a failure live? A broken cog in the machine that somehow wasn't taken out. That was Infernape.
Well…maybe he had just been lucky? That was an easy explanation. Like a pickpocketer had accidentally grabbed the debit card of the richest man in the world, Infernape had just lucked out and nothing had changed. But that answer was just so pessimistic. Why that had become an issue with him now was beyond him. Pessimism was all he had known for the past eight years. It was his shadow, constantly following him along, yet not really hurting him, so he didn't get what the issue was.
At that moment, Gardevoir and Gengar entered the room. Infernape decided to keep these worries to himself as he had done for the near-decade he had already. Gardevoir tightly hugged, clearly still relieved to see him alive, whilst Gengar just stopped by the doorway. Pulling away, Gardevoir asked,
"Infernape. Is everything alright?"
"Just getting some medicine for my blast lung," said Infernape as he laid back down. Gengar scoffed,
"That's some good fuckin' medicine."
"Well, I'm halfway convinced it's a placebo so…" Infernape left it off at that, shrugging his shoulders. Wanting to pass the time, Infernape grabbed the TV remote and clicked a button, turning on the television. A title card for a film started, reading: "Mother."
Gengar's eyes went wide and he jumped onto the edge of Aggron's bed, which had the best view.
"OH! I love this movie! One of my favorites!" he remarked. The group decided right there and then to have a movie night.
About an hour passed. An emotional scene between the titular mother and her son played out. For context, her son had cheated to get into college and had roared violently at his mom before storming out. Now, at the emotional climax, the son apologizes,
"I'm sorry, Mom!" he tearfully apologized, "I'm so sorry!" In a beautiful showcase of her character progression, the mother outstretched her arms,
"Don't apologize. You're my son. I love you." The son ran into his mother's arm, thankful that his mother, despite everything he had done, was willing to forgive him. It was a beautiful, simple, and poetic climax for the film.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Gengar laughed like a psychopath, ruining the scene for everyone like an asshole. The entire group glared at him as he cackled and fell onto the floor. Of course, they'd be upset. This was an incredibly powerful scene. However, his breaths between his laughs sounded a bit more painful than they expected. Regardless, this didn't stop Aggron from snapping at Gengar,
"We're here too, dipshit. Can you shut up?" glaring at the ghost type. Recognizing how inappropriate his actions were, Gengar quickly shut up. However, Gardevoir was quick to forgive him,
"Don't worry about it. We all view movies differently."
At that moment, Furret stumbled into the room. She adorably struggled to hold up what looked like a bunch of trays like an underpaid waiter. Admittedly, she wasn't spilling anything, which was impressive considering how much she was over and under-correcting. She eventually succeeded and revealed that she had brought the entire group breakfast. Pancakes, waffles, bacon, sausages, the whole shebang. The group thanked her immensely, leaving her a blushing yet smiling mess,
"D-Don't mention it. I-I-I just t-thought it would be n-n-nice."
Everyone picked up their dishes and chowed down. All of them enjoyed their food. Infernape went after the biscuits and gravy, Gardevoir the pancakes, Aggron the chicken, Gengar the waffles, and Ampharos the crepes and omelets. Whilst eating a biscuit, Infernape asked Furret,
"So what's up? It's not often you get to meet with a mayor." Dutifully, Furret reached into her fur,
"T-That's actually why I'm here," and pulled out a small envelope. She handed it to Infernape and explained that she needed to send this application to the nearest Senshi office in Glittersphere. She would've had Machoke do it but due to tragic circumstances, he couldn't. As such, a volunteer would go to Glittersphere and deliver the application like a ten-year-old would for a professor. A simple quest where absolutely nothing would go wrong. Gardevoir saw an opportunity. This was a simple task. They could wait for everyone to fully recover and then go to Glittersphere to deliver the letter. However, before she said anything, she looked towards Infernape. She didn't want to drag him somewhere he didn't want to go, especially after all that happened.
Infernape saw no reason to not go. If anything, he needed a distraction from those thoughts of worry. All he did was shrug. Sensing his intention, Gardevoir grinned before approaching Furret,
"If you don't mind, we would like to take up the task."
"Really?" said Furret, "Thank you so much, but you should wait until the end of the week. You'll need to recover."
So the end of the week came and the group began to make their way towards the town. Ampharos waved goodbye to Boltein as people waved him away. They cheered for him, making him well up with tears. Wiping his eyes, Ampharos caught up with the group. Gardevoir noticed and smiled for him,
"You should be proud," she said. Gengar decided to make a little joke about the fact that the town seemed to ignore them,
"Don't forget about us. We deserve workers comp!" he jested. Ampharos chuckled a little,
"If you wanted credit, you can tell them," insisted Ampharos. Gengar waved his hand,
"Eh," said Gengar, "I don't mind. You can have this one."
However, unbeknownst to the group, they would run into a threat. Next to Glittersphere was the town of Frostin. It was even less populated than Boltein, with only about 240 residents. Amongst these residents was the perturbed Gigalith. See, he had some obligations to fulfill. He had been paid a hefty sum by a very generous benefactor to blow up the local town hall. Normally, he wouldn't be up for this, but she was cute, so he was down.
He is a shining beacon of competence
While his wisdom stats were atrocious, he dumped a ton of points into intelligence. This was a bad idea but he was going to do this smartly. He had the distinct advantage of being a construction worker. As such, he could enter a lot of places with the bullshit excuse of work and no one would question it. He stomped in his apartment. His wall was covered in papers and plans.
Gigalith was on the phone. He was trying to get a contract for renovations for the town hall so he could be there for a long time. From there he could run a gas line up to the top of the building, which was a tower. Then, he could start a gas leak and leave a torch on while he safely leaves before the oxygen-gas mixture becomes perfect for detonation. By that time, everyone would've left and there would be no blood on his hands, only the power move of a century.
He'd also have to get a few guys on his side. With the Black Mask's being taken down, there had to be some goons looking for work. Luckily for him, this part of Nihonera was a cesspool. All he had to do was go down to the bad part of town to find some willing bodies to throw at anyone who would try to stop him. Stomping out of his apartment, Gigalith smirked to himself. No one would suspect a thing, meaning that the Senshi would be far too late to stop him.
Walking through the woods, Infernape fell behind the group. His mind hyper-fixated on just how he had survived that blast. He couldn't get over it and how could he? It was the sort of thing that sticks with you due to its seemingly impossible nature. Like being run over and miraculously surviving with little if any injury. That was the keyword here. Miraculous.
He had become so lost in his own head that he failed to notice the danger that was right behind him. Gengar looked back and wordlessly reacted. He spun around in the air and threw a shadow ball directly at the threat: a bear. Infernape turned around just in time to see the beast roar at him and Gengar's attack land. The bear stumbled over before regaining its footing. It attempted to charge at Infernape again, but Gengar ran to Infernape's side and glared at the bear. The bear growled before turning tail and sprinting away.
"Fucking hell, Firework!" Gengar remarked, "You don't want a big tub of lard to be on your obituary, do you?" Infernape shook himself out of his thoughts and apologized,
"Sorry." Looking back, they saw that Ampharos had turned white with fear. Unable to keep it to himself, Gengar couldn't help but laugh,
"Hey, relax buddy. I can handle it," which did surprisingly a lot to help Ampharos' nerves. The electric type weakly grinned and gave a thumbs-up to the ghost.
Gardevoir then rushed towards Infernape,
"Are you okay?! That thing didn't do anything to you, right?" Rolling his eyes, Infernape remarked,
"I would've been fine. The average fighting type can knock down a building if we put out back into it."
"You'd be surprised," Ampharos began, "Animals are scary."
"I swear to god, Arceus juiced these guys up or something," said Aggron, "I remember reading some story about a moose that ripped apart some town in Northrice." Using this to prove her point, Gardevoir softly placed her hand on his right wrist and said softly,
"Please be more careful next time. I never want to see you like that again." Infernape's attitude immediately shifted. He gently grasped Gardevoir's hand,
"Alright. I'll…I'll keep my eyes peeled."
As this scene played out, Gengar whispered to Aggron,
"I feel like I'm missing something." Aggron subtly nodded in agreement,
"Welcome to the party, I have no idea what they are talking about. Sounds bad though. I don't think we should ask about it."
"Yeah, good call." However, Ampharos was silent, far too curious as to what was going on. Gardevoir and Infernape made a promise? But…how? If he had the timeline of events right, then Infernape would've never agreed to a promise since they met the day after the trial. So when did they make a promise? And what about? Did…Did something happen to Infernape? What would be so bad that eight years later, Infernape react like this all this tine later?
They soon arrived in the town of Frostin and the group decided to spend a little time relaxing with the locals, splitting into groups. There was no rush and they needed it after the chaos of the Black Mask raid. Gardevoir and Aggron in one, and Infernape, Gengar, and Ampharos in the other. The latter of which, at Gengar's insistence, went to a karaoke bar. The place was fairly small but it had a certain personality that was hard to describe but easy to recognize. Gengar rented a booth for an hour, but Infernape seemed anxious,
"Why here, Gengar?" he asked. The ghost responded with a laugh,
"Cause I feel like it. Besides, it'll be fun. These places are awesome." Ampharos seemed to share Infernape's apprehension,
"But I've never sung before. I'll probably be bad."
"That's the fun!" countered Gengar, "Being bad's is all part of the experience. Nobody goes to karaoke to flex!" With that, the three entered their booth.
It was quite small, about thirty square feet in size. There was a simple machine and microphone in the corner and a few padded seats for people to sit while the singer sang their probably drunk heart out. Speaking of alcohol, there was a drink menu available with everything from cheap beer to tequila shots, to even vodka straight from Dristov. Gengar bought a full box of beer for the three and a shot of vodka for himself to maximum drunkenness. Infernape asked,
"Gengar, Dristovian vodka's being tariffed right now. That's expensive as all hell."
"Luckily for me, I've been saving for a while," answered Gengar before slamming that shot down like it was no one's business. Hopping to the karaoke machine, he flipped through a few songs before finding once that he wanted and pressing the play button. As a mellowed-out surf rock began to echo from the machine, Gengar raised a can of beer,
"Come on! Take a drink! We're here to party!" Getting into the mood a bit, Infernape smirked as he raised his can,
"Alright, alright. party," he said with a monotone voice. Ampharos was more reluctant, staring into the can and gulping,
"I…I've never had a drink before," he admitted. This didn't deter Gengar in the slightest,
"Well, welcome to the club!" Still nervous but ready, Ampharos joined the three in taking a sip of their drinks.
Ampharos shuddered as the burning liquid traveled down his throat. The beer tasted like death. He placed down the drink and listened as Gengar began to sing this song. As Infernape listened, he couldn't help but think about how Gengar was singing. His higher-pitched, slightly scratchy voice didn't lend itself well to singing and he was noticeably off-key for the first half of the song, but the ghost type seemed well aware of that, practically embracing it. However, his vocals then notably improved during the last section of the song. It was an inexperienced but decent soprano. The song he sang was a surf rock song about a taking a loved one a boat ride in their dreams. It's lyrics were slightly depressing since the singer was begging said loved one to wake up, but either Gengar didn't seem to notice, or he didn't care.
Gengar dropped the mic and stepped away from the machine with his hands in the air. He pumped his fist,
"Say hello to the demigod himself: Kage Miyasako!" he yelled.
"So we're using names now," said Ampharos. Infernape, who was starting to lighten up, lightly shrugged with his hands,
"Fuck it, why not? The name's Lieyanhou, but just call me Lee." Nervously, Ampharos withdrew to himself. Infernape asked what was wrong and Ampharos explained,
"Are you sure? Names are a big deal in this country." With a light scoff, Gengar replied,
"Nonsense! The rest of the world uses names first. Besides, we use it when there's more than one of us anyway."
"Well," began Ampharos, "It's also that my name's kinda…big."
"Don't worry about it," said Infernape confidently," You can tell us." His face was red and with his worries soothed, Ampharos nervously told them his name.
"Kowagatta Sandahitsuji," admitted Ampharos. Infernape then patted Ampharos on the back,
"That's not bad at all."
"Yeah. You could've been named Skullfuck," remarked Gengar in what was evidently meant to be a comforting remark. The fire type then burst into laughter as Ampharos meekly grinned,
"I-I guess you're right," he said. In between Infernape's laughing fit, he managed to spit out,
"Could you imagine the poor bastard named Skullfuck?!" After taking a moment to process that the duo before him was laughing, Gengar pulled out some more cans of beer and threw them to Infernape and Ampharos,
"Man, he must've had a rough time in skull-school-fuck," said Gengar, mixing up his words at the end, "Let's pour one out for Skullfuck!" The other two raised their cans to drunk. With a fresh sip of alcohol pouring into his system, Gengar then started flicking through the karaoke machine again,
"Alright, let me see if there's another good song in here."
Half an hour passed as Gengar sang terribly to the rest of the easy karaoke music. None of them particularly knew what this band even was. It was called 'Yakizu' or whatever, like a memory long since passed, or a pop culture reference comically shoved into a fanfiction. With each song, the three grew increasingly drunk. It turns out that singing songs that are barely two minutes long followed by an entire can of beer eventually hits you like a ton of bricks. Of the three, Infernape was taking it the best. He was a little tipsy and had lost some of his depth perceptions but he was mostly okay. Ampharos was what could only be described as about as drunk as a children's show character. His face had flushed red and he hiccupped every sentence out with delirious joy. As for Gengar…well,
"Okay…Okay, so I got *Hiccup* I got this story, okay. So like…like this big dragon thing with… four…six heads or something. Dragon…Dra-Dra-Dragon goes to the ocean…fucking does something there. Th-then the weird…monster person fight him in the sea. And…and…and monster guy gets really mad and fucking…shoots into the sky. Makes a big…beam and waves and shit."
Inebriated to the core, Gengar stepped over to Infernape and handed him the microphone,
"You…You should sing as well," he insisted. Infernape shook his head,
"N-No thanks. It's fine really," he refused. He had given that up a long time ago. Ampharos then grabbed Infernape by the shoulder and said between hiccups,
"Give it a chance. *Hiccup* K-Kage's done all of it."
"Yeah," said Gengar, "I sang too…too much man, you need…a turn." Adamantly, Infernape continued to deny the opportunity,
"No, no, no, I mean it! Ampharos, you need a turn."
"I wanna hear *Hiccup* I wanna hear you sing first," continued Ampharos, who started pushing Infernape to his feet while Gengar shoved the microphone into his hand. Gengar then fell onto one of the seats. With pressure from both of his friends, Infernape sighed. He really did have no say in the matter. How long has it been? God, this would be painful to listen to. It was probably dogshit after years. He selected his song, an old favorite of his from high school, and gripped the microphone.
Gengar was drunk off his ass. He was seeing double. His equilibrium was damn near ready to give up on him. Point is, he was out of it. But in spite of all that, Gengar was able to recognize that Infernape's voice was incredible.
His voice was almost indescribably good. Words, delivered in a beautiful mixture of the higher baritone notes and the lower to middle range tenors, all seamlessly combined into a passionate yell. It was the kind of voice that comes to mind when you think: dreamy high-school crush, like an angel just out of reach. A voice that held you in its warmth and told you that, no matter what, everything would be okay. That they'd be by your side until the end and meant every single word. Gengar didn't even understand that experience, never having a crush before, but if he had to describe what that was like, he'd picture the angel's cry leaving the fire-type mouth.
Infernape himself had almost fallen into a trance that came as naturally to him as breathing. As though he had fallen under his own spell, he could feel those worries just fading away. He shut his eyes and let his imagination control what he saw. Cheering from an invisible crowd filled the air as he stood up on a massive stage. Thousands, possibly millions, all come to see him perform this powerful piece of art. It felt like home.
The song he sang was a pop-punk rock song that also contain elements of emo and alternative rock. It told the story of a singer telling someone to let go of those that hold them back. That giving them a chance will tear them apart. Each instrument erupted into this motivating and exhilarating chorus that accented the singer's voice. The guitar left an eternal mark on your very soul, drums maintained a steady rhythm that knew when to speed up and slow down. There was even a keyboard synth that added this subtle rising and falling to the song, like a wave.
Something then welled up within Infernape. The screams of the imaginary crowd, knowing all of their eyes were on him. It was like graduating with honors. All of your hard work is being celebrated and paid off in the best way imaginable. So much joy all centralized within him, it had been years since he had that experience.
But he couldn't.
Once the song came to its conclusion, Infernape immediately remembered that Ampharos and Gengar were there. He sobered up almost instantly. However, he couldn't let the other two know of his distress. They would comfort him, make him vulnerable and oblivious to the signs. So he put on a persona,
"Excuse me, I've got to take a breath of fresh air," he said peacefully. Gengar and Ampharos, too drunk to notice anything wrong, simply nodded as they took another drunk of beer. With that, Infernape left the booth and calmly walked away from the place.
Infernape quietly treked through the entire town. As he did so, his fears began to dominate his mind. This was the warning sign. Just like with Xatu's prediction, his victory against Pangoro and the black masks was a fluke. It was just a trap to lull him into a false sense of security before taking everything away from him once again. He couldn't go through that again, he simply couldn't. This was the end of the road for him, but what does he do now? Would leaving now only endanger the group as some sort of sick joke? If he stays, does his mere presence threatens everyone's safety? He had his grudge against Gardevoir, but he didn't want her dead.
Infernape stopped in a park and sat down on a bench. The noon sun shined down on him, almost taunting him with the freedom he wanted. But he knew he could never escape. His fate was sealed and there was nothing he could do about it. Suddenly, he heard some children playing around in front of him. He watched as they played around on a playground when one of them yelled out,
"YAR! Me hearty's! There's treasure on that island."
A certain pair of names then popped into his head. Infernape buried his face in his palm as he remembered the good old days. Back with Torterra and Empoleon, before any of that happened. Tears began to stream down his face as he tried to control himself.
"I'm sorry," he quietly sobbed, "I'm so sorry," but he knew in his heart that he would never get the chance to apologize. They had tried to help him, and he pushed them away like the goddamn fucking idiot he was. So here he was, trapped. Though he was surrounded by people, they were just targets for fate to use in it's sadistic game, and he had ghosted the only two people he knew he could rely on.