Yumi Takao came from a traditionalist, if not a very strict family. They lived with their paternal grandparents, ate and did things as a family, spoke the country's language at home, and were expected to follow Japanese values to a certain degree. They also always needed permission to go out or bring friends home. If they did go out, they were expected back by 5pm, or earlier if asked. Anyone staying over was out of the question.
This made it difficult to hold friends, at least in the sense that most people consider friends to be. It was not like these values were uncommon, but it was rare for them to be so heavily enforced in this day and age.
It was because of this that she understood her twin brother's motives. But what he wanted to do was crazy. She first heard about it on Tuesday, and only now did she muster the courage to speak to him about it.
"Touya," she started. "About what you–"
His right hand flew forward and caught her lips, preventing her from saying more. "Ailmay atyay oolschay," he said.
Yumi tried to protest. She raised her arm and counted the days. Tonight, tomorrow, the day after, then Monday. That was too long. But Touya gave his head a firm shake. Not now, he mouthed in plain English before glancing at the door. She had unwittingly closed it, which made them look secretive.
She had told them that she wanted to show him a video as the pretext for stepping away. She needed to convince their grandpa it wasn't anything he'd enjoy. Yumi didn't think their family would try to listen in, but…there was the time they understood them talking Babigo.
Another example of how traditional their family was had to do with the fact that she was born nine minutes before her brother. Their parents expected her to behave like the older sibling because of it. They only did so if needing to put on an air. In practice, they were always equals to each other. Yet she wanted to be the older sister now. She wanted to tell Touya that what he and his girlfriend were planning was a bad idea. But would he listen to her pleas?
Yumi shifted the subject. "Sanae-chan is a great girl," she remarked. As she did so, she staggered over to the desk where her tablet was resting. She wasn't sure what she would look up, but it had to be something. Their parents' filters limited the options at home.
"She is great," Touya happily sighed. She heard the bedsprings squeak as he jumped onto the bed.
"You're lucky to have found her." She was glad, but also worried. She had been with her brother since conception, but if they went through with their plan… "I wish…"
She only mumbled her thoughts aloud, but Touya answered. "It is because you never acted on your crushes in any way, big sister," he teased. "Like with Carino-sama."
The blood flew to Yumi's face, bringing with it a heat that made her worry she was going to start sweating. "Well I…there was…" she stumbled over the words. It was so embarrassing to think about now. "There was never a good moment back then. It was just passing, too!"
"Yes. Things went wrong because of Louis-san and Mariko-san." He sighed. "But you got over it. Now you're friends, right?"
"Y-yeah…" She bit down on her lip hard. It was a good thing she had her back turned as she browsed. She still liked him, just for different reasons. But she wasn't going to admit that. Not to anyone. Maybe she had a chance with him back then, but she'd just get laughed at now. At best. She was almost stupid enough to confess during their walk earlier, but she managed to internally talk herself out of it.
"Just don't be afraid of rejection," Touya consoled.
"Like you're one to talk," she snipped back playfully. Her fingers flowed idly as she browsed.
He smirked. Sanae was the one who had confessed to him. "Well, the right person will find you someday, big sister."
Yumi doubted that would ever happen. There was still that quiet stigma from being in Youths Against Mistaken Society. Plus, she wasn't anything special. That was the other problem with making friends. Few people, let alone boys, wanted to give her the time of day. It was not that she had any regrets. She still owed a lot to YAMS, especially Louis. She met Nori–
She blinked. That wasn't the thought she had intended to jump to. But his name was on the screen. In her reverie, she had opened a news site. He was in the news!
"Touya, look!" she gasped, clutching at her heart. Her brother was on his feet and over her shoulder in a flash.
"Eh!?" he vocalized as she raised the tablet, so he could see better.
The sensationalist title screamed out to the world in big bold letters: KROOKODILE TRACKER'S KILLER GIVEN TO CONTROVERSIAL OFFICIAL NORI CARINO
"No, no, no…" she whispered. Her throat felt like it was being squeezed, and her heart seemed to stop. That was the Pokemon he was rehabilitating?!
"Click in!" Touya said, unwittingly in English.
She tried, missing the link the first two times. Not only were her thoughts elsewhere, her fingers had started to cramp. She eventually managed it. The article was in plain English, but it was like reading a foreign language. She couldn't process any of it. How could this happen? What was happening?!
Nori said that he was getting a new Pokemon to rehabilitate, but why did it have to be this one?! What were the Officials thinking?! Were they thinking at all?! And that news article! And all the–
"Yumi-kun! Touya-kun! What are you doing?!" came the impatient holler of their father from downstairs.
"Oh, we had better get going," grumbled Touya. This was how their parents were. It was only going to get worse once the rest of the family arrived tomorrow. Yumi had no choice but to close up the tablet and go back to the family room.
She needed to talk with Nori about it. She had to, no matter what! She would go over to his place tomorrow, but that was when the rest of the family was coming over. And Sunday was when they had family activities planned, namely picnicking and boating at Shiroisuna Beach. No getting out of it. So first thing in the morning at school on Monday. Two and a half whole painful days to wait. Until that time, she could only pray nothing bad happened.
It was just after 8pm and Nori Carino found himself alone with his thoughts.
He lived in the trailer park on the east side of Veilstone City. His friend Rashid had told him that his mom was out getting groceries, so he had the vehicle to himself. It was just the two of them; there had never been any other human male in the house for any extended duration. Which he liked. His mom managed what little money they got from the government well. Even though Nori had his own income now, he was saving a lot of it on her advice.
The trailer was not necessarily a quiet place, which was something he sorely missed from having his own room in the Sunyshore Gym. However, it was nevertheless a private place. People sometimes yelled outside (or loud enough to be heard through their own trailers) or come to the door, but he could tune them out. There were drapes for every window, even the windshield. He wouldn't be surprised if they had to make use of them soon.
His first meeting with the Qwilfish had been brief, but he had learned a lot from it. None of it looked promising. Never mind the fact that he was going to have to take her…to her natural environment. The Officials had assigned him a scared and confused Pokemon dealing with severe trauma. How could he handle this?! Wasn't mental health stuff something that special facilities were supposed to take care of? Between his first assignment and now this, it almost felt like they were trying to set him up to fail!
The boy huffed. "No, no. No, Nori," he said to himself. They wouldn't do that. They spent a lot on his training. Unless it was because of the problems he caused during it? He put his elbows on the table he was sitting at (which folded into his bed). His head fell into his hands, covering his squinted eyes. That might be possible…
"But no. Even if it's true, you have to try."
Try. Maybe he was overthinking things and worrying about things that weren't there. One thing was for sure. If he didn't try, this Qwilfish wouldn't have any hope at all.
He felt a tiny paw on his leg. He looked at the floor to see Pachi beside him. The squirrel squeaked and gestured to the capsule on the table.
Nori gave a blank stare in reply. "Wha…?" he let out, involuntarily. His worries were making it difficult to process the meaning. Not that it was ever straightforward when speaking with Pokemon. At least they had a knack for getting people's intent, but it didn't work the other way around for some stupid reason.
Pachi stood tall. He motioned with his tiny arms. To himself, to Nori, to the capsule while speaking. When the boy still didn't understand, he started chittering something in a loop. Three syllables. He pointed at himself at the first syllable and at Nori with the last. Words? Nori knew you could tell by syllables sometimes, but Pokemon had their own words for the most part.
"You'll help me?" he guessed. Maybe that was not exactly what it was. But it was the only thing he could think of that made sense in the context.
The worst that could have happened was Pachi saying no and going into further charades to try to get his point across. But the squirrel seemed to say yes, and besides that, confirmed with his body language. Reading others was actually part of Nori's studies, but he didn't need it to understand the squirrel's eyes lighting up and a nod.
"Thanks. I could use all the help I can get."
Pachi leaped onto his lap and wrapped his tiny arms around Nori as best he could. He returned the hug. The Demon might be willing to assist as well, come to think of it. Definitely not Pawniard. The sadistic Pokemon would just make things worse.
It was at that moment that he heard the lock slide open. Nori got his guard up in panicked instinct, only lowering it upon seeing his mom. He could spot her flowing black hair and dress anywhere.
"Hey, ma." He often called her that out of habit, even though he'd outgrown his rural accent.
She was stooped and rigid, and she stamped lightly with each step. Her brow was wrinkled, and she had her lips pursed – maybe biting them in her mouth. His mom locked the door behind her and turned to him. Her brown eyes were somewhat reddened. She cleared her throat roughly. "I heard what they threw on you this time," she said, tossing her gaze at the new Poke Ball.
He could see it from the moment she walked in. Worry and frustration. "Yeah. Stupid reporter. I guess that saves needing to explain, at least." Hearing it on the news wasn't how he wanted her – or anyone – to find out.
Pachi hopped off Nori to greet her. She gave the electric squirrel a pat before sitting across from her son. She crossed her arms and leaned back as Pachi climbed over and sat to her left. "Figured it was something like that." After a moment, she tilted her head. "You didn't say anything to her?" she asked for clarification.
"No, she was hiding up a tree when I met with Mr. Martins." That was not where he was expecting someone to conceal themselves. He would have to start paying closer attention to stuff like that from now on. That and/or get the meeting place moved. "I just said I had no comment and walked away."
"Good," she huffed. "This is bad enough with that twisted report. We don't need them twisting your words."
He thought it would be a good idea to put out a statement, just not at the time. Nori had been aware of the gravity of the situation from the moment he was told of his assignment. But it was only now starting to sink in.
"I don't like this."
"Me neither," said his mom. She leaned over the table. "Damn Officials. Are you sure you can handle this, Nori?"
She picked up on the big problem. A lot of people knew about his phobia, courtesy of several incidents where it was exposed. But only two others in the world knew why he felt that way. His mom was there when he fell overboard on that cruise ship. He would have drowned if it wasn't for that wild Pokemon. He only told the story to one other person after another incident where he nearly drowned. Lux Blomgren. A very, very good friend of his who was torn from his life. Arumi was his best friend, Prema was his most trusted, and the news club were the ones he saw most regularly, but Lux would be all three if he was still around. Maybe even more than friends, considering something he noticed in a birthday letter Lux had sent him.
But there was no point in thinking about hypotheticals or things beyond his control at the moment. She asked a question, so he answered honestly. When he shook his head slightly, his mom's hands flew to her hips. "Then you should have said no."
"I tried. They wouldn't let me."
"Shit," she cursed under her breath. "Is it fine out of water?" His mom held her breath.
"I tried checking when I went to see Prema earlier," he confirmed. "It wasn't good. She started gasping and panicking right away. I had to recall her fast because she hurt Prema's Pokemon. It was an accident when she puffed up and touched her Spritzee."
She repeated her curse, this time louder and accompanied by striking the table with a palm. Pachi actually jumped at the sudden sound. "So what now?" she said, throwing up her arms and shaking her head.
"I…" He swallowed. "I'll manage, I think." Hope. "But…"
"But what?"
He had been thinking about it, and dealing with his phobia wasn't what he was dreading the most. No, there was something worse. He knew what to expect with that, but not with this. The mere thought of it made his throat tighten and his skin itch.
His voice got caught in his mouth at first. He grunted and groaned before explaining. "A few people in the news club are big fans of the Tracker. I'm worried what they're going to think. And others." Prema was just one person. And it wasn't like he could use the shrine as a haven even if everyone there supported him. And there was a chance the most important person there wouldn't, though he wasn't going to tell his mom that part yet. He just hoped that it wouldn't get in the way of him and Prema's friendship.
"Nori, if they think poorly of you because you're doing your job, it proves they aren't really your friends." She got up and put a hand on his shoulder. "You've been through worse. You can make it through this."
He stood up and into a hug from her, although he felt so physically drained all of a sudden that he could barely return it. She was right: he could handle the worst-case scenario better than Qwilfish's natural environment. But she was missing the point.
"I know, I just don't want to lose them," he remarked as Pachi hopped down and joined in on hugging them. Nori had always found it hard to make friends, so losing any for any reason always stung. And he'd lost way too many for stupid reasons. Some, like Lux, weren't even his fault. It was like he was cursed, or had the worst luck ever, or both.
"Better you know now than later," his mom said, clapping his back and releasing him.
He groaned, half in agreement and half in frustration, as he picked up Pachi. He wished school still happened on Saturdays in Japan like it did decades ago, just so he could find out sooner. Instead, he had two whole days to get through before he could see the club and see where they stood. Even though the young official wanted to make the most of the weekend, he was not confident about making much progress or changing anyone's mind so soon.