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The house on the mountain was maybe not what you’d expect.
It wasn’t modern, exactly. Updating it every few decades would have been a complete waste of resources. But it wasn’t some sprawling, grandiose mansion—it was just large enough for its single inhabitant and his staff to be comfortable, covered in greenery and growing things and with an expansive garden and greenhouse. A few more small buildings hooked themselves in a short ways up the cliffs above, for the house staff and gardeners.
Volo settled into one of the wicker chairs in the greenhouse, the cup of coffee clinking like a chime onto the glass table. The variation in coffee possibilities was one of the better recent inventions, in his opinion. Not that he had anything against tea, but, well, he’d done tea. It was played out. Put a half can of whipped cream in a mug with some caramel and the vague idea of dark roast, now you were onto something.
Togekiss cooed softly, getting comfortable in his lap. He let his fingers dig into its downy feathers, combing through them to get a trill of happiness. If there was one thing he was grateful for above all else, it was that whatever god or demon or force of nature had seen fit to bless or curse him, it had touched his partner too. He was no stranger to goodbyes, but it was nice to have a single constant in his life.
The door slid open behind him. Without looking, he tapped a spot on the table. “Marie. Paper?”
“Yes, sir. From Unova.” She set it down next to his cup and bowed.
“You’re a doll, thank you.” He flashed a sunny smile, perfect from centuries of practice.
Being immortal did have its benefits. Your wait staff tended to have a great deal more reverence for you. Or, they did until they got old, and the novelty wore off. Marie was the daughter of his old gardener, still getting used to the house.
He knew how they saw it. The refuge in the mountains, where time stood still. The silent sanctuary. Untouched, untouchable.
Not true. Gods tended to leave him alone. But a really dedicated mortal with a sledgehammer could probably take it down in short order.
The door slid closed behind him, and he picked up the paper.
Unova. Looked quiet. Nothing world-shaking on the front page. Good. Nimbasa City’s Battle Subway—that one was a disappointment. Understaffed and overstretched, and the battles weren’t even particularly exciting. It did its job as transport, at least. It had made headlines somehow… oh, it had new management.
“Wonder if they’re any good?” he murmured. He started through the arduous task of rearranging the paper one-handed to find the article he wanted, picking up up his cup with the other.
He barely had the handle in his hand before it slipped from his grasp, shattering on the floor.
The sound of slippers rushing to the door barely registered in his mind. He was too busy staring dumbfounded at the article—or, more accurately, staring at the picture and associated caption.
“That’s where he’s from?!” he shouted, grabbing the paper in both hands and stretching it taut like the picture would explain itself if it were less crumpled. Togekiss cooed, nosing his wrist in curiosity.
“Volo, sir, are you alright?” That was Marie again. To her credit, the alarm in her voice was very well managed.
“He’s a—the subway—Unova. He’s from Unova. He’s from now Unova! I knew that Nimbasa accent sounded weirdly familiar!”
“…Someone from your past, sir?“ she hazarded a guess.
“Ooh, that coat is somehow even more stupid fully intact.” He shoved the paper in her direction. “Look at it. What even is that?”
“Newly-appointed Subway Bosses, well-known battlers and twins Ingo and Emmet pose for–“ she read out loud.
“No, not that– oh, oh he has a twin?” He spun the paper back around to investigate it. Sure enough, Ingo’s dark coat and signature frown formed a matched set with a smiling man in white. He looked so much younger than Volo remembered.
Of course he did. It hadn’t happened yet.
That was a cold weight in his chest, stilling his excitement at seeing someone else from Hisui. How long until-? And then his coat would be torn, his hair disheveled, his frown would grow deeper and his eyes would lose that light—
“Marie, you know I make a point of not meddling in mortal affairs.” He sunk back into the chair.
“Yes, sir.”
“Right, but—what if it’s my fault?”
“Sir? Um, I think I’m a little-“
“In my defense, I was, what, twenty-four?” He ran a hand through his hair, ignoring Marie’s startled noise at that number. “I was, young and stupid and someone gave me too much power and—this, this is why I don’t meddle.”
The start of his immortality was a mistake. A really stupid mistake. He was mature enough to admit that. He regretted the panic he’d caused, even if it had turned out okay in the end. Even if it had resulted in his immortality. Part of him wondered if this was some kind of cosmic joke from Arceus, to give him time enough to learn his lesson.
Time enough to…
“…What if I could fix it?” He dragged the hand down his face, focusing on the huge window above. “But- what if that makes everything worse? What if he’s… important to it, somehow? But what if I didn’t– but if it never happens at all…”
China clinked. Marie had apparently given up on the conversation and moved on to cleaning up the broken cup. Good girl.
“I could just go and… talk to him. See him in person, wow, wouldn’t that be something? I mean, someone from Hisui, I don’t know how I’d even deal with that! He’s a battle facility leader, I’d have the perfect excuse,” he looked down at Togekiss, who blinked back up at him, “I bet you’d appreciate that too, huh? You remember Ingo? He was a menace, right?”
It cooed, downy wings fluttering, and tilted its head at him. He nodded slowly.
The chair spun and he sprung out of it, pushing Togekiss back into flight. “Right! It’s decided! Marie, I’m going to Unova!”
“What? You’re– leaving?”
“Yes, yes, hold your applause, I’m leaving the house.” He kept one hand on the wall as he swung through the door and into the hallway. There wasn't much he needed to take with him—food was more of an indulgence than a necessity, Togekiss could fly him everywhere he needed to go, his sanctuary didn't have service (on purpose) so it wasn't like he could call them even if he did own a communicator. His staff had other means of getting in touch with him. Besides, this trip would only be a few days at most.
Another of his staff jumped as he darted past them. “Rye, I’m going out, mind everything for me for a few days, would you?”
“What?! Sir– where are you going?!”
He pivoted sideways for a moment, grabbed a coat, and shrugged it on without stopping. “Nimbasa City! Saying hello to an old friend!”
Cold air knifed his lungs as he stepped out the front door and into the snow.
His shoes clicked as he descended the stairs into Gear Station.
The platform was crowded and constantly moving. People shouted questions and instructions back and forth, shoving themselves into corners and ducking to keep out of each others’ way. It was… certainly Nimbasa City. Now he remembered why he didn’t particularly like this place.
He caught a depot agent rushing by. “Hey, hey. Where do I go if I want to see Ingo?”
“That’s Subway Boss Ingo,” they corrected irritably, “and you’ll want the Singles Line. Good luck, though. Big turnout. We’re still riding the opening crowd.”
“I thought he stepped up a couple weeks ago?”
“Yeah, we’ve been closed for repairs.”
“Oh.” He looked up. "Y’know, now that you mention it, this place does look a lot nicer than the last time. Cleaner. And less backed up.”
Someone shoved his shoulder, pushing past him. “Keep it moving, asshole!”
A fanged hiss at the rudeness—but he smothered it down and flashed the depot agent a smile instead. “Thanks for the help!” he called as he walked backwards towards the gate.
He’d only been on the Battle Subway once or twice, way back when it opened, but all these facilities were pretty much the same. Beat your opponent and advance until you either lost, got tired, or made it to the boss. Simple enough.
The doors slid closed behind him, the train car rocked as they started moving, and he let Togekiss out of its Pokéball.
Benefit number something of being immortal: you had eternity to train. Benefit of having an immortal partner: that experience accumulated.
They cut down opponent after opponent without breaking a sweat. Volo only had Togekiss—one knockout and he was gone—but neither of them were concerned. They barely even paid attention to the battles after the first few. Some people took the loss gracefully. Others cursed him out or accused him of somehow cheating. Volo just scratched a nail, rolled his shoulders, and stepped into the next battle. Methodical as cutting grass.
An attendant whistled, stepping forwards to heal Togekiss once again—not that it was needed. It was the first they’d actually spoken to him outside of a curt well done, apparently not able to hold their tongue anymore. “You a Champion or something? That good, I feel like I should know you from somewhere.”
He laughed lightly. “Hobbyist, spent too much time on it. You know how it is.”
“Alright, boss, when you’re ready! New challenger for you!”
Oh. He’d made it.
The door opened, and there was Ingo, in the flesh.
The memories from most of his life had, unsurprisingly, dulled as they grew distant, washing out into a few thousand years with only photographs to keep a timeline for him. But Hisui was one thing he’d never forgotten. The faces, the locations, the words exchanged—they were all as clear as if it were yesterday.
This Ingo looked younger, but not by a whole lot, not in person—Volo had always wondered, anyway, how much of his apparent age was just exhaustion and his refusal to stand up straight. His hair was already silver, which, it was possible that was just its natural color. His face was set into that frown with no malice behind it. His coat—Volo wondered if it was the exact same one that would go with him to Hisui. It could very well have been.
He laughed, a little giddy with recognition.
“Thank you for riding the Battle Subway today. I am the Subway Boss Ingo.”
“Oh, come on, don’t keep me waiting, let’s get to it!” He rocked back on his heels, spinning Togekiss’ Pokéball in his hand. Electricity jumped under his skin, he wanted to do something, and battling was the best available option.
“You-“ whoops, Volo knew that blink, he’d interrupted the script in his excitement. To his credit, though, Ingo adapted pretty quickly. “Very well. All aboard!”
His voice was pulled right from Volo’s memories, though the words didn’t match, and he sounded just that bit louder, more awake.
A… Crustle, Volo was pretty sure it was called, was first. He took his time at the start, setting up and using a few Air Slashes instead of something effective, just to give Ingo a chance to actually fight. Relish the familiar movements as he directed his Pokémon with deliberate points and loud calls.
A couple Stone Edges managed to get past the flinch and miss chances. Thanks to the boosts from Calm Mind, they didn’t do much, but Volo could tell Togekiss wasn’t happy about how ruffled its feathers were. Okay, time to move on. It was a good thing he’d taken the opportunity to switch Togekiss’ moves around before the fight, dropping Moonblast for something with a little more coverage.
“Drain Punch!”
“Drain Punch?”
“Drain Punch! Keep up, warden!” In front of them, Togekiss slammed Crustle with a wing, and it went down.
Ingo was still visibly baffled, but didn’t let it slow the battle down. Klinklang was next. Ooh, Electric type. Maybe? Steel? He could never keep those two straight. Maybe it was both? He was being watched through narrowed eyes now, like Ingo was waiting for a sign of something.
“Calm Mind.”
“Gear Grind.”
“Drain—“
“Volt Switch!”
“—punch?"
Before Togekiss could make contact, an arc of electricity bounced across its wing, and then Klinklang was gone, replaced with a mound of—sludge, apparently, Volo decided he didn’t care what that thing was besides gross, and probably some sort of Poison-type. The Drain Punch had none of the desired effect on its new target. In fact, the move seemed to shift the sludge, making it more agile, as the damage it had taken started to be healed—
“Prepare a Toxic, and Venoshock!”
Oh, now Volo’s brain had caught up to where Ingo was. One of those Weak Armor abilities. He’d feinted out a super-effective move, tanked it with the new target, and was now gambling on being able to outspeed his opponent and finish his attack before Togekiss could get off a Psychic-type move.
“Good to know you still plan fast!” Volo took a half-step back. “But, y’know, not every bet pays off. Extrasensory!”
Togekiss’ attack interrupted its opponent’s, stopping it just before it could execute the move. Ingo’s brow furrowed as he recalled the Poison-type. “Still? Have we battled before?”
“Ah,” whoops. He clicked his tongue. “No? Well, I guess it depends on how you—“ The sound of gears screeching cut him off, as the Klinklang powered up. “Hey, don’t distract me, we’re in a battle!”
“Giga Impact!” A last-ditch effort to avoid the hard-hitting Drain Punch.
Togekiss, still riding the boosts, shook the damage off easily and practically broke the Klinklang in half with its wing. The room seemed to lighten back up as the battle ended, both opponents shifting out of battle stances.
“Bravo!” He couldn’t remember ever seeing Ingo look so alive. Riding the same adrenaline rush as he was—and fully present to feel it.
Volo recalled Togekiss and let the attendant heal it. Ingo had actually managed to do some pretty decent damage. He wasn’t in charge for nothing, Volo supposed. He’d been assuming that Ingo’s skill back in Hisui was a product of him taking modern strategy to ancient times, but no, he really was good no matter where you put him.
“Your Togekiss’ Calm Mind is—“
Volo instinctively deflected. “Totally normal, dunno what you’re talking about, warden, maybe you should get your eyes checked.”
“…Warden? Why do you continue calling me that?”
“Ingo. Subway Boss Ingo. Got it in three. Anyway, great fight, man is it good to see you!”
“…What you said, earlier, about my planning—“
“Oh, no, don’t listen to anything I say, I don’t get out enough, I’m out of practice with the whole talking thing—how are you? Running a subway seems tough!” Harder than wrangling a single Noble, for sure.
“I—what?” The question seemed to catch him off-guard—which, yeah, this probably wasn’t the usual tack a challenger led with. He handed his fainted Pokémon to the attendant without looking. “It’s… a challenge I’m more than happy to face. I’m not alone, of course. Emmet and I make a two-car train.”
“Right, right, but—” the train started slowing to a stop. “Ah shoot, I gotta get out of your hair, huh? I’m sure you’ve got more trainers to wreck! Listen, though,” his hand fished in a pocket. “It would be really great to catch up. Talk. Would love to, uh, chat about battles. Ever been to Rola? They do great coffee, the bakery’s not bad either—I’ll be there all day tomorrow, if you feel like swinging by, that second card’s my contact information if you change your mind later.”
Ingo flipped one of the cards over. “This just says—“
“Whoop, and this is my stop, listen, it’s not an obligation but—“ he backpedaled towards the doors. “Love what you’ve done with the place, by the way, it’s almost tolerable now!”
The doors slid closed behind him.
Rola Beans—named for its mascot and the owner’s partner, Roggenrola—was a pretty quiet place, which was one of the reasons Volo liked it. The other was that he knew the staff, had known them for a few generations now, and they were pretty good about giving him privacy when needed. This was, depending on how the conversation went, probably going to be one of those times. If Ingo ever showed. It was going on eight with no sign of him.
Volo looked up at the sound of the bell above the door jingling, and then his book was dropped to the table with a thump as he leapt to his feet. “Hey, you came! I was starting to think you weren’t showing!”
“Apologies for the delay! I would have come sooner, but we do not leave the station until seven!” Ingo announced, making the barista shoot him a look about the volume. He stepped out of the entrance to allow another person through.
Volo crossed the distance to the entrance in a few strides. “Oh, and you must be Emmet! It’s so good to meet you!” He grabbed one gloved hand in both of his and shook it vigorously. In the exact same tone of voice, “Why are you here!”
Emmet’s smile was exactly like it was on the photo—the mirror of Ingo’s frown, perfect and empty. “You are a strange man. This is not a very public place. I would be verrrry stupid to let my brother meet you alone.”
“Ah.” He dialed the excitement back and moved to a reasonable personal-space distance. “That… y’know, that’s fair. Good instinct.”
“Also,” Ingo himself interrupted the thought, only to have Emmet immediately cut him off.
“And Ingo says you are an unusual trainer! I like seeing new strategies. I would be verrry happy to see yours.”
“Oh! Aw, that’s sweet of him to say, yeah, sure, I’d be happy to oblige! But,” his partner drifted in a little bit late to land on his arm, “I only have Togekiss, so, uh.”
“That is less exciting.” Allegedly. His smile didn't waver. “I like Double Battles most of all.”
“Mm, yep, can’t oblige you on that front.” Unless. “Unless you’d like to go two-on-one.”
Oh, his expression could be genuine! He looked towards Ingo, his whole head tilting with the movement. Ingo met his gaze and his perpetual frown ticked a little bit towards neutral.
“In that case!—“
“—Take us both on as a team?”
“Hmm.” He pretended to size them up. “One Pokémon each, and that’s it. That seems fair.”
“Agreed!”
“In that case, give us a minute to prepare?”
They all stepped out the back door, into a small backyard-style space reserved for patron battles. He took the time to switch up Togekiss’ moves for something more suited to two opponents. Which was not cheating. It wasn't his fault his opponents had no idea he was capable of it.
“…right. Ready!”
They pointed in unison to him. He barely heard their words. Seeing Ingo’s familiar pose mirrored in that way brought up a strange feeling, like realizing something you’d owned for ages was in fact missing a piece the entire time.
Emmet sent out an… oh, what was the name of that one, eel-something, the one with no weaknesses… Eelektrik—tross. Third evolution, Eelektross. And Ingo sent out a… Chandelure, that was it. Ghostly flames casting strange shadows on the brick walls.
“Oh, wait, is that—“ he temporarily forgot the battle, looking at the ghost instead. It wielded flames with mastery… “So that’s why you were always giving Akari’s one weird looks.” And the one next to it, the blue body—could be a Typhlosion with its flames unlit, seen out of the corner of your eye. Especially if it was lined up next to the other one, shining a purple flame around it.
“You were right!” Emmet was looking at Ingo now, out of the corner of his eye. “He is strange.”
“Are you ready for battle?” Ingo lowered his head, watching him. “This won’t be satisfying if you’re not giving it your all.”
“No, I’m focused, promise. Just got, uh, distracted for a minute!” He stepped into his own ready stance, sharing a look with Togekiss. Was Chandelure a pure Ghost-type, or were those flames real? Either way, getting some sort of status up on the Eelektross as soon as possible would be ideal.
He took the first move as the battle began in earnest.
“Heat Wave!” Togekiss obeyed, embers rising under its wings and buoying it slightly higher in the air.
“Move!” Ingo shouted the command, swinging his arm. He very nearly clipped Emmet in the chest with it—but his twin stepped out of the way without even taking his eyes off the battle. Chandelure took the command, floating in front of the Eelektross, who shrank back at the slightest flick up of its trainer, letting the full force of the move wash over Chandelure—who didn’t seem harmed in the slightest. A touch more energized, even.
One mystery solved. Very much a Fire-type.
“Discharge!” Emmet commanded the instant the move had passed. Togekiss shook off the move with its raw strength—but could Discharge paralyze its target? He wasn’t going to be able to stop that Eelektross with the Chandelure guarding it. Had to get it out of the way, then.
“Air Slash and Heat Wave again!”
He kept up the pressure with Air Slash, letting up on the other move and sneaking in a couple Calm Minds as soon as the Eelektross was burned. The cutting force of it kept both opponents reeling, barely able to get a move off.
“Emmet, the flinch—“
“Taking care of it!” An odd rolling motion in his wrist. “Thunder Wave to get your distance and Gastro Acid!”
Eelektross twisted in midair, turning the Thunder Wave into a crackling domed barrier. Togekiss reeled back from the paralyzing move at his command, avoiding the loss of speed. He tried to get another Air Slash off—but Chandelure threw up a Protect before he could, dropping it just in time for the poison to wash over Togekiss. It didn’t seem to hurt, though, or actually poison it—so what did it do?
“Air Slash again, stop the Chandelure!”
This time, the flinch didn’t take. Ingo’s eyes flashed. “Now, Will-‘o-Wisp!”
Togekiss cooed sadly at its singed feathers. Right, he was going all in. “Calm Mind. Draining Kiss and get back.”
Togekiss took a Thunderbolt on its way, shrugging off the damage with help from the sapped health. Emmet’s Eelektross was looking rough now, wavering in the air. Once that one was down, all that was left was the Chandelure.
“Dazzling Gleam!”
“Shield.” Ingo’s clipped command wasn’t a move. Once again, Chandelure took the hit for its partner. Protect shimmered alive, but it couldn’t cover everything, and its exposed arms actually took some damage from the move. It wouldn’t want to risk too many more of those. He just had to keep up the pressure.
The battle continued, and the Eelektross wouldn’t go down. Or rather, no matter how Togekiss maneuvered, Chandelure wouldn’t let it go down. It was a living (dead?) shield for its battle partner, even when his powered-up Fairy-type moves were clearly wearing it down. Eelektross threw out Thunderbolt after Thunderbolt from behind it, showing up for a brief moment to toss the move out before twisting back again.
Wait, was—was he losing?
It came down to the wire—Eelektross just about fainted from the burn, Togekiss keeping itself up with the health it drained off Chandelure. Then he saw the two share a quick glance.
“Ingo—“
“Almost there. Ready?”
A nod. Both their heads snapped up, and they pointed at the field once again. “Full steam ahead, no brakes!”
“Discharge, lock down—“
“Overheat!”
Ah. Ingo had been keeping a card up his sleeve. The Discharge froze Togekiss’ muscles for a brief moment, and that was all the opportunity the Chandelure needed to land its attack. The recoil made its flames dip low, but it didn’t matter anymore—Togekiss dropped out of the air, down for the count.
Volo recalled it and just stared at the field, dumbfounded. When was the last time he lost a battle?
Then he started laughing. It was a breathy, tired sound, but he couldn’t stop—the residual adrenaline, the giddy excitement tickling his chest, it was good. He fished around in his pocket for one of the emergency Revives.
But Ingo stepped forwards with his own supply at the ready, offering it to him. “Bravo! You may have lost, but you displayed fine strategy and courage!”
“You were verrry strong. But we were stronger!” Emmet’s grin was radiant, infectious.
…Ingo was smiling too. A thin, almost sarcastic-looking slit, but at some point during the battle, he’d started smiling.
“Ha. You two really are… even stronger as a team.” In his mind’s eye, Ingo in a tattered coat half hidden by turned shoulders, staring at him blankly, and entirely alone. Eons-old guilt was suddenly crushing his chest, making him slump back against a wall. It took him a moment to be able to look back up at them.
He forced a loose, almost-casual smile. “Hey, Ingo, can I ask, what even made you come down here in the first place?”
He blinked. “You were… strange. Much more so than any of the other challengers. And your battling—the Togekiss’ Calm Mind alone… I suppose I was simply curious to hear what you had to say.”
“Huh! Yeah, can’t fault you for that. I haven’t even properly introduced myself yet, have I?” He offered a hand without really standing up. “Volo. I’ve been having a weird couple days. How much do you two know about Sinnoh mythology?”