Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

There was once a lonely child.

He was different from most children, he would go on and on about feeling empty, how everything was boring, and how everything feels like too much.

Too much noise bothered him, and having too many people in one room was a nightmare for him. He would scratch himself again and again to gain control over himself, to not let the noise and the weird textures and everything bother him.

The boy didn't like using utensils, he liked to eat with his bare hands, he was much more violent than the other children, he often escaped the orphanage and played with pokemon outside, he ended up spending more time with pokemon than people in his childhood.

The boy’s name was Kouji.

He was left in an orphanage, and because he was labelled as a trouble maker, a weird child, he never got adopted by anyone. He was a child that was easily bored, and since he ran to play with pokemon most of the time, he ended up learning survival skills, he learned how to sew so the orphanage caretakers wouldn't need to do it for him when he accidentally tears up his clothes, some Pokemon had taught him how to hunt, how to sneak up on someone and take them by surprise. He liked the wilderness more than the orphanage, the Caretakers rarely take time to teach him anything interesting, so he took it upon himself to learn.

When he turned 17, he ran away and never looked back.

He ended up in a forest, Kouji never bothered with learning the name. He had a few pokemon friends, and he always avoided meeting people.

One day, he saw a Ditto, and a different Ditto, but that Ditto looked like laundry detergent. The color was weird.

They became friends.

They've been friends for 2 years now. Kouji travelled with them, and became a Pokemon trainer, the money they earned by winning battles all came to buying new clothes when he needed it, the other things that Kouji needed.. he could just make it himself. It was concerning, and surprising how people don't pay much attention when one is a Pokemon trainer, they think Kouji is just a little weird, and not insane. They even let him travel across regions when Kouji became pretty skilled at battling!

Kouji named the Dittos “Ube Jam” and “Laundry detergent”. In morbid curiosity on what would happen, Kouji ate one of them, he let the ditto slide down his throat and into his stomach, the Ditto let it happen.

Then, he ate the other one.

His head had felt so mushy, his movements uncoordinated, his thoughts all jumbled up, but he felt so full. He could hear his friend’s thoughts, and they could finally communicate with words! Nevermind that they couldn't tell which one was which, they could still communicate whenever Kouji swallows one of them.

For the first time in his life, he did not feel empty. So he kept eating them, letting them do what they wanted inside his body. He only let them get out when they told him they wanted to, or when Kouji needed a clear head.

Kouji did not remember much, he hasn't had the best memory since he started swallowing his Dittos.

Kouji escaped the orphanage at 17, he met the Dittos at 19, and his current age is 23, he remembers that, atleast.

-

A weird white blob that was brighter than the sun was the last thing Kouji had seen before they awoke in some kind of beach. It called itself Arceus. It spoke weirdly, explaining things they already knew.

They didn't pay much attention to what was happening, like usual, they were only barely grounded in reality. They apparently fell out of the sky. They remember a weird professor that had a horrible aim, getting a weird looking phone,

An arc phone. They gracefully reminded them. Seek out all Pokemon or something. Yup yup.

3 pokemon. They knew they were starter Pokemon from different regions. A pretty owl, something with a shell, and a fire thing. And they remembered catching them to help the weird guy. They don't remember the details as usual. Things that didn't interest them were as vague as a dream.

They paid more attention when they stepped foot in what looked like a village. The guards seemed rude, each step they took was heavy, yet they forced themselves to not let it show that it was affecting them. Doubt, distrust, judgement from Villagers that they don't care about, it shouldn't be affecting them.

Redirect your attention.

They were all wearing rather traditional and old clothing... The uniforms the guards had were a nice color of red, they would like to wear something similar they thought. The buildings and homes and everything was in an old style, it didn’t look like the more modern cities they went to. It looked more like small towns in the countryside, but even those had some modern, high tech touches. Their houses actually look old.

Now that I think about it, our memory is spotty.

They did not remember the names of places they went to, they did not remember what pokemon they had that stayed on PokeBalls and not inside them. Is it because they hurt their head while falling? They remembered Ash, they remembered team rocket, the talking Meowth, and Emmet and Ingo, they were interesting people, yup yep.

They stepped foot in a restaurant that looked too small to be one, Everything looked old fashioned, they called their normal clothes weird, too. The green haired old man looked interesting, but mean.

Akari, akari. They will remember her, she is nice. Their way of thinking is pitiful, why is she so sad? She is pretty. They don't pay much attention to what she says, but they pay attention to her clothes, it's pretty. Looks comfortable, they want it. Yes, they look nice for travelling. She is interesting, her words go to their ears and go out the other, but she does not have much confidence yet she does have much of it, a contradiction, how nice.

The... Blue haired captain somehow looks familiar, they do not give it much thought. They look nice, but uninteresting. She is pretty, She is serious, they think that she's probably afraid of bug Pokemon. It looks like it suits her, they thought.

Contradictions are nice. Yup. Yep.

Potato mochi. They have a feeling that they will eat this a lot, they do not like things to happen often and to repeat itself, but they will make an exception

They did not care when they saw it, but they began to care when they took a bite.

Wonderfully crispy, soft in the inside, the flavor is unparalleled, the Nori is crispy, very nice harmony with the potato, they thought. They want to eat it again.

Redirect your attention. We need to observe. Yep, yup. Yes.

They wore kimonos and their way of speaking was weird. There were no pokemon with them, they had barely even seen any. They look scared.

We're probably in the past, maybe. Yeah, probably. This is weird, right? I agree. Yup. Yep.

They do not know which of those two are talking, they do not care, both are his family and both looked mostly the same.

The air is fresher, it's less hot, the breeze is more refreshing. Yes, that makes sense, there isn't any pollution yet, yes? Yup, yup. There's a lot of trees and grass, barely any concrete, is the big building even made of cement or is it different? We don't know, you're supposed to be the one who knows more about humans, cuz you're one of them. There's bricks, there's probably cement. Yup. Maybe.

Hisui... Hisui... That's what Sinnoh was used to be called, yes? Yep. Maybe. We don't know.

"Pokemon are terrifying creatures!"

That's a first.

People loved pokemon, right? They loved people and vise versa. They're scary, when you think of what they can do, but they're friends, aren't they? Maybe these people haven't befriended pokemon yet, how sad. Pokemon are better than people, right? Yep. Yup. Yeah. Their attention is drifting again, that sentence was the only one that caught their attention, really.

Oh, and they compared them to someone else, said they were really good with pokemon too, but didn't stay with people much, they can relate to that, yup, yeah.

they just noticed. There's a giant portal thing in the sky. It looks weird, it's interesting. Like someone slashed through the sky and space is leaking out, who caused that? It looks cool. They should thank them for making sure this thing existed, it's interesting. They should go there and see if it's actually like a portal someday. There's lighting too, they wonder how their body would react if struck by it.

They gave them somewhere to sleep, and there's something about a trial, Kouji isn't interested, they aren't interested.

"Good night."

The place is very traditional, there is a mirror. There is a storage box.

Kouji coughs and coughs and coughs until Ube and Landy are out of their body, he's suddenly more aware of everything, they taste bile in the back of their throat, he realizes he cannot remember important stuff, they cry for what they don't remember, he wipes his tears off his cheeks, there is no time for this.

They need to survive. Where they are and what time he is in don't matter, they need to be useful and survive, he did it once, they will do it again.

Ube and Landy's slimy, gooey bodies are a familiar feeling, they cling to him like he will disappear the next moment, he does not know their thoughts when they are not one, but they know that they wish for him to rest

"Good night.”

-

He wakes up with his two ditto still clinging to his skin, he takes a few seconds just staring in the Celling, the futon is soft, unlike what he expected from the past. He would have thought the Futons here were too thin to be comfortable.

"As much as I like Ube and Landy being inside, I can definitely pay attention far better when I'm alone." He muttered, his voice quiet and blank, lacking its usual cheer.

The boy got up and walked over to the mirror, taking in his appearance. His eyes were more red than usual, but that's fine. His hair is a mess, he'll comb it out later. The problem is that his clothes give him attention he doesn't want, and that is... Annoying.

Anyways.

One look at his companions and they understand, they are to stay outside of his body, they are to hide themselves but to stay clinging on his skin and never stray from below his clothes.

He opened the door and was met with the sight of a smiling Akari. Instead of paying attention to her utterly boring words, he opted to look at his surroundings. Based on the current architecture and technology, he seemed to be somewhere in the Meiji era or something. He didn't remember the exact year of this time, but he did remember that the clans were still in rocky relationships in this era.

The hero that fixed the rift between space and time, Irida the brave, Adaman the kind, and the first Pokedex to be created. That's all he remembers from the history classes the orphanage would sometimes give, though he's pretty sure he learned most of them because they were bedtime stories. He doesn't even know who Irida and Adaman are, he simply thought their names were pretty, so he somehow remembered them.

"Let's go to the headquarters," Akari said, her voice was pleasing to the ears. "Captain Cyllene is waiting."

So, they walked over to... The headquarters of.. something something expedition something. The ones with the nice looking uniforms. The building looked more modern and westernized than the rest of the village, he briefly wonders if a war happened at some point, the contrast reminds him of the effects of colonization. People are cruel and dumb and they fight over the most idiotic things. Akari seemed to be explaining something and then-

"Don't give up! Keep those eyes open!"

That was loud. Kouji thought. It came from the room right over there, it looks like some kind of built in clinic.

"The wild pokemon... They... They were everywhere... Attacking from all sides..."

Now, that caught Kouji's attention. For a moment, his breathing was stilled, his eyes were wide yet his other facial expressions don't change at all, it was an unusual face to make, that's for sure. Disbelief was evident in his face - because that's impossible, Pokemon don't attack people without provocation, they attack to protect and they attack because they feel threatened - but even so, they don't attempt to kill. No, it's people who kill and hurt pokemon, not the other way around.

He ignores it.

The captain briefs him on what he was supposed to be doing so he could live there, they said to catch 3 pokemon, the others looked surprised, they acted as if catching 3 pokemon were hard. It wasn't. Especially since the pokemon he was meant to catch were all super easy to catch.

They're all weirdos.

Weird professor got him to choose a Pokemon, he chose the Rowlet purely because its leaf bowtie thing was pretty, he also gave him 20 PokeBalls, which is 17 PokeBalls too much. Does he think that Kouji’s a dumbass that can't catch a fucking bidoof on the first try?

They walk out and go to the gates, where Kouji's will to live was suddenly replenished

Truly, it was like drinking water after forgetting to drink for a few days. He didn't realize he was so thirsty and in need of a drink, and after that sip he would feel so refreshed. It was like being given emotions after living life without any at all, once you felt it, you could never go back.

A gorgeous blonde haired person was right before his eyes, he was tall, very tall. Kouji was immediately interested, because he didn't feel fully human. There are traces of a pokemon inside him, everything about him is making Kouji curious. The confidence in his posture, that clearly fake smile, and why is he hiding his eye? Is it a stylistic choice, or was it something more interesting?

And Kouji was hungry. He hadn't felt so hungry for someone in a long, long time.

“oh!, what a curious getup you got there. I can already tell you're quite the character! And your eyes… How curious, They are certainly not the usual!” The gorgeous piece of meat says, in Kouji's opinion, that smile was totally fake. He loves it. Akari is there, he wonders if she knows that the handsome man's doing an act right now.

“I'm Volo of the Ginko guild, the go-to choice for any of your merchantile needs here in hisui!” so he was a merchant, that makes sense, no wonder he has good acting skills! His voice is nice too, it would sound even more nicer if he was screaming! Volo was a nice name, too.

“I’ve heard talk about you, fell from the sky, didn't you? Now that's certainly a tale I'd like to hear…” it's not much of a tale to tell, considering Kouji doesn't remember anything. “Oh! And you've got a pokemon! You're certainly full of interesting surprises…”

Kouji smiled, trying to look as sweet as possible.

“You’re more interesting, considering you don't seem scared of her like everyone else.” Volo seemed a little surprised, but like the liar he is, he puts on his act as fast as possible, very impressive.

“Well, the Ginko guild uses pokemon for quite a lot of things, so I'm quite desensitized to seeing pokemon now!” He chuckled, “how about you and I see how our Pokemon stand up to one another in battle?”

Kouji's smile widened to an almost unnatural degree, his teeth showing, his eyes lit up at Volo's words, “Sure! I needed to get a feel with my new beloved Rowlet anyways!”

“I like you better and better! What a delightful find!” Volo said, he posed, his hand doing this pointing thing, Kouji had a feeling that he'll do that a lot.

He's a liar too, huh?

Interesting.

Ube wanted in, he let them go inside him by going to his ears. It's a good thing his hair hides them! As usual, it was slimy and weird to feel.

Volo narrowed his eyes, maybe he noticed Kouji's eyes dilating and his attention wavering, who knows?

-

The battle was destined to be very simple but fun, considering Kouji and Volo’s pokemon were extremely inexperienced with battling, so he let Ube take control of the battle while he thinks.

Having only one of his Dittos inside him is the most reasonable option to take, Pokemon here seem to be less trusting with humans, it would be useful to be able to understand them, and having one Ditto takes away some of his attention span but takes away the language barrier. More useful than having two inside him.

The battle ended quickly, Volo's Togepi falling to Oshwalot’s attacks. Kouji couldn't pay attention to Volo's words, but he's sure that they're all pleasant, even if he's just saying unchangeable facts. He healed both their pokemon, how nice, Volo even gave them potions. Kouji accepted with a blank expression with a smile mirroring Volo’s.

Which is, fake.

He left, a shame. Kouji wanted to talk to him more, he was nice but there was a strange feeling when he's talking and-

“That's really something! Not only can you catch Pokemon, you can even lead them in battle!”

What.

Kouji is trying very hard not to judge, but any 10 year old can do that. Hell, there's even an elite four member that's like 9 years old. Why is it considered impressive? All of these people must be incompetent, blubbering morons.

He stays silent, it's easier to hide his not so nice thoughts when he isn't talking.

They go to the gate, they tell the man where they're going, he tells him to not die, he internally judges them all. What the hell are they doing to pokemon that makes them wanna kill them?

So, anyways, they go to the obsidian fieldlands, and before Akari could even speak, he sprints to find a patch of tall grass and he sits there, waiting for an bidoof to be dumb so they can catch it.

They catch a bidoof and a starly, easy. One more.

He ran towards the first blue looking thing he saw, and then the shinx was surprised, and got angry, so he got Rowlet out his PokeBall. He should start thinking of a name for her.

He got the shinx to be tired soon enough, then they catched it.

They walked towards Akari, who was running and looking very flabbergasted.

“Done.”

She blinked owlishly, nodding and seemingly processing what just happened.

“That was amazing! But also insanely reckless! It looks like professor lanventon wasn't lying when he said you'd pass with flying colors… and you approached all of those pokemon without even a hint of fear…” Ah, she's talking about the weird professor. So that's his name. And why should they be scared of pokemon? Pokemon should be scared of him. He'll gobble them all up, not his fault they're all so cute.

They went back to the village and Kouji apparently passed, when was there even a test? They gave him a uniform, they changed into it, it was very comfy.

“Hey! Kouji, you need to meet the commander before you go!” Akari said when she saw him going towards the village gates. Right, he forgot. He went upstairs so he could get this over with.

That piece of shit judo slammed him. He decided that he doesn't like him.

Oh my god can't he just stop talking? There's nothing interesting about his words.

And so, he goes back to the pretty captain, she gives him the thing he needs so he can craft PokeBalls, which is pretty cool in his opinion. Maybe he should craft Ube and Landy some. She gave him some money too, she's nice, unlike that piece of shit that slammed him into the ground.

They head to the craftwork shop thing, and a very pretty lady named Anthe gave him some clothes. She's nice. Akari waved at him, “this way to the craftworks, Kouji!”

Then, she taught them how to craft PokeBalls. Kouji’s was a little… imperfect, but it works. Then, suddenly the weird professor was there and Gave him a Pokedex… it dawned on Kouji that possibly the very first kind of Pokedex was in his hands.

Everything after that was a blur, and suddenly he was laying on his futon.

“Good night.”

At one point, Ube and Landy went Inside him, they told him Goodnight as well.

-

They don't quite remember when they got here, but Volo and Kouji were outside the village and Volo was teaching them the backstrike technique. Volo seemed to favor it. Kouji can understand, it makes things easier if the target didn't expect an attack.

They were somewhere in the obsidian fieldlands, the concept of the technique was simple, Kouji didn't bother to pay attention to the meaning of Volo's words. They payed attention to everything else instead. Both Ube and Landy were inside him, so it was really hard to pay attention to anything that wasn't interesting. But luckily for them, Volo was interesting and they can notice more things about him now.

Kouji did not imagine that dark, ominous, and somehow authoritative aura around Volo, it was definitely there, they all wanted to kneel, to show respect, but maybe that was just the two inside him.

Volo is pleasant, nice and cheerful. Volo is lying. Volo does not fear pokemon, he seems to adore and Revere them and that is the only thing he hasn't lied about. Volo is covered in half truths, lies of omission and he is wearing a perfect mask, he is the perfect merchant, he is friendly and easy to approach and easy to talk to. It is undoubtedly a facade.

Kouji wants to break it. He wants to shatter that perfect, unscathed mask and bite it off his face. And Volo would bleed because his mask was glued to his face and it would definitely hurt when Kouji inevitably tears it off.

Instead, he smiles pleasantly at Volo. He is playing a lying game, so Kouji will play with him. Playing alone is lonely, after all.

“Thank you, Volo. Haha, you're the type of person that's easy to trust! It's so… calming, just being around you.”

Kouji is far from being calm. He is hungry. They want to be a part of Volo to forever be togethertobeasimportanttohimashisorganshewantstobeeatenANDHEWANTSTOEAT-

“I'm going to go do some research! Bye-bye, Volo, I look forward to seeing you again!”

-

It was mind numbing, yet fun to research Pokemon. Kouji catches pokemon but rarely keeps them, they keep them for research, maybe reward them with a bit of food then he releases them after. Starly, bidoof, shinx, Ponyta, buizel and all the bug Pokemon, they are all familiar and he completed their Pokedex entries fast enough. Wasn't this supposed to be faster? No, those kinds of high tech Pokedex don't exist yet, they need to write it down instead of the information immediately being updated. It's a change of pace.

There's a guard that's stopping him from going to the next area. Kouji decides to sneak around and very subtly swim to it. (It was not subtle. But when the security corps member looked at him, he was seemingly gone. He wasn't.)

They didn't find any pokemon that he liked. Shame. They catch whatever they can anyways, and write the information down.

They looked at the sky, it was turning dark, they decided to go back. They went to the pretty captain’s office and gave her his Pokedex, she seemed surprised, the weird professor seemed surprised as well, and based on their reactions, Kouji thought they were impressed.

Which is fucking dumb. He's going to go to sleep.

Chapter Text

Kouji couldn't sleep much, so they snuck out of the village before the sun went up. There was a Big looking rapidash that Kouji had wanted to check out, they avoided it the first time they saw it because of the type disadvantage, also, the fact that Rowlet was still rather weak. Speaking of Rowlet, they haven't named him yet. They were in horseshoe plains, sitting on a rock while Kouji did his daily 30 minutes of purely thinking. Not that he knew if it was 30 minutes or not- there's no clocks yet. Honestly, his memory is really bad too, who knows if he's remembering things wrong?

“Little Rowlet, what do you think about the name Mr. Leafy?”

The owl pokemon tilted his head, Kouji and Rowlet were both looking at each other in a rather eerie manner.

“ƗŦ ŞØỮŇĐŞ ŞƗŁŁ¥.”

Kouji's smile widened 

“Do you like it? Do you want me to call you that?”

The Rowlet was silent for a few moments, He looks like he's thinking 

“₩ⱧɎ ₦Ø₮?”

Rowlet, the newly named Mr. Leafy, made a pleased noise, and Kouji returned it with a hum.

-

They sat there, resting and laying on the grass, the pokemon in horseshoe plains were rather dumb, and not like the shinx that would attack them immediately. Then, Kouji heard a noise from the grass near them, Mr. Leafy noticed it too.

It was an Eevee, it had grey coloring, not brown. A shiny?

It was cute. Kouji gestured for Mr. Leafy to stay where they were hiding, then Kouji got up and quietly walked towards the eevee, the eevee noticed him, Kouji expected it to run.

It didn't. It headbutted Kouji and leaped at his face, Mr. Leafy was about to attack, but Kouji gestured for him to stay. it then proceeded to try to bite off his ears, amidst it's growls and barks, Kouji heard the eevee’s words

“ₐ ₕᵤₘₐₙ! ₚₗₐy! ₚₗₐy wᵢₜₕ ₘₑ!”

What a feisty, brave little guy!

Kouji giggled, he didn't mind the gooey blood coming out from his ears, the little guy was playing! He grabbed the Eevee’s torso, then he bit his neck, not too hard, of course! He made his teeth more blunt, because He didn't want to hurt the Eevee.

“Wₒₐₕ! yₒᵤ bᵢₜ ₘₑ! ₐᵣₑ ₕᵤₘₐₙₛ ₛᵤₚₚₒₛₑd ₜₒ dₒ ₜₕₐₜ?!”

He laughed at the Eevee, he can see Mr. Leafy looking very confused in the corner of his eye

“I don't think so?! I think I'm just weird! Do you wanna join me and Mr. Leafy? I promise I'll play with you whenever you want!”

“Yₒᵤ cₐₙ ᵤₙdₑᵣₛₜₐₙd ₘₑ?!”

“Yup!”

“Wₒₐₕ! Yₒᵤ'ᵣₑ ₐ cₒₒₗ ₕᵤₘₐₙ! ₛᵤᵣₑ, ᵢ'ₗₗ ⱼₒᵢₙ yₒᵤ!”

“Yay! I'll name you when or if you evolve, okaaay?”

“YₐYY!!”

Mr. Leafy looked at them with a very surprised and confused expression. He looked like he was judging them, it was a funny face to look at.

Haha! New team member acquired! 

“Let's go train! Then, we'll eat and play!”

“ₗₑₜ'ₛ Gₒₒₒₒ!”

“ØҜΔ¥,ØꝁȺɏ, Ɨ wȺnŧɇđ ŧø ɇvøłvɇ ȺnɏwȺɏs.”

-

The other survey corps members were rather confused and a little bit scared when they found mountains of fainted bidoof and starly, all dragged into one big pile in flolaro gardens, they did not know who did this. No one was claiming to have done it.

In a totally unrelated note, Mr. Leafy evolved into a Dartrix and Eevee has grown a bit stronger and learned some moves! The ugly commander looked really stressed, but the man slammed him into the floor so Kouji didn't care.

-

They went back and they got stars! Kouji, Akari, and the weird professor got potato mochi, he didn't really pay attention to what they were saying, they were just savouring the potato mochi while pretending to listen. They heard something about Mai? He didn't know who they were but they sounded pretty. Their name is pretty, so!

-

They woke up, they don't remember sleeping… but that's fine! They forgot to spit out Ube and Landy, that's probably why. 

They cough, cough and cough and throw both of them out, and they already know what to do! What great friends. Mr. Leafy had looked disgusted as usual, and Eevee was morbidly curious, they didn't ask any questions though! What a polite little guy. 

And then they set out to do whatever they were told to do! They hope they see Volo. Or someone else that's interesting.

Akari asked for a Pokemon battle, and Kouji won! Her Pikachu is very feisty, Kouji's sure that it'll warm up to akari in no time, Kouji tells her this. And Mr. Leafy did very well! 

They met Zisu! She seems very strong, and she told them about this strong style and agile style thing! It seems useful, they'll try to remember about it.

They meet Mai… pretty. They agree with whatever she says. He helps her with the huge bug problem by sending out Eevee, Mr. Leafy doesn't like bugs, and then a Pokemon that Kouji doesn't think they've ever seen before was before their eyes.

There was that urge to kneel for them again, this time, it wasn't for Volo (? Kouji doesn't think it was Volo. Something, someone else?) the feeling of being so below someone, as if they were a God, and Kouji a Durant.

-

They go to report to the commander, nothing interesting happens.

-

He spits out Ube and Landy in his room, his head feels significantly more clear now. 

Okay letting both of them be inside Kouji the entire day might have been a bad decision. Maybe. 

He'll go exploring tomorrow. He needs to catch and research for more pokemon! Who cares if the professor scolds him for going to places he wasn't supposed to be? Who cares if Kamado doesn't like it?

Kouji shook his head and stared at the scene in front of him.

Eevee and Mr. Leafy were fighting! Or training, Kouji doesn't know. They look like they're having fun though. Mr. Leafy? not as much as Eevee. 

Time to go exploring! And training even more!

-

After some wandering, they ended up in a really cold place, there was snow everywhere, it's a good thing that the survey corps uniform was warm! A few mountains were on the way but Kouji managed to climb it easily enough. The top of the mountain was very nice to stay in, Eevee and Mr. Leafy were very surprised when Kouji used the snow covered ledges as a slide.

They checked the map on their arc phone, while Eevee and Mr. Leafy were scrambling to find a way to where they were without doing what Kouji did.

Avalanche slopes. 

Humming, Kouji prepared to fill the pages of his Pokedex.

-

“Our wielder is insane.”

“Oh they are! That's why I like him so much!”

-

Kouji filled out the Pokedex, he's pretty sure he's got all the pokemon in the area, and Mf. Leafy and Eevee managed to convince a braviary to fly them down.

They were walking towards a random direction, and they felt a familiar, Cold, bitter and angry presence.

… Huh.

Kouji hasn't felt that kind of presence in a while. Not since the last time he was around Volo.

“¥ØỮ ƤŘØβΔβŁ¥ ŞĦØỮŁĐ ŇØŦ ǤØ ƗŇ ŦĦ€Ř€.” Mr. Leafy warned

“ₕᵤₕ. Cᵣₑₑₚy... Cₐᵥₑ? Cₐᵥₑᵣₙ? ᵢₜ ₗₒₒₖₛ cₒₗd!” Eevee chipped in, looking like they're worried about going into the cave.

“It's fineee! It feels like Volo so it should be okay!”

“ŦĦΔŦ VØŁØ ǤỮ¥ ƗŞ ƤŘ€ŦŦ¥ ŞỮŞƤƗĆƗØỮŞ ŦĦØỮǤĦ…”

They Ignore their warnings and jump into the cave.

“Stay there and make sure no dangerous pokemon goes in!” he screamed at them.

Kouji briefly saw them reluctantly nod.

-

All Kouji saw in the cave was a bunch of bergmite and misdreavus, which he punched until they left him alone (since when was he able to punch ghost types?) and the feeling that someone (not a pokemon ? Didn't feel like one.) was watching him.

But he still felt that cold, lonely presence so they kept walking. And exploring. 

They barely noticed how their hands grew numb, how they were moving slower than usual.

They go to the angry, bitter presence, where it is most prominent.

It is so cold that they almost feel warm.

They make many turns, left, right, he does not remember which way he went through and which way he came from, but that's okay.

They find a fox.

It is a big fox.

White, with some red on its fur, it has very bright yellow eyes.

Kouji does not know why they cry when they look at the fox. Nor does he know why the fox didn't attack him. 

The fox looks like a Zorua, but it is colored wrong and it is undeniably a ghost. 

The fox looks confused. Kouji is confused as well.

“I feel bad for you.”

The fox tilted its head.

“How'd you die?”

The fox shook its head, stepping back away from Kouji.

“... ‘s okay if you don't wanna talk about it. Do you wanna come with me? I can train you so you can become all strong and powerful! No one will ever hurt you again.”

The fox was hesitant, Kouji sat down, rubbed his hands together. He didn't notice how red they became, they must have been cold. He reached into their satchel and got a pecha berry, and some salt they got, they gave the Zorua some of it, and tore the pecha berry in half, and gave the fox some of it just in case they wanted some too.

The fox seemed to be less hesitant.

Kouji came out of the cave with a new teammate! Mr. Leafy and Eevee weren't even surprised when they saw them. They had to track Kouji down, because Kouji got a little lost.

They go back to the village. Professor Laventon is extremely confused and scared about why Kouji was covered in snow. And why he was holding a zorua in his arms. 

The damn Zorua was fluffy and sad, that's why! Wasn't that obvious?!

Hmm… Kouji has a feeling that he's forgotten something important. But all they saw was white, which was probably just snow.

-

They are in their house (?), they look at their phone.

It is the same as always. Seek out all Pokemon. They will, because they have nothing better to do.

Isn't this messing with time? God?? Are you breaking your own rules right now?? Why the hell is Kouji here anyways? 

… Might as well enjoy it.

-

Kouji is summoned to the galaxy something, something hall. They saw two people arguing, it was funny. They didn't pay much attention. They got a new mission. So they go onwards to the grandtree arena, (didn't they already go in here?) The trip there was a blur, they were given a flute on the way by the pretty guy, and they taught him how to play it. A Celestica flute, why does the name give him this weird feeling? Celestica… Celestic, wasn't that the name of a town he went through? 

For a moment, Kouji forgets to breathe. The noble (he thinks they were called? The title fits them. They are filled with strength, and Kouji (?) wishes to bow to them.) gives him a plate. And the sheer power of the plate made him freeze, his hands were shaky as he held onto it. There were things like this in the future (present?) , but they were far, far weaker. What is this? Why is it so condensed with pure power? It belongs to a God. Definitely. This is too powerful.

"The Original One breathed alone before the universe came.” The engravings on it says.

And it was entrusted to us? 

Kouji was shocked into silence.

If there is a God, it does not understand us. Surely, if it did then they would have not let Kouji's hands get a hold of this.

-

After that, they got to their destination pretty quickly. They see a child, why is a child here?

“I'm Lian of the Pearl Clan. The warden to Kleavor, Lord of the Woods.”

… The Lian kid looks familiar.

“And you—I've already deduced that you've come here to meet Kleavor. I'm right, aren't I?"

… He is a child.

"Of course I am! I can see it so clearly. After all, the powerfully awesome Kleavor has become even more awesomely powerful!”

… Why is he a warden? He should be playing instead of doing a job.

Kouji stays silent, he allows the child to speak, Kouji had always liked when adults didn't talk over him while he was a child, so he does the same for this kid.

"Perhaps that strange lightning the other day was almighty Sinnoh's divine power... But whatever it was, it struck my lord and left him imbued with awesome might! So I must turn you away, even if it pains me. It's too dangerous for you to meet Kleavor right now.”

Someone call the CPS! They're commiting child labor! … Does cps exist here yet? Probably not. They let an elementary level kid be a warden.

“Sorry, but I gotta meet em, I have to! And aren't you a little too young to have a Job?”

The warden looked annoyed, when Kouji mentioned his age.

“What's with you people falling from the sky thinking I can't do my job just because I'm a little young?! Warden Ingo brought up something similar when we first met…”

… Warden Ingo? That has to be a coincidence. There's no way that frowny guy is actually here, didn't he go missing?

“I am perfectly capable of doing my job as a warden! Setting that aside, I still cannot let you meet Lord Kleavor! I have to admit I'm struck by your passion…”

Kouji stared at him, his eyes not blinking. Not even a little bit.

“... But?”

“But, well...I'm afraid your passion is not the real issue here... I've been told in no uncertain terms by Irida that I am to let no one near Kleavor!”

Kouji sighed dramatically, annoyed at the resistance, of course this had to happen… of course.

“Look me in the eyes and tell me if I look like I give a single flying fuck.”

"... I do not know what that means, but! I will fight you off myself if you insist. If you wish to avoid battle, withdraw now, while you still can! Or face the wrath of my Goomy!”

Children and their stubbornness… Kouji shrugged, wordlessly opening their satchel and taking out Mr. Leafy’s pokeball.

"You don't even realize I'm turning you away for your own safety! How sad you are... Go, Goomy, and see if you can ooze some good sense over this foolish troublemaker!”

-

Lian’s goomy was down in a single aerial ace. Maybe Kouji trained Mr. Leafy too much, he almost felt bad.

-

"H-how can this be…”

BORING! I've had enough of paying attention.

Kouji pretended to listen to the child talking, something about Lord Kleavor. 

"Irida? What are you doing here?”

Huh?

"The ancestors of Kleavor, Wyrdeer, and their cohort drew on almighty Sinnoh's own power to protect Pokémon and people alike—so it's said. It's by their grace that our clan—that any of us— still lives in vast Hisui today!”

Oh, the pretty lady… She looks young, now that Kouji's paying attention to her, too young to be leading a whole clan. What's with hisui and having problems with child labor?

“As you say, Kleavor's grown even stronger, but I'm afraid that strength poses a problem for us. If he was indeed struck by that lightning...could the bolts have been sent by the false Sinnoh that the Diamond Clan bows to?”

False Sinnoh…? Oh, right, Dialga. They don't know. Kouji stays silent and allows her to speak.

"Kleavor means so much to our clan... I'd hoped we could bring this situation under control ourselves, not throw our hands up and ask some outsider for help…”

She looks sad. Her voice is confident and loud, yet not overbearing. Perfect for a leader’s.

"But we must save Kleavor from this frenzy. Every moment it continues, the danger grows. If more people and Pokémon are attacked, it will lead to conflict with both the Diamond Clan and the Galaxy Team.”

Unbiased, cares for her clan and makes decisions based on the clan’s safety and overall health, she's a good clan leader, Kouji thought.

“I'll figure something out!”

Irida nodded, Kouji wished she didn't have to be so serious.

"Very well! Lian and I will gather foods that please Kleavor, in hopes that we might be able to get close enough to make him a proper offering. As for you—find a way to quell his frenzy, even if you must search every corner of vast Hisui!”

Kouji looks at a certain plant near the trees, that looks suspiciously like marijuana. The plant looks abundant, randomly sprouting in between large grass and the endless trees.

“I have an idea.”

It's a wonder why no people have gotten high! Because the pokemon in grandtree arena clearly are. They're either too aggressive or too calm. Why haven't they discovered crack yet? It's literally right under their noses. Maybe they used it for other stuff instead? Kouji briefly remembers history lessons concerning crack and rope, textile and clothes making, or something.

-

After some back and forth, the weird Professor came up with the idea of balms. By that time, Kouji had already cooked up bags of crack, disguised as vegetable oil. So basically, all he had left to do was pretend the oil was purely so the food sticks together, and not because it has weed in it.

All he did was cook the weed a little and infuse it into normal oil. It took a few hours but it should work.

Oh this was going to be so much fun.

-

Ah, not so fun. The pretty leader was questioning Kouji…

"But even I still have my doubts about whether we should entrust such a thing to an outsider. These Galaxy Team people don't share our customs or our values.” She said. Irida was her name, If Kouji remembered correctly. A valid concern, so Kouji will allow her to address it.

"So prove to me you're worthy to stand in the presence of our noble Pokémon! You may battle by ordering about the Pokémon you've caught in your little Poké Balls... But on my side, I have a Pokémon as close to me as a sister—as one of my blood!”

So the glaceon was basically raised besides irida… that's nice. She seems to think that Kouji was ordering pokemon around, and thinking about it, people call each other pokemon wielders instead of trainers here… but Kouji isn't a wielder, that sounds too mean, he just trains the pokemon if they want him to. 

"If you can defeat Glaceon and me, I will entrust you with Kleavor's fate. Will you battle us?”

Kouji nodded enthusiastically.

“Of course!”

"Then allow Glaceon's true strength to chill you to your depths!”

-

Mr. Leafy was a bad choice to send out, and the Zorua they recently caught is still rather new to battling, they haven't even named them yet, those two weren't good options, so they sent out Eevee.

“Veevee, Start out with a swift! Agile style!”

The Eevee complied, hitting the glaceon before they could attack. That attack did significant damage despite dealing neutral damage, on top of the fact that Eevee only used the agile style thing… was Eevee too over levelled compared to the glaceon?

“Powder snow, Glacier!”

The attack successfully hit Eevee, and Eevee was able to tank the hit as Kouji expected… 

“Quick attack.”

Eevee tackled the glaceon with almost incomprehensible speed, and as Kouji expected, the Glaceon was now barely standing.

“Quick attack again, Agile style.”

And as expected, Kouji won the battle with that.

Eevee returned to Kouji’s side, smirking and looking very proud of themselves.

“Ha! You did great, lil guy. I'll make sure to give you extra treats later.” 

Kouji ignored the eevee’s excited ramblings, looking at Irida tending to her glaceon.

"I see now... Poké Balls are simply your tools of choice, not products of disregard for Pokémon. You still understand the Pokémon that you've caught and treat them as partners. I feel better putting my trust in you now, I think. Let me see to your Pokémon's wounds.”

Kouji nodded, and gestured for Eevee to go to Irida.

-

They make the balms. It was laughably easy of how trusting they are, they let Kouji add the oil with almost no questions whatsoever.

-

Kleavor was very cool, Kouji didn't blame the kid for gushing about it. It was fun to dodge the guy, he was pretty slow but packed a good punch! 

In short: Kouji brute forced his way to victory, and got the noble pokemon high by throwing balls at it. And he only got minor injuries.

Then Lord Kleavor seems to want to give him something and-

“... Is it- no. NOT ANOTHER PLATE?? Why me??? That is far too powerful for my liking. I will pass out at one point if I keep carrying these things around in my satchel!” Kouji internally screamed. Of course, he stays quiet.

… Lord Kleavor will probably be high as fuck in half an hour or so… better get going.

Kouji ran back to the village at record speed, with the very intention of burying the plates somewhere no one would think of checking.

-

Kouji honestly did not think that seeing the village gates would provide any comfort, but here we are. He's pretty sure he's been hallucinating, he would see flashes of white in the corner of his vision, and when he looks, there's nothing there…

Kouji shook his head. He walks back into the Village and he's greeted with his God given reward for all his hard work.

The sight of the pretty blonde liar. 

“I saw the light fading into the sky, you must have quelled the noble Pokémon!” Volo’s voice was as Kouji remembered it.

Kouji smirked, allowing his pride to show through both his face and his body language, he looked at Volo, expecting him to talk more- and talk he did.

“And what do you have there? Could it be… Ah! Those are two of the fabled plates of the old! Please, let me have a look.”

That… wasn't a lie. 

Volo was excited to see the plates, he wanted to see them, so Kouji wordlessly opened his satchel and gave the merchant both of them.

Volo was talking about the letters engraved in the plates, Kouji nodded along with his words and quietly observed. 

When Volo asked about how Kouji got the plates, he told the truth, since Volo did not lie.

"I see! So you were given the plates when you impressed Wyrdeer and Kleavor? That is quite something, indeed! My heart is practically racing with excitement! It is my guess that you will find more plates like these scattered across Hisui! If we were to gather them all and decipher the scripts on them, we may uncover something absolutely amazing! The mysteries of the past! Oh, how they tickle my curiosity! What a joy to be alive in such times! Well, I must be on my way. Until next time!”

“wait-”

This Volo dude was an interesting guy. He… still felt almost ghost-like though. Whatever, he'll do.

“Hmm? Yes, what's wrong?”

Kouji handed the plates to Volo, smiling as he did so, not having them was a relief.

“Keep them for me, will you? I don't like having something so… powerful, always near me.”

Volo’s eyes had numerous undecipherable emotions in them, he was seemingly speechless, Kouji simply made sure Volo’s grip on the plates were tight enough and then he walked back to the galaxy headquarters, leaving a very surprised Volo in the village’s gate.

Chapter Text

The one who fell from the rift is… Strange. Scratch that, Kouji was definitely mentally ill.

It was clear, and more than obvious that the man was the Almighty Sinnoh's chosen, the man was carrying around a thing called a cellphone, it was covered in gold and symbols that could only mean it belongs to Arceus.

If Kouji wasn't extremely unpredictable, Volo would have been more willing to use him to get the plates, to take advantage of the fact that he doesn't know that Volo was the one that opened the rift in the first place, to play the role of a helpful, cheerful merchant that could do no wrong.

When they first met, Volo had challenged Kouji to a battle between their pokemon. Their Togepi that had just hatched, and Kouji’s own Rowlet. Kouji called out commands to their pokemon like it was their second nature, handling pokemon, and commanding them in battle. Seemed to be something he had mastery to. Which was what Volo expected for Arceus's hero, they needed to be skilled, to have gotten the attention of Arceus.

They still don't know how to feel about that, should Volo despise the faller? Or idolize him? What they do know is that their rage for the God is still simmering, just waiting to reach the right time to boil over.

Volo had expected the hero to be skilled, what they didn't expect was how he acts.

Kouji’s expressions always bordered on insanity, it was manic, his eyes were always wide, his mouth always stretched to a terrifying smile, and his pupils were almost always as small as the edge of an arrow. And sometimes, they would dilate to an unnatural degree. It had happened in the middle of when they were having a battle, Kouji became slower to bark out commands, and he became fixated on looking at Volo. What caught Volo off guard, is when they just finished the battle, and Kouji had muttered to himself-

“Why do you feel like a ghost?”

Giratina had stirred in their shadows, and Volo himself was shocked, and for a moment he was panicked. Did Kouji figure him out that quickly?

“Eh, who cares?” He told himself.

then, Kouji smiled and acted as if nothing was wrong. Volo wasn't dumb, he took the chance and acted as if he wasn't just panicking over the prospect of being found out. Did the hero just… not care? He somehow sensed that Volo was carrying something that was extremely related to the undead- Giratina and the spooky plate… yet, he never showed any interest in figuring out why Volo ‘felt like a ghost’, he simply went on with his life and never prodded them for answers. Of course, the possibility that he was trying to manipulate Volo was there- it always is, but Kouji is…

Unpredictable.

There was no other word that could describe him better. Volo could try to understand him, to better anticipate his next move, to be able to use him further- but it was like trying to understand Mistress Cogita. No matter how long, no matter how much he tried, he won't be able to understand their actions. let alone their words. They were… incomprehensible, like Gods.

That line of thought was dangerous.

Overall, Volo was planning on simply playing the clueless, innocent merchant, They'll help if the faller hasn't found the rest of the plates. He'll make Kouji trust them, and when he meets Arceus, when his life’s work is finally complete -

He can finally stop feeling that cold empty feeling that never ceases. He can finally be happy. There will be no pain, there will be no loss, there will be no suffering once he gets what he wants. He'll get the hero to collect all the plates that isn't in Volo’s hand, and battle them for the possession of all of them all.

That is, what he thought he would do. But that was before Kouji just gave them with the plates he got from the noble pokemon.

He had immediately put it in the bottom of his backpack, alongside the spooky plate. But his head was still swarming with confusion, a heat that he can't place, so different from the chill he always felt, and.. guilt?

… He has no time to think about that.

Volo was in no position to get attached to anyone. He needs to see everything and everyone as tools in order to succeed in his goal. He cannot ever let himself have any sort of affection to the hero that Arceus himself sent.

A part of him feels giddy, a part of him is angry. Arceus noticed him, gave attention to the mess that they and Giratina had caused, Arceus exists and it knows Volo exists. But Arceus didn't show himself, he sent a strange (but definitely intriguing) man instead, with even stranger mismatched eyes and hair as red as the blood that had seeped down his gouged out eye.

Volo is in the Temple of Sinnoh, An intricately detailed piece of art, Once attended by priests and devotees of Arceus. Now only Volo and some other people from the clans bother to come. and now, Volo is one of the only people who bother to make sure it’s clean.

They dust off the statues,to make sure the likeness of the nobles are kept pure. The place is holy and should not be tainted by dirt and dust. Astraea, the Togepi is trying to help, emulating what Volo was doing and cleaning the floor, and Volo can't help but pet the little baby pokemon’s head.

“aww, trying to help, are we? What a good little Togepi you are! I ought to give you some extra treats for your hard work!”

Astraea perked up at the word ‘treat’, And Volo chuckled, continuing with cleaning the statues. He isn't attached to the Togepi, but keeping your weapons cared for is only the obvious thing to do- is what he keeps telling himself 

Why was he still bothering with this? Arceus abandoned him a long time ago and he should do the same for this temple-

“Toge!”

… Ah, Astraea had gotten her grubby little hands inside Volo’s bag and got a pecha berry, Volo was about to scold her, but the little thing waddled towards Volo and gave him the berry.

“Ha… for me, Astraea?”

And the Togepi nodded enthusiastically, Volo laughed and led them out the temple. They sat at some rocks and Volo split open the berry with his hands, he gave the other half to Astraea, and she made a happy noise.

“Eat up, greedy little thing.”

Was he saying that to Togepi or himself? No matter, he took a bite off the berry, the sweet taste temporarily distracting him of how empty he feels, but he never feels full, so he only eats what he is offered, it would be rude to ask for more, better to give the berry to the one that needs it more, Togepi was still a growing pokemon after all.

“Pi!”

They eventually left the mountains, going to a more secluded area away from the galaxy team outposts, and to the ruins of what was once the homes of Volo’s people.

The Celestica ruins.

Volo finds Giratina’s broken statue where it had always been. The sun is setting, the shadows of the ruins going darker, and the darkness it makes are stretching out.

“Giratina.”

The silhouette of the legendary dragon arose from their shadows, a sight that would be terrifying to most, but the sight of red eyes glowing amongst the dark was always weirdly comforting to Volo.

“Volo.”

Their voice echoed inside Volo’s head, the sound of it makes them feel warm, if only it was Arceus speaking it. It is difficult to not address the dragon with reverence, It is difficult to call the God by it’s name and to not call it by the title of a Lord, it is difficult like how everything in life is. But Volo is not underneath Giratina, they are partners, kindred spirits, with malice only for the Creator. Giratina would not like Volo worshipping him the same way they had worshipped Arceus. They are the same, they are hungry and cold and nothing ever seems to satisfy them.

“Do not forget our pact. Do not let your attachment for Arceus's hero cloud your judgment.”

Volo narrowed his eyes, his mouth shifting to a frown.

“I am not attached to Kouji. I simply find him interesting.”

He denied, Volo hears a low rumble coming from Giratina. The God stares at him for a few seconds, and it felt much longer than that.

“Whatever you say.”

… They have a feeling that Giratina doesn't believe them.

-

Of course, just because Arceus's hero is here, doesn't mean Volo would suddenly stop investigating ruins! The land of hisui is vast, and Volo will search through every inch. Every inch that should have belonged to the ones that came before the clans.

So that leads Volo to alabaster Icelands, he hasn't explored the land much, due to its freezing temperature, so he'll make up for it by exploring it now.

Of course, he's fully stocked with supplies, with more than enough to sell to a customer or two. Perhaps he could even meet that one survey corps member. (Not Kouji, Kouji is in the village if Volo remembered correctly, though Volo has a feeling that Kouji would like that person.)

Volo was walking through the treks of the snowy mountains, he was quite near lake acuity now, seeing snorunt scurry off and run when they saw them. They hear the quiet, glameow-like footsteps of a familiar customer, which was covered by the sounds of his Blissey's booming footsteps.

“Merchant. Not doing your job again, huh?”

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.

“Fancy meeting you here, Sora! Are you interested in purchasing some wares? You should really come to the village more often! Everyone in there thinks you're a rotting corpse again, sadly.”

The man before him was as ethereal as ever. White, long, flowing hair that was as white as the snow surrounding them, the color of the survey corps uniform was a nice contrast on their pale skin, almost everything about Sora was an almost artificial white, except for the purple of their eyes. Similar to a certain warden, Their face was stuck in one expression, a neutral, emotionless expression that revealed absolutely nothing about what they feel.

That is, if they even feel anything.

“The Village will survive without me, no? They can wait another four months. I heard there was a new survey corps recruit, mind telling me about them?”

Sora is as cold as the Iceland’s climate, but they are amazing at exploring and remembering details about the terrain, despite their issues with sight. Volo was planning on asking them about some things, and this was the perfect opportunity to exchange some information!

“Of course! Anything for my most loyal customer. But it will come with a price, you spend quite some time here in the Icelands, could you tell me if there are any ruins of any relevance?”

The other man stayed silent for a few moments, tilting his straw hat down and covering his eyes with a shadow, something that Volo has learned to associate with thinking and not judgment.

“I don't spend as much time here as you think, I prefer the highlands. There are no ancient ruins here in the Icelands. I remember seeing an unown, though.” 

Sora shook his head, walking over to Volo. “There is what I think is an ancient mural in the cobalt coastlands. It is difficult to get there. I will take you there in exchange for all of the information you have.”

If Volo was a worse actor, he would have squealed in excitement, but Volo is an amazing Actor, and thus did not do that embarrassing action. He simply only let his excitement bleed through the pace of his words.

“Excellent! My most loyal customer’s spoiling me as always! Let's find somewhere to make camp, lead the way, I have a lot to tell you, my friend!”

Sora sighed, he gestured for Volo to follow him, and They happily did.

-

They barely talk while walking, and eventually, they reached a place with barely any pokemon, and they started to make camp.

“Tell me about the new survey corps recruit.”

Sora asked- well, it really sounds more like a demand than a simple question, but still. He was lighting up a fire with some wood, sparks of ember flying, and Volo watched his movements with thinly veiled fascination. How was he able to still be graceful, even though his entire body trembled? 

“I’ll begin from the start, then! The new recruit fell from the rift.”

“Oh?” Embers burned and Sora successfully made a fire. “Tell me more.”

Somehow, Sora didn't look like someone who just found out about this, but maybe that's just because of his… lack of facial expressions. He walked on over to where Volo was sitting and sat next to him, cross-legged, and looking at the fire. 

“Their name is Kouji, When I first met him, I challenged him to a Pokemon battle, he didn't show even a hint of fear when interacting with them! He commanded his Rowlet like it was second nature! Astraea was defeated completely!”

Volo’s gaze traveled to Sora, his face illuminated by the flame’s light, their eyes rapidly going back and forth, seemingly uncontrollably, Volo never asked.

“Red hair, yellow eyes?”

Sora asked, tilting his head and looking at them with his usual blank expression.

“Oh- yes! Did you meet them? I thought you haven't gone to the village nor the fieldlands for a while…?”

He shook his head, and Volo was starting to get confused.

“I saw him going out of one of the caves, with a Zorua in his arms. It looks like he didn't care about his rank and went here anyways… the pokemon here are significantly stronger than those in the fieldlands, I wonder how he avoided them.”

…

Did Volo hear that correctly?

“Pardon? Kouji went in here?! And acquired a Zorua?! I… can't decide whether that is stupid or brave. Even for Kouji, this is… Sora, my friend, I have some doubts about that, you understand, right?”

The other man hummed, closing his eyes. “Yes, what he did was rather reckless. I watched him get back to the village to make sure he didn't die.” 

“... You usually don't go out of your way to help people, may I ask why the sudden change of heart?” they couldn't help but ask, Sora barely cared about his own village! Could it be that they somehow sensed that Kouji was someone special?

“He seems interesting.” Sora said plainly, he opened his eyes, and there was an emotion there that Volo couldn't quite place. “Keep an eye on him.”

Volo smiled, “I'm two steps ahead of you, my friend!”

The other man stood up and walked away from Volo, his Blissey following without any need for commands.

“I'm going to the coastlands. Head there once you want your end of the exchange, the snow is irritating my eyes.” 

Volo watched them trip and fall into one of the many ice caverns, “I could have sworn this entrance wasn't that near-” their Blissey helped them up, and Volo was greeted with the rare sight of Sora being annoyed. Sora cleared his throat, walking faster and no doubt planning on using the vast caves to travel while avoiding the sun.

“You saw nothing.”

“Of course! I was too busy admiring how the trees still survive despite the harsh climate. I will be on my own way now, as well.”

Sora was truly an admirable person, rising up the ranks and becoming a well respected member of the survey corps despite the setbacks that his own body provides, of course, once Volo makes a new, better world, he will make sure that hard working people like Sora won't be plagued by their body’s own weakness. The man doesn't bother with lies and play pretend, he is blunt, selfish and doesn't hide it. and Volo thinks that's both naive and reassuring, because he's sure that Sora isn't using him.

He isn't kind, but he shows his true self and that makes Volo able to trust him, even if it's just a little bit. There was also the fact that he seems to trust pokemon more than humans, which only made him more appealing in Volo’s eyes.

Volo got up and headed to the direction of the crimson mirelands, he wanted to see the shrouded ruins again, and perhaps talk to warden Calaba.

Chapter Text

There’s a girl that wasn't there before, she doesn't feel much like a person, she feels similar to Volo.

“Kouji…”

They tilt their head at the child and smile, wordlessly telling her to keep speaking 

"I've been waiting for you, Kouji... My name's Vessa. There's something real important I need to tell you. Would you come with me?" 

Kouji nodded, he slowed his usual walking speed to match the girl’s. There were not many people, where the girl led him.

"Um, this is kind of a secret, but...something terrible has happened. Hisui is in a whole lot of danger.” 

Wasn't Hisui already in danger? The world feels much more shattered compared to the future.

"Hundreds of years ago, a being that brought calamity to this region was sealed away by someone using the power of a strange magic. But now, for some unknown reason, the magic has come undone and the seal is broken."

There was a lie in that statement. Kouji cannot figure out which one was the lie. He stares at the girl, feeling weirdly subdued in her presence.

"I hate to think what might happen at this rate... So please, Kouji, hear me out. I need you to restore the broken seal…” she mutters, she looks scared.

Kouji takes the stone, it reminds him of someone who looked like Volo. He remembers asking a woman about a Pokemon she battled with, he remembers that the pokemon was made of hundred and eight human souls, he remembers a Pokemon that was quiet, so quiet that even Kouji was affected.

He will help, because the one asking for help is a child. She is lying about something, she tells Kouji that he needs to find a hundred and seven instead of a hundred and eight, but her distress is a truth.

-

Seriously, these people should learn how to calm their own pokemon and fix their own problems! Kouji can't just keep fixing everything for them, he has more important things to do, like terrorizing a local ecosystem. 

The solaceon ruins did not feel much like ruins, it was well maintained and clean, but the familiar letters of unown confirmed that it was actually a ruin.

“I'm Calaba of the Pearl Clan. Warden Calaba to you.”

The old lady had a bibarel, it looked very goofy. Kouji wanted to pet it. Kouji stayed silent, he noticed that he was doing that more since he's gotten his hands on the weird stone that the Vessa kid gave him. Even Ube and Landy were silent and mostly unmoving, they didn't even ask him to eat them at all today. Kouji is used to referring to themselves alongside the two Ditto's as if they were the same entity; their consciousness has been strangely separate lately.

Calaba remarked about how Kouji had a Celestica flute, and Kouji smiled at that. 

“You must be the one they say fell out of the space-time rift.” Calaba said simply, Kouji nodded, there was no need for words.

“I see, I see… I've already heard about you. That you quelled Kleavor in his frenzy. I'm sure many people were saved by your actions, but I wonder if there wasn't some other way to handle the situation…”

… Did she know that he drugged the noble?

“What you did is hardly different from bullying a Pokemon into submission, after all. And you run about catching Pokemon up in those little balls you carry. I don't need any help from your sort, or the Diamond Clan, for that matter. That young lady, Arezu, Offered to help, but associating with the diamond clan…” Calaba stated, it was almost close to a sneer. 

“It just won't do.”

Kouji tilted his head at her, his eyes narrowing, and a pout making its way to his face. When did he have this much control over his facial expressions?

“All I did was play with him! He had extra energy that he needed to get out. And the PokeBalls are just a convenient tool to keep Mr. Leafy, Eevee and Zorua safe!” He did not acknowledge that part about the diamond clan and the survey corps, he did not feel any malice, so that was fine.

The Warden seemed both surprised and wary at Kouji’s claim, she coughed, Sighing and continuing to talk, “There is much I must do, and I'd prefer not to be distracted any further…”

She walked away. and then Kouji felt the familiar vibrations of a certain someone's steps behind him.

“Ah, Kouji, how about you show me the strength that could quell even a frenzied Lord?”

Kouji felt his mouth start to ache with how large his smile was. He turned around to see the sight of those ridiculous clothes, and Volo’s pretty face.

“Battle? Okay.”

Kouji felt Ube and Landy vibrate excitedly, the two were clearly as happy as he was. He palmed Zorua’s PokeBall, gripping it softly.

“A battle with you might let me experience even a fraction of the power the nobles wield!” Volo adjusted his hat, his soft, kind, facade slipping to show a confidence that could even make Champions jealous, a smirk replaced his painfully plastic smile, and Kouji felt himself wanting to bite something, preferably Volo.

Volo sends out his Togepi, Kouji still doesn't know if the Pokemon has a nickname. Kouji throws his PokeBall to reveal fluffy silver fur, Volo seems to be caught off guard, muttering to himself about how Eevee are usually brown.

“Swift.”

Several star shaped… what were those, anyways? They hit the Togepi, and it did about as much damage as Kouji expected. Volo was on guard, tense, as if he was bracing to dodge the attacks himself, and Kouji supposed that was normal, for this time period. He's a little more skilled in dodging, thanks to the instincts that Ube and Landy had engraved down to his brain, they are deep, and stay even if the two aren't inside him, like now.

“Draining kiss. Strong style, Astraea.” Volo commanded. So the egg did have a nickname! The name is… pretty familiar?

The attack hit, and it did a significant amount of damage. In turn, it obviously healed the Togepi… Kouji slowly backed away, he was getting dangerously close to the battle. Zorua’s illusion breaks, and Volo's eyes widen, no doubt wondering where and how Kouji found the Zorua.

“Bitter malice, Strong style. Then, come back.”

Dark purple and black flames envelop the Togepi, the baby Pokemon faints and Volo frowned for a split second (protectiveness?) before he puts on his expression from the start of the battle, then he sends out a Gible.

Zorua reached Kouji's side before the Gible had the chance to make a move, and then Kouji sent out Mr. Leafy, he was immediately ready to act, as expected of him!

“Air slash, strong style.”

“Twiste-”

The blow of Mr. Leafy’s wing was enough to make Volo’s Gible faint, the poor guy didn't even get a chance to hit the Dartrix.

“Oh my! You're quite adept at instructing your pokemon in battle. My goodness, that was fun!” 

The battle was fun indeed. 

-

Volo healed Kouji's pokemon while explaining about the stolen stone plate- why would anyone bother to steal a piece of stone? There weren't any museums yet. He ended up agreeing to help, Kouji isn't much of a history nerd like Sinnoh’s former champion, what was her name again?, but he knows that stuff like that piece of rock is probably important.

Kouji and Volo trek through the mirelands, they weren't in a rush. Kouji took the time to observe the place, he hadn't explored this part of hisui yet. 

Kouji usually feels less human whenever he's with Volo, but Ube and Landy were in PokeBalls that Kouji made recently, and he feels strangely … alive. It's completely possible that the two Ditto's had been transformed into one of Volo's pokemon whenever he interacted with them, except he hadn't shown any ghost type Pokemon, which is strange. Kouji is sure that they felt ghostly, it wasn't a different type, the feeling that Kouji has whenever the Dittos transform into a Pokemon while inside him is distinct, and It was definitely a ghost… or a dragon, or both. Maybe it was the Gible? No, It didn't feel like sand.

Kouji shook his head, he would ask Volo later, when they weren't trying to track down a bunch of thieves.

-

Kouji and Volo look at what seemed to be the remains of a camp. A fire was definitely recently put out, the sticks on the campfire did not look old, and there were still remnants of embers.

Volo looked at Kouji in the corner of his eye, and it seemed the other man noticed that as well. He was about to say something when -

“Now who might you be? Not some stray traveller, from the look of you.”

Well, it looks like they didn't need to look around for them anymore. How convenient.

“There's only one reason why people go poking around out here in the middle of nowhere. You're after us three aren't you?!” The misfortune sisters were always the theatrical sort, Volo stayed silent, the last time he interrupted them, they stole everything he was supposed to be selling.

“Sisters, we should introduce ourselves properly…” in the corner of his eye, he could see Kouji was tilting his head curiously

“Before we show this fool how wrong he was to assume he could ever beat us.” Volo almost laughed at that, what could a few bandits do against Arceus's chosen? He kept his face neutral, though a giggle had almost escaped his mouth.

"I bring good luck to my sisters wherever I g—”

Before Charm could even finish her sentence, Kouji tackled her. Volo’s eyes widened, he instinctively took a step back, Kouji was smiling, his eyes even wider than usual. He pushed Charm to fall and he sprinted onto Coin and - was that a judo throw?! 

Clover was about to avenge her sisters, running over to Kouji with the intent to hurt, she managed to put a punch into Kouji's face, but he simply laughed and kicked her waist with a brutal force, judging from how far she flew. Kouji didn't even show an ounce of malice when he did all of that.

“What the fuck.” Volo didn't quite know who said it, was it him or one of the misfortune sisters? 

They got the fragment back. Kouji whistled as he walked back to the solcaleon ruins, Volo was dumbfounded, and a little concerned. He ran over to catch up with him, the three sister's voices were still in hearing distance, though.

“The hell?! Didn't even let us finish our introduction-” a voice grumbled.

“Patience sisters. We will just need to train our pokemon so that… that brute has no choice but to not use his fists.” 

“And his feet.”

“And Then we'll properly introduce ourselves!”

Volo is so glad that he hasn't pissed off Kouji. The man seemed to even like him- he'll… use that to his advantage. Volo has no doubt that Kouji will just… give him the plates, if he asks. It felt almost too easy.

They eventually get back to the ruins, and by extension, Warden Calaba. 

Every life touches another and creates something new.

It is a nice saying.

Volo had always liked Warden Calaba, her love for her clan was unchanging, loyal, constant. With a clan that was alive, with ceremonies, prayers, hymns and culture that were still practiced, He could easily picture himself in her shoes, he could easily see himself in her. She was the type of person Volo wanted to see more.

He pretended not to notice the strange expression that Kouji was doing while looking at him, it seemed like curiosity… and something he couldn't quite place. He wasn't smiling, his face looked considerably more sane than usual, but it sent a shiver down Volo's spine, for some reason.

-

Kouji is starting to suspect that Volo was making his brain too active, because every time he stops interacting with him, his attention span is significantly affected and he barely remembers anything that happened. Every detail when Volo was in the picture, Kouji remembers, but when he was gone, then his ability to not dissociate was… completely broken down.

The Azeru girl was nice, and Kouji approved of her hair color. He had to track her down though, which was kind of fun. 

He calmed down Lady Lilligant, he had stared at Lord Ursaluna with wonder. He decided that he wanted to keep riding the Lord, Kouji always felt guilty whenever dirt gets into Lord wrydeer’s fur, with an Ursaluna, he wouldn't need to worry about that.

Kouji noticed a large amount of honey was in his satchel, he hasn't been using them for lures lately. He decides to make use of them. There was a section of the mirelands called Ursa’s ring, he decides to go there. As expected, there were many bears. He wants to train one.

He hears a PokeBall opening and the familiar slide of a ditto going to his ears. He does not stop them.

Kouji takes some honey from his satchel and lures a teddiursa away from the area, he catches it with a PokeBall, like a normal trainer. He hasn't done that in a while, actually. He opened the PokeBall and let the teddiursa out, they seem less scared than you would expect, they just seem curious. 

“Hey, I wanna train a teddiursa like you to be super strong! Do you want that? I'll also give you as much food as you want!”

The bear already seemed interested, and perked up even more at the mention of ‘food’, they seemed very excited at being able to eat as much as they want. They agree.

Kouji poked the moon on their forehead. “You wanna be named Cresent?” he tilted his head.

The teddiursa looked at Kouji curiously and nodded enthusiastically. 

-

Kouji was exploring and writing, though after a while, Kouji got bored of doing the Pokedex and decided to look for wisps. He went back to jublife cit- village and searched every nook and cranny. He decided that he's found all of them when he couldn't find any more after searching for hours. The keystone seemed to pulse, seemed to ask for more wisps.

He found an unown just… sitting? Floating? on a Magikarp statue’s eye, it made it look like the statue had eyelashes. he took a PokeBall in his satchel and caught it. 

He chuckled, then put his hands on the railings, and jumped down the building. He ignored all the weird looks.

He walked, and walked and walked until the sun went down and he was in a beach. Kouji checked his map and tried to find where he was- 

Cobalt coastlands.

He hasn't explored here yet, lots of ground to cover and lots of Pokemon to research. He was currently on a cliff, perfect for looking down at pokemon and watching them, it gives him a perfect view of both the ground and the water. But for now…

He got all the heavy PokeBalls in his satchel and threw them in the air, Crescent, Mr. Leafy, Eevee, Ube, Landy and Zorua all got out. Mr. Leafy and Zorua looked around curiously, noting the new environment. Ube went and followed the Zorua, curious at the unfamiliar species of Pokemon. They both stared at eachother, Mr leafy was looking at them from a safe distance, then Ube transformed into a perfect replica of Zorua, at the exact moment that Zorua made an illusion to make them look like Ube. (He really needs to name them.) They seemed to get along!

Kouji giggled at the sight, and turned his sight to Eevee and Landy. Eevee was chasing poor Landy around…. He'll survive.

Mr. Leafy went and sat on the edge of the cliff, Kouji followed after him, Humming. He pointed his wing to the deeper parts of the ocean, hooting. Kouji tilted his head to see what Mr. Leafy was trying to show him, squinting his eyes, then he saw it.

A whirlpool, sucking in mantyke and remoraids, a cruel, distressing sight that was natural in Hisui. But there shouldn't be whirlpools in here, the sea level, the weather, and location were simply not enough to be able to form a whirlpool as large as that. It was not natural. Mr. Leafy looked at Kouji, tilting his head.

“Hmmm, we'll check it out tommorow morning. Or night. Go train for now, ‘kay?” Kouji tilted his head right back at the owl. Mr. Leafy hooted in what seemed to be agreement.

Kouji could have sworn he saw a glint of red in the eye of that whirlpool. 

-

He decided to take a quick nap.

 it was a good nap. Lord Hypnos made the nap very deep, he was enjoying his dreamless sleep. 

That was, before Eevee decided to jump on his stomach. It was a very rude awakening and so so painful. His nap only lasted about an hour. His naps usually last five hours.

Kouji felt his insides getting rearranged, his organs were far more gooey than normal, far more flexible, and also more sticky and slimy, but they still felt it when they were hit! 

Eevee looked at him with innocent eyes, While Kouji was in fetal position, whining and sobbing. He could feel his blood and stomach sloshing around his body. It was gross

“... Ouch, fuck you.”

He recovered eventually, and he tackled and shook Eevee around in revenge. It wasn't much of a revenge considering the Eevee thought he was playing, though.

When Kouji calmed down, he looked at his pokemon, they were all messy and dirty, save for Ube and landy. He sighed. 

“Ube, Landy, go get some water please.” both of them nodded and transformed into different pokemon - a Primarina and a Wartortle, why did they look familiar? Both of them then released a fucking huge hydro pump at the same time.

Everyone was drenched in water now. Even Kouji. Eevee and Zorua shook the water off. Ube and Landy looked so proud of themselves and Kouji was so close to strangling them.

He got some soap from his satchel, covered Eevee, Cresent and Zorua in a blanket, and got to work. Kouji decided to clean the most taxing one to clean first- Mr. Leafy. Now, the oversized owl was very well behaved in baths, and owls didn't need soap, but his feathers also need preening, and that takes a while. 

He sat down on a rock, and Mr. Leafy hooted at Kouji preening the spots he couldn't get by himself. Kouji reached over to the owl’s head, and begun taking off the old feathers that needed to go, and rubbing off the keratin that covered his new feathers that were ready. He repeated his process for a good while, until he's preened all of his head, and some parts of his wings. He straightened the crooked feathers and Mr. Leafy hooted happily.

Cleaning the rest was easy enough, Kouji's cleaned a bunch of dog and cat-like pokemon in his journey, and he knows how to deal with playful ones and ones that don't like to be cleaned.

Zorua and Cresent didn't complain about getting cleaned, thankfully… Eevee on the other hand.

Kouji didn't even want to talk about it.

He dried them off and set camp, watching the embers of the campfire dance, he sat down and stared at his Zorua, remembering coldness that bit so hard it felt warm, bitterness so pronounced it felt like malice.

“Keres.”

He remembered a woman with a warm smile, excitedly telling Kouji about legends dear to her heart. The remnants of a culture lost, stories that surviv

ed the rigid flow of time. History that she did not want lost.

“Would you like to be named that? Keres.”

The Zorua opened one of their eyes, nodding, then going back to sleep. Kouji smiled, and he lay down and slept as well.

"Good night."