Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Some people were calling it an explosion. Others, a freak snowstorm. Candice wasn’t sure how to define the strange experience that Snowpoint City had witnessed. One moment the sky was a crisp, clear blue, the next it was darkened by a swirling vortex of black clouds and lightning. There was an almighty crash of thunder as the storm seemingly exploded just as suddenly as it had appeared, the loud sound and wave of energy that accompanied it triggering an avalanche that buried half of the mountain. The residents of Snowpoint could only watch, many already making frantic calls to the Pokemon Rangers and Candice’s gym to organize a search and rescue for any hikers or skiers that might have been caught in the whirling crush of snow.

Her life quickly became a flurry of activity after that. Not that she wasn’t used to hard work and organizing lots of people into a singular task. She was a gym leader after all, and this was hardly the first avalanche she’d had to deal with, living this far into the frozen, snowy wastes of Sinnoh’s northern region. Still, what was with that storm? I’ve never seen something happen that fast. Not even a pokemon battle has ever done something like that.

She tightened the knot tying her hoodie around her waist, trying to fight the uneasy feeling that was growing in her stomach as she directed her gym trainers to their tasks, organizing supplies and prepping for the team of rangers that she would lead up the mountain once they arrived. I hate the waiting. It’s been hours already, and there could be people up there who need our help. Yes, she knew that a few hikers had already made it back to town with only minor injuries between them. But what if someone is hurt worse? They could be trapped, and I’m just sitting here waiting. She kicked the snow in frustration.

Movement caught the corner of her eye, and she turned to the edge of town and the trees that bordered it. There, she saw a pair of Sneasels watching the flurry of commotion. They seemed somewhat agitated. First the avalanche, and now all the activity around here, it’s no wonder the local pokemon are uneasy. She shrugged it off, distracted by the arrival of four rangers who specialized in mountain rescue landing and thanking the pokemon that had carried them. They had flown in from Mount Coronet in order to assist her, considering her usual group of rangers were currently dealing with blizzard relief far to the other side of Lake Acuity.

The lead ranger nodded to her. “Gym Leader Candice. I don’t believe we’ve ever had the pleasure to meet. I’m Ranger Avia, and this is my team.” She points to each of them in turn. “Adam.” A blue-haired young man grinned at Candice. “Ida.” A young woman with light brown hair framing her face and brushing her shoulders gave her a cheerful wave. “And Benny.” A slightly older man with a mustache and beard simply nodded with a pleasant smile. “We heard you had some kind of freak snowstorm?”

Candice shrugs. “I’m not sure what to call it. One minute it was clear skies, the next it was just…there. I’ve never seen a storm…burst like that, either. But the burst caused an avalanche, and I need your help to make sure nobody got…” She trailed off in confusion, looking over her shoulder and blinking as two of her gym trainers shouted in surprise. “Alicia? Sergio? What’s wrong?”

Both trainers looked startled, staring in surprise at their Sneasel, who were both out of their pokeballs for some reason. Alicia looked over at her in confusion. “Sorry, Miss Candice, they just jumped out.”

Candice frowned, taking in the clearly agitated pair of Sneasel and remembering the wild pair she’d seen at the edge of the woods earlier. Then her attention was diverted as both Sneasel began making a somewhat melodious and strangely familiar call, and one of the balls at her belt twitched. In a bright burst of energy, her Weavile broke free of its ball and landed gracefully in the snow. “Weavile?! What’s gotten into you all?”

Her pokemon looked up at her, seeming restless before it mimicked the same tune as the pair of Sneasels had earlier. “Wea!” Other calls from Sneasel and Weavile in the woods picked up the same tune, much to the shock and growing unease of the gathered trainers. Candice’s Weavile stepped forward and gently grabbed her hand delicately in her claws and tried to drag her towards the woods at the edge of town.

Candice looked at the group of rangers. “This is the direction the storm and avalanche were in. I think we should follow and see where Weavile is trying to take us.”

Avia nodded. “Let’s go see what has made them all so agitated. The fact that it only seems to be Sneasel and Weavile that are affected is most curious to me.”

Ranger Ida spoke up. “You know, it’s kind of funny. That tune they were all singing, it sounded a lot like something my grandmother used to hum when I was little.”

Her fellow Ranger, Adam, nodded in agreement. “Same here. I think it’s one of those folk tunes that pretty much everyone knows.”

Avia shook her head. “I don’t recognize it at all. Although, I grew up in Hoenn, so it might be a regional thing.”

Candice hummed in agreement as she followed the trail her Weavile was clearing for them. “It sounded familiar to me too, although I couldn’t place it until you two just said that. I wonder what made all of the Sneasel and Weavile start singing it.” And she did mean all of them. As they walked, she heard more and more pick up the call throughout the woods. She even saw flashes of movement, red and navy blue and the glint of sharp white claws, darting through the trees. All headed the same direction. Just like us. What on earth is going on?

The Rangers seemed to notice as well, Benny frowning. “Something spooked them. All of them. But why aren’t the other local pokemon affected?” The other Rangers shrugged, hands straying closer to their capture stylers, even as Candices own fingers inched warily closer to the pokeballs at her hip. I do have Weavile out already, but she isn’t behaving normally. If something happens, I need to be ready to send out some more pokemon to help.

The group lapsed into an alert silence after that, keeping their eyes peeled for any signs of either trapped people or whatever might have agitated the Sneasel and Weavile so badly. As they slowly climbed the mountain, her Weavile seemed to grow more and more restless. Occasionally she would call out to some of her wild brethren, or sniff the air as the wind gusted towards them and let out little huffs and grunts that Candice rarely heard from her.

The gym leader frowned. “Whatever is going on with them, they’re not upset.”

“What makes you say that?” All four Rangers looked curious.

She shrugged. “Weavile doesn’t sound like that when she’s angry or scared. Those are the sounds she makes when she’s happy. Excited. Whatever she wants to show us, she, at the very least, isn’t afraid of it.”

The Rangers relaxed slightly at the news, Adam smiling. “That’s good to hear, at least. I’d hate for there to be something seriously wrong.” Then he paused, frowning as he looked further up the mountain. “Are there caves in these mountains?”

Candice nodded. “A fair number. They’re not as popular as Mount Coronet, but there’s some hikers who occasionally brave the snow to go up and explore them. Why?”

Adam pointed. “I think I see one up there. And it looks like there are a few Sneasel heading for it.”

The rest of the group followed the direction of his finger. Sure enough, there was a dark mouth of a cave a ways up the mountain, and a few tiny pinpricks of dark blue fur were heading towards it through the snow. Candice frowned. “That’s odd. I’ve never known Sneasel to be particularly fond of caves. But it looks like that’s where Weavile is leading us.” Looking back, their path had been a straight shot up until this point, and the cave was dead ahead of them up the cliff.

The Rangers worked in tandem, pulling out the climbing gear they had brought and beginning to scale the cliff leading to the cave. Candice did her best to keep up, but she needed assistance from Weavile or one of them on more than one occasion before they reached the lip of rock that jutted out from the mouth of the cave. She huffed, as the temperatures grew cold enough for even her to shiver and pull her hoodie from its usual place around her waist and reluctantly put it on.

Avia squinted into the darkness of the cave as Benny pulled out flashlights and began distributing them. “Wonder what’s so exciting in there for them.”

Candice accepted the flashlight with a determined look as she felt Weavile again tugging at her hand, trying to lead her inside. “I guess we’re going to find out.” The Rangers nodded, turning on their lights and following her lead as she made her way inside the cave. Weavile scampered ahead of her, pausing every so often to glance back, as if urging her to hurry up. As they went deeper, the cave took a twisted path briefly, and all light from the entrance was lost. However, this also blocked the wind, and so the air was slightly warmer.

It was as they were rounding the last corner of the twist that she heard it again. That soft, melodious tune that the Sneasel and Weavile had reacted to. Only this time, it didn’t sound like a pokemon had made the cry. It sounded like a whistle. A human’s whistle. Shaky, faint, and breathy, but definitely there. At the sound, her Weavile perked up and raced ahead, darting around the corner. Candice and the Rangers exchanged worried glances before rounding the corner themselves.

The beams of their flashlights illuminated over a dozen pairs of red eyes. The Sneasel and Weavile seemed to have formed some kind of cuddle pile against the wall of the cave. Several tensed at the sudden appearance of four humans, teeth and claws being bared in their direction, before that same whistle came from within the depths of blue fur and red feathers. The pokemon all calmed at the sound, several purring and nuzzling the dark shape at the center.

“What’s got all your engines roaring?” A hoarse and frankly exhausted voice emanated quietly from within the midst of the cuddle pile.

Candice felt herself stiffen. “Hello? Are you alright?”

The pile twitched, and an odd metallic clink could be heard. The man’s voice called out, slightly louder this time. “Who’s there?”

“My name is Candice. I’m the gym leader of the Snowpoint City Gym. I’m here with a group of Rangers looking for anyone trapped or injured by the avalanche.”

“Avalanche? You make it sound like we’re in the Alabaster Icelands.” The man huffed, even as Candice felt her confusion growing. “Although that would explain why this destination is so cold. Would just be my luck. Managed to get out of being locked in the station and derailed on the wrong set of tracks. Now my cab isn’t even up to snuff.”

Confusion was growing into outright bewilderment. What on earth is this man talking about? One thing was sure, based on how weary and tight his voice was, he sounded like he needed medical attention. “We can get you back down the mountain. Do you think you can convince the Sneasel to get off of you and let us closer? I’d rather not have to fight them.”

There was a grunt, and the cuddle pile of Sneasel and Weavile shifted. “Maybe. Come on, you all, chug along. I’m not your station. Spin your wheels and let them through.” He let out that odd whistle again, and the pokemon reluctantly began to move.

As they cleared slowly out of the way, an odd, slightly sunbleached black hat came into view. It was covering what seemed to be long silver hair drawn up underneath the brim. Sharp silver sideburns went down either side of the man’s face, leading to a beard on his chin. His mouth was drawn into a frown, and there were tired bags under his eyes. More than that, one of his eyes was bruised and somewhat swollen shut. She could see another bruise on his cheek, even as his gaze finally met hers and he drew back in alarm. “Clover!”

She frowned in confusion before being forced to leap back as a furred body leapt at her with a snarl. Instantly her Weavile was in place between her and her attacker, which turned out to be a rather oddly colored Sneasel. Huh. Never heard of one that was white and purple before. Although I have heard stories about a pink one, so maybe it’s not that weird. She was more concerned by the fearful look on the strange man’s face when he saw her. “Hey, it’s ok. I’m not going to hurt you.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ranger Benny sidling around towards the man, hoping to offer him help while she kept the strange Sneasel distracted. She shifted, trying to do just that and hoping to simultaneously calm the man down. “It’s alright. I don’t know who this Clover person is, but like I said, my name is Candice. I’m the local gym leader.”

The man eyed her distrustfully. Then Benny took a step closer and drew his attention as he reached out a hand to offer help. The man paled and actually flinched back, hands instinctively flying up, as if he expected the Ranger to try and hit him.

That metallic clink echoed through the cave again, and Candice could swear she felt her veins turn to ice as she stared at the thick manacles around the man’s wrists, a heavy chain hanging off of them and dangling down to a broken end. The manacles had rubbed his wrists raw and almost bloody, and she could see the discoloration on his skin where the cold metal had induced frostbite. Add that to the black eye and bruised cheek, along with just how wary he was of people, and Candace really didn’t like the picture that was being painted for her.

She heard Ida let out a horrified gasp behind her, and the man’s gaze snapped to the Ranger. “L-Lady Irida? You’re here?”

Candice gave Ida a confused glance. The Ranger shrugged, seeming unwilling to contradict the man when he seemingly relaxed a bit at mistaking her for this Irida woman. “These people are with me, we’re here to help you. Will you let us?”

The man looked dazed and confused. Now without the pile of pokemon keeping him warm, he had begun to shiver. His rather tattered black coat didn’t seem nearly thick enough to keep him warm. “I…My cab needs maintenance. If you know a handy mechanic that can right my rails.” He was nodding, exhaustion starting to drag his eyelids downwards.

Candice frowned. Maybe he’s delirious. Who knows how long he’s been here or what happened to him. He certainly sounded out of it, mistaking them for other people and rambling on about cabs and rails. Her Weavile stepped forward and caught the man as he slumped, finally passing out from what was likely a combination of pain and exhaustion. She looked over at the confused Rangers. “Alright. First thing’s first. We’re getting him to a hospital.” They all nodded in agreement, and Ida slowly stepped towards him, keeping one eye on the strangely colored Sneasel that still refused to let Candice or Benny close to the man.

The pokemon just eyed her carefully, keeping a ready stance but still stepping aside to let her through. She knelt at the man’s side and began gently checking him over, calling out her findings to the others. “His knee has been dislocated, and I think he has a few bruised ribs. And…a lot of scars too. That and the…the chains-” Her voice wavered with emotion.

Avia pulled out a splint, slowly passing it to her along with a thermal blanket. “Get him patched up enough to carry back down the mountain. We’ll let the hospital staff take good care of him.”

Ida nodded, gently guiding the splint around his knee to stabilize it. She wrapped the thermal blanket around him before Adam stepped forward, keeping a wary eye on the white Sneasel. “I can carry him down. Hook him up to my harness.” His fellow Ranger nodded again, and soon the man was secured and ready to be transported back down the mountain.

The group froze as the white Sneasel darted forward, deftly climbing up Adam’s harness and burrowing into the blanket wrapped around the man. Adam threw a questioning glance at Avia, who shrugged. “I’m not about to separate those two. We can figure it out later once the man has proper medical attention.” With that decided, Adam nodded and the group set off back towards Snowpoint City, even as questions whirled around Candice’s head.

Elesa sighed to herself as she stepped inside Gear Station. Spotless as ever. Not that I’d expect anything else at this point. She made her way to the control office, over three years of habit making her not even register the sign marked on the door reading, “Do Not Enter: Authorized Personnel Only.” The station operator behind the desk barely glanced up when she came in. “Good evening, Miss Elesa.”

She hummed in acknowledgement, eyes scanning the map of the tunnels on the wall. “Where is he?”

The man pointed to one of the tunnels on the map. “The Singles Line was popular today. He’s right about here. Should arrive in about five minutes.”

Elesa fought the urge to grimace. Singles. Today wasn’t a very good day for him, then. Emmet had been running the Singles Line for nearly four years now. He was very, very good at it. But she knew how it must eat at him, having to run his brother’s old line as well as his own. It’s a good thing I came by today. He’ll need the company.

She was pulled out of her thoughts as she heard his train arriving. She nodded to the operator and stepped out onto the platform, watching as passengers disembarked into the station and out the doors leading to Nimbasa City. None of them lingered for very long, and soon enough it was just her and the workers in the station again. The door to the front car opened, and out stepped a familiar figure in a distinctive white coat and hat. Elesa raised a hand and waved, giving him a cheerful smile. “Emmet!”

Emmet looked over at her as a Chandelure followed him out of the train car. He had a smile on his face that broadened to more of a grin when he caught sight of her. He waved silently, even as the Chandelure let out a chiming sound of greeting. Undeterred, Elesa strode forward and hugged him, fighting the urge to grimace as she felt how thin and bony he was under his coat. He’s not eating enough again. She pulled back with a warm smile, still holding his hand. “Come on, let’s go get some food.”

Emmet nodded silently, returning her smile with one that never quite reached his eyes as he allowed her to lead him out of the station. She tugged him along, chattering to him about how her day went, which designers were being annoying to work with, how she was looking forward to a new challenger that might reach her gym soon. Anything to fill the silence and help distract Emmet from his day. Not just his day. The last three damn years.

Three years, ten months, eleven days, six hours, four minutes, and thirty two seconds. Emmet knew the number. He knew exactly how long it had been since his brother vanished without a trace. A shredded belt with his pokemon still attached to it in their balls, and a broken Xtransceiver on the ground. That was the only signs they’d found of where Ingo had vanished from.

Three years, ten months, eleven days, six hours, four minutes, and thirty two seconds since Emmet had last seen his twin.

Three years, ten months, eleven days, six hours, four minutes, and thirty two seconds since he had become the sole Subway Boss left running Gear Station.

Three years, ten months, eleven days, six hours, four minutes, and thirty two seconds since he had said a single word.

People these days called him the Silent Subway Boss. They whispered that his voice had vanished right along with his brother. Emmet knew this wasn’t true, and yet it was. He still had his voice. He knew he could make sounds. But words were always his brother’s specialty, not his. Emmet relied more on his expressive actions, preferring to script out his words before speaking them. But none of his scripts were right anymore. Even those words he’d said countless times before got caught and died in his throat.

Without Ingo, he felt like he was missing half of himself. A train uncoupled from half of its cars. He rubbed his beard absently, running gloved fingers through it. Elesa, Iris, even Uncle Drayden might think he’d grown it and his hair out because he wasn’t taking care of himself. That wasn’t true. No, Emmet had grown them out simply because he couldn’t stand to look in a mirror without them. He couldn’t stand the brief half second of joy thinking he was looking at his twin before realization settled in and he lost Ingo all over again.

Emmet was pulled out of his thoughts as Elesa gently pushed him down into a chair. He blinked. When did we get to a restaurant? The thought flitted by and was gone again as Elesa chattered away to him more, talking about some of the designs she was thinking about implementing in her old gym, adapting the roller coasters into a full theme park and adding actual puzzle features to her new gym instead. He felt his attention slowly get pulled away as she asked his opinions on things, never really expecting an answer. Roller coasters were almost like trains, after all, and he and Ingo had helped her design her old gym. If he closed his eyes and listened to her, he could almost pretend that Ingo was there too.

Chapter Text

Adam was feeling restless as he paced the floor of the waiting room. He hated waiting. He knew he and Ida had agreed to stay and keep an eye on the strange man they’d found, being two of the only people he hadn’t reacted to with alarm and knowing that Avia needed to help coordinate the rest of the search and rescue, but he hated just waiting around the hospital for news. He felt like he was just wasting time, and Adam hated wasting time.

He growled in frustration, drawing a questioning look from Ida and the strange Sneasel that she had somehow managed to convince to stay with them and out of the doctors’ way. “Worrying won’t make the news come any faster.”

He huffed, frustrated. “You and I both know you’re the one with all the patience, Ida. You always have been.”

She smiled at him mildly. “What will happen will happen in its own time. Worrying over it won’t make it come any faster.”

Adam collapsed into his chair with a groan, the strange Sneasel eyeing him as he did so. It seemed less fond of him than it was of Ida, but it tolerated him. “I just want to know what’s going on. Who even was that guy? What the hell happened to him?”

Ida shivered slightly. “Something horrible. That much is certain. I do wonder why he was so scared of Candice and Benny, though.”

He shrugged. “Maybe they look like whoever had him.” He shifted slightly to look over at his Ranger partner. “I do wonder one thing, though. Who the hell is this Lady Irida person he thought you were?” Not just Irida, but Lady Irida. The way the man had said the name, so full of a mixture of respect and relief, had stuck with Adam.

Ida shrugged. “No idea. Weird coincidence that our names are so similar, though.” She petted the Sneasel gently, smiling when it purred softly and leaned into the touch. “I do want to know more about this little girl, though. At least…I think she’s a girl. The feather is the right length.”

Adam glanced over and shrugged. “Maybe she’s one of those regional variants. I’ve heard that certain pokemon look different in different regions. Maybe this is what a Sneasel looks like wherever that guy is from.”

Ida chewed her lip in concentration as she thought it over. “Maybe…I’ve never heard of a regional Sneasel before, though.”

Before they could discuss it further, however, the door to the waiting room opened and a doctor stepped inside. “Are you two the Rangers who brought in that man with the silver hair?”

Both of them nodded, Ida sitting straight and holding the Sneasel as Adam stood. “We are. What news do you have on him?”

The doctor sighed, coming further into the room and gesturing for Adam to sit again, which he did so reluctantly. “As best we can tell, he’s in his late twenties, maximum of thirty. He’s currently being kept sedated while we work on him. He had a dislocated knee, multiple hairline fractures to his ribs, and his wrists had been frostbitten and rubbed completely raw by those manacles he had on. Based on his wrists specifically, we can tell he was wearing those manacles for likely less than a week, although how much less we’re not certain.”

Adam shifted. “That’s younger than what I figured, but we knew pretty much everything else. It’s good that whoever was holding him didn’t apparently have him for that long. Do you have any idea who he is or where he comes from?”

The doctor shook his head. “No, he doesn’t match any of our medical records, so he’s definitely not a local. I recommend you Rangers start distributing a picture of him across the region to try and figure out who he is.”

Ida frowned. “But wait, why can’t we just wake him up and ask him?”

“Ah, well…” The doctor winced. “We did a full medical examination, you understand. That includes head injuries. We found evidence on one, albeit an old one. However, we’re not sure that it was ever properly treated, based on the nature of the scar tissue surrounding that area. And those kinds of head injury often lead to memory loss.”

Adam froze. “You’re saying you don’t think he has any idea who he is.” He did seem pretty out of it when we talked to him. But if he has amnesia, then who did he mistake Candice and Ida for?

The doctor shrugged. “It’s possible he may retain some memory from before the incident. And likely everything that has happened to him since that head injury as well. But there’s no guarantee he’ll be able to answer all of the questions you have for him.”

Ida sat back with a grimace, already trying to figure out how to find the man’s identity and get him back home. Adam, on the other hand, sat forward. “When can we talk with him?”

The doctor shrugged. “We’re going to be taking him off of the sedation soon. You two are welcome to come sit in his room and wait for him to wake up. All we ask is that you try to keep him calm and that you keep control on any…pokemon present.” His eyes flick to the Sneasel on Ida’s lap before returning to Adam. “But as Pokemon Rangers, I’m sure you’ll have that under control. If you’d like to follow me, I can take you to him.”

Both Rangers nodded and stood up to follow the doctor through the active halls of the hospital. They saw many doctors and nurses treating those who had been caught in the avalanche’s path, but soon they were led to a quieter section of the hospital. They saw a police officer posted outside of the door, and Adam nodded approvingly to himself. Some guy gets found beaten up and chained in a cave, damn right the police should be here. Who knows if whoever had him might try to come back and get him again.

They both nodded in silent greeting to the officer, showing their Ranger badges. She smiled at them, opening the door and allowing them inside the room. As soon as they entered, the Sneasel in Ida’s arms wriggled free and scampered over to the hospital bed. She climbed the side of it easily and curled into the man’s side, letting out a contented purr. Ida smiled to herself, using her phone to take a picture of the unconscious man. She sat down and began working on messaging their Ranger network, asking other Rangers in the region if they knew who he was or how they might find out.

Adam slowly sat down in the other available chair, the one much closer to the stranger’s bedside. He noted idly that the man’s clothes were folded neatly onto the table in the corner. Thankfully, the chained manacles weren’t with them. Adam’s eyes drifted to the bandages covering the man’s wrists and the brace around his knee. He noted how, even in sleep, his mouth was still downturned, somewhere between a frown and a grimace. Poor guy can’t even relax when he’s asleep. Just what the hell has he had to go through?

He was pulled out of his thoughts by Ida humming to get his attention. “Good news, Ranger Lily has an in with the Sinnoh News Network. She thinks she might be able to get a small news segment into today’s broadcast asking if anyone recognizes him.”

“That’s good. Make sure we’re coordinating with the police, too. Any missing person cases they have open should be revisited, going back at least five years. The doc said he had an old head injury, it might have happened when someone took him.” Ida nodded, typing away on her phone.

After nearly half an hour of near silence broken only by hospital ambience, Adam turned on the television, although he made sure to keep it at a low volume to avoid disturbing the sleeping man. He looks like he really needs the rest, and he’s still sleeping off whatever meds they gave him to keep him knocked out, too. Some time later, he and Ida watched as the news segment focusing on their mystery man aired, including the picture Ida had taken of him and a brief description of the clothing he was found wearing. At the end, anyone with information was instructed to contact the Pokemon Rangers.

Adam nodded to himself when the segment finished. “Good, they didn’t mention anything the police don’t want out yet, just putting out a description and asking if anyone recognizes him.”

Ida nodded in agreement, but before she could reply, the man in the bed let out a soft groan and both of the Rangers’ attention snapped to him. Gray eyes opened blearily, and Adam gave him a gentle smile. “Hey there. It’s alright, you’re safe. You’re in the hospital.”

The man’s vision seemed to take a moment to come into focus, but once it did, he stared at Adam in surprise. “Lord Adaman? What are you doing here? You and Lady Irida aren’t usually passengers together.”

Adam and Ida exchanged confused glances before focusing back on the man in the bed. Adam gave him an apologetic smile. “Sorry, buddy, but I think you have me confused with someone else.” It’s weird that the name is so similar again. Did he hear us talking outside the cave? Did we even say our names where he might have been able to hear us? He shook off those thoughts for the moment. Those are questions for later. Deal with the matter at hand. “My name is Adam. I’m a Pokemon Ranger. This is my partner, Ida. You mistook her for someone else before, when we found you in that cave.”

The man looked carefully between the two of them before huffing and closing his eyes. “Sorry about that. My engine must be stalling in the station. You just look awfully similar to them. If you look close, you’re different, but very similar.” He frowned, looking like he was trying to remember something before wincing. A hand went up to rub his forehead.

Ida shifted, looking concerned. “Are you alright, sir?”

“Hm?” One gray eye cracked open again. “I’m no sir. Just a tired old Warden whose cab doesn’t run the way it used to.”

Ida tilted her head. “Old? You’re barely older than we are.”

The man blinked, both eyes opening in apparent surprise. “What’s that?”

“The doctors said you were in your late twenties. That’s not that much older than we are.”

The man stared at her, and in the back of Adam’s brain, a voice nudged at him. Amnesia, remember? The guy didn’t even know how old he was. But something else about what he had just said captured Adam’s attention far more. “You called yourself a warden. Warden of what, exactly?” If he remembers a job, that’s a place to start trying to put the pieces together.

The self-proclaimed Warden hummed, absently stroking the Sneasel’s fur. “I’m the Warden for the Pearl Clan in the Coronet Highlands. I tend to Lady Sneasler.”

Adam glanced over at Ida, hoping she had some better idea of what the guy was talking about than he did. Unfortunately, based on the absolutely lost expression on her face, she didn’t. Adam cleared his throat and decided to try again. “Um…right. And what was your name again?”

The man grunted. “The name’s Ingo.”

Adam sat back, trying to fight down a relieved sigh. At least we have a name. That’s somewhere to start, even if this warden stuff sounds like gibberish. Pearl Clan? Sneasler? Does he mean a Sneasel? And the Coronet Highlands? Best guess there is Mount Coronet, but why doesn’t he just say that, then? He shook his head, fighting all of that down for now. “It’s nice to meet you, Ingo. Do you remember how you ended up in the snow outside of Snowpoint City?”

Ingo gave him an odd look at the name, but apparently decided against voicing whatever thought he had regarding it. “The last thing I remember was getting tossed into the Galaxy Team’s cells and left to rust.”

Adam stiffened, leaning forward. “Did you just say that Team Galactic had you?!” Ida looked alarmed, frantically typing notes on her phone to make sure no details were missed.

Ingo grunted, giving them another odd look. “That’s right. First they tossed that little Akari girl out of the station, blaming the storms on her. Then Commander Kamado got it into his head that since I fell from the sky too, that I was just as much to blame for the derailments. He and Beni jumped me and tossed me in a cell.” He rubbed the head of the odd Sneasel still curled into him. “Should have known one of Lady Sneasler’s kits would figure out something was wrong. She was trying to get me out when there was this massive surge of energy. Next thing I know, I’m waking up in the snow.”

Adam slowly exchanged glances with Ida. Was it just me, or did absolutely none of that make any sense? Is the doctor sure the head injury wasn’t more recent? Before they had time to unpack any of that maze of confusing information, a shrill ringing cut through the air as Ida’s phone went off. Both Rangers jumped in surprise, although not nearly as much as Ingo did. The man then hissed in pain, a hand going to his ribs as they protested the motion. The Sneasel bared its teeth and growled, clearly disliking the noise. Ida apologized, answering the phone and stepping quickly out of the room.

Drayden sat back, his eyes lidded as he enjoyed the tranquility of his friend’s home. He could hear Rowan in the kitchen making them both a cup of tea. The two men had been friends for decades, and Drayden was grateful that he had offered a chance to come visit. Between his own double duty as gym leader and mayor, combined with Rowan’s work as a professor, the two rarely had time to catch up anymore. And besides, Iris is right. It’s good for me to take a break and be well rested before…before the anniversary.

He grimaced, shaking off the thought and sitting up, looking around for something to distract himself with. He found the television remote and turned it on to whatever channel Rowan kept it set to. This channel turned out to be the Sinnoh News Network, and he idly watched the coverage of relief efforts being taken regarding some kind of avalanche near Snowpoint City.

Drayden turned as he heard Rowan come into the room, the professor carrying two steaming mugs. He sat one down in front of Drayden with a smile. “Here you are, my friend. Green tea, just the way you like it.”

He accepted the cup and hummed gratefully as he took a sip. “Perfectly made, as ever. Thank you. And thank you for letting me come stay with you for a while.”

Rowan waved him off as he sat down in the chair across from him. “It’s really no trouble. I’m sure Lucas is relieved that I’m taking some time off myself. It was kind of your daughter to agree to watch your gym for you while you’re away, though.”

Drayden snorted. “Kind? Oh, no. I think Iris misses the days when I let her be the gym leader in my stead. She was all too eager to jump right back into it. I think she dislikes being the Champion. Not enough trainers actually make it through the Elite Four to battle with her. She gets bored.”

Rowan nodded. “That’s understandable. I’m glad that she can spend some time doing something that makes both you and her happy, then.”

Drayden felt himself smile, even though he knew it was hidden by his wild beard. “I’m grateful to her. She’s right, I’ve been overworking myself again. It’s good to take some time off every once in a while. Especially this time of year.” He sighed, turning his eyes back to the television. Rowan didn’t question what he meant. He already knew. It had been around this time of year that Drayden’s sister and her husband had died, although that had been years ago. Far more recently, and far, far more painfully, it had been around this time of year that one of Drayden’s beloved nephews, Ingo, had vanished without a trace.

Rowan’s heart ached for his friend. They had searched every inch of Unova looking for any sign of Ingo. They had even reached out to trainers they knew in other regions, hoping for some word of where the missing Subway Boss had gone. Emmet had grown closed off and reclusive, retreating to the train system he and his brother had built and all but refusing to leave it unless someone came and took him outside or to get something to eat. And every year, on the exact date his brother went missing, the trains shut down. Emmet walked every inch of the tunnels with his brother’s Chandelure, searching for any sign of Ingo.

He knew that his friend always accompanied his nephew on those searches. What he was hoping to find, if anything, wasn’t clear to Rowan. Ingo had been declared dead for years at this point. There was little hope of any missed clues remaining in those subway tunnels. It occurred to him that perhaps Drayden was simply afraid that those same tunnels where Ingo had vanished while doing maintenance would one day swallow his other nephew and was determined never to let that happen.

He found himself shaken out of his gloomy musings by an overly cheerful song playing. He glanced up to realize that the news had gone to a break and the television was currently playing an advertisement for poffin recipe books. He glanced over at Drayden, finding him staring into his cup as if it might hold some answer he was looking for. Now that just won’t do at all. Iris will never forgive me if I let her father just sit around and mope this whole trip. “So,” he spoke up, politely ignoring the small jump of surprise that his sudden speech had caused Drayden, “are there any sights you’d like to see while you’re here? I have the entire week off thanks to Lucas, so we can go anywhere you like.”

Drayden shrugged. “I’m not sure. It’s been years since I’ve actually been to Sinnoh. It might be nice to see how things have changed. Especially when I’m not the famous one here.” He chuckled softly. “For once I’ll be able to walk down the street without someone trying to challenge me to a battle or bother me for an autograph.”

Rowan laughed along with him. “Yes, I think you’ll find that even my fame has less of an impact on my life than yours does on you. Not as many people care about a pokemon professor. We’re downright boring compared to gym leaders.”

Drayden’s beard twitched with a smile. “A dose of boring sounds really nice right about now. Relaxing, even.”

“Well, if it’s relaxation you’re after, there is a lovely resort east of here by Lake Valor that I highly recommend.” Rowan launched into an explanation of what the resort had to offer before inevitably dipping into the research significance of Lake Valor and the guardian pokemon that lived there. Drayden simply smiled to himself, sitting back and enjoying his tea as he listened to his friend expound on his research’s progress. His eyes eventually strayed back to the television, even as his ears were completely focused on Rowan’s lengthening lecture on rare pokemon and theories that so-called legendary pokemon may one day be lost to time unless documented and cared for.

Said lecture stopped abruptly, however, with the sound of shattering ceramic as the mug Drayden had been holding slipped from his suddenly nerveless fingers and shattered against the tile floor. Rowan jumped at the sound, leaping to his feet. “Drayden! Are you alright?”

Drayden didn’t answer. In fact, he didn’t even seem to register the question or that Rowan had even spoken at all. His eyes were fixed in a wild stare, gaze locked onto the television screen as his breath quickened. Rowan followed his gaze and gasped in shock. There on the screen was a picture of an eerily familiar man with long silver hair, sideburns, and a beard. He appeared to be unconscious and at least somewhat injured, judging by the bruises on his face. Underneath the photo was the caption of, “Do you know this man? If you do, contact the Pokemon Rangers.”

What on earth is Emmet doing on the television in Sinnoh? And why the Pokemon Rangers? Rowan shook himself, turning his attention back to Drayden. Focus. You have more important things to worry about right now. I’m sure this all has a logical explanation. He hurried over to his friend, who seemed to be on the verge of panicking. “Drayden, calm down. I’m sure Emmet is fine and there’s a reasonable explanation for all of this. Here, why don’t you just give him a call and you’ll see for yourself.” He reached over, gently picking up Drayden’s Xtransceiver and hitting the dial button so that his friend could have a video chat with his nephew and hopefully calm down.

Volkner was bored. Really, this wasn’t exactly anything new. He had been bored before, plenty of times. There’s not really much left to improve in the gym. Not without causing another blackout, and I don’t really want to deal with that today. Idly he thought about going to challenge the Elite Four before tossing the thought aside. It would take so long to get there, and traveling was just so boring.

He groaned, flopping down on his couch and starting to scroll mindlessly through his phone. He hadn’t even bothered to go to the gym today. Why should I? What’s the point? Flint won’t be over until next week for our monthly battle, and nobody has even managed to get close to my gym in their challenge in ages. Besides, if someone really did come to the gym, one of his trainers would come find him. Either that , he thought to himself with the ghost of a smile, or the challenger will come find me themself . Only one challenger had ever done that to him, and to this day he still longed for a rematch against Dawn.

Right. Fat chance of that happening any time soon . Dawn had risen to Champion of the region at a frankly meteoric rate before suddenly and inexplicably vanishing months ago. Nobody could figure out where she went or why she would leave her team of pokemon behind with her mother before doing so. Maybe she got bored too.

He’d heard that was what had happened with the previous Champion of Unova. Hilda, that had been her name. One day Hilda just up and left, leaving a note that she was looking for an old friend. And then, of course, there was that friend of Elesa’s.

Volkner grimaced at the memory of the frantic call he’d received from Elesa asking him if he knew anything about her friend Ingo. He’d gone over to Unova to help her search for him, and then again to help her grieve when the man was officially declared dead. At least Hilda’s mother got a note. Dawn’s mother and Ingo’s family hadn’t been nearly so lucky.

He hadn’t even met the twins himself before Ingo had vanished, just heard about them from all the fond stories Elesa would tell whenever they called or met up. He had met Emmet during the search for Ingo, and again at the memorial service held in the vanished twin’s honor. It had been…eerie. Volkner had a feeling that Emmet hadn’t even been processing his surroundings at all. He just stared straight ahead, a frozen smile on his face that never reached his eyes, never making a single sound or shedding a single tear. Just sitting there with his dead brother’s Chandelure hovering over his shoulder.

Volkner shook himself, trying to get rid of the chill that went up his spine at the memory. Well, at least I’m not bored anymore . He switched over from social media to the Sinnoh News Network app, curious if there was anything going on in the region that he might find interesting. He saw a few articles about a freak storm near Snowpoint City causing an avalanche. He clicked through, eyes skimming the article. There were no reported fatalities, although one report stated that some local pokemon were acting strangely in the aftermath. He made a mental note of it before frowning.

There was another article linked to the one he was reading, marked under the heading ‘Related Topics’. The headline of the link read, “Man From Nowhere: Pokemon Rangers Seek Information On Mysterious Stranger.” Huh. Well at least that sounds interesting, even if it’s probably just clickbait. He tapped the link and started reading.

“Following the aftermath of the unexpected and as of yet unexplained weather phenomenon that occurred within sight of Snowpoint City early this morning, a team of Pokemon Rangers was deployed for a search and rescue mission up the nearby mountain to find any hikers or skiers that may have been trapped or otherwise injured. Led by Gym Leader Candice, the group was seen departing in the late morning following reports of unusual pokemon activity in the area.”

Huh, just my luck. Candice gets to have excitement living up in Snowpoint while I’m stuck with sandy beaches and boring old sunshine. He shook his head, scowling as he continued to read, skipping ahead a bit past some explanations of the terrain he neither needed nor cared to read.

“It was in the early afternoon that the group was seen returning. One Ranger of the group was transporting an injured man that had been found in a cave up the mountain, apparently being guarded over by local wild Sneasel. The man’s identity as of yet remains a mystery that has both the Pokemon Rangers and the Sinnoh Police Force interested. Although the full extent of his injuries was not disclosed to our publication, a picture we were provided of the man is included below. If any readers have any information regarding the man’s identity, they are encouraged to contact the Pokemon Rangers.”

Volkner raised an interested eyebrow, scrolling down to where the man’s picture was included. Then he froze, a jolt of pure energy running through him. He fumbled his phone, a confusing mix of worry and adrenaline coursing through him as he closed his news app and frantically swiped over to the call function, thumb finding Elesa’s name and pressing it far harder than necessary. He vaguely noted the pale, worried look on his face as a small image of himself appeared in the corner of his screen. He focused more on the dial tone, hoping Elesa wasn’t too distracted or worried about Emmet to pick up. Why didn’t she tell me he was in Sinnoh? What happened to him? Why was he in Snowpoint City to begin with?

All thoughts cleared away as the video call connected, and he saw a surprisingly cheerful Elesa smiling at him from the other end. “Hey there, Volkner! This is a surprise.” She paused, the smile sliding away and getting replaced with a look of gentle concern. “Are you alright? You look really pale.”

Volkner felt his stomach clench. She doesn’t know. It was the only explanation he could think of for why she wasn’t panicking and already trying to get to Sinnoh as fast as possible to help Emmet. She loved him like a brother, and fretted over him constantly. So how do I tell her without making her panic too much? Honestly, he had no idea. People skills and tact weren’t really his strong suits.

“Volkner.” Elesa’s voice cut through his thoughts insistently, sounding concerned. “What’s wrong?”

He shook himself trying to get his thoughts in order. “I, uh…Why didn’t you mention that your friend Emmet was coming over to Sinnoh?”

Elesa gave him a frankly bewildered look, her eyes glancing off at something he couldn’t see before returning to the screen. “Volkner, you’re not making any sense. What are you talking about? Did you get fried by one of your pokemon or something?”

“No, I…” He grimaced. “Promise me you won’t panic.”

She gave him a worried look. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“Just promise.”

Elesa huffed. “Fine, I promise. Now what’s wrong?”

Volkner ran a hand through his perpetually messy hair. “Emmet is on the Sinnoh News Network. The article I read said some Rangers pulled him out of an avalanche or something.” The picture went completely still as Elesa froze, staring at the screen. She stayed like that for so long that Volkner was starting to worry the call had frozen or dropped completely. “Elesa? See, this is why I told you to promise not to panic. I’m sure he’ll be ok, but-”

“Volkner.” She cut him off mid-sentence and he stopped completely. There was a tone in her voice that he didn’t recognize, but it sounded fragile, almost broken. “Are you absolutely certain that it was Emmet?”

“I…Yeah? I mean, I’m pretty sure. He’s unconscious in the picture, but he’s got the same hair and the sideburns and even that beard you said he grew. I can send you the link if you want.”

Before she had a chance to reply one way or the other, he heard a ringtone sound somewhere off-camera. She jumped in surprise before turning away. “Pick it up. He probably just wants to see you and check in.”

Volkner shifted awkwardly, wondering who she was talking to. He caught a muffled few words that sounded something like “See? I told you he was alright,” before Elesa spoke up again.

“Hang on, Professor, I’ve got Volkner on my Xtrans. If this is about whatever was on your news, can we do this as a conference call?”

The answer must have been yes, because not a minute later there was another picture joining Elesa’s on his screen. He saw Professor Rowan and the man he took a moment to recognize as the professor’s friend and Emmet’s uncle, Drayden. Rowan looked worried and Drayden looked positively shaken. It was the professor who spoke. “We just saw Emmet-”

Elesa held up a hand, stopping Rowan before he could go any further. “Alright, I need you all to slow down and tell me what the hell is going on. Because Volkner just asked me why Emmet is in Sinnoh, and that’s physically impossible.”

Volkner frowned. “Why is it impossible?”

That frown morphed into pure shock as Elesa turned her camera and fully displayed an all-too-familiar man in a white coat and hat giving them a confused smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Because Emmet is sitting on my couch. Now what the hell is going on?”

Chapter Text

Ida stepped outside of the hospital room, closing the door quietly behind her before answering her phone and making her way down the hall to find a quiet place to talk. “Ranger Ida speaking.”

A cheerful face appeared on her screen, smiling up at her. “Ida, hey! It’s Beau. Got a minute?”

Ida couldn’t help but smile at the happy tone and contagious grin of her friend and fellow Ranger. “Hey, Beau. You don’t usually call out of the blue like this. What’s up?”

“You and Adam were the two looking for more information on that guy that got dragged off the mountain by Snowpoint, right?”

Ida stiffened, her smile sliding off her face as her attention became laser focused. “Yeah, I’m actually outside of his hospital room right now. What did you find?”

Beau grunted, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “Well here’s where that gets interesting. I’ve actually got Professor Rowan on the other line. He’s insisting on talking with you or Adam. He says he has information on your mystery man. Seemed pretty spooked about it too.”

Ida frowned, tilting her head. Wonder what has Professor Rowan scared so badly. Guess I’ll find out. “Go ahead and put him through. I’ll see what he knows.” She waited for a moment as Beau’s video vanished. Not long after, it was replaced by the video of Professor Rowan. He looked rather pale and fidgety as Ida nodded to him politely. “Professor, it’s good to meet you. I’m Ranger Ida. I was told you had information about our recent case?”

The Professor nodded shakily. “I believe I do. First, I do have a question, though. The news report didn’t mention a name for the man you found. Is there any reason for that?”

Ida shifted, debating on how much to tell him. “That’s…a complicated topic. I’m not sure how much I’m allowed to share. Are you saying that you think you know him, but you don’t know his name?”

Rowan ran a hand through his hair, glancing at something over his shoulder. “No, I just…it’s hard to believe. If that man is who I believe him to be…if you really found him…”

Ida frowned. Ok, seriously, what has him this spooked? He looks like someone is walking over his grave. “Professor, who do you think he is?”

“His name isn’t Ingo, is it?” His voice was an odd mix of trepidation and tentative hope.

Ida stiffened, not expecting the professor to just come up with the right name like that. “You do know him!” Her surprise shifted to concern as she watched Rowan sway and suddenly collapse into a chair. “Professor! Are you alright?!”

He didn’t seem to even register what she said. “I don’t believe it. You really found Ingo. He’s…He’s alive.”

She felt a chill run down her spine at the pure, unadulterated shock in his voice. “Professor Rowan? What do you know about him? Why did you think he was dead?”

Rowan took several calming breaths, trying to collect himself before focusing back on his screen. “His name is Ingo, and he’s from the Unova region. He’s actually the nephew of a close friend of mine, as well as being one of the conductors of Battle Subway of that region. I believe his role was…is comparable to our region’s Frontier Brains.” He takes a shaky breath. “And he went missing almost four years ago. The police have given up looking for him. Legally, he’s been declared dead.”

Ida stiffened. Four years?! The doctor said he had those chains for less than a week. He said that Team Galactic had him, but were they the ones that originally took him?. Did they seriously kidnap a subway operator from another region and hold him captive for four years?! And a Frontier Brain? Was Team Galactic ever powerful enough to take one of them on?

She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts and forcing herself to focus as Rowan started talking again. “His uncle, Drayden, is actually visiting me right now. We both saw the news broadcast. Can you tell us where we can come to meet with Ingo? Drayden will desperately want to see him.”

Ida winced, wondering if Ingo would even remember his uncle, thanks to what the doctor had told her and Adam. “He’s currently being kept at Snowpoint General Hospital. You both can come to the city. With your clearance as a professor and the fact that this Drayden is apparently family, we should be able to get you in to see him.”

Rowan looked concerned. “He’s in the hospital? I…How is he? Is he alright? Is he hurt, or…?”

Ida swallowed, picking her words carefully. “He did have some injuries when we found him, although all of them are fairly minor, relatively speaking. The matter of you two needing clearance to see him is due to the…nature of the way we found him. The Sinnoh Police Department has posted a guard at his door, just to make sure that whoever took him doesn’t try to get him again.”

“Whoever took him? Does that mean you don’t know?” Rowan looks increasingly distressed, his voice rising in volume as he goes on. “Why don’t you ask Ingo? Surely he must know something, if they had him for nearly four years!”

She tried to keep her voice calm and soothing. “I promise, everything will be explained to you both by us and the doctor when you get here.”

The professor looked more agitated. “Drayden has been missing his nephew for over three years. He deserves to know what happened to him.”

Ida bit her lip. “I understand that, sir. But some things really shouldn’t be found out over the phone. Come to Snowpoint City. Contact the hospital when you arrive. My partner and I will explain everything when you get here.” She then hung up the phone before he could argue further, sighing and running a hand over her face. “That is not going to be a fun conversation.” I should go warn Adam that they’re coming. Maybe I can convince him to be the one to tell them. She couldn’t quite bring herself to hope that Ingo remembered his uncle. She didn’t want to have that hope dashed, as she was almost positive it would be.

Sighing, Ida made her way back to the hospital room, nodding at the police officer at the door and stepping inside. Ingo and Adam both looked over when she came inside, and she gave them a smile that she hoped was genuine. “Good news, we may have found some of your family, Ingo.”

Ingo blinked at her. “...Family?”

Ida felt her heart sink, but she nodded. “The Pokemon Rangers put out a broadcast with a picture of you to see if anyone recognized you. Professor Rowan, the local pokemon professor of the region, said that you’re the nephew of a friend of his. He and your uncle are going to be heading here to see you soon.”

Adam smiled. “Hey! That’s good news! Maybe your uncle will be able to help you get some of your old memories back.”

Ingo looked unsure. “Maybe…”

Adam’s smile faded into a look of gentle concern. “Do you feel up to meeting with them? We can postpone, if you want. You don’t have to talk with anyone you don’t want to or don’t feel ready.”

He took a deep breath, even as his mouth stayed downturned. Ida was starting to wonder if he just always looked like that. “No, best to keep the station on schedule. No need for delays in the commute.” Ida blinked at the odd phrases, something Professor Rowan had said worming its way to the surface. Subway conductor. He ran the Battle Subway. All his weird phrases and expressions, they’re all train terms. She felt a small glimmer of hope spark in her chest. Maybe he does remember something. Or at least his memories aren’t fully gone. Just…buried somehow. Now she only had to figure out how to bring them back to the surface.

Drayden had hardly said a word since promising to send Elesa updates as he got them. He didn’t like how closed-mouth the Ranger Rowan had spoken to had been about Ingo’s condition. He’s been missing for nearly four years. I need to know he’s alright. It took every ounce of his willpower to force down that tiny voice that whispered in the back of his brain. He’s not alright. If he was, the Ranger would have told Rowan that. Something is wrong.

Drayden growled under his breath, clinging tightly to his Altaria and urging him to fly faster. The air was steadily growing colder around him and Professor Rowan as they flew ever closer to Snowpoint City. He was glad that his friend’s Staraptor could keep up the pace just as easily as Altaria could. Drayden didn’t think he’d be able to stand any delay in seeing Ingo. I’ve had to wait too long already.

When they finally arrived, he leapt from Altaria’s back onto the ground with the ease born of years of practice and habit. Altaria returned to the ball quickly without so much as a coo of protest. Rowan landed next to him, nearly as steadily but not quite. He seemed nervous. Drayden didn’t pay him any mind, though, instead marching straight into the hospital. A nurse sitting at a desk looked up and gave him a smile. “Hello, sir. How can I help you?”

“I’m here to see my nephew, Ingo. The Pokemon Rangers brought him to this hospital after the avalanche.”

The nurse hesitated for a moment, typing something into her computer before looking back at Drayden. “Do you have some form of identification, sir?” He grunted in annoyance, pulling out his trainer card and passing it to her. She blinked in surprise at seeing not just the Unovan style instead of Sinnoan like she was used to, but also the unusual marking on one corner of it. “You’re a gym leader?”

He grunted distractedly, trying to fight down his impatience. “Yes, yes, I run the Opelucid City Gym. Now can I go see my nephew?”

She typed some more on her computer before giving him an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, but the Rangers and the doctor wanted to speak with you before you’ll be allowed to go see him. If you’re willing to follow me, I can take you to go meet with them.”

Drayden’s hands clenched into fists at his side as the near desperate urge to see Ingo grew even more. Rowan put a comforting hand on his shoulder, guiding him away from the desk and along the hall the nurse was leading them down. Soon enough, they were shown into an office. A doctor was sitting behind the desk inside, and leaning against one wall was a man with long blue hair pulled into a ponytail wearing the uniform of a Pokemon Ranger.

The man with the ponytail nodded. “Hello. I’m Adam. I’m one of the Rangers who found Ingo. I believe you spoke with my partner Ida on the phone earlier, Professor.”

Rowan nodded, but Drayden only had so much patience and it was already wearing thin. “When can I see my nephew?”

The doctor and the Ranger exchanged a look, the doctor then gesturing for Rowan and Drayden to sit. “I think you may want to hear a bit more about his…condition first.”

Drayden felt the bottom drop out of his stomach as he sank into a chair with hardly a glance. “His condition?” That voice in the back of his head started up again, picking up that same old mantra it had when Ingo had first disappeared. Something is wrong. Something is wrong. He’s hurt. He’s hurt. Something is wrong.

The doctor held up his hands in a calming gesture. “Your nephew is, for the most part, uninjured. We did have to reset a dislocated knee, and he has some minor fractures to a few ribs, but the rest of his injuries are relatively minor. I would hazard a guess that even his wrists probably won’t scar too badly. However, a few of the…details about his situation are rather important for you to know before I feel comfortable allowing you to see him.”

Adam sighed as he watched the color drain from Drayden’s face, becoming paler and paler the longer that the doctor spoke. “Doc, you’re scaring him more by beating around the bush like this.” He caught the distraught gym leader’s gaze and held it. “My team went up the mountain to look for anyone trapped by the avalanche. Some of the local Sneasel were acting oddly, and they led us to a cave up the mountain. We found over a dozen of them inside that cave keeping your nephew warm. Ida and I seemed to be the ones he was most comfortable around out of the group who brought him in, so we agreed to stay here and keep an eye on him.”

Drayden sat there for a moment, processing those words before swallowing hard. Details. I need to know more. They’re not saying everything yet. “His wrists. The doctor mentioned his wrists might scar. What…What happened to them?”

Adam winced, sighing and crossing his arms. “You’re not going to like hearing this, but you deserve to know. When we found him, there were manacles around his wrists. The police are still working on analyzing the broken chain that was attached to try and figure out what happened.”

Drayden let out a choked noise, barely registering the concerned hand that Rowan put on his back. Chains. They found him in chains. He was chained up for long enough that he might have scars from it. He tried to take a few breaths to steady himself. It took several attempts before he managed a few that didn’t quiver like a leaf after a flock of Pidove took flight. “Who-” His voice broke before he could ask any more.

Thankfully, Adam seemed to understand the broken and unfinished question. “We’re still trying to work out all the details. To be honest, not everything Ingo has told us is making a whole lot of sense. He did mention something about getting jumped and tossed in a cell, though. Said it was pretty much the last thing he remembered, other than the weird Sneasel that won’t leave his side trying to break him out of the cell. The police are trying to track down the names he was able to give us. I’ll make sure you get told whatever they find out.”

Drayden fought the urge to grimace. He could hear the message between the Ranger’s words loud and clear. Stay out of this. Let the police handle hunting down the people responsible. Don’t get in their way. He let out a shaky breath. “Is…Is that all you needed to tell me? Can I see him now?”

Adam winced, glancing over at the doctor, who let out a heavy sigh. “Unfortunately, there is something else. During our examination of your nephew, we found signs of an old head injury that was never properly healed. It has led to him suffering from a form of retrograde amnesia. With proper medical treatments now, there is a very real possibility that his memories will return. However, as it stands now, he doesn’t seem to remember much of anything from before four years ago.”

Drayden’s breath caught in his throat, his whole body going still. The doctor’s words were looping through his head, as though repetition might somehow change their meaning. He doesn’t remember us. He doesn’t remember anything other than the people who took him and locked him up.

Rowan’s voice broke through the fog of words clouding Drayden’s mind. “But…He will get them back, right? You said there was a chance he’d recover, right?”

The doctor nodded. “We have seen signs that he does still have at least some memories from before the injury. They currently seem to mostly be locked in his subconscious. However, it is possible that familiar sights and gentle reminders from those he was close to may help unlock those memories and allow him to make a full recovery.”

A brief glimmer of hope flared up in Drayden’s chest. The constant chant of something is wrong, he doesn’t remember was replaced by a whispered hope of he can remember, you can help. Slowly he raised his head. A note of emotion that Drayden didn’t want to admit might be desperation still managed to bleed its way into his voice, despite his best efforts to keep it at bay. “Please. Can I go see Ingo now?”

The doctor gave him a look that was probably intended to be kind, but came off like pity. The dragon inside Drayden bristled slightly in offense, but it was pushed down by the overwhelming need to see Ingo. Adam nodded, pushing himself up from where he was leaning against the wall. “Yeah, I can take you to see him. Just try not to get him too riled up. The Sneasel that’s sticking with him has a pretty fierce protective streak, and I don’t want anyone getting hurt.”

Drayden nodded, numbly getting to his feet and following Adam out of the office and down one hallway after another. They all looked the same to him, and he didn’t even bother trying to remember the route they were taking. The only thing that finally drew his attention was when they turned a corner and he saw the uniformed officer standing guard outside of a door that was otherwise not worthy of note. We’re here.

The Ranger, Adam, he reminded himself, nodded to the police officer and opened the door. Drayden heard a woman’s voice greet him as he entered. “Adam! You’re back! Does that mean the others are here?”

“It sure does. Are you still feeling up to visitors, Ingo?”

Drayden’s breath caught in his throat as he heard his nephew’s voice for the first time in almost four years. “It’s rude to leave your passengers waiting at the station. All aboard.”

Drayden felt his heart swell. It’s still him. Four years later and supposedly no memories of what his life was like before, and it’s still him. He swallowed the lump in his throat and stepped fully into the room. His eyes roved over the man, his nephew, laying on the bed. Despite being clothed in a hospital gown instead of his trademark coat and hat, Drayden still knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this was Ingo. Just like he’d known the moment he saw the picture of him on the news broadcast.

His wrists were wrapped in clean white bandages that made Drayden’s inner dragon roar in anger. He had bags under his eyes to rival his brother’s, but in the back of his head, Drayden felt a note of surprise. Because despite the longer hair and new beard being a shocking match to Emmet, Ingo actually looked like the healthier of the two. Yes, he was thin, but the twins had always been rail-skinny. Without the bulk and sleeves of a coat to hide it, Drayden could see muscle tone along his nephew’s arms. Wherever he had been, Ingo had apparently been relatively well cared for, despite his recent injuries.

Ingo gave him a polite nod, looking back at Drayden with a slightly mismatched gaze thanks to his black eye. There was not even a spark of recognition appearing in his eyes. “Hello. I’m told that you and I are related. Forgive me, but my memories of you have come uncoupled from me and left the station.”

Drayden nodded sadly, wishing it were different, but at least having been prepared for this outcome. “So I’ve been told. My name is Drayden, and I’m your uncle. You’ve been missing for…quite some time. It’s good to finally see you again.”

Ingo inclined his head, and Drayden was surprised that his nephew was actually meeting his eyes rather than his norm of focusing somewhere near a person’s chin. “I wish that I had the pleasure of saying the same. Still, it is good to make your acquaintance. I hope that you can help right my rails and put my memories back on their tracks.”

Drayden smiled gently as he stepped further into the room, freeing up the doorway for Rowan to pass through. “I hope so. The others will want to come see you as well, especially Em-”

He cut off suddenly as he watched the blood suddenly drain from Ingo’s face and his nephew jerked back in alarm, eyes fixated over Drayden’s shoulder. “No! You can’t be here!”

Drayden jerked around to check who or what was behind him, hand instinctively reaching for his pokeballs before he paused as his eyes only found a very confused and concerned Rowan standing there. “Ingo, what-?”

“Get away from me! I won’t let you take me back there, Kamado! I won’t!” Ingo was frantic, scrabbling backwards in the bed, trying to put as much space between himself and Rowan as he possibly could. He would have fallen out of the bed entirely and onto a painful impact with the floor if Ranger Ida hadn’t caught him.

“Ingo, calm down! It’s alright, it’s just me. Remember? I’m Professor Rowan. I’m a friend of your uncle’s.”

Rowan’s words seemed to do absolutely nothing to calm Ingo’s frenzy. His breathing was speeding up, chest heaving as he still struggled to get away. His eyes darted between Rowan and the door behind him, even to the window as though it might hold some escape. Suddenly there was a snarl, and Rowan was forced to dive out of the way as a purple and white Sneasel slashed out at him.

The police officer outside burst into the room, quickly followed by one of the medical staff. There was a stream of red and a popping sound as a Cherrim was tossed out into the room. “Cherrim, use Sleep Powder!” The pokemon let out a soft cry, directing the spores it released. They enveloped both the strange Sneasel and Ingo, and both collapsed into unconsciousness.

The Ranger supporting Ingo gently lifted him back onto the bed as Adam looked at the still startled Rowan. “Professor, I think it might be best if you aren’t here when he wakes up again.”

The Professor looked lost. “I don’t understand, why was he so scared of me?”

Ida grimaced, stepping forward. “He keeps mistaking people for someone else, even me and Adam. He insists we look similar to people we’ve never heard of before.”

Adam nodded. “And that name he called you, Kamado? He’s said that one before. According to him, two people named Commander Kamado and Beni are the ones who jumped him and locked him in a cell.”

Rowan gave him a startled look. “Commander Kamado? You’re absolutely certain that’s what he said?”

Adam blinked in surprise, glancing over to Ida for confirmation. She nodded. “Yeah, he definitely said Commander Kamado. Why? Do you know who that is?”

The professor looked shaken. “I…Maybe. I need to go consult some of my research records. I…Excuse me.” He turned, hurrying from the room. Adam followed after him with a look of curiosity and concern, calling after the professor and asking him to explain just how he knew the name and who that might be.

Chapter Text

He was floating.

Was he? Was this floating? Falling? He wasn’t sure.

His body ached.

All around him was darkness, only broken by the occasional flashes of lightning that lit up the dark clouds and nothingness surrounding him.

His wrist burned.

There was supposed to be something on it. He knew that. A bracelet? No, that didn’t sound right. He didn’t have his bracelet yet. But there was still something missing from his wrist. His brain tried to fill in the blank as the burned and tattered remains of his sleeve flapped against bare skin, but all he could find there was static.

His waist burned.

There was a gap there, familiar weight that should rest at his hip that was missing. Did he normally carry pokeballs around his belt?

Yes, that sounded right. But where were they? He felt for their smooth surfaces, but his gloves only found charred cloth. Had the lightning knocked them away? Where were they?

His mind grasped for their names, wanting to call out to them, but again he was only met with the staticky buzz of the storm around him.

He was falling.

This time he was certain of it. He felt wind begin rushing past him, growing colder and colder and beginning to bite through his coat. The black clouds around him gave way to swirling white, and snow impacted against his skin, stinging his bare cheeks. The ground was visible now, coming rushing towards him. Ingo closed his eyes, the bright white coating his rapidly approaching surroundings hurting his eyes.

White. That was important. There was something important to him about white.

The static filled his mind once more as he tried to push, to reach that memory.

White teeth, a grin that never went away. White covering something, a familiar shape that he knew, he knew he recognized.

The static overrode the attempted memory. He felt something impact his head, and suddenly he woke up with a jolt.

Ingo’s eyes flew open as he gasped, jerking into a sitting position and muffling a noise of pain. A hand went instinctively to his side as his ribs protested the sudden motion. There was white around him again as he sank back onto something soft, but it was different. It was warmer here, and there was no wetness of snow around him.

“Ingo?” A man’s voice spoke, and Ingo twitched in surprise, head jerking around to see who had said his name. He saw a muscular man with white hair and a wild beard looking at him with an expression of open concern. Drayden, his brain belatedly supplied. He said his name was Drayden. “Are you alright?”

Ingo grimaced, rubbing his hands over tired eyes. That dream again. That same dream, and still no closer to filling in the blanks. “I’m in operating condition.” Although it was odd. He didn’t remember deciding to fall asleep.

A face floated across his vision, even with his eyes closed, memory came flooding back. Gray hair when he knew it should have been black, but the style, and that face, they had been unmistakable. Commander Kamado had been here, and then that Cherrim had sent Ingo to sleep. His eyes flew open and he looked wildly around the room. He saw Drayden watching him worriedly and barely paid it any mind. He saw Lady Ir- No, not her. He saw Ida sitting in the other chair by the door.

Drayden’s deep voice broke through his panic, gentle and reassuring. “It’s alright, Ingo. It’s just the three of us in here. Rowan is gone. He left over an hour ago.”

Panic started to fade, replaced by puzzlement. He forced himself to look Drayden in the eyes as he questioned him. “Rowan…?” Did he know someone named Rowan? He didn’t think so, but still the name sounded vaguely familiar. I’m Professor Rowan. I’m a friend of your uncle’s. That was what Commander Kamado had said.

Drayen nodded, his voice still gentle. “Yes, Professor Rowan. You seemed to think he was someone else, and grew quite upset. We all thought it best if he left before you woke back up.”

Ingo swallowed hard, rubbing his eyes tiredly. “It…You’re sure it wasn’t him?” He couldn’t keep himself from spitting the last word with a venom that Lady Sneasler would have been proud of.

The man, his uncle he reminded himself, shifted in his chair. “I don’t know who this Commander Kamado you’ve mentioned is, but the man who came in with me was Professor Rowan. He’s been a close friend of mine for longer than you’ve been alive.”

Ingo winced. He’d offended someone important to Drayden, then. That hadn’t been his intention. He needed to apologize. “I’m sorry. It seems I got derailed and made a mess of the lines by a simple mistake. You have my apologies.”

“It’s alright, Ingo. You have nothing to apologize for. I’m sure everything that’s been happening has been very confusing and disorienting for you.” His expression softened into one of reassurance, heard twitching with what Ingo thought might be a smile. “Let’s try and give you some time to orient yourself. Tell me, what do you remember?”

Ingo paused, a hand unconsciously drifting to pet the fur of the Sneasel curled into his side. What did he remember? He had nearly four years worth of memories to try and sort through. What exactly did Drayden want to know?

Some of his feelings of being overwhelmed must have shown on his face. Odd. Not even the members of the Pearl Clan had been able to read him so well. Drayden hummed, breaking through his swirling thoughts. “How about we start with something simple? That’s quite the odd little companion you have there.” He gestured to the white bundle of fur that Ingo was stroking.

Ingo couldn’t help the look of fondness that crossed his face, even though most people wouldn’t have been able to recognize it as such. “Lady Sneasler must have grown worried about me when I didn’t come to check on her in too long. Of course, she was keeping her promise to Akari and helping that poor girl, so she couldn’t come herself, but she sent one of her kits to check in on me to make sure I was operational. Almost got me out too, before…” He frowned.

Drayden noted the odd names, but filed them away to look into later, more focused on the matter at hand. Worry about that later. Stay on track. “Before what?”

He watched the frown that grew on his nephew’s face. “Something…happened. One minute it was dark and the sky was still all wrong, the next it was like everything just…burst. I felt this wave of energy pass over me, and everything went dark. The next thing I knew, I was in a new destination and hitting snow and there was this loud rumbling sound.” He patted the Sneasel again, and watched as it began to wake up. “She was the one who conducted me to the cave. Some other Sneasel helped. It was odd. Never seen a Sneasel that color, other than the one Akari had.”

Drayden sat there for a moment, processing everything that Ingo had told him and trying to make sense of it all. He said there was some kind of energy pulse. That was mentioned in the news report about the storm over Snowpoint City. But how was he suddenly someplace else? Where was he before? And what’s this about the sky being wrong? Does he mean the storm? He leaned forward. “You mentioned this Sneasel trying to get you out. Where were you?”

Ingo’s face darkened. “Galaxy Team’s headquarters. Never realized they had cells in the basement there until I found myself tossed into one and left to rust.”

Drayden frowned. “Galaxy Team?”

Ida shifted in her seat, grabbing his attention as Ingo nodded. “We think he’s talking about Team Galactic. They were a problem here a few years ago before one of our former Champions dealt with them. This is the first I’ve heard about them cropping up again.”

Ingo grunted. “What are you talking about? I don’t know anything about this Team Galactic, but the Galaxy Team is still very much operational. Commander Kamado and his captains have seen to that.” There was a note of bitterness in his voice as he said it. “I just hope that Lady Irida can put a stop to them before they cause any more derailments.”

Ida sat forward. “Lady Irida? You’ve mentioned her before. She’s the person you thought I was when we first met.”

Ingo nodded. “Indeed. Your cab bears a striking resemblance to hers. You could almost be twins.” He winced, gripping his head as a sudden pain lanced through it at the thought.

“Ingo? What’s wrong?” Drayden’s voice was full of concern. “Should I go get the doctor?”

He shook his head, the pain already starting to fade. “I’m fully operational, no need to run through additional safety checks just now. Just a headache.”

Drayden still looked worried, his hands fidgeting in his lap. “That seemed very sudden. Do you get headaches like that often?”

Do I? Ingo had to think about it for a moment, considering. He wondered what Drayden might consider often. The silence stretched as he thought through the past four years. It took a long while before he finally shrugged. “Yes and no, I suppose. I would get them every so often over the years, but they started coming more frequently after I met Akari.”

“You’ve said that name several times now. Just who is this Akari?”

The corners of Ingo’s mouth became slightly less downturned as he nodded. “She fell from the sky, just like me. Only she arrived at the Galaxy Team’s station a few months ago.” He missed the confused expression on Drayden’s face at the comment of falling from the sky. “She was missing some of her memories too. She remembered more than me, but said it was like there was a block of some kind across the tracks preventing her from accessing them. But seeing her interact with pokemon, hearing the things she did remember…Things started coming back to me. And the headaches came with them.”

Drayden’s head jerked up. “Wait, you get headaches when you remember things? What have you remembered?” Hope was evident in his voice as he searched his nephew’s face for answers.

Ingo chewed his lip. “Just now, thinking about twins…It felt familiar. Like there’s something there I should know and yet I can’t bring it up.” He sighed. “That’s one of the memories that I’ve had an awareness of for some time now but can’t ever seem to pull into the station. It’s like…a dream. There’s a man. He’s a man who looks like me, but he’s not me. We'd battle and discuss pokemon together. There are words with him, too. ‘I like winning more than anything else’. I don’t know why, but they’re attached to him in some way.”

His eyes flew back to Drayden as the older man let out a choked sound that was almost a sob. There were tears streaking down the man’s cheeks. “Drayden, sir? Are you alright? If I’ve said something to derail you-”

He cut himself off as Drayden looked up at him, an expression of pure happiness and gratitude to the universe splashed across his tearstained face. “Emmet.”

Pain lanced through Ingo’s head again, and he winced, holding it distractedly. He needed to know more. “What?”

Drayden swept a hand across his face, clearing away the tears. “The man you’re remembering. His name is Emmet. He’s your twin brother.”

Professor Rowan was rifling through his old records, trying his best not to throw them into as much disarray as his emotions were currently in. He tried to tamp down the shame and guilt bubbling in his stomach over how his mere presence had caused Ingo a panic attack. Logically he knew that what had happened wasn’t his fault. Ingo had very clearly been through an incredibly traumatic experience, and the Rangers had explained that he kept mistaking people for someone they weren’t.

None of this helped him feel any better.

And so, Rowan did what he did best. He started researching. Every bit of information Ingo had given the Rangers, every name he had said, every place he had mentioned, Rowan had gotten a copy of all of it. And now, looking over it all, there was a pattern he could see that just simply couldn’t be there. It’s just not possible.

Except it was. It had to be.

Rowan was not a proud man. He was fully aware of the narrow scope of his knowledge and interests. He knew that there were plenty of people out there who were experts in fields he’d never even begin to understand, let alone master. He knew he didn’t have all of the answers or knowledge in the universe.

But he also knew that Ingo knew things he shouldn’t, couldn’t know.

He tried to keep his hands from shaking as his fingers traced their way down the worn old pages of the journal. The Journals of Commander Kamado, compiled after his death by Captain Cyllene. Rowan swallowed hard. The book had been in his family for untold generations. Supposedly the man, Commander Kamado, had been the head of a team of researchers who first began studying what today was known as the Sinnoh region. Then, it had been called Hisui by the local clans.

Supposedly, Commander Kamado was also his distant ancestor.

In all of the stories he had read regarding the man, he was always referred to with a tone of respect or admiration. The man who helped catalog an entire region’s worth of pokemon. Who headed the team that created the first Pokedex of Sinnoh.

That scene in the hospital room replayed again in Rowan’s head. Ingo was frantic, desperately shouting as he tried to get away from him. “Get away from me! I won’t let you take me back there, Kamado! I won’t!”

Rowan steeled his nerves and opened the book. No one in history is perfect, he told himself. And every family has skeletons in their closet. It’s time to learn some of yours. Mind made up, he began poring over entry after entry.

The more he read, the more his eyes widened. Familiar names kept cropping up in the neat, almost rigid lines of handwritten notes and observations. Alabaster Icelands. Lady Irida. Pearl Clan. Lord Adaman. And Galaxy Team, over and over again. Every word was cross-referenced with the notes that Ranger Adam had agreed to give him. They all matched.

Even pokemon were consistent, with one passage mentioning the Pearl Clan tending to ‘the Noble Lady Sneasler’. He remembered reading that passage before. He’d gone through all of his family’s records, his fascination with pokemon and their changing evolutions leading him to look backwards in history. Sneasel, Growlithe, Samurott, and so many others had once held other forms in the region that had been lost to time. Only journals such as the one in his hands held any mention of them.

Sneasel used to be white and purple. Just like the Sneasel with Ingo.

Rowan’s jaw tightened, his teeth clenching as he kept searching through the book, almost desperately trying to disprove his rapidly strengthening theory. Please, let me be wrong.

He wasn’t wrong.

Partway through, the journal took a turn. Entries began mentioning ‘odd swirling storms of black clouds and lightning’, with a particularly large one being centered in an anchored position above Mount Coronet. They began referring to these storms as ‘space-time distortions’, with strange pokemon and unrecognized plants appearing within them, only to vanish again when the storms dissipated.

He froze in his chair as he came across one entry in particular, lips moving silently along with the words. “Today Lady Irida told me her clan found an injured man. He fell out of the sky from one of the space-time distortions and was injured in the process. He has yet to wake up, but I do not trust him. His clothes are strange, and we know nothing about him. I do not want to cause discord with the clans, but I believe it may have been for the better if they had simply left him there and let nature take its course.”

Rowan fought down the bile rising in his throat at his ancestor’s callous nature and mistrust of a stranger causing him to call for the man’s death, roundabout though that call might have been. He shuddered and skipped ahead, looking for other mentions of the man. He found several, but none that ever mentioned a name. It seemed that Commander Kamado hadn’t bothered to learn it, or otherwise didn’t see the need to record it. He only referred to the man as ‘the stranger from the sky’. That epithet only changed when the man was made a Warden of the Pearl Clan, after which he’s only referred to as ‘the Warden’, and always with a tone of suspicion buried beneath the words.

Rowan huffed in frustration, skimming through the next collection of entries. He noted that the mentioned space-time distortions were apparently getting worse, but nearly two years passed largely uneventfully in the entries before he came to a grouping that made him pause and read more closely.

“Someone else fell from the sky today. Professor Laventon, cursed optimist that he is, decided to immediately bring a stranger from Sinnoh knows where into the very heart of Jubilife Village itself. Not only that, but he means to induct her into the Research Corps. I won’t stand for it. I have instructed Captain Cyllene to give her the most difficult task possible without the professor catching on. That should be enough to rid us of this unnecessary risk.”

Someone else came through? Interest piqued, Rowan kept reading despite himself. He knew he was looking for information on Ingo, but he couldn’t help it.

The stranger, who apparently impressed Commander Kamado enough to warrant her name being recorded, Akari, went on to not only enter the Research Corps, but to rise through its ranks at an almost alarming rate, quickly becoming their top field researcher. Kamado noted several times her uncanny instincts for how to interact with pokemon, regarding both them and her with suspicion. Rowan couldn’t help but feel intrigued. Akari. Just who were you?

He shook himself out of his musings and forced himself to keep reading. Focus. You can research more about her later. Ingo is the focus right now. He started skimming again, looking for more mentions of the nameless Warden.

He didn’t have to skim far.

Hardly two pages later, he found an entry that seemed to practically bleed anger from its very pages. “That traitorous Warden was the cause of all of this. I knew it. I told Lady Irida not to trust him, but she didn’t listen. We’ve had to go through years of dealing with his troubles, and on the very night he vanishes from his cell, the storm lifts. He and Akari are both gone. I knew they couldn’t be trusted. Good riddance, and if I ever see either of them in Hisui, it will be their last day on this earth.”

Rowan sat back in shock, words practically leaping from the page at him. Ingo told the Rangers that Commander Kamado and a man named Beni jumped him and tossed him in a cell, and this journal mentions a Beni several times. There was a surge of energy, and then he was near Snowpoint. Is it possible he could have been transported by one of these space-time distortions?

Rowan closed the book and rose to his feet in determination. I need to get to the Canalave Library. Maybe some of the old books there might have more information on Hisui or these space-time distortions. He had a horrible feeling that his theory was correct, that Ingo really had been sent to the past, but he needed more evidence to confirm it before he was going to tell anyone.

Elesa was packing.

Admittedly, said ‘packing’ was mostly consisting of ‘toss a bunch of clothes in a rumpled heap near the bag sitting open on her bed’. But still! She was packing!

She growled in frustration as yet another shirt missed the bag and hit the wall instead. She didn’t have time for this! She needed to hurry up! Ingo was in Sinnoh, and she and Emmet were going to see him.

You still don’t know for sure that it’s Ingo, that quiet little voice of cynicism whispered in her brain. It could be a coincidence, or a trick. Maybe a Zoarark that got lucky with just the right face. Angrily, she shoved the thought away as she began stuffing her clothes into the bag. It’s him. I know it’s him.

Do you? Do you really? That niggling voice of self doubt wouldn’t leave her alone. If you’re so certain, then why haven’t you told Emmet yet?

Elesa flinched, a confusing mix of emotions welling up in her stomach. As soon as Volkner had sent her the link and she’d seen the picture attached, she had gone into the other room, leaving Emmet under the watchful eye of Chandelure and her Emolga. Thankfully, Emolga seemed to understand her trainer’s needs and kept Emmet distracted enough that he didn’t notice Elesa’s departure.

The picture looked like Ingo. Oh how it looked so much like Ingo that it hurt. From the hair color to the sideburns, his mouth downturned in a perpetual frown, even in the depths of sleep. There was no doubt in her mind that the man in that picture was Ingo.

Only there was.

Because Ingo had been missing for almost four years. Not a trace, not a word, just gone. For him to suddenly and inexplicably reappear just as suddenly and inexplicably as he had vanished felt like a dream. Like it couldn’t possibly be real.

Elesa needed to know it was real.

She groaned, sinking down to sit on her bed and pulling up her contacts list on her Xtrans. Almost by second nature, her thumb scrolled through the names and tapped on the one that she knew would be able to help, in more ways than one. After only two rings, the call connected and a familiar redhead appeared on her video screen.

Skyla grinned up at her girlfriend. “Elesa! Hey, what’s up? You don’t normally call this early in the…” She trailed off, her grin morphing into a look of concern as she took in the expression on Elesa’s face. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

Elesa took a shaky breath. “I need your help.”

“Of course! Do you need me to come over? I can be there in less than an hour!” Not even waiting for a response, she saw Skyla get up and start hurrying around her room, tossing on her boots and gloves. In the back of her head, Elesa couldn’t help but feel the faint amusement she always did when comparing her and Skyla’s customary attire. Most people would expect the pilot to wear more than the model, not the other way around.

She shook her head, trying to get her thoughts in order. “Skyla.” The bustle of motion ceased as her girlfriend turned back to the screen, giving Elesa her full attention. “I need you to tell me I’m not crazy.”

Skyla frowned. “Of course you’re not! What would make you think that?!”

Elesa took a shaky breath. “I’m going to send you a link. Volkner found it and sent it to me. I need to…I need you to look at it and tell me I’m not crazy.”

She looked confused, but Skyla nodded, her full attention being diverted to her screen as Elesa sent over the article that Volkner had read. Elesa kept her eyes trained on Skyla’s face, trying to judge her reaction. She could almost see the exact moment when Skyla reached the photograph at the bottom. Her eyes blew wide and her jaw fell open as she turned to stare at Elesa. “Is that…?”

Elesa gave her a weak smile. “See why I needed you to take a look?”

“Does Emmet know?”

She winced, looking away. “I haven’t told him yet. Emolga is keeping him distracted in the living room right now.”

Skyla’s face softened. “You wanted to know it was really him before giving Emmet false hope, huh?”

Damn, her girlfriend knew her so well. Elesa nodded. “Drayden called a little while ago. He’s going to Snowpoint City with Professor Rowan to make sure. He said he’d call when he knew one way or the other. I’ve been packing, just in case. If it is him, we need to be there.”

Skyla nodded, giving her an understanding smile. “And you want me to take you to Sinnoh so that you can visit if it does turn out to be him.” At Elesa’s nod, Skyla blew her a kiss. “I’ll see you in less than an hour. Make sure you and Emmet are ready to head out.” She ended the call, the suddenly black screen giving Elesa a look at her own pale and overwhelmed face.

I need to tell Emmet we’re leaving. I have to have some kind of excuse. She took a deep breath, schooling her expression into something more normal, leaning on years of experience with modeling and acting to do so. She straightened her clothes and strode out into the living room, where she found Emmet watching Emolga fly around the room as he petted Chandelure’s head.

“Emmet.” He turned to look at her, his smile softer and almost genuine. Elesa returned it as best she could. “We need to head over to your place and get some clothes. I’m taking you on a little vacation.”

Emmet tilted his head in confusion, his smile becoming slightly lopsided as he tapped the Battle Subway logo on his hat. She shook her head. “Your staff can run the trains for a few days while we’re gone. I’m sure they’ll keep track of anyone who manages to get enough wins to face you and you can do those battles when we get back.” She stepped forward, offering a hand which he happily accepted. Emmet had always been fond of touch, preferring it far more than his brother.

Gently, Elesa pulled Emmet to his feet. She picked up the travel bag she had packed for herself and led him out of her apartment and down the street towards his own. As they went inside, she tried to ignore the normal clench in her stomach at seeing one of Ingo’s spare coats and hat on the peg by the door where they always hung. The interior hadn’t changed once in nearly four years. Half of the time, Emmet didn’t even bother to sleep here, just staying on the trains all night.

Gearing up her resolve, she went to Emmet’s bedroom and began packing a bag for him. Emmet didn’t follow, simply allowing her to grab whatever she saw fit as he sat down on the couch. Not that I have a whole lot of variety to choose from. She had occasionally joked that the twins dressed like cartoon characters, their closets almost exclusively consisting of multiple copies of the exact same outfits. Still, she grabbed several copies, folding them into the bag with far more care than she had given to her own clothing.

Then she hesitated.

Walking quietly to the door of the room, she listened out for any sign that Emmet might be coming down the hall to check on her progress. There was nothing. Silently, she slipped out of his room and into the one next door. Ingo’s room.

It was spotless. There was not a single speck of dust or item out of place. Just as it had been for almost four years. Exactly as he had left it. She swallowed, fighting down the emotions she always struggled with whenever she saw his room and crept to his closet. She took a set of his clothes out of the closet, folding them neatly with loving care and gently storing them in her bag before returning to Emmet’s room and finishing up packing for him.

It wasn’t long after she finished and carried the bags to the living room that her Xtrans rang with Skyla’s call. “Hey! I’m almost to Nimbasa. Where should I meet you?”

Elesa smiled. “The usual landing spot is fine. We’ll be there soon to meet up with you.” She hung up, offering her hand to Emmet again. “Come on, let’s get going.” He still looked somewhat confused, but he didn’t question her, simply taking her hand and letting her lead him out of the apartment.

Emmet found himself sitting in one of Skyla’s small planes next to Elesa, not entirely sure what was going on. Today had been a very odd day indeed. Elesa had met up with him after he closed the Battle Subway, and they had gone to eat. That much had been the same as it always was. They’d gone back to Elesa’s apartment to watch movies. He knew she did it to try and distract him. Or maybe because she wanted the distraction and didn’t want to be alone. He wasn’t really sure.

But being with him seemed to make her happier, so Emmet didn’t try to stop her. If he was willing to admit it to himself, being with her helped too. It helped fill the void that had stretched to a gaping abyss in his life. It helped him feel like a brother again.

Three years, ten months, eleven days, eleven hours, forty nine minutes, and twenty seven seconds. His brain kept the running total in the back of his head, always ticking unwaveringly upwards. They’d been on the plane for several hours now, the only breaks in the silence being the roar of the engines and the occasional snatches of conversation between Skyla and Elesa.

Emmet just sat in his seat quietly, one hand holding Elesa’s as the other stroked Chandelure. She never went back into her pokeball anymore. She hadn’t in three years, ten months, eleven days, twelve hours, two minutes, and eighteen seconds. Emmet could understand. He had a feeling she blamed herself for Ingo going missing, believing she could have kept him safe had she only been out of her ball. She seemed determined to always be at Emmet’s side after that. He didn’t mind. It was like having a piece of Ingo with him all the time. They’d be reunited with him at the same time, once he was eventually found. That sounded nice.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by a faint vibration passing up his arm. He looked down curiously at the hand holding onto Elesa’s. Her Xtrans screen had brightened with a message. He managed to catch Uncle Drayden’s name on the screen, and the two-word message below it. “It’s him.”

Elesa looked down at the same time he did, and her eyes flew across the screen and widened to an almost comical size. Emmet watched with a growing feeling of alarm as tears began pooling in her eyes and running down her cheeks. He squeezed her hand, trying to make sure his smile was a reassuring, if concerned one.

Elesa let out a wet, hiccuppy laugh, squeezing his hand back. “I’m ok, Emmet. Really, I’m actually really good. There’s something important I need to tell you.” Emmet blinked slowly at her, tilting his head. If it was good, then why was she crying? “The truth is that we’re heading to the Sinnoh region. Snowpoint City, specifically.”

Sinnoh? Why were they going to Sinnoh? Were they going to see Volkner? He had called earlier, saying something about the news. Emmet hadn’t really been paying attention. Were they going to see him? No, that isn’t right. Volkner lives in Sunyshore. Emmet wasn’t quite sure why he knew that, but he knew that Elesa’s friend wasn’t normally in Snowpoint City.

Elesa’s thumb rubbed against the back of his gloved hand, recapturing his attention. “Emmet? I need you to listen to me carefully. I didn’t tell you any of this before because I didn’t want to get your hopes up until I was certain. But Drayden just messaged me to confirm it.” She gave him a smile, even as happy tears still poured down her face. “They found him, Emmet. They found Ingo.”

Emmet froze, staring at her as her words looped through his head. They found him. They found Ingo. His eyes grew unfocused, his vision starting to blur and he felt his smile quiver as tears started to form.

Oh.

Oh.

He was dreaming again.

Emmet bowed his head, letting the tears stream down his face and splatter on his coat. It wasn’t the first time he’d dreamed something like this. Not the first time his unconscious mind had given him false hope and illusions of his brother returning to him. But they weren’t real. They never were. He’d always play along, always hope that this time, maybe this time it would be real.

It never was.

Every time, he’d always wake up. Sometimes he’d see Ingo’s face before he did. Sometimes he wouldn’t. But he always woke up within moments of realizing.

He’d like to wake up now.

It hurt, having this dream. Having these false hopes. He took his spare hand off of Chandelure and pinched his leg, wincing as he tried to force himself to wake up.

Elesa’s face softened, and she took his other hand in hers to match the one she was already holding. “Emmet, this isn't a dream. I know it’s hard to believe, and it’s hard to have hope only to have it ripped away again and again. But I promise you, this time it’s real.” She reached up, gently brushing the tears off of his cheeks, even as he felt the plane begin to descend. “We’re landing now. You’re going to get to see him. I promise.”

Emmet drew in a shuddery breath, feeling Chandelure nudge comfortingly at him. Maybe, just maybe, he could hold out hope. Maybe this wasn’t a dream. Maybe they actually did find him this time. He looked up to Elesa, eyes focusing on her chin and nodding. She gave him a smile, gently unbuckling her seatbelt and helping him with his own as the plane came to a stop.

It’s cold here. That was his first thought as the two exited the plane, Skyla following not far behind and leading them down the snow covered street towards a building that he vaguely registered as a hospital. His dreams weren’t usually cold. That was something new.

A man with blue hair stared at them from next to the nurses’ desk as they entered. Elesa noticed and led Emmet over by the hand. “You’re a Pokemon Ranger, right?”

He nodded. “Ranger Adam, at your service. Are you the group that Gym Leader Drayden said would be stopping by?” His eyes flicked over Emmet’s face as he asked.

Elesa nodded, pulling out her trainer card and showing it to him. “We are. I’m Elesa, another gym leader from Unova. And this is Emmet-”

“Ingo’s twin brother.” The Ranger nodded again, even as he cut across her. “Drayden told us. And I can definitely see the resemblance.” He sighed. “How much did Drayden tell you about Ingo’s current condition?”

Emmet heard a quavery note enter Elesa’s voice. That wasn’t normally there. “His condition?”

Adam grimaced. “The doctors think he should recover, but there's something you should know before you go see him. His memories are…fragmented. He has little pieces, but most of it is just a big blank to him. So there’s a very real chance he may not recognize you when you visit him.”

Elesa had a look of growing horror as he spoke, prompting Skyla to step forward and wrap her arms around her girlfriend comfortingly. “It’s going to be ok, Elesa. Even if he forgot, he’s still Ingo. You can help him remember, now that you’ve got him back.” She turned to look at Adam. “Can we go see him now?”

He shifted awkwardly. “That’s the other thing. The doctors are only allowing one new visitor at a time to his room. Drayden’s already cleared to stay, but the rest of you will have to come one at a time until we know how he’ll react to each of you.”

Elesa froze, eyes searching the Ranger’s face. “Why? What happened?”

The grimace came back in full force. “You have to understand that Ingo has been through some incredibly traumatic experiences. We’re still trying to work out exactly what happened to him. He keeps mistaking people for someone else, people we apparently look similar to, but we’ve never heard of.” He sighed, tugging at his ponytail. “Drayden brought Professor Rowan with him when he first visited, and Ingo panicked so hard when he saw him that the doctors had to sedate him.”

Emmet watched as Elesa paled next to him, a hand flying up to cover her mouth. He hadn’t exactly been able to follow everything they were talking about, but that was ok. His dreams were confusing sometimes, even if this one was proving rather realistic. Verrrry realistic, he thought to himself as he considered the sanitized smell of the hospital around him. The dreams didn’t normally have smells, which made him think that maybe Elesa had been right and that he was awake. It was still hard to believe.

His attention was diverted as Elesa squeezed his hand. He looked over and found her giving him a shaky smile. “Go ahead, Emmet. You should be the one to visit first. Skyla and I can wait here with Chandelure for our turn.” He hesitated, even as she gave his hand one final squeeze before letting go and nodding to the blue-haired man. “Ranger Adam can take you to see Ingo now. Go ahead.”

He turned to look at the man, who gave him a kind smile and turned to lead him down the hall. Emmet didn’t know him. The dreams don’t normally have strangers in them, he told himself. Maybe this is actually real.

He followed that head of blue hair down one hallway after another. He didn’t even register the people they passed by giving him a wide berth, unnerved by his fixed, frozen smile. He barely even glanced at the uniformed police officer standing outside of the door that Adam stopped in front of.

When the door opened, he saw Uncle Drayden sitting in a chair next to a woman that Emmet didn’t know. Uncle Drayden looked up and gave him a gentle smile, beckoning him inside. “Come on in, Emmet.”

Emmet stepped through the door, his eyes immediately zeroing in to focus on the man laying in the hospital bed at the center of the room. His silver hair was long, like Emmet’s. His sideburns were as sharp as ever. His downturned mouth led to a beard that was shockingly similar to Emmet’s own. It was at that moment that Emmet well and truly knew that this wasn’t a dream. He was awake.

Ingo never changed in his dreams. Every time, Ingo looked identical to how he had the last time Emmet had seen him. The same coat and hat, the same hair, and facial hair, and everything. This man had longer hair, and a beard, and was wearing a hospital gown and no hat.

Emmet froze, eyes locked onto him. Then, in a voice that qualified more as a rasp from disuse, he said the first word he’d spoken in three years, ten months, eleven days, twelve hours, thirty three minutes, and fifty eight seconds. “Ingo…”

Chapter Text

Ingo was trying to pay attention to what Drayden was telling him. Really, he was. He wanted to hear everything he could about this apparent twin of his that he almost remembered but could never quite fully picture. He wanted to remember the man he had spent the majority of his life with before being ripped away. His other half that he had been missing.

But he was nervous.

His fingers clenched and unclenched around the sheets of his hospital bed, twisting and wrinkling the otherwise smooth cloth. His stomach felt like it was mimicking the motion, writhing and twisting itself into anxious knots. He couldn’t help but pay more attention to his fears than to Drayden, his inner voice drowning out the other man’s words. What if I don’t remember him? What if I panic again? What if I say something wrong? Or do something wrong?

It had always seemed like he was doing the wrong thing in Hisui, at least when it came to interacting with people. Things just never seemed to come across the way he intended them to, everyone focusing far more on his actions than they did on his words. It’s creepy how you never smile, people had told him, giving him unnerved looks despite his attempts to be friendly to them. So he tried to smile more, even if it felt wrong.

I find it suspicious that even now you cannot meet my eyes. Clearly you are untrustworthy and hiding things from us. He tried to hide a flinch as his brain thundered at him in Commander Kamado’s cold and forbidding tone, trying his best to fight down his emotions and not react. He’s so weird, had been the whispers that followed him. I’m not sure what Lady Irida was thinking, letting a stranger become a Warden. Especially one like him.

“Ingo?” Even though the voice was gentle, he couldn’t help but flinch. Stupid. You know better than to get lost in your thoughts in the middle of a conversation. It had happened before, and people always got mad at having to repeat what they’d just told him. Or found his habit of staring into nothing as he thought all the creepier. He forced his eyes back into focus, putting all his effort into meeting Drayden’s gaze directly. What he found himself looking at was a look of concern half hidden by that rather peculiar beard. “What’s wrong?”

Ingo forced his lips upwards out of their comfortable downturn and into what the Pearl Clan and the Galaxy Team had found to be a reassuring smile. “Nothing is out of order, don’t worry. My engine is operating at full power.”

His heart sank as Drayden looked taken aback and even more concerned at the sight of the smile. Had he not done it right? It was true that he didn’t have to do it very often. Most of the time he spent his hours with Lady Sneasler, and she wasn’t one to care about measly things like smiles. Add onto that the few days he’d spent in a cell with absolutely no human contact…Yeah, Ingo was out of practice acting like everyone else.

“Ingo.” He inwardly cursed his inattentiveness, forcing his drifting eyes back to Drayden again. Focus, damn it! The older man’s face softened. “It’s alright. You don’t have to do that, you know.”

He tried to fight his mouth from turning down again in a frown of confusion, with mixed results. “Do what?” The last thing he remembered Drayden talking about was Emmet. Was Drayden saying he didn’t think Ingo should see his twin? Was something wrong and he’d missed it?

Drayden sighed, his eyes drifting down to look at his hands. Ingo found his eyes pulled in the same direction. He liked Drayden’s gloves. They were interesting, and more comfortable to look at than eyes. He wondered if there was a story behind the diamond shaped cutouts in the back of them. He wasn’t sure how much protection the gloves offered as a result, though.

“You don’t have to pretend with me, Ingo.” His attention was wrenched back to the conversation again, and he looked Drayden over carefully. Pretend? Pretend what? Does he think I’m lying? Which, to be fair, he technically had been, if he was willing to admit it to himself. The nervous energy was still coiling in his gut like an angry Serperior. He tried to fight off another wince at the twinge of pain. What’s a Serperior? He tried to ignore the question, along with the growing throbbing behind his eyes. A question for another time.

He chose his words carefully, the way he took care in selecting only the best berries and ingredients for Lady Sneasler’s food. Try to avoid those odd phrases. Nobody ever understands them, and they always look uncomfortable when you use them. Maybe that had been the problem. He’d mentioned an engine, whatever that was. Maybe Drayden hadn’t understood. “I’m not quite sure what you mean, sir.”

There was a flash of an emotion too fast and complex for Ingo to read that flew across Drayden’s eyes and was gone before he could look again. “Drayden, please. I understand if you don’t feel comfortable calling a stranger ‘uncle’, but please just call me Drayden.” Ingo nodded slowly, and he continued. “What I’m talking about is the masking you’ve been doing. Putting on this…charade of yourself. You did it around people when you were younger, too. But it didn’t make you happy. It wasn’t the real you back then, and I doubt it’s the real you now.”

Ingo froze, trying to process that. Masking? Is that what he calls it when people always act like that? Doesn’t everyone do that? It sure had seemed like everyone in Hisui did, at the very least. “You’re saying you…don’t want me to act like this? You don’t want me to be…normal?”

Drayden gave him a gentle smile. “I don’t want you to try and be this act of what you think is normal. I want you to be Ingo. Just be yourself.”

Be yourself.

How was he supposed to be himself when he didn’t even know who ‘himself’ was supposed to be? When he didn’t have any memories of what he was like, how did he know if he was doing it right? Would they be disappointed if he wasn’t ‘himself’ the same way he used to be? Would Drayden think he was acting, or masking or whatever he called it, again?

Drayden was looking at him again, probably trying to judge his reaction to the command. Ingo shifted nervously, giving him a small nod. “I…shall endeavor to conduct myself appropriately.”

Drayden’s forehead creased in a worried frown, but before he could say any more, there was a knock on the door. Both his and Ingo’s eyes flew to it as it gently opened and Lor- No! Adam stuck his head into the room. He gave the pair a smile and raised an eyebrow in a silent question of ‘are you ready’.

Am I ready?

Ingo really didn’t know the answer to that question. His stomach churned anxiously as he tried desperately to find an answer. If only he knew how ‘ready’ was supposed to feel for a situation like this. But he was about to meet his brother, and his brother had known him for years. He didn’t know how to prepare for a stranger who knew him better than he knew himself.

Drayden’s attention was focused on the door. He smiled, or at least, Ingo thought he did from the twitch in his beard, and made a beckoning motion. “Come on in, Emmet.”

Ingo found his eyes drawn inexorably to the door as Adam stepped aside and another man came through. White. That was the first thing he noticed as the man stepped slowly forward, coming to a stop next to his bed. The long, pristine white coat with the reddish brown stripes that almost perfectly mirrored his own tattered black one.

Tall. Ingo’s gaze drifted slowly upwards, tracing the long white coat up the man’s incredibly long torso. He had never been around someone else so tall before, and he couldn’t help but feel slightly intimidated as the man towered over his bed. Now he knew why the people around the clans and Jubilife Village were always skittish around him unless he purposely slouched.

As his eyes finally found the man’s face, he froze, blinking in shock despite having been prepared for what he would see. Me. The face was a perfect match, if a bit leaner than his own. The beard was the same, the long hair tucked up into a perfect, white hat the way Ingo did with his old, sunbleached black one. The only difference was the wide smile frozen to the man’s face, and the tears that sprung up in his eyes to run rivulets down his cheeks.

The man’s mouth opened, and the voice that came out was an awed whisper so raspy from disuse that it was barely intelligible. “Ingo…”

Ingo couldn’t stop the flinch as pain exploded in his head. He gasped, curling in on himself as his hands flew up to grip the sides of his head, as if pressure could somehow relieve the agony now coursing through his skull, even though past experience told him it would not. His ribs twinged, protesting the motion, but he was in too much pain to even register the small addition.

That voice. I know that voice. It was his own, and yet it was not. It was different. The tone, the emotions he could hear, even in that one word, he knew it was not his own, and yet it was as much a part of him as his own voice was. …I like winning more than anything else... He couldn’t stifle his whimper as another stab of pain split his skull. That voice! Those words go with that voice!

Around him there was a flurry of movement he couldn’t possibly hope to follow. Everything was too fast and too bright and too loud. There were several voices talking, but none of them was that almost comforting, hauntingly familiar rasp. He didn’t know where that voice had gone. His head felt like it was about to burst open from the pain as he squeezed his eyes shut, hands instinctively going to cover his ears, to try and make everything stop! A whine of pain managed to slip past his lips, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

There were even more voices now, and there were hands and they were touching him, trying to pull his arms away from his head and pushing on him, trying to get him to lay flat again. It was wrong! He had to get away from them!

Nobody in the Pearl Clan had touched him since he had left the healer’s hut nearly four years ago. Space was sacred to them, and to share the space of another was seen as an intimate gesture of love and affection. To invade one’s space was the height of intrusion, never to be done unless in the most dire of emergencies. No one in the Pearl Clan had tried to touch Ingo in nearly four years. And Ingo had been just fine with that.

But the hands were still there.

He twisted away, trying to escape, eyes still shut tight against the lights that were suddenly so very bright. His head was beginning to feel different. Not just hurt, although it definitely still did in a throbbing rhythm, but almost floaty. His breathing was coming in ragged gasps. The hands found him again, and he scrambled away from them blindly. Why wouldn’t they leave him alone?!

His back found nothing but air behind him, and suddenly he was weightless, his gut twisting as he felt himself fall. He tensed on instinct, preparing for even more pain when he hit the ground.

The painful impact never came.

Oh, he did hit something, but it was soft and warm. Two arms gently encircled him, but they were different from the hands. They felt different. Warm. Comforting. Familiar. Even if they were thinner than they should be, bonier somehow. Should be? He didn’t know what should be, but he knew those arms. They meant safety.

He felt his muscles involuntarily start to relax, even as he struggled to regain control of his breathing. His head still throbbed painfully, but at least the hands were gone now. The arms felt much better. They didn’t try to pull his hands away from his ears or push on him in different ways.

The raspy voice came back, somewhere above him, breaking through the buzz of the lights and the odd chemical smell that had seemed to grow tenfold with his headache. “Breathe. Follow my tracks.” The soft and warm thing he had hit vibrated with the voice, and then he felt it steadily begin to rise and fall.

Follow my tracks. I’ll conduct us back to a stable terminal. He knew those words, in that voice. He could trust those. The rising and falling, those were the tracks. The arms helped keep his focus on the pattern, holding him in gentle security.

Ingo followed.

It was hard, trying to match the pattern. He kept taking in breaths too shaky, having to exhale far sooner than the soft warm surface fell. He would try gasping in a lot, but then he had to breathe out too fast, far faster than the fall. But the pattern never broke or faltered. It just kept rising and falling steadily, and eventually Ingo managed to breathe steadily again.

His head still ached.

He didn’t want to open his eyes back up. That would mean seeing the too-bright lights again. It might mean the hands would come back with the voices that weren’t the raspy one. He pressed further into the soft and warm thing the arms were holding him against, hands still over his ears as he hid his face, trying to escape the brightness still there on the other side of his eyelids.

The raspy voice came back, gentle and quiet. “Uncle Drayden. The lights.”

He heard movement, and he tensed, preparing for hands that never came. Instead, he heard a soft click, and the buzzing went away. His muscles unclenched a little more, only to tense again as a different voice, a voice he didn’t know spoke up, sounding like it was coming closer. “Here, let’s get him back into the bed. I can-”

“No.” The rasp was slowly fading out of the voice. It sounded firm, and it made Ingo feel safe. “Do not touch him. Ingo does not like touch.” He didn’t know how the raspy voice that was less raspy knew that, but it did, and Ingo slowly started to relax again.

The voice that wasn’t raspy spoke up again, and Ingo pressed further into the soft thing. “But you’re holding him…” It sounded confused, but Ingo didn’t care. He just wanted it to go away. He wanted to be with the raspy voice and the good arms that were too thin but still right.

“I am Emmet. I am his brother. It is different.” Emmet. Emmet. His brother. Emmet. Follow my tracks. I like winning more than anything else. Pain lanced through Ingo’s head again, and suddenly his body felt boneless. He slumped against the soft thing that had caught him, trusting in the arms not to let him fall as everything faded away into blessed quiet and darkness.

Drayden sighed as he watched Ingo finally pass out in Emmet’s arms. He had been expecting some kind of reaction to them meeting again, but this had been far more intense than what he had anticipated. Stupid. I should have known. Should have prepared better. He shook off the self deprecating thought with an ease born of long years of practice. Focus on helping.

He had never been able to help very well when Ingo or Emmet had gone through moments like this growing up. He tried as best he could, giving them quiet spaces and turning off the lights until they managed to calm down again, but he knew that only did so much. The only thing he had ever found with the ability to fully calm a panicking twin was his brother. It always had been. That had been part of what had made the last four years so difficult in trying to help Emmet. He would normally have relied heavily on Ingo to help comfort Emmet and keep him grounded.

Emmet.

Drayden forced himself out of his thoughts and back into focus. Emmet was looking at him, still holding his brother close to his chest. The smile was still on his face like always, but it seemed less wrong and out of place than it had before. The light that had been missing from his eyes for over three years gleamed there once more. “Uncle Drayden? What happened to Ingo? Why did he derail?”

Drayden sighed, sitting back down in his abandoned chair. “Would you mind lifting your brother up into the bed again? You can still hold him, but he really shouldn’t be out of bed yet.” Emmet didn’t protest, simply standing up and sliding into the bed with Ingo still in his arms. He didn’t stop looking at Drayden, seeking answers.

Drayden had never felt so old. Does Rowan ever feel like this? He didn’t know. He didn’t know how to explain everything to Emmet in a way that wouldn’t worry him. He didn’t know how much Emmet had already been told about Ingo’s condition or his missing memories. Drayden wasn’t even fully sure if he himself had been told everything he needed to know about Ingo.

Emmet was still looking at him.

“Ingo is having memory problems.” He started picking his words carefully, trying to find the right way to explain this to Emmet. “He remembers bits and pieces, and it seems that the rest of his memories are still buried in his subconscious somewhere. Every so often, something will trigger one of those memories to come back to him. When that happens, he’s admitted he gets headaches. It seems that how much or how important the thing he’s remembering is, the worse the headache will be.”

The smile on Emmet’s face looked like it was about to shatter from how fragile it became at the explanation. “He…does not remember me.”

His heart sank somewhere down by his ankles at the sad, defeated tone in Emmet’s voice. “He does.” Drayden leaned forward, his voice firm. “He does remember you. You’re the one person he remembers at all. It’s…fragmented, but he remembers bits of you. That you look like him, that you two love battling, that you’re important to him. And you saw how he reacted to you just now. You still calm him down.”

Emmet nodded, his gaze drifting down to the brother held comfortably in his arms. He’d missed the familiar weight, the press of his brother against his chest. His smile became smaller, more genuine. Drayden idly noted that both brothers still somehow looked virtually identical. They hadn’t seen each other in nearly four years, and yet their hair, their beards, everything was still the same. Only the smile instead of the frown, the clothes, and Emmet’s slightly thinner frame differentiated the two.

“I am Emmet. I will help him.” His eyes were drawn to the odd Sneasel that had leapt out of his brother’s blankets to fend off the doctors, driving them away from Ingo. It blinked back at him with intelligent red eyes. He didn’t know where his brother had found such a Sneasel, but Emmet had no doubt that the pokemon was attached to Ingo and cared for him deeply. “You are his friend. We will help him. You and me and Uncle Drayden. Elesa and the others will help.”

The Sneasel let out a purr, creeping forward and rubbing its head against his knuckles. His smile grew, and he gently stroked its soft fur. He heard Drayden hum approvingly and looked up. Gray eyes met yellow, and Drayden smiled into his beard. “Yes. We all will. Would you like to stay here with him while I go check in on Elesa downstairs?” Emmet nodded, and Drayden pushed himself to his feet. He patted Emmet on the shoulder fondly before stepping out of the room. Ranger Adam followed him, even as his partner Ida stayed behind in case she was needed.

He found Elesa pacing impatiently in the waiting room of the hospital, Skyla sitting nearby and gently rubbing Chandelure’s head. It looked like Skyla had already given up on trying to calm her girlfriend down, instead just resorting to keeping Chandelure in the room and out of the way of the agitated electric gym leader.

Both women looked up when they heard the door, Elesa bursting with questions. “How is he? Is Emmet still with him? Is Emmet doing ok? When can we go see him?” She was practically vibrating with energy, eager to see her more-than-friend, almost-brother again.

Drayden smiled fondly, gesturing with his hands for her to slow down. “Woah there. One question at a time, Elesa. Ingo is resting, and Emmet is staying with him until he wakes up again.”

Elesa paled, wringing her hands worriedly. “Wakes up again? Ranger Adam said he had to be sedated after he saw Professor Rowan! Did he panic? What happened?”

Drayden settled down in one of the chairs. How best to answer that question? “Ingo became…rather overwhelmed when he saw Emmet for the first time. I believe that some of his memories of Emmet returned when he saw him, and that has proven to apparently be a rather painful experience for him. When he remembers things, he experiences rather painful headaches.”

Elesa grimaced. “Let me guess. Meltdown?” At Drayden’s nod, the grimace deepened. “Guess we’re going to have to wait a while, then.”

“Yes, although not as long as you might think, I believe. Emmet was able to talk him through the panic and calm down.”

Drayden could practically see the moment his words fully registered in Elesa’s brain. Her head whipped around, eyes blowing comically wide as she stared at him. “Emmet talked?!”

Chapter Text

Despite everything that had been happening, and everything that he knew still had yet to come, Emmet was happy. His smile felt genuine for the first time in years, his fingers gratefully finding the fidget toy that Elesa had apparently slipped into his pocket earlier without his noticing and falling back into stimming with it one-handed with the ease born of habit.

The other hand was still holding Ingo’s.

Ingo.

Emmet still couldn’t believe that Ingo really, actually was truly here. His eyes roved over his brother, still picking up on the details even in the darkened room. He had made sure to keep the lights off, even though the sun had gone down some time ago and he was sitting in the dark. He didn’t know how sensitive Ingo would be feeling when he woke up, after all, and he didn’t want the lights to be too bright or buzz too loudly and overwhelm him again.

Ingo.

The smile twitched wider. His eyes traced over the silhouette of his brother’s beard, the rise and fall of his hospital gown-clad chest accentuating the slightly darker silver hair resting against it. His hair, free from any form of tie or hat, trailed along the stark white pillows and wreathed either side of his face. The more he looked, the more similarities he found between Ingo’s appearance and his own.

Emmet gently rubbed his thumb along his brother’s knuckles. It was almost funny. He had grown a beard and let his hair get longer in a grief-fuelled attempt to look less like Ingo. Now, it seemed that wherever Ingo had been, whatever had happened to him, somehow they had still managed to look the same.

His eyes picked over the small differences that still existed between them. Ingo’s usual frown was comfortably in place on his face, even while he slept. The sight brought Emmet comfort, even as the rest of the differences did the opposite.

Who hurt him? There were bruises on Ingo’s face, the deep, ugly shades of purple only now starting to fade in vibrancy as they healed. He had seen a brace on his brother’s knee earlier too, and one of the doctors had checked over his side very carefully before she would finally leave him and Ingo alone. Who hurt him? What happened? Emmet needed to know. He wanted to help his brother, and he didn’t know how to do that unless he knew what had happened to him.

A soft sound pulled Emmet out of his thoughts. It was a quiet noise, somewhere between a hum and a groan. Emmet’s eyes snapped back to the bed, and he could just barely pick out the crease in Ingo’s forehead deepening as he frowned. His fingers twitched in Emmet’s hand, and Emmet waited with bated breath to see if he would pull away. He hadn’t earlier, while he was overwhelmed and panicking, but that didn’t mean that right now would be the same. If what Uncle Drayden had told him was true, Emmet was practically a stranger to him right now. And Ingo didn’t like strangers touching him.

The fingers twitched again, and Emmet could see Ingo’s body start to tense up, shoulders slowly creeping up towards his ears as he shrank in on himself. He was pretty sure he watched as Ingo’s eyes slid open to take in the darkness. His fingers slowly closed around Emmet’s even as Ingo tensed up more and started trying to peer around the dark room to assess his surroundings.

“It is alright. You are safe and soon we will bring you home.” Emmet tried to keep his voice gentle, inwardly cursing how monotone and stilted his speech always seemed when compared to most people. It was how he always was, and he normally didn’t have a problem with it, but he was aware that it didn’t tend to be the most comforting thing in the world to hear.

Ingo twitched in surprise at the sudden voice before slowly relaxing as Emmet spoke. He was silent for a long moment after that, and Emmet would have almost wondered if he’d fallen asleep again if he couldn’t tell that his brother’s eyes were still open. Finally he spoke. “It’s dark in here.”

Emmet nodded, even though he knew his brother probably couldn’t see him do so. “Yes. The lights are very bright when they are on. They buzz too. They are not nice lights.” He got a grunt in response and took it as encouragement. “I did not want you to derail again when you woke up. So I kept the lights off. The others are not here right now. They are waiting downstairs, I think. It is just me. I am-”

“-Emmet.” His breath caught in his throat as his voice seemingly doubled on the last word. Ingo had spoken at the same time, had said it at the same time. Ingo had said his name and that meant that Ingo had remembered his name.

“Yes,” he breathed, barely louder than a whisper. “I am Emmet. You are Ingo. You have been missing a very long time.” His voice cracked slightly, and he swallowed hard before trying again. “You were gone for so long. Verrrry long. But you are here now.” He squeezed his brother’s hand happily, still reveling in the fact that he was able to finally touch him again.

Ingo glanced down towards where their hands were connected. “This, it…feels right. Why does it feel right?” Emmet waited, hoping for more explanation. He wasn’t quite sure what Ingo meant. Lucky for him, his brother was always the more long-winded of the two of them. “The hands before, the ones that were touching me…they didn’t. Just the arms that were holding me did.” His gaze drifted upwards, finding the vague outline of Emmet in the darkness. “Was that you? Were those your arms I felt holding me before?”

Emmet smiled, nodding enthusiastically. “Yes. You were falling out of bed. I caught you. I did not want you to derail on the floor and injure yourself. Safety first!”

Ingo was quiet again for a long while after that, but Emmet didn’t mind. They were together again! And words had never been a necessity between them. They were nice sometimes, but Emmet liked the comfortable silences that had been a large part of their childhood as well. Ingo had never been one to pressure Emmet to try and talk when the words wouldn’t work for him. Instead he did his best to learn to interpret Emmet’s nonverbal cues.

“I don’t…”

Ingo’s voice pulled him back to the present and out of his thoughts. He tilted his head, confused by the incomplete thought. “You don’t what?”

He sighed. “It’s…In the Pearl Clan, people don’t touch each other. Some of the Galaxy Team did, but never with me. I never wanted them to do it to me. Pokemon touching me is different, that’s alright, but people…” He huffed, searching around for the right words. “I…Why don’t I want to come uncoupled from you? You’re touching me, and that is something I do not believe I would be comfortable with in most cases. But right now, with you…somehow it doesn’t bother me. It feels right.”

Emmet didn’t know what this Pearl Clan or Galaxy Team was, but his smile widened comfortingly anyway. He hummed, squeezing his brother’s hand reassuringly as he tried to think of how to explain this. How to tell his brother something he’d apparently forgotten about himself. “I am Emmet. You are Ingo. We are twins, and we are different. We are different from other people. They cannot hear the lights buzz and smells and sounds and touches to not bother them so much. We learned to help each other. I help you. And you help me.”

Ingo grunted. “So we’re a two-car train, then.” He winced, his free hand going up to hold his head.

Emmet’s smile lessened at the obvious discomfort and he leaned forward, looking Ingo over in concern. “What is wrong? Are you in pain? Do you need me to get the doctor?”

He rose to a half-standing position before his brother shook his head. “Just a small headache. They happen when I try to remember something.”

Emmet straightened, a flicker of hope lighting up in his chest like one of Chandelure’s flames as he settled back into his chair. He remembered Uncle Drayden mentioning something about memories causing Ingo headaches. It was what had caused his brother’s meltdown when Emmet had first entered the room. “You remembered something?”

Ingo’s mouth turned down more, forming into almost a grimace. “Not really. That phrase I said, about two-car trains, I’m not quite sure what it means. I know what I associate with it, but I cannot remember the object I am referring to. It happens rather frequently to me, actually. I’ll say things, the strangest things, and have no idea what they actually mean, only what I intend by them.”

Emmet blinked slowly, processing what his brother had said. “You are saying…you do not remember what a train is?”

Ingo shook his head. “I don’t. It’s like the word is there, and I know it’s important to me, but I cannot seem to bring an image into the station of what the word might mean.” He huffed, seeming frustrated. “It has caused me no small delays in commute trying to explain my odd phrases to the Pearl Clan, let alone anyone else.”

Emmet sat forward, smile widening into an excited grin as he began to feel his words coming more easily, flowing towards his mouth like water and preparing to break free of a dam. “Would you like me to tell you about trains, Ingo?”

He looked up, seeming almost surprised. “You mean you know?”

Emmet nodded excitedly. “I do! I am Emmet and you are Ingo! We are the Subway Bosses! We run the Battle Subway trains.” His other hand started stimming more rapidly with his fidget toy, bleeding off the excess energy that had filled his body at the chance to talk about his beloved trains.

The corners of Ingo’s mouth leveled out into a flat line, which by Ingo’s normal standards was a broad, ear-to-ear grin. He nodded. “I…Yes, I think I’d like that very much.” He settled back against his pillows, one hand trailing through his Sneasel’s fur as the other still held onto Emmet’s hand. “Conduct me through this explanation please, Emmet. All aboard!”

Despite the growing bags under Rowan’s eyes, he didn’t find himself feeling very inclined to fall asleep. He was in one of the private study rooms on the upper floors of the Canalave Library, poring over ancient manuscripts that had been carefully and lovingly preserved over the generations. The more he read, the more he grew certain that Ingo had truly been transported backwards in time, only to return to the present with the freak snowstorm.

He reached over, taking a swig of his now-cold coffee and barely even registering its changed temperature. Currently open in front of him was a detailed compilation of accounts regarding the concept of ‘Pokemon Nobles’, which had apparently existed in Hisui before it was founded into the modern day Sinnoh region. He wasn’t quite certain what to make of the records of them being many times larger in size than their standard counterparts, nor was he sure what had happened to these Nobles if indeed they had existed. The inner researcher in him itched to dig into historical and maybe even archeological records to pursue the topic.

But that wasn’t what he was here to research.

Rowan shook his head, willing himself to focus. His eyes caught on a leatherbound journal set off to one side, half-hidden among his empty coffee cups. He sighed, reaching out and grabbing it. So far, while the texts he’d read had strongly supported his theory, he had found no actual hard evidence that proved Ingo had been transported to the past. He was beginning to doubt that said evidence actually still existed, if it ever had at all.

He gently opened the book, being careful of its aged pages as he read the neat handwriting on the first page. “The Personal Journal of Lady Irida, Leader of the Pearl Clan.” He froze, stiffening in his chair as he searched around wildly for the list of information the Pokemon Rangers had compiled for him before he’d left the hospital. Where is it? It was just here. Damn it, where?!

He finally found it buried under several incredibly old maps dating back to when Hisui was first explored by the indigenous clans centuries ago. Rowan’s eyes scanned down the list until they alighted on a name. Lady Irida. The name that Ingo had said, the person he had mistaken Ranger Ida for when he had first seen her.

Rowan was definitely wide awake now. He leaned forward, mentally reminding himself to still be gentle with the book despite his eagerness to learn more. If there are answers, I’ll find them here. Determined, he began reading the entries.

It seemed that Irida had been a young woman, newly named as the leader of the Pearl Clan when she started the journal. Rowan read through her struggles with earning her clan’s loyalty and the respect of their somewhat-rivals the Diamond Clan. He tried to fight off his growing impatience. While he would normally be fascinated by the accounts of what life had been like in another time and their struggles with both wild pokemon and differing cultural beliefs and practices, Rowan was on a mission. He needed to know what had happened to Ingo, and if he truly had been transported to the past.

As Irida’s journal kept rambling on and on about her struggles with juggling clan traditions with the need for adapting with the times, Rowan grew more and more frustrated. Huffing, he flipped forward a fair amount in the book, hoping to finally get to the period of time where Ingo might appear. In the back of his mind, a small voice warned him that he might have skipped right past it, but at the moment he was too tired to particularly care.

His eyes caught and focused in on a passage that was formatted differently from the rest and he stopped flicking through the pages. While the rest of the journal was written in dense paragraphs, given the Pearl Clan leader’s tendency to address her problems and thoughts in a fairly roundabout manner, this particular entry was more spaced out, with only so many words per line. It took him a moment to realize that it was a poem.

”The winds of time have swept us by, and away with them you blew,
Just as it was those years ago, when Sinnoh brought us you.
Your lady dearly misses you, and yearns to hear your song.
The Highlands have grown too silent, now that you are gone.
You stood your ground as one of us, trouble come what may.
I can only hope our spaces will cross again one day.
For now, it’s with a heavy heart that I wish your spirit well.
Our ‘all aboard’ has sadly now become a solemn ‘farewell.’’”

Rowan’s eyes widened as he took in the last line. His breath caught in his throat as his gaze flew up to the title of the poem, inscribed neatly at the top of the page. ”Elegy for Ingo, Highland Warden of the Pearl Clan.” He reread the same words time and time again, as if trying to ensure that time or his sleep-deprived state hadn’t changed them in some way. Every time, the words stayed the same.

Ingo.

Ingo truly had been in the past. There was not a shadow of a doubt in Rowan’s mind any longer. Not after reading the poem written for him by a woman who had been dead and gone for centuries. He slowly flicked back through the pages he had skipped earlier in his haste for answers. Entry after entry, he found mentions of Warden Ingo, tracing back what had to have been several years worth of entries. He wasn’t mentioned in every page, but his name cropped up frequently enough to be significant.

The more he read, the more he found himself comparing this account of Ingo to the one that his ancestor, Commander Kamado, had left. Although he was reading this journal in the reverse order of what it had been written in, it was still abundantly clear to Rowan just how respected and well thought of Ingo had been in the Pearl Clan. He was regarded as somewhat strange, yes, but that was hardly surprising to Rowan given what he knew of Ingo’s favored mannerisms before he had vanished.

He finally found the entries detailing Ingo’s arrival in Hisui. It had coincided with a rather harsh storm, and an immense space-time distortion had formed over a large section of the Coronet Highlands. Apparently one of the Noble pokemon of the area, Lady Sneasler, had discovered Ingo, injured and disoriented in the middle of said storm. She had carried him all the way from the base of Mount Coronet up to the Pearl Clan settlement in the Alabaster Icelands.

Rowan leaned over, cross-referencing with one of the old maps he had found earlier. Alabaster Icelands…Ah, here it is. He blinked in surprise. That’s almost exactly where Snowpoint City is today. Is there some connection between Ingo and the area? He was locked in a cell where Jubilife City is now before he was transported.

He considered that thought before discarding it. He vanished from Nimbasa City and wound up at the base of Mount Coronet. I need to remember that these distortions were with space as well as time.

Rowan sat back and stretched, wincing slightly at the loud popping sounds his back made as the tension from hunching over books for hours on end was finally released. He groaned at the soreness of his muscles and the wave of exhaustion that hit him now that his concentration on researching Ingo’s disappearance had finally broken. He stretched, slowly standing up and beginning to clean up his research materials.

I need to tell Drayden what I’ve found. Those Pokemon Rangers too, and probably the police now that I think about it. He grimaced at the thought. Drayden will believe me when I lay out all the evidence for him. The Rangers may, but the police…Hm, that will be an unpleasant conversation, trying to convince them. Perhaps if Ingo confirms my theory they may be willing to listen.

The brief glimmer of hope he felt at that thought died just as quickly as it had sparked. Confirming his theory would require speaking with Ingo, which generally involved being able to be in the same room as the man without him devolving into panicked shouting and being heavily sedated as a result. His grimace deepened as he slid books back onto their appropriate shelves. This will not be easy.

Still, Rowan had promises to keep. He had promised his friend that he would figure out what had happened to Drayden’s nephew. And Rowan intended to keep that promise.

Last book finally shelved, Rowan strode out of Canalave Library into the cool and comfortable evening air. Reaching into his pocket, he took out a few shrunken pokeballs and looked them over before choosing one and returning the rest to where he had just grabbed them from. Tossing it into the air, his beloved Staraptor appeared in a flash of light with a soft screech of greeting.

Rowan smiled despite himself, reaching up and stroking Staraptor’s feathers. “It’s good to see you too, my friend. Now please, take me back to Snowpoint City. I need to speak with Drayden.”

Chapter Text

Adam was really starting to get tired, his eyelids feeling leaden as exhaustion crept up on him. He had woken up yesterday morning expecting a relatively normal day. He grimaced as his watch caught his eye and he realized it was well past midnight. Make that two days ago. Damn, things really have been happening fast.

His normal day had taken a small turn for the not-so-normal with the avalanche being reported near Snowpoint City, but even storms and natural disasters weren't too far out of the ordinary in his line of work. Such was the life of a Pokemon Ranger. However, after they had arrived, with the wild Sneasel all converging eerily on the same cave, the haunting melody he almost half-remembered that they all sang…Adam shivered. Yeah. It’s been a really long couple of days.

And it wasn’t over yet.

He groaned, stretching as he made his way down the quiet, darkened hallways of the building. He had peeked into the hospital room a few minutes ago to check in on the twins. He had found both of them asleep, Ingo in the bed and Emmet slumped forward in a chair next to it, his head resting on the mattress near Ingo’s side. They had been holding hands, both seeming peaceful and relaxed in each other’s presence.

Adam couldn’t help but smile at the memory of the soft moment he had witnessed between the two of them. He didn’t know how much or even if the brothers had managed to talk, but he hoped that whatever interaction they’d had, it had been pleasant for both of them. Now he just needed to report back to the…other interested parties. And sweet Arceus are there a lot of interested parties. Ida, Drayden, those two other Unovan Gym Leaders Elesa and Skyla, the police will probably ask questions too…Yeah, definitely not going to get any sleep tonight.

He sighed, turning a corner and easing open the door he found himself in front of. Inside was the waiting room that had been almost entirely taken over by those visiting for Ingo’s sake. In one corner there was an Emolga curled up and asleep, cuddling with a Swoobat of all things, while a Chandelure hovered watchfully over both of them. Elesa was similarly leaning against Skyla, a mirror to their cuddling pokemon, her eyes drooping closed as she seemed to be fighting to stay awake. Drayden was sitting off to one side, speaking quietly with Ida and a police officer.

Everyone looked up when they heard the door open, and Adam had to resist the urge to reach up and fiddle nervously with one of his earrings as he stepped fully into the room. He quietly shut the door, waiting to see who would speak first.

“How are they doing?” Drayden, as it turned out, was the lucky winner. He had an intense look in his eyes that sent a shiver down Adam’s spine, reminding him of the angry Garchomp he’d once had to face down a few years back. The wild beard on his face was starting to resemble a Druddigon’s jaw. In the back of his mind, he wondered if that had been the look Drayden was going for with his beard. Regardless, I know that look in his eyes. That’s the look of a dragon right there. A dragon ready and waiting for the right opportunity to strike.

Focus. Damn, I’m too tired for this right now. “I poked my head in. They’ve still got the lights off in there, and when I checked they were both asleep.” He glanced over at the police officer and Ida, only now noticing the detective badge on the officer’s belt. “Any more news or new developments?”

The detective nodded. “That’s part of why I’m here, actually. That, and I couldn’t get this case out of my head until I came to visit.” He sighed. “The lab put a rush on the analysis of those chains you found on him. They were made of a pretty old metal combination. Apparently you don’t usually see that mix anywhere outside of archeological artifacts these days. Luckily they’re in good enough condition that the doctors shouldn’t need to worry too much about Ingo getting tetanus from where they cut him.”

The three assembled gym leaders all looked a touch relieved at that, even if Skyla’s eyes were watering and Elesa looked vaguely nauseous at the reminder that Ingo had been chained up when he was found. The detective continued. “The broken end of that chain is really what has the crime scene techs interested. Do you remember if Ingo mentioned to any of you how it got broken?”

Ida spoke up, beating Adam to the punch. “He said that the Sneasel he has with him had almost gotten him free before the surge of energy hit. It’s possible that she slashed through the chain.”

Adam nodded in agreement, even as the detective frowned doubtfully. “Maybe…I’ll have to consult with Professor Rowan on that one.”

Elesa sat forward, an intense frown of concentration appearing on her face as she studied the detective. “Why are you so unsure that’s what happened? And what would Professor Rowan know about it?”

He shifted, fishing out the notes he’d taken on the techs’ report. “Because according to this, the techs said that the end of the chain was corroded, as if it had come into contact with a relatively strong poison or acid. They compared it to evidence they’ve seen in the past of Toxicroak attacks. Like something sharp and acidic cut right through the chain.”

Skyla frowned. “But Sneasel is ice and dark type. If it was a poison type that got him free, it wasn’t the Sneasel.”

Ida shook her head. “Not necessarily. You haven’t seen what this one looks like. I’ve never seen a Sneasel that was purple and white before. Honestly, it’s like if a Sneasel came in bluk berry flavor.”

Adam grunted. “True. Although, it does remind me of a couple of the regional variants of pokemon I’ve heard about. They look different from the common ones, and a lot of times their typings change too.”

The detective shrugged. “That’s true enough, I guess, although I’ve never heard of a regional Sneasel before. I guess it’s as good a place to start as any, though.” He got up, straightening his jacket. “More questions for the profes-”

Everyone in the room jumped as the door flew open, thankfully quietly enough to not cause problems with the hospital staff. As if summoned by the mention of his name, Professor Rowan strode hurriedly into the room. “Drayden, I need to speak with you.”

Drayden frowned, slowly rising and approaching his friend with no small level of concern on his face. “Rowan, you look exhausted. You should sit down.” Without waiting for a reply, he gently guided Rowan to a chair and eased him down into it.

Rowan waved off his concerns distractedly, despite not resisting being guided around in the slightest. “I’m fine, I’m fine.”

Drayden’s frown deepened as he caught hold of the waving appendage. He held onto Rowan’s wrist, keeping it motionless and highlighting the faint tremors going through Rowan’s hands. “You’re really not.” He could see the bags already forming under his friend’s eyes.

If Rowan registered his concern, he didn’t acknowledge it. Instead he locked eyes with Drayden, his voice shaking just slightly. “I figured out where Ingo went.”

Drayden froze, still holding onto Rowan’s wrist. Every eye in the room turned to lock directly onto the professor as a deep, prevailing quiet and stillness fell over the assembled people. It seemed almost as if nobody even dared to breathe for a brief moment, due to how still the air seemed to grow.

It was Adam who finally managed to collect himself enough to break the silence. “Professor,” he said, choosing his words carefully, “what do you mean when you say that you know where he went?”

“I did some digging into that list of names you Rangers gave me. I started with Commander Kamado, of course.” Rowan stated this like it should be obvious why.

Adam frowned. “When Ingo called you that, you looked like you recognized the name. Just who is this Commander Kamado?”

“Was.” Rowan’s voice was quiet and grim. “You mean to ask, who was Commander Kamado.” At the raised eyebrows and confused looks he received, Rowan sighed, bowing his head. “Commander Kamado was the brilliant, if gruff, leader of a team of explorers and researchers. They were the originators of a new regional Pokedex, actually.” He seemed to draw in on himself, as if he was forcing out the next words. “He was also my ancestor.”

The room’s quiet volume earlier had been downright loud compared to the shocked silence that greeted Rowan’s words. The expressions on the surrounding faces varied from shock to confusion to polite, if skeptical, disbelief.

Adam’s brain was running a mile a minute as he tried to process what the professor had just said. One hand rose up, subconsciously fiddling with one of his piercings. “Your…ancestor? You think Ingo mistook you for someone who’s…long dead?”

The professor nodded, a grimace plain on his face. “I know how impossible it sounds. Believe me, I would think it was impossible too if I hadn’t found that journal in Canalave. But it’s true! And it’s not just me. He mistook you and Ida for other people too. People from the same exact time period as my ancestor!”

Drayden held up his hands in a calming gesture, like what Adam might do to try and soothe an upset pokemon. “Easy, Rowan. Slow down and start from the beginning. What’s this about a journal? When did Canalave City come into all of this?”

The professor huffed. “The city didn’t. Their library did. I went there to find more after I found the information in Commander Kamado’s journal to be incomplete and insufficient at filling me in on all of the details. It did point me in the right direction, however, even if he never mentioned Ingo by name. So I went into the Canalave Library’s archives on the founding of Sinnoh and started digging more.”

The detective shifted. “And you believe you’ve found conclusive evidence to this theory?”

Rowan nodded, pulling out his phone and beginning to flick through photos he’d taken of old, worn pages full of faded, handwritten ink. “The personal journal of Lady Irida of the Pearl Clan. She talks about Ingo a lot. How he was found injured near the base of Mount Coronet and taken in by the clan. How he rose through the ranks to become one of their wardens. How he was…imprisoned...by Commander Kamado and his Galaxy Team when they blamed him for their problems. And how he vanished and was eventually presumed dead. They never found him. Because he was transported here again.”

The detective rubbed his eyes tiredly, as if he could already feel the growing amount of work this case would put on his plate. “I heard rumors about wormholes cropping up in Alola a while back. But I thought they had those handled. Never heard of them showing up here until now. Why did this have to be our problem?”

Professor Rowan grunted. “Based on what I read, you can thank Dialga and Palkia for that, at least in part. They’re both very rooted in Sinnoh’s history, and Irida mentions both in her journal.”

Ida’s head jerked up. “Hold on, I thought Champion Dawn caught those two. Why are they causing issues again?”

Adam huffed. “Remember that Dawn is missing too. For all we know, she could have released them or they somehow got free. Or else this is their past versions causing problems instead of their current ones.” He buried his head in his hands. “Ugh, time travel makes my head hurt.”

The detective grimaced. “I think I’m going to reach out to the Alolan Police Department. See if they have any tips for investigating potential portals or wormholes or whatever that storm was.”

Drayden gave him a nod. “A good idea. You should probably connect with the Unovan Police Department as well. They handled Ingo’s original disappearance, and once we’re cleared to take him home will likely get involved again.”

His words didn’t seem to help the poor detective’s stress level any. If anything, he looked even more exhausted. “At this rate the International Police Force is going to get involved.”

Adam just gave him a somewhat-apologetic shrug. With three police departments plus the Pokemon Rangers already in the mix, the International Police honestly might be a good call. They’re even better and more experienced at coordinating across regions than we Rangers are. He just hoped that the matter would be resolved quickly, and that he and Ida could get back to normal life again with their more standard duties. Even if he would be slightly sad to see the twins go. Strangers though they were to him, he couldn’t deny they were kind of cute.

Ingo was asleep one moment and awake the next, his eyes flicking open as consciousness rushed back to him. It wasn’t unusual for small noises in the night to wake him. They happened rather frequently, and more than once that habit for light sleeping had kept him alive. Hisui was a dangerous place for the unwary, particularly at night.

You’re not in Hisui anymore. He felt the need to physically remind himself of that fact as his eyes drifted around the dark room. It was growing familiar to him, thanks to the number of times his eyes had scanned those blank white walls for danger, the way he used to do with the crags and cliffs of the Coronet Highlands.

What woke me? Everything in the room appeared to be in order, as best he could tell. At the very least, nothing looked like it had been changed drastically enough to wake him up. Lady Sneasler’s young kit was still curled into his uninjured side, huffing softly in her sleep. Her claws flexed every once in a while. Ingo hoped she was having a good dream.

A soft sound broke through his thoughts, drawing his attention to his other side. Oh. He and Emmet were still holding hands. He blinked, surprised that he hadn’t noticed until now. It just felt so right, so much so that it almost unnerved him, ironically enough.

The sound came again, and Ingo realized it was a soft whine coming from his sleeping twin. Emmet’s smile, still present, even in sleep, looked more like a grimace now. His grip on Ingo’s hand tightened and he shifted slightly, mumbling something unintelligible.

Ingo frowned, gently rubbing the back of Emmet’s hand with his thumb. How did he help his brother when he didn’t even remember what Emmet found comforting? He wanted to help, instincts practically starting to shout at him to soothe his twin’s obviously worsening nightmare and ease him to rest. If only he knew how.

He kept rubbing the back of Emmet’s hand, wondering what the nightmare might be about. The conversation he remembered them having before they fell asleep had been wonderful. He’d finally remembered what trains were! Emmet had talked to him for hours about the various types of trains and the unique features of each, not to mention the smooth flow of the controls that he almost felt like he could reach out and take hold of them. The descriptions unlocked buried muscle memories, and Ingo was itching to ride a train again.

Emmet let out another noise, somewhere between a whimper and a whine. He twitched, his eyes flying open with a soft gasp as he jerked upright into a sitting position. Ingo jumped, startled by the sudden flurry of movement. “Steady on, Emmet. You’re in a safe terminal.”

Emmet twitched again at his voice, his eyes flying over wildly to stare at Ingo. He sat frozen for half a moment before promptly dissolving into tears and throwing his arms around his brother. Ingo froze, eyes widening as he stiffened. His arms were held out to either side, afraid of doing the wrong thing and upsetting his twin more. Then muscle memory took over, overriding those fears with instinctive comfort.

His face softened and his arms gently went around Emmet, holding him close to his chest and rubbing his back comfortingly. “It’s alright, Emmet. You’re safe, and I am here with you. You were having a nightmare, and I wasn’t sure how to ease you out of it. For that, I apologize.”

Emmet let out a wet, choked sob, just burying his face in Ingo’s chest. “You’re still here.”

Ingo blinked. He wasn’t sure what he had expected Emmet to say, but that certainly hadn’t been it. “Of course I am. I wouldn’t just change terminals without first alerting you to my new station.”

His brother sobbed again. “You did last time.” Ingo flinched slightly at the reminder of a moment he absolutely couldn’t recall, and a note of regret entered Emmet’s voice. “I a-am Emmet. I am so-sorry.”

Ingo felt a pang in his chest that felt like he’d caught a shard of Stone Edge wrong again. “Emmet, you have nothing to apologize for. I shouldn’t have…I should have remembered that you may have anxieties associated with me and suddenly changing terminals without you. I apologize once again for my thoughtless words.”

Emmet let out a wet sound that was almost a laugh. “The doctors did say you had memory trouble.”

Ingo’s frown became a little less deep. “I suppose that is true.” They sat in silence for a moment before he hummed. “Would you like to tell me what you were dreaming about?” He felt Emmet stiffen slightly in his arms and hurried to correct his course back to a safer set of tracks. “Do not feel as if you have to. It was merely a suggestion. I have sometimes found that speaking of such fears may help alleviate them. However, if you are not feel-”

“Three years.”

Ingo fell silent immediately at the interruption, waiting to see if Emmet would continue. “What?”

“Three years, ten months, eleven days, twelve hours, thirty three minutes, and fifty eight seconds. That is how long you were gone. I could never stop counting. Until I saw you again. I was…The nightmare, it was of the day you disappeared.”

“Oh.” Ingo tried to fight down the lump in his throat. He didn’t know what to say to that, what he could possibly ever say to help Emmet get over his memories of that day. Memories that Ingo no longer possessed and had no idea when they would return, if they ever did. He absently began to chew on his lip, not even registering he was doing so until Emmet reached up and gently rubbed his thumb on Ingo’s chin to free his lip again.

Emmet gave him a tired, tearstained smile. “You always do that when you are worried. I am Emmet. You are here now and not gone. I will be fine.”

Ingo couldn’t help the skeptical look that came across his face. “Are you certain about that?”

He nodded. “I will be fine.” Even as he said it, he sounded as if he was trying to convince himself rather than Ingo.

How do I help? Ingo hadn’t felt this helpless in years. Not since he’d woken up in a healer’s hut in the Alabaster Icelands with bandages around his head and no memories aside from his name. How do I solve a problem I can’t remember? If only I could recall what happened that day, perhaps I could reassure him and ensure that it will not happen again.

Emmet shifted slightly, pulling Ingo’s attention back to him. “Elesa, she tries to get me to talk about things. I…couldn’t. Not while you were gone. I did not talk about what happened.”

Ingo tried to keep his voice gentle, keeping careful track of his volume. “Would you like to talk about it now?”

He hesitated, muscles tensing slightly against Ingo’s arms before Emmet finally pulled back. He made sure that one hand still held firmly onto Ingo’s. “It was…mostly like a normal day. We had breakfast. We went to Gear Station. We ran the lines. You were on Singles and I did Doubles. For lunch, we met with Elesa at a cafe near her gym. After, we were supposed to run the Multi Line. But that did not happen.”

Emmet shivered slightly, and Ingo squeezed his hand in silent encouragement as he nodded along to the explanation. He remembered Emmet’s explanation of the various Battle Subway lines and their unique functions. The Multi Line was the one the twins ran together.

“When we returned, we just barely beat the storm.” Emmet’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts again, and he fought the urge to allow his frown to deepen. Thanks to the space-time distortions he’d been forced to experience in Hisui, Ingo was not very fond of storms. “It was raining hard. Verrrry hard. But we did not care. The trains do not need to worry about rain.” He swallowed hard. “But then the power went out.”

Ingo stilled. Something about this story was starting to feel vaguely familiar. The soft, comfortable buzz of the lights cut out suddenly. There were cries of alarm as the station was plunged into darkness. Ingo had reached towards his belt, instinctively grabbing the correct ball and tossing it out. There was a burst of light and then his surroundings were lit by an eerie yet familiar purple glow…

“I stayed at the station. I had Eelektross. We were trying to repair the generators and restore the station’s power to operation. You had Chandelure. Together, you searched the lines’ tunnels for damage.” Emmet’s voice filtered into his flashes of memory. A glowing, glass-like body with flaring purple flames hovering ahead of him to light his way. Dark tunnels stretching ever onwards through winding twists and turns that he knew like the back of his hand.

Emmet sniffled, rubbing at his eyes with the back of his free hand. “There was some kind of power surge. Eelektross and I did not manage to return the lights to operation until after. I still do not know what caused it.” Pure energy rushing up the tunnel towards him. He grabbed his partner, Chandelure’s pokeball off of his belt and returned her to it, not wanting her to be hurt by the unknown power.

“I waited for you to return. I tried to call you, but there was no answer. You were gone.” Energy washing over him, making the wall he’d sheltered behind waver like water. The air shimmered like a heat haze in summer. Suddenly he was falling. He cried out, throwing away the one pokeball he had with him. Whether it was in an attempt to send Chandelure back out for help, or to simply protect her, Ingo didn’t know. But suddenly he was falling, and there was lightning everywhere. It struck his wrist, burning through the band of the device that rested there and causing it to fall just as he watched the rift close.

Pain lanced through Ingo’s head, and he grabbed it instinctively with his free hand, despite the fact that he knew it would do no good. Emmet stiffened, squeezing the hand he still held. “Ingo…?”

Ingo breathed shakily, in through his nose and out through his mouth as he tried to ride out the pain. “Mh…He-headache again.”

Emmet’s eyes widened. “You remembered something, didn’t you?” Ingo made a soft noise of confirmation, not trusting himself to move his head, for fear that it would make the pain all the worse. “What did you remember?”

He slowly leaned back against the pillows, closing his eyes and waiting for the pounding in his head to subside. “That day. I…I think I remembered what happened.”

Chapter Text

It was Ida’s turn to check on the twins. She stretched, shutting the door of the waiting room quietly behind her as she left. She really hoped she didn’t wake any of the others with her departure. They all looked like they needed the sleep, especially Adam and Professor Rowan.

Her shoulders popped faintly as she rolled them, making her way down the hall towards Ingo’s room. She smiled as she passed through a sunbeam streaming in from a window overlooking Snowpoint City. It really was a beautiful morning. She wondered if Ingo or any of the others might be able to enjoy it, even though it would probably be a bit colder than what most people preferred.

Ida couldn’t help but smile to herself. The cold had never really been an issue for her, or really any of her family. She had grown up on the outskirts of Snowpoint, after all, her family had apparently helped found the city in the first place if her grandmother’s old stories were to be believed.

She pulled herself out of her thoughts as she rounded the corner and saw the police officer currently standing guard outside of Ingo’s room. The man tipped his hat to her. “Ranger, ma’am. There’s a doctor in there at the moment. Do you want to wait, or head inside?”

Ida hesitated, a frown forming on her face. “A doctor? Did something happen?”

The officer shrugged. “That other one, Emmet?” He looked to Ida for confirmation, and when she nodded he kept going. “Emmet came out about ten minutes ago or so. Said that his brother had developed a headache in the night and it wasn’t going away the way they apparently normally do. The doctor headed in to have a look. Brought a Blissey with her.”

Ida nodded, stepping forward. “I’ll go see what’s going on.” The officer nodded, quietly opening the door for her and allowing her to slip inside.

As she came through the door, Ida felt an overwhelming sense of calm and comfort fill her up. She could practically feel her residual tiredness fade away, along with minor aches and pains she’d barely registered. She blinked, looking over towards Ingo’s bed. He was laying still, a rather deep frown on his face as he kept his eyes closed. One hand was holding onto Emmet’s, and his brother was watching him with a concerned smile. On the other side, the doctor was frowning as she checked over the machines monitoring him.

“Ingo? Does it still hurt?” Emmet’s voice was rather flat, but Ida could still tell he was very worried for his brother.

Ingo’s grimace didn’t lessen. “Yes.” He hesitated. “I…maybe a little less now?”

He definitely didn’t sound certain, but the doctor nodded determinedly. “Alright, Blissey, you heard him. Heal Pulse, one more time.”

The pokemon nodded, and Ida felt another wave of wellness wash over her. Despite this, she couldn’t help but grimace slightly. His headache is bad enough that they’re having a Blissey use Heal Pulse multiple times? Ida had seen minor bone fractures cured by even one use of that move by a skilled pokemon, and a hospital staff Blissey was definitely skilled. At this rate, he’ll be able to be released within a day.

She looked back at Ingo with a more critical eye, seeking out the details she’d overlooked earlier. The bruises on his face were gone. The bandages around his wrists hadn’t been removed, but he seemed to be holding his arms less gingerly than he had before. Well, at least something good can come out of this headache, if it means getting him fixed up that much faster. He deserves to go home. A faint stirring of sadness that she wouldn’t be able to get to know him better twitched at her. She didn’t want Ingo to go, him or Emmet. Irritated, she pushed down those feelings harshly. He deserves to go home. Don’t be stupid.

The vibrant feeling of the Heal Pulse faded, and Ingo sighed, some of the tension leaving his body. Emmet visibly perked up. “You are back in operating condition?”

Ingo shrugged. “It’s better. I’ve definitely performed my duties feeling worse.” His eyes drifted open and he blinked in surprise. “La– Ranger Ida, I didn’t hear you come in.”

Emmet twisted around, jolting in surprise at being informed there was another person in the room. “I am Emmet! I did not hear you either.”

Ida smiled, waving them both off. “It’s fine. You guys seemed busy, and I didn’t want to interrupt, so I just came in quietly.”

Emmet nodded in agreement. “Verrrry quietly, yes. Not even Sneasel heard you come in.” He pointed to where Ida could now make out the purple snout of the strange Sneasel poking adorably out of Ingo’s blankets.

Ida couldn’t help but allow her smile to widen at the incredibly cute sight. “I have lots of practice. Being a Pokemon Ranger means I need to know how to go places without upsetting the local pokemon.” She grew more serious. “But that’s enough about me. What’s going on? Ingo, what happened? Did you get another migraine?”

Ingo looked like he was about to nod before seemingly thinking better of it. Instead he just hummed in agreement. “Unfortunately, yes. It would seem that the more I remember at once, the longer the headache lasts.”

“Oh?” The doctor looked interested. “Have you ever experienced one that lasted this long before?”

Ingo hesitated, his eyes flickering briefly to Emmet. “...Once. Several years ago.”

Ida could tell how uncomfortable he seemed with the topic and stepped in to get the doctor off his back. “They happen when you remember things, so what did you remember this time?”

Twin pairs of gray eyes snapped to her, and Ida could swear she could see the gratitude that Ingo’s held. “With some aid from my brother, I have remembered the day I vanished, and what occurred to derail me so thoroughly for such a lengthy time frame.”

Ida sat forward, interested. She could still hear Professor Rowan’s theory that Ingo had traveled through time bouncing around in the back of her head. Well, I guess we’ll find out if he was right. “Yeah? Do you feel up to sharing?”

Ingo grunted. “I…Some of the details are still…vague. You may wish for a recounting from Emmet as well. But I was going through a tunnel, with tracks on the ground. There was a pokemon with me. Suddenly there was some kind of energy surge. I recalled…the pokemon with me, so she would not be injured by such a blast. Then, the air seemed to…warp. I was caught up in it. I threw her ball away so she would not be caught as well. The device on my wrist was damaged and fell off, right as the warp closed around me. After that, I fell. Something struck my head. And I forgot.”

An involuntary shiver ran its way up Ida’s spine. Oh, Arceus, I almost wish he hadn’t remembered. How awful. She swallowed, trying to think of something more positive to say. She doubted Ingo wanted or needed her pity. Distraction. Distraction. Oh! She made a conscious effort to smile, hoping it didn’t look too forced. “Well, at least that’s some evidence toward the professor’s theory rather than just thinking you were kidnapped.”

Two pairs of gray eyes were focused on her again. She chose to concentrate more on Ingo than on Emmet, even though Emmet was the one who spoke first. “The professor? You mean Professor Rowan? Or Professor Juniper?”

Ida hummed. “Rowan. He’s apparently been doing a lot of research for the past few days and claims to have figured out where you were sent, Ingo.”

Ingo’s frown wavered uncertainly. He seemed confused. “I was in Hisui. That’s where I was sent.”

Emmet tilted his head, even as Ida felt herself stiffen. “Hisui? I have never heard of that region before.”

“I have.” Ida shifted, chewing on her lip. Damn, the professor really was right on the money, huh? “Hisui was the original name for the Sinnoh region while it was still being explored. It only started being called Sinnoh after some kind of war or something that officially formed it into a unified region.”

Both brothers stared at her uncomprehendingly. When Emmet spoke again, he was hesitant. “When it was founded? But that was a long time ago. A verrrry long time.”

Ida nodded. “It was. A few hundred years ago, give or take.” She sighed, running a hand through her hair. “Professor Rowan’s theory is that Ingo fell through some kind of space-time distortion and wound up in the past. Then he fell through another one or something and ended up back here.”

The twins just stared at her. Ingo was the one to finally speak. Or rather, he was the one able to find the words and get them out. Unfortunately, Ida was pretty sure that the man had exactly zero concept of what an indoor voice was. He started practically shouting at her, volume steadily increasing in his distress. “A few hundred years?!”

Adam woke up with a start as his phone started buzzing in his pocket. His head jerked up from where he’d been slumped forward in a chair. Unfortunately, said chair was right against the wall. There was a loud thunk as the back of his head collided with the wall, the blow softened only by his rather fluffy ponytail. He winced, a hand reaching up to rub the back of his head. “Ow…”

He heard a quiet chuckle, and he looked over to find an amused Drayden watching him. “Are you alright?”

He nodded, standing up and stretching, his back popping audibly as he worked it out of the awkward position he had apparently fallen asleep in. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. I’ve definitely had worse.”

Drayden nodded, and Adam was pretty sure he could see laughter hidden behind that wild beard the gym leader sported. “You seemed to wake up rather suddenly there. What disturbed you?”

Adam blinked tiredly before remembering the vibrations he’d felt against his leg that had startled him into wakefulness. Reaching into his pocket, he fished out his phone and checked his notifications. “Ida texted. She went to go check on Ingo and Emmet.”

The amusement slipped away, replaced by intense concentration and a level of concern that rivaled that of a parent regarding their child. “How are they?” How is he? Adam could hear the second question buried just below the surface of the first.

He read the messages Ida had sent him and grimaced. “Apparently he remembered a bit too much all at once and got a pretty nasty migraine as a result. The staff had a Blissey on hand, though, so it’s mostly under control now. And…it looks like Professor Rowan’s theory wasn’t quite as far-fetched as we all would have liked it to be.”

Drayden grew very still, studying Adam closely. “...Ingo confirmed that he was in the past? That he…time-traveled?”

Adam shrugged. “Not in so many words. Without prompting, he claimed that he had been sent to the Hisui region. Not sure how much Sinnoh history you know, but that was the original name of this region a few centuries back before it was officially founded.” Drayden stiffened, beginning to swear quietly into his beard. Adam nodded sympathetically. “Yeah, that’s kind of where I’m at with the whole situation right now too.”

Drayden huffed, a hand reaching up and rubbing at his beard. “My apologies. I just…”

“Hey, no worries. It’s a lot to process.” Adam gave him a reassuring smile. “But focus on the positives. He’s here now. And according to Ida, whatever that Blissey did to help with his headache helped the rest of his injuries too. Meaning that he should be able to get released from here sooner rather than later. And once that happens, you can take him home.”

He watched as Drayden visibly sagged in relief at the news. “That is good to hear. Although I am unsure how well taking him home will go. Not after how badly he reacted to Rowan. How are we to know if there is someone else in our group who he will also react badly to?”

Adam shrugged. “We could try showing him pictures first? That’s probably less stressful than the person suddenly being in the room with him, right?”

Drayden blinked before his beard twitched in what Adam assumed (hoped) was a smile. “Yes, I think that may just be the perfect solution. Thank you very much, Ranger Adam.”

Adam waved a hand dismissively. “It was nothing, really. Just an idea. And please, just Adam is fine. I’m not really one for titles.”

The gym leader’s voice was warm and grateful. “Still, I feel the need to thank you. Without you and your partner’s efforts, I may never have been able to reunite with my nephew.”

Before either of them could say anything further, however, the Xtransceiver on Drayden’s wrist began lighting up and vibrating with an incoming call. Adam caught sight of a picture of a dark-skinned girl with purple hair smiling up from the tiny screen before Drayden got up, excusing himself and stepping out of the room so as not to wake the other occupants who were still asleep.

Drayden answered the video call once he knew he was somewhere he wouldn’t be disturbing others. “Iris, darling, it’s quite early in the morning here. Is everything alright?”

His adoptive daughter huffed, a pout forming on her face. “Ingo’s been missing for years and I can’t even call for updates now that he’s been found? That’s so rude, Dad!”

Drayden gave her a look. “You and I both know I’ve been texting you updates as I get them. Now tell me what’s actually bothering you. You almost never call.” Text, yes. She’d do that a hundred times a minute, or so it sometimes seemed. But call? It was rare, and always when she needed to talk with him about something important.

Iris sighed, her shoulders slumping. “You know me entirely too well. The truth is, I really could use your advice right about now.” Drayden raised a lone eyebrow, prompting her to continue. She grimaced. “You haven’t really read much of the news since Ingo got found, have you?”

Drayden frowned. “Not particularly, no. Why, was there something on the Sinnoh News Network that I should…?”

He trailed off as Iris was already shaking her head. “Not in Sinnoh. The news here, in Unova.”

He felt his frown deepen as he shook his head. “I haven’t even thought to look. Why? What’s going on?”

Iris sighed, sitting down at what Drayden realized after a moment was probably her computer and starting to read aloud. “‘Crisis on the Horizon? Speculations abound after the unexpected closing of Gear Station and two gyms.’ Here’s another one: ‘Family Troubles Suspected: Champion Iris takes leadership of Opelucid City Gym after Leader Drayden’s unexpected departure. Theories abound as his remaining nephew, Subway Boss Emmet, abruptly closes Battle Subway not long after.’” She turned to look at the camera again, and Drayden could tell now just how tired she was. “Reporters have been after me like crazy all day yesterday and today.”

Drayden winced. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think anyone would notice, let alone put it together like that so quickly.”

Iris shrugged. “Well, somebody did, and now they’re all coming after me for answers. I know we talked about keeping this quiet until Ingo got a little more settled and ready to deal with the media frenzy, but I don’t think the reporters are going to wait that long. If I don’t tell them something, they’ll just make up their own theories and sell them as the story.” She sighed. “I just…need to know how much we’re willing to tell them.”

Drayden nodded, considering thoughtfully. Normally, this kind of question didn’t really come up between him and Iris. She was the Unova Champion, after all. She knew how to deal with the media circus that surrounded being such a high profile member of society. But then, that’s when the frenzy is surrounding her life, he reasoned with himself. This time, it’s about Ingo and Emmet, and how much they’re willing to share with the public. He grimaced. I’m not sure if Ingo even knows enough about his and Emmet’s lives to be able to properly answer that question. And Emmet has been…He’s still got a fair bit of recovering to do to get over the last four years.

Iris was still on screen, waiting patiently for an answer. Drayden finally sighed softly. “Tell them that we all were pulled away to deal with a situation regarding a new lead about Ingo’s disappearance. If anyone tries to push you for more, explain that it’s an active police investigation and that you’re not at liberty to go into details. The detective I met with last night should be contacting the Unovan Police Force today anyway to coordinate with them, so it’s not even a lie.”

Iris sighed in relief, leaning back in her chair. “Thanks, Dad. Hopefully that’ll keep them off my back for a while, at least.” She pulled her head up, looking at him with tentative hope. “Any idea when you guys might be back home?”

Drayden smiled softly. “According to what I heard this morning, your cousin’s injuries are healing nicely. He should be released sometime within the next couple of days, and I don’t see a reason to stay in Sinnoh much beyond that. I want to bring him home, and I’m sure Emmet feels the same.”

Iris nodded enthusiastically, letting out a soft cheer. “That’s amazing news! I’m really looking forward to seeing him again.” She paused, her face growing slightly more serious, a sad note entering her voice. “Although…he doesn’t exactly remember me, does he?”

Drayden gave his daughter a gentle, reassuring smile. “I’ll be working with Emmet to start reminding him of a few faces.” He allowed a mischievous glint to enter his eye. “Don’t worry, I have a lot of pictures of you to choose from.”

“Daaaaad! Don’t you dare!” Drayden couldn’t help but start laughing, and the heavy weight that had existed in his chest for the last four years eased more with each joking threat his daughter threw at him. Finally, things were returning to normal.

Little did he know just how wrong that assumption was.

Chapter Text

“Ingo?” Despite the relatively flat note in Emmet’s voice that hadn’t gone away or altered the entire time he’d been present, Ingo was sure he could hear hesitation and concern in the way his brother said his name.

He shifted, looking over. “Yes, Emmet?”

Emmet was chewing his lip, looking thoughtful. His smile was pensive. “When you told the Ranger lady what happened. When you…fell. You said you were with a pokemon. You did not say which one.”

Ingo grimaced slightly. He had been hoping Emmet wouldn’t notice the omission, but it appeared that his brother was rather observant. “I suppose I did not.” He sighed. “I know she was precious to me. I believe she was likely a fire type, or at least knew a fire type move. I do not know anything more. I…just can’t seem to remember.” His hands clenched around his blankets as his voice broke slightly on the last word.

Emmet’s smile dimmed considerably, and he reached out and took his brother’s hand. It hurt him to see Ingo look so lost, to hear him sound so sad. “I am Emmet. I will help you remember.” He shifted forward, pulling up a picture on his Xtransceiver’s pokedex app and showing it to Ingo. “We will start with this.”

Ingo looked curiously at the device on Emmet’s wrist. The dark square – The screen, he reminded himself – was glowing. Within it he could see a glass-like body and twisting metal arms. Plumes of purple flames were rising from the figure in places, and his breath caught in his throat as the name struck him. “Chandelure…” He was so happy he barely even registered the twinge of his headache.

Emmet beamed, clapping happily. “Yes! You do remember her! She misses you verrry much. Right now she is with Elesa. They are downstairs, and you will be able to see them soon.”

His brother raised a curious eyebrow. To anyone else, it would have been only the barest hint of movement and emotion, but to Emmet it was as clear as day. “Elesa?”

“She’s a very good friend of both of yours.” A voice from the doorway startled the pair. Both brothers turned to see Drayden smiling as he shut the door behind himself and made his way into the room. “Good morning, Ingo, Emmet. How are you feeling?”

“I am Emmet. I am helping Ingo remember.” He grinned, wide and happy. “I showed him a picture and he remembered Chandelure.”

Drayden chuckled as he sat down on the other side of Ingo’s bed. “It sounds like you’re already one step ahead of me. I had come up here to suggest that we show Ingo photos in order to help jog his memory.” He turned. “And you, Ingo? How are you feeling? I heard you had quite the headache this morning.”

Ingo nodded slowly, seeming thoughtful as he considered. Just how was he feeling? “I…am operational. The Blissey that the doctor brought in did wonders for my cab’s maintenance. I must admit that I am…eager to be able to leave.”

Drayden laughed softly. “Neither of you was ever very fond of hospitals, so that’s no surprise to me. How do you feel about our idea? Are you up to looking at some pictures before you meet the people in them? We thought it might be…less stressful than suddenly meeting someone who looks similar to someone you knew while you were…gone.” He seemed to be choosing his words carefully, and both brothers knew he was likely trying to avoid another incident like the one that had occurred when Professor Rowan had visited.

Ingo nodded, liking the idea immensely. “That sounds like an agreeable commute to undertake together. All aboard!”

Emmet grinned, pulling up photos as he cuddled into his brother. “This is Elesa. She is a good trainer. Verrry strong. She is a gym leader in Nimbasa City, where we live. This is Skyla. Her girlfriend. Another gym leader. She is the one who flew us here and will take us home. And this…”

Drayden only vaguely listened as Emmet began to ramble about the people, places, and pokemon he was showing to his brother. His attention was more focused on Ingo. The perpetual downturn of his mouth was slowly lifting up into a softly flat line. Drayden felt his heart warm at the sight.

Ingo was smiling.

It might not look like a smile to anyone else, and on any other face it would not have been considered one. But Drayden wasn’t anyone else. And this was Ingo. Relaxed. Happy. Alive. Warmth settled in Drayden’s chest like a happy Emboar as he watched the twins simply be.

There were several times that Emmet was forced to stop his rambles and explain things. What was a gym leader? What pokemon was that? When did they meet this person, and how close were they to the brothers? At each interruption, Emmet was more than happy to oblige his twin and provide as many details as he could think of. It was frankly the most Drayden thought he had ever heard Emmet say about a topic other than battling and trains.

Ingo didn’t seem to remember much, but he appeared to appreciate the explanations all the same. Drayden reassured himself that the memories would return with time. He’s already remembered so much in so short a time. Maybe it’s a good thing he’s not recalling everything all at once. Especially with those headaches of his. He nodded. Yes, this was a good thing. Ingo needed to give himself time, and recover slowly. That was for the best.

They passed several hours pleasantly that way, only stopping when a nurse came in with food for Ingo’s lunch. Drayden blinked at his Xtrans. “Oh my, it’s already past noon. Emmet, you need to eat too. Why don’t you and I go get some food and then when we come back we’ll see if Ingo is feeling up to seeing Elesa?”

Emmet hesitated, his smile freezing in an insincere stretch. “You mean…leave? Without…?” His eyes locked onto Ingo, and Drayden saw the fear hidden in that gaze. His heart sank. He thinks Ingo is going to disappear again if he leaves.

Ingo patted his brother’s hand. “It will be alright, Emmet. I understand that you do not wish to depart from my station. However! You are in need of fuel. You must make time for maintenance!”

“I…suppose. But…”

Drayden suspected he might know the problem. “Would it make you feel more comfortable if one of those Rangers stayed here with him while we’re gone?” When Emmet nodded emphatically, he looked to Ingo. “Would that be alright with you?”

Ingo pondered that before shrugging. “If it is agreeable to one of them. I would never wish to impose on a passenger, if they would rather depart.”

Emmet popped to his feet. “I am Emmet. I will ask.” He strode towards the door, only needing a few steps to reach it thanks to his long legs. He hesitated for only a moment, looking back at Ingo. “...Do not depart without me.” Ingo nodded, and Emmet gave him a satisfied smile before turning and making his way to the waiting room.

Iris was having a Day™. She was woken up at entirely-too-early o’clock by reporters clamoring outside of the door of her dad’s house where she was currently staying in Opelucid City. She’d had to climb out the window of the attic and fly away with Archeops in order to get out of the house without being mobbed. Then, as she got closer to her dad’s gym, she saw that it too was surrounded by reporters eagerly trying to get a scoop. She groaned. I hate the media.

It might have been easy enough for Drayden, Mayor and Gym Leader of Opelucid City to push right through the crowd and give them the brief answers he’d told her to stick with on the phone last night. But her dad was also over six feet tall and well-known to work out by wrestling with his own pokemon. Iris was totally over five foot, yes really, but still incredibly small and willowy. Sure, she also specialized in dragon types at one point, and yes, she was the current Unovan Champion. But she wasn’t nearly as intimidating as the Spartan Mayor.

Sure, as the current Champion, Iris was more than used to having to deal with reporters on the hunt for a story on an almost daily basis. But that was usually maybe one or two, and always at the League itself, where there was an entire section of the security staff devoted to keeping them in line and at bay when she or the Elite Four wasn’t in the mood to deal with them. She had never had to deal with a media frenzy like this, not even when she had won the title of Champion.

Would it be all that bad if I didn’t show up to the gym today? Denae, Ron, and the other trainers will open it and keep track of any challengers. If someone gets through, they’ll definitely call me. She chewed her lip, liking the idea of going somewhere else more and more. Maybe I could hang around in another town today. Let things cool off.

That sounded good enough to her. Maybe she would make a social media post to give the reporters something so they’d leave her alone. The only question now was where she should go.

Gear Station should be closed today. At the very least the battle portion isn’t running. Maybe I can go hide in Emmet’s office today. The wifi was definitely good there, despite being in a subway station, and Emmet always kept snacks in his desk drawer for when he didn’t want to leave work to eat.

Yes, Gear Station was sounding like the perfect place to lay low for the day and post a couple of times on social media regarding the situation. Iris grinned to herself as she directed Archeops up again. “Come on, buddy. Let’s head over to Nimbasa.” The fossil pokemon screeched and took off at quite the impressive speed indeed, and Iris allowed herself some time to just relax and enjoy the flight.

By the time Nimbasa City came into view, Iris wasn’t relaxing anymore. No, she was awake and alert, her eyes fixed on the gathering storm clouds overhead. She wasn’t particularly afraid of storms, per se, but flying in one could be dangerous. She kept a wary eye out for lightning or any other sign that she should have Archeops land prematurely.

Weird. I don’t think I’ve seen storm clouds swirl like that in Unova before. She had heard of tornadoes and hurricanes hitting other regions, of course, but to her knowledge, none had ever struck Nimbasa before. Then again, it’s not really spinning fast enough to be a tornado. And hurricanes develop out at sea before traveling to land. Still feeling a bit uneasy, but trying to reassure herself all the same, Iris directed Archeops to land on the flight pad outside of the Pokecenter closest to Gear Station.

Recalling her pokemon back into his ball, Iris dug out her keychain and found the one with a small train charm dangling from it. Smiling to herself in spite of her unease, she headed down the street and turned down the alley leading to the side entrance of the station. She unlocked the door and slipped inside, locking it behind her once she was through. Emmet would have a fit if he found out she hadn’t.

She sighed, almost wishing she could hear a full lecture from him about proper safety procedures and the importance of following them. It had been almost four years since she heard him speak. Hopefully now that Ingo is back, things will start to get back to normal.

Slipping quietly through another door and walking down another hallway, Iris found herself getting more and more tense. Get a hold of yourself, she scolded mentally. You’re in a staff-only section of a closed part of a subway station. Of course it’s quiet.

Still, no matter what she told herself, she couldn’t shake off just how eerie it was. Half the lights were turned off in order to not waste electricity. The only sound she could hear was the soft tapping of her shoes on the polished tile flooring, the noise seeming to bounce and echo off of the walls throughout the winding maze of corridors. Reaching down, she rubbed a thumb over the pokeballs at her belt, trying to comfort herself.

When she turned the next corner, she didn’t think she’d ever been more relieved to see the pristine white door to Emmet’s office in her life. She fumbled her keys slightly, wincing at the loud jangling sound they made as she caught them and unlocked the door. She cast a small, sidelong glance at the adjoining office, the one with a black door that hadn’t been unlocked in a very long time. She sighed, stepping into the office and flipping on the lights. On a whim, she closed the door behind her, and just for good measure she locked it as well.

The office was as neat as ever. The light wood of the desk was polished to a dull sheen. There was a cup of pencils and another of pens. The notebook and printed schedules laying on the desk were all so perfectly organized and meticulously straightened that Iris didn’t think she could have done better with a ruler. She smiled softly. The entire office just screamed Emmet.

Iris plopped herself down in his desk chair, wiggling the mouse to wake up his computer. A login screen greeted her, and she grinned when she saw he still hadn’t deleted her user profile off of his computer. She clicked into it, enjoying the clicking sound his keyboard made as she typed her password and the computer let her in.

The first thing she did once it logged in was to put some soft music on to play in the background. Despite how much more comfortable the office felt than the hallway, it was still a little spooky to be here while the Battle Subway was closed. As the pleasant notes of the flute music filled the silence, Iris eyed one of the icons on the desktop.

Most people might not consider it prudent to give their teenage cousin full access to all of the security cameras of a subway station. Then again, Emmet was not ‘most people’. He never had a problem with treating Iris as an equal, despite their many-year age gap.

Iris jumped with a squeak of alarm as a huge thunderclap boomed. Her nervous motion caused her hand to slip on the mouse, double-clicking into the camera system and launching it. She realized what had happened a half-second later as she watched the program load, and she let out a self-conscious, slightly nervous laugh.

She was very glad that Emmet was not ‘most people’.

She started to relax as the dual-monitor screen subdivided itself into many camera angles. She could see the whole of Gear Station from just this office. Iris rolled her shoulders and sat back in the chair, barely flinching at all this time when another clap of thunder boomed overhead. She was half-underground and had a visual on the happenings of the entire building, both inside and out.

Pulling out her phone, Iris pulled up her social media apps. She grimaced when she saw just how many pings she’d received from both reporters and fans alike, everyone looking for news. She sighed, thumbs flying as she typed out a message. “The investigation regarding my cousin Ingo’s disappearance developed a new lead. My family and our friends have been busy trying to aid the police. Since this is an ongoing investigation, I am not at liberty to discuss further details at this time. Please give us your patience and understanding.”

Satisfied with what she had written, Iris hit the post button and tried to ignore how the interactions flooded in. She had a feeling that her post was going to be the topic of at least one story on the evening news tonight. She grimaced at the thought and tried to shove it out of her mind. Despite her chosen career path, she really wasn’t a fan of the spotlight.

As the comments flew past, she noticed that a few fans seemed to be international, or at the very least kept up on international news. Multiple people were posting links to the article Volkner had found and sent to Elesa regarding the ‘man from nowhere’ found outside of Snowpoint. She sighed. Should have known that at least a few people might put it together. Hopefully, this would give people some time to get used to the idea of Ingo being back, rather than taking them completely off-guard and working them into an overwhelming frenzy when the police made their announcement.

Iris really, really hoped that would be the case.

Another bone-rattling boom rang out, this one feeling, if possible, even louder than the others had been. What felt like a wave of static passed over her, making her hair stand on end. Her head jerked up, just in time to see a bright flash of static overtake one of the cameras on her computer screen.

Iris felt Zangoose-bumps stand up all over her skin. She shivered uneasily, unclipping a pokeball from her belt and tossing out her Hydreigon. The dragon made her way over to her trainer, letting out a soft, curious growl. Iris patted one of her heads, trying to calm herself down. “Hey there. One of the tunnel cameras went out. We need to go check what happened and let Emmet or maintenance know.” Or security. No! Focus, Iris. The storm probably just shorted out one of the cameras.

Still, she couldn’t shake that uneasy feeling. Keeping Hydreigon close and resting another hand firmly on Haxorus’s pokeball, Iris made her way out of the nice, secure office. She locked the door behind her and slowly crept towards the Single Battle Line platform. Please, let me just be paranoid. Let this be a maintenance problem.

Closed subway platforms were entirely too creepy, Iris decided as she descended a set of stairs and saw empty benches waiting in the eerie half-lighting of after-hours power. The dip of the tracks created a dark, frankly terrifying trench on either side of the platform. Iris chewed her lip as she made her way quickly to the service box stuck to one wall. Opening it up, she found several handheld lanterns waiting to be taken off of their chargers, all fully powered and ready for use. She relaxed slightly as she grabbed one and turned it on. Suddenly the platform was a whole lot brighter.

Get it together, Iris. What are you, a little kid afraid of the dark? Shaking herself almost angrily, Iris made her way to the service walkway that her brothers and maintenance used when traveling the tunnels so they wouldn't have to walk on the tracks and risk being run over by a runaway train that was malfunctioning.

Down one tunnel. Turn right. Skip a turn. Now left.

Maybe she wasn’t as good as her cousins when it came to having the subway tunnels memorized, but Iris was certainly no slouch. The subway was important to them, so from a young age she had made a concerted effort to learn as much about it as she could. She made another turn and froze.

Up ahead, down the exact tunnel she needed to go to find the malfunctioning camera, Iris could see an eerie purple glow. She fumbled quickly with her lamp, turning it off before its light could give her away to whoever or whatever was down there. Hydreigon tensed next to her, ready for action as she clipped the lamp to her belt in order to have both hands free.

Putting one hand gently on the dragon’s back, Iris relied on her companion’s night vision to lead her down the tunnel without tripping or bumping into anything. She tried to be objective as they approached, analyzing what she knew and tamping down her fear. One of the cameras cut out, and it felt like there was a surge of static at the time. It’s possible there was a power surge, but that shouldn’t have only knocked out one camera. Either more should be down, or none should be. Which meant that it was unlikely the storm itself that had caused the camera to cut out.

Her ears caught a faint murmur echoing off the walls, and a thrill of fear ran up her spine. Someone is down here with me. The purple light reminded her of Chandelure. Maybe the intruder had one? Mentally she reassured herself that Hydreigon was more than equipped to handle a Chandelure, not only due to her dark subtyping, but also from sheer experience battling her cousin growing up.

Iris allowed herself a small smile at that memory before steeling her resolve. She squared her shoulders and let her face settle into the confident mask she wore when facing challengers as Champion. Taking a deep breath, she stepped around the corner.

That’s not a Chandelure.

That was her first thought upon seeing the tall, if slouched dark blue frame with a cream underbelly. A collar of purple fire wreathed its neck as it regarded her with drooped, wary eyes. It almost looks like a Typhlosion, but wrong somehow. Maybe it’s sick?

A gasp drew her eye past the pokemon and settled on the person hiding behind it. They were short, roughly the same height as Iris herself. Their clothes were odd, resembling some kind of kimono made out of what looked like very sturdy fabric. A creepy mask covered their face, molded to look like some kind of white and red pokemon that Iris couldn’t identify. They were incredibly tense, eyes locked onto Hydreigon.

Iris could hear breaths coming faster and faster as the stranger edged closer to panic. They took a step back, seeming on the verge of sprinting the opposite direction, and Iris made her decision. “Wait! Sorry, I didn’t mean to spook you, but nobody is supposed to be down here. The station is closed, and this area is off-limits regardless.”

The stranger hesitated, and a girl’s voice came through the mask timidly. “Station? Where are we?”

Iris fought back a frown. “The subway tunnels of Gear Station.” When the strange girl didn’t react, she pressed slightly. “You know, under Nimbasa City?”

The girl took a step closer to her weird Typhlosion, leaning into it nervously. “Where?”

There was a horrible sinking feeling in the pit of Iris’s stomach. “Nimbasa City. In the Unova region.” Still no sign of recognition. Iris was seriously trying not to freak out as she took a deep breath. Stay calm. I’m sure there’s a good explanation for all of this. Reaching down, she flicked on her lantern again, illuminating the tunnel a little bit better.

Her eyes widened when she saw the rips in the stranger’s clothing, bruises and cuts visible underneath. Whoever this girl was, she’d clearly been through quite the fight before coming here. “What happened to you?”

The girl tensed, drawing in closer to her Typhlosion as the pokemon growled a warning. Hydreigon hissed in response before Iris rubbed her head to calm her down. “Hey now, none of that.” She turned back to the girl and offered her a small smile. “I want to help you. How about we get out of these creepy tunnels and I find a first aid kit for you?” She offered a hand towards the girl. “I’m Iris, by the way.”

The girl looked at her hand for a long moment before finally taking it. “You can call me Akari.”

Chapter Text

“Ingo! I missed you so much.” Drayden watched as Elesa hugged her Emolga, trying to stop herself from rushing over and hugging his nephew. She knew how much Ingo generally disliked touch, and based on his current memories, Elesa was a complete stranger.

Ingo nodded in greeting, and Drayden held back a wince as he watched him plaster on a small fake smile and look her directly in the eyes. He’s masking again. We’ll have to see what we can do to help him not feel the need to do that. “Hello. It is nice to make your acquaintance, Miss Elesa. I look forward to our commute together.”

Elesa gave him a small, reassuring smile. “I do too. And don’t feel like you have to fake smiling around me. I’ve missed that lovely little frowny face of yours.” Ingo blinked in surprise, and the smile slid away, settling into his standard neutral frown. Elesa beamed. “There you go! That’s more like it.”

She plopped down in the chair next to Emmet’s, beginning to chatter happily. “I’ve known you two since all three of us were in grade school. I remember when we each got our first pokemon. You were self-conscious because both Emmet and I had electric types and you had Litwick. It made Emmet go on this whole rant about type advantages and well-balanced teams…”

Drayden let her words wash over him, not really processing what stories she was telling as he simply observed his nephews. Emmet was smiling. This was far from unusual, but his smile was far more genuine than it had been in years. Drayden idly noted that the brothers were holding hands again, neither showing any inclination of letting go. He smiled softly into his beard at the sight.

Ingo seemed more relaxed as well. His bruises and cuts had all faded away completely. There were still bandages around his wrists from the manacles, but they didn’t seem to bother him. Even his headache appeared to have vanished, at least temporarily.

We can probably take him home soon. Drayden was simultaneously relieved and nervous about that prospect. Relieved to finally have both of his beloved nephews home and happy, but nervous about the logistics surrounding such an endeavor. Ingo doesn’t even remember trains, and he worked with those for a living. How is he going to react to a car? Or an airplane? He grimaced slightly. That was going to be an undertaking. Hopefully Ingo wouldn’t be too alarmed at the prospect.

And that’s not even taking into account the situation once we arrive back in Unova. Their whole family were practically regional celebrities, counting a Gym Leader, the current reigning Champion, and two Subway Bosses in their very small group. The media had been a circus when Ingo had vanished, and Drayden was far from looking forward to their reactions upon his nephew’s return. I hope they don’t swarm the house again. At least Ingo and Emmet’s apartment building is secure access only.

He was pulled from his musings as the door opened and the doctor who had been in charge of Ingo’s treatment stepped in. The man gave the group an awkward smile through the prevailing silence that had sprung up upon his entry. “Ah, my apologies. I did not mean to interrupt. I simply wanted to check in on Mr. Ingo, and if possible start arranging discharge paperwork for him.”

Emmet brightened, sitting up straighter and tugging on the ends of his sleeves. “We can take him home?”

The doctor nodded. “Assuming he’s doing well during this checkup. We may have a few restrictions put into place, depending on how well he has healed, particularly with the issues of his memory and headaches.”

Ingo eyed the doctor curiously as he approached. He didn’t seem nearly as excited as his brother. “What kinds of restrictions?”

The doctor shrugged as he began unwrapping the bandages in order to check Ingo’s wrists. “Limiting how much you’re allowed to lift, requiring that a medical pokemon be assigned to accompany you, things of that nature.” He looked at Emmet and Drayden. “He does not live alone, does he?”

Emmet shook his head. “No. Ingo and I are a two-car train. We have always had a station together.”

“Good. That would have been another restriction, otherwise. Not that I don’t think you are incapable of caring for yourself, Mr. Ingo,” the doctor hurriedly reassured, not wishing to offend, “but your…bouts of memory could be problematic if they occur while you are alone. Say, if you fell in the shower, or if you were in the middle of cooking something. It wouldn’t be good to burn your apartment to the ground.”

Ingo sighed, absently petting his Sneasel companion with his free hand. “I understand. Though I have become accustomed to being self-reliant, a bit of aid while I am not fully in operating condition is necessary. I will not argue.”

The doctor gave him a relieved smile, leaving his first wrist unbandaged as he moved on to the second. “That’s good to hear. And in other good news, your injuries are doing quite well. We can leave the bandages off, now that your wrists are almost completely healed. I’d just like to check your ribs one more time before you are cleared to leave. Tell me, what city do you call home?”

Drayden cleared his throat. “Nimbasa City, in Unova actually.”

“Ah! I’ll have to make an international call or two, then. I believe Unova tends to prefer Audino in the medical field rather than the Chansey and Blissey we use here, correct?” At Drayden’s nod, the doctor smiled. “Not a problem. I just hope you don’t mind having one hanging around for a while while Mr. Ingo’s headaches persist. It should be able to help ease the pain.”

Emmet shook his head. “I am Emmet. I am used to many pokemon in our apartment. It is no problem, as long as it does not try to fight anyone. Battles are only for the subway.”

The doctor chuckled. “Medical pokemon don’t tend to be the aggressive type. But I’ll make sure the hospital staff in Nimbasa are aware of the situation and they choose an appropriate pokemon to lend you.”

Before he could say any more, the group all jumped, startled by the sudden, shrill ringtone of Drayden’s Xtransceiver. “Sorry! Sorry!” He hit the ‘accept call’ button when he saw Iris’s face on the small screen, if for no other reason than to get the ringing to stop without worrying her over a declined call. “Iris, sweetie, I’m in the middle of–.”

“Dad! Emmet’s Xtrans is out of power or something and I don’t have the numbers for anyone else in Gear Station. I really need one of them to come to his office for me.” Out of the corner of his eye, Drayden saw Emmet look down in surprise at the device on his wrist, poking it sheepishly to confirm that it truly was out of battery.

Meanwhile, Drayden himself was trying to fight down the worry growing in the pit of his stomach. Iris sounded upset. In control and trying to hide it, yes, but Drayden knew when his daughter wasn’t happy. “What happened? Why are you at Gear Station? Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” He found that he really didn’t like the emphasis she put in that sentence. “There were reporters all over the house and the gym, so I decided to spend the day in Nimbasa. Only this really big storm blew in, and then something weird happened with one of the cameras.”

Both brothers stiffened upon hearing that, Emmet shooting to his feet. “Iris! Stay out of the tunnels! Go to other people. Safety procedures are to stay with large groups! Do not be by yourself!”

“Oh, is Emmet in the room with you? Emmet, I’m not by myself. That’s kind of why I need you to send one of your depot workers to your office. Your first aid kit isn’t going to cut it by itself.”

Drayden’s inner dragon was roaring in alarm. “First aid kit?! Iris, what happened?”

“Dad, breathe! I’m not hurt! It’s not for me.” Iris was making calming gestures with the hand her Xtrans wasn’t attached to the wrist of. “I’m not hurt at all. But one of the cameras went out and I wanted to know what was going on, so I went down into the tunnels to look. I had Hydreigon out with me the whole time.”

Emmet looked far from reassured, Ingo muttering under his breath, “And I had Chandelure with me.” Unfortunately for Ingo, he still had never quite mastered volume control, and his ‘mutter’ was everyone else’s ‘normal inside voice’.

On the other side of the video call, Drayden heard a girl’s gasp that definitely wasn’t Iris’s. He frowned. “Is someone there with you?”

“Yes! That’s what I keep trying to tell you! I found her down in the tunnels and she has no idea how she got down there. She doesn’t even know where the Unova region is!”

Ingo frowned. “Is it possible that what happened to me is now happe–”

He was cut off mid-word by a shrill sound coming through Drayden’s Xtrans. It sounded like a half-strangled noise of surprise from a teenage girl. Drayden saw a flurry of movement before a red and white pokemon mask crowded Iris out of his screen. “Uncle Ingo?!”

Iris tried not to stare too much or make Akari uncomfortable as she led the girl out of the subway tunnels and back to Emmet’s office. Once they arrived, she settled her in one of the comfortable chairs off to one side against the wall before digging around in one of the filing cabinets for the first aid kit she knew Emmet kept stashed there.

When she turned back around, she saw Akari scratching her Typhlosion under its chin, the slouched pokemon leaning into it happily. She smiled a bit at the adorable sight. “Your Typhlosion seems sweet.”

Akari nodded. “He is. Pyre just gets a bit overprotective sometimes.”

Iris hummed, slowly making her way back over with the first aid kit in hand. “Pyre, is that his name?” When Akari nodded, she smiled. “That’s a cool name. Think he’ll be ok with me helping you out with your injuries? It’s easier than doing them by yourself.”

She shrugged, wincing slightly. “He should be fine with that. He’s never tried to stop Pesselle before.”

I have no idea who that is, but that doesn’t really matter right now. Iris scooted forward and carefully eased up one of Akari’s sleeves, taking in the multiple bruises and gashes she could already see. Breathe. Take it one injury at a time.

She took a deep breath and grabbed some disinfectant wipes. She could do this. She was totally a responsible and capable adult. Well, not an adult, considering she was still a teenager, but still! She was League Champion, for crying out loud. She knew how to do first aid.

By the time she got to Akari’s second arm, she wasn’t feeling nearly as certain. There were just so many injuries, both big and small. Scrapes, bruises, strained muscles, even places that looked like she had been hit directly by pokemon attacks. And that wasn’t even counting all the scars she could see as evidence of similar injuries in the past. The more Iris saw, the less confident she felt.

Putting on a brave face as she finished with the arm, Iris stepped back. “How about we take a break? I have to make a quick call, so you just relax, ok?” She barely even registered the other girl’s nod before she turned, hurriedly tapping on her Xtrans. I am so in over my head. She needed Emmet, or her dad, or even one of the depot agents. At this point, Iris just really needed an actual adult to take charge and tell her what to do.

She found Emmet’s contact through sheer muscle memory, instantly hitting the video call button. She waited, but what popped up was not the normal ‘Dialing’ screen. Instead she got an error message. “Failed to Connect. Contact may be without service.”

Iris’s heart plummeted to her toes. Breathe. He’s ok. He’s fine. He probably just forgot his charger in all the excitement and his Xtrans ran out of power. She purposely shoved away the nagging voice that reminded her this same error message had popped up for Ingo the day he vanished. Scrolling through her contacts list again, she found her Dad’s icon and tapped it.

On the third ring, the call connected as her dad answered the phone. Iris felt a surge of relief when she saw his wild beard. He seemed distracted, but she didn’t care. “Iris, sweetie, I’m in the middle of–.”

“Dad!” She cut him off in the middle of his sentence, not caring at all if it was rude. This was important. “Emmet’s Xtrans is out of power or something and I don’t have the numbers for anyone else in Gear Station. I really need one of them to come to his office for me.”

She watched as he glanced off-screen for a second as a worried frown appeared on his face. “What happened? Why are you at Gear Station? Are you alright?”

Oh, crap. This might get complicated to explain. She shifted, choosing her words carefully. “I’m fine. There were reporters all over the house and the gym, so I decided to spend the day in Nimbasa. Only this really big storm blew in, and then something weird happened with one of the cameras.”

What happened next sounded like a garbled flurry of motion. Then Iris’s heart leapt as a voice she hadn’t heard in almost four years practically shouted at her. Emmet! He’s talking! But hang on, what’s he saying about staying out of the tunnels? She forced herself to focus on his words, not just the sound of his voice that she’d missed so much. “... procedures are to stay with large groups! Do not be by yourself!”

“Oh, is Emmet in the room with you?” She hoped her tone sounded normal enough. She was having a really emotional moment, and she didn’t want to worry them all by crying or something over the phone. Focus, Iris. Akari needs help, and Emmet can get it to us the fastest. “Emmet, I’m not by myself. That’s kind of why I need you to send one of your depot workers to your office. Your first aid kit isn’t going to cut it by itself.”

“First aid kit?!” She cringed at the look of mixed fury and alarm on her dad’s face. Oops. Probably could have phrased that better. “Iris, what happened?”

“Dad, breathe! I’m not hurt! It’s not for me.” She tried her best to calm him down through the screen. “I’m not hurt at all. But one of the cameras went out and I wanted to know what was going on, so I went down into the tunnels to look. I had Hydreigon out with me the whole time.”

Her breath caught in her throat as she heard someone else speaking off-camera, a voice she’d missed just as much as she had Emmet’s. “And I had Chandelure with me.” Her heart swelled. Ingo!

Her head snapped over to look at Akari as the girl let out a strangled gasp. She tilted her head, wondering what had shocked her so much, but her attention was pulled away by her dad frowning up at her from her Xtrans. “Is someone there with you?”

Iris huffed. “Yes! That’s what I keep trying to tell you! I found her down in the tunnels and she has no idea how she got down there. She doesn’t even know where the Unova region is!”

Again she heard Ingo’s voice coming through the speakers, this time even clearer, like he wasn’t trying to be quiet. “Is it possible that what happened to me is now happe–”

Akari let out a shrill noise, somewhere between a shriek and a gasp before scrambling off of the chair and crowding into Iris’s space as she tried to get a good look at the tiny screen on her wrist. “Uncle Ingo?!”

Iris stared at her. “Uncle?! What do you mean ‘uncle’?”

Through her Xtrans, she heard several garbled exclamations, all overlapping on top of each other as several people all started demanding explanations. However, one voice boomed over the others, cutting through all of the noise. “Akari! Is that you?”

Akari sounded close to tears, pure relief evident in her voice. “Uncle Ingo, I don’t know what’s going on. Where are we? What’s happening?” Pyre moved, hugging his trainer close as he tried to comfort her.

Ingo’s voice coming through the call again caught her attention. “Akari, it will be alright. I am uncertain how the two of us arrived at our current destinations, but rest assured we will find the correct tracks to follow together. I am currently undergoing maintenance, but I have been told I will be allowed to depart shortly. The young lady you are with, I have discovered, is actually my cousin. She will keep you safe until you and I can be reunited. Will this course be acceptable to you?”

Akari sniffled. “She’s your cousin? Does that mean you remembered?”

“Some of my memories have returned to the station, but not all of them as of yet. However, I have been assured by those of my family that I do remember that Iris is most trustworthy and capable.”

Iris felt her heart swell with pride at the glowing recommendation. Even if her cousin didn’t remember her, he still trusted her. She gave Akari a smile. “Don’t worry. Ingo and the others will be back here in a day or two, and then we can work on figuring this whole thing out. It’s going to be alright.”

Akari nodded shakily. “I…Alright. But Uncle Ingo, if you’re not here in two days, I’m going to come find you. I don’t care if I have to walk the whole way.”

Ingo chucked fondly. “I have no doubt. Remain with Iris, and I will see you soon.”

Drayden eyed his daughter through the screen. “You mentioned medical attention. Emmet and I will send a depot agent to help the two of you. If you need to take her to the hospital, they will assist you. Otherwise, get her patched up and take her home. Don’t worry about the gym until I return.”

Iris nodded. Now was definitely not the time to argue. “Yes, Dad. I’ll see you in a couple days. I love you.”

His beard twitched slightly as he smiled. “I love you too, darling.” Then the screen went dark as the call ended.

Handling the discharge paperwork and sending the necessary documents to the Nimbasa City hospital took what felt like ages to the parties involved. Adam and Ida found themselves instructed by their group leader to escort the group home and remain with them for now. Apparently the Pokemon Rangers were keeping track of the case as the only international agency already involved in the investigation.

A few hours later, Ingo was discharged and dressed in the clothing Elesa had brought with her for him. Skyla was already at the airfield charting their flightpath and getting approval for priority takeoff and landing. Drayden arranged for a pair of cars to drive their larger group from the hospital to the airport.

All together, Ingo spent less than three days in the hospital in Snowpoint City.

It was only a few hours after the group departed that a taxi pulled up to the hospital and a man stepped out. He thanked the driver and adjusted the collar of his trenchcoat before striding purposefully into the hospital. Hardly anyone even gave him so much as a second glance as he made his way to the reception desk.

The nurse sitting behind the desk at her computer gave him a warm smile. “Hello, sir. Is there anything I can help you with today?”

The man reached into an inner pocket of his trenchcoat and pulled out a printed photograph of a frowning, unconscious man with long gray hair and sideburns. “Can you tell me which room this man is in? I may have some information pertinent to his case.”

She paused in surprise at the photo, hesitating. “And what information would that be?”

He shook his head. “My apologies, but I can only discuss it with that man, or his doctor if the man himself is not available for visitors.”

The nurse chewed her lip. “Well, I can page the doctor who handled his case while he was here…”

“While he was here?” The man gave her a searching look as he repeated what she’d said. “By that, you mean that he is here no longer. A pity. I don’t suppose you’ll tell me where he went, would you?”

She frowned. “Sir, that’s personal information. If you’d like, you can take it up with the police or–”

He waved her off. “That will not be necessary. Have a pleasant day.” And with that, he turned on his heel and strode out of the hospital.

Once he was outside and seated on a bench to wait for a new cab, the man pulled out the photo again and sighed. “Nothing can ever be simple…” He dug out a phone, tapping a contact and pressing it towards his ear.

The call connected almost immediately, a curt voice on the other end. “Report.”

“Hospital is a bust. It seems he was already discharged.” He sighed. “I can find where he went, but it’ll take some time.”

“No. Something else has come up. We’re sending you to Unova. Your flight leaves in two hours. Don’t miss it.”

He straightened, intrigued at the named region. Unova again? At this rate, it’ll become more of a hotspot than Alola. Does this have anything to do with my current case, or am I being reassigned? “Understood. What do we know?”

“All currently available details will be sent to your phone. It will be up to you to fill in the blanks.I look forward to your report. Be thorough. I don’t want anything slipping through the cracks.”

Although he could not be seen, the man nodded. “I understand. I won’t let you down.”

Chapter Text

Iris gave Akari an awkward smile as the call ended. “So…you know Ingo?”

The other girl nodded, hugging her Typhlosion as she tried to comfort herself. “Yeah. We spent a lot of time together in Hisui. He helped look out for me, even when it felt like nobody else would. He’s…safe.”

Iris couldn’t help but smile softly at the description. If that didn’t fit Ingo to a tee, she didn’t know what would. Sure, he was overly formal and most people found him kind of loud and pretty weird, but he was caring, and he valued the safety and comfort of those around him above all else. She might not know how Ingo and this girl met, but Iris knew that he definitely looked out for her as much as possible. It was just the kind of person he was.

She was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of approaching footsteps down the hallway outside. She saw Akari jump slightly as the handle on the door rattled, her Typhlosion tensing and baring his teeth. Iris made a soothing motion with her hands. “Woah, easy! No need to freak out. It’s probably just the depot agent that Emmet was sending to help us.”

The rattling paused when she started talking, and she had a feeling that said agent was listening and realized they were apparently making someone nervous. Soon after, there was a polite knock on the door. “Miss Iris? Are you in there? The boss told me to come by. He made it sound like you could use some help. Would you mind letting me in?”

She smiled, recognizing the voice. “Of course, Mason, just give me a minute.” She knew for a fact that Mason and all the other depot agents had a key to this office. However, he had probably figured out that just barging in probably wasn’t the best course of action. It’s moments like this that I realize how much I love the depot agents. They actually think things through. Unlike a lot of trainers she could name.

She made her way to the door before looking back at Akari. The girl’s mood was definitely hard to read behind her odd mask, but she slowly gave what Iris thought seemed like a nervous nod. Iris unlocked the door and cracked it open.

She was greeted with the sight of a young man in a Gear Station depot agent’s uniform. He looked at her with kind concern, an assessing expression already hidden in her eyes as he took stock of her. “The boss mentioned that medical attention might be required. Are you alright, Miss Iris?”

Iris nodded, stepping aside and swinging the door wider to allow him into the room. “I am, but I’d appreciate someone else helping me out and checking over Akari here. My first aid skills are a bit rusty.”

Mason stepped into the office and cast a quick assessing look around the room. He quietly ticked things off a mental checklist as he did so. Desk, intact. Cabinets, closed and locked. Lights, not broken. Floor, clear of hazards. Child in a mask, nervous. Typhlosion, looking ready to eat my face. Over all, it was definitely not the worst situation he had found himself tossed in the middle of. He suppressed a shiver at the memory of that incident. What happens in Kalos stays in Kalos.

Refocusing, he looked over the stranger. The kid definitely stuck out like a sore thumb. If Mason had to guess, he’d put her at roughly Iris’s age, perhaps slightly off by a year or two, but the mask made it hard to tell. Speaking of the mask, it was definitely an odd one. It looked like it was hand-crafted, and definitely modeled after a pokemon, but for the life of him Mason didn’t think he would have been able to name which pokemon it was supposed to be. Definitely not one he recognized. The closest he could get was a bleached Zoroark, the white of the mask matching the girl’s thick and sturdy old-fashioned kimono and boots.

The Typhlosion at her side growled menacingly, seeming to grow tired of Mason looking at his trainer. He blinked as a collar of purple flames appeared around the pokemon’s neck. Huh. Never seen a pokemon other than the Chandelure line that has fire like that. He took a deep breath and gave the girl an easy smile. “Hi there. I’m Mason, I’m one of the depot agents here at Gear Station. Would you mind returning your Typhlosion to his ball so I can check over your injuries?”

The girl hesitated. “I…Do I have to?”

Mason felt a wave of sympathy at the quaver in her voice. Ok, scared kid. The angry Typhlosion is a comfort for her. I get that. I just need to make sure I’m going to get out of this intact. He shrugged, going for a nonchalant tone of voice. “Well, that depends. Am I likely to be bitten, scratched, or barbecued for coming near you if he stays out? I distinctly prefer to not be any of those things.”

The matter-of-fact statement managed to pull a small giggle out of the girl, and Mason couldn’t help but smile as she directed her companion. “Pyre, come here. Let him get closer. He’s trying to help.”

The Typhlosion, apparently named Pyre, gave one final growl before slouching over to his trainer and resting his chin on the top of her head. Mason took that as permission to approach. Or at least, as close to permission as he was probably going to get. He stepped closer, keeping an eye on the unhappy pokemon as he started to look over the girl’s injuries.

The more he looked, the more unsettled he became. Burns, gashes, half-healed scratches and bites. These were not the kinds of injuries one came by naturally, even with a somewhat unruly pokemon to tame.. “Miss, how did you get these injuries?”

He could feel her tense under his hands, and his heart sank. “I-I…”

Iris stepped forward worriedly, seeing the growing panic in Akari’s body language. “Hey, it’s ok! You’re safe now. That’s what matters, right?”

Mason gave her a gentle smile. “It’s ok if you don’t feel comfortable telling a random stranger like me what happened. I just want you to be safe. Is whatever caused this likely to happen again?” The girl shook her head, and he nodded. “Alright. Then I won’t pry.” He sat back on his heels, giving her a little bit more space in the hopes that it would make her slightly more comfortable. “I’ve looked over just about everything. You’ve got burns and cuts, and what looks like a sprain and a minor fracture, at a guess. The only place I have left to look over is your head.”

He watched as her shoulders slumped further at each listed injury, seeming tired and yet resigned. Unsurprised. However, when he mentioned her head, she drew back in alarm. “No!”

He put his hands up in the air placatingly and backed off a few steps as Pyre snarled. “Woah, hey, calm down. I’m not going to hurt you.”

She leaned away from him, holding her strange mask tightly, as if to reassure herself it was still in place. “This stays on.” Her tone was as sharp as an Aegislash, and Pyre growled menacingly to accentuate the point.

Mason chewed his lip. He really did not want to fight this kid. Now or ever, for that matter. She felt as scary as Boss Emmet on a really bad day. “Alright, everybody just take a deep breath and calm down. Now listen, Miss–”

“Akari.” Iris cut across him, wanting to help calm the situation down and not anger the girl further. “Her name is Akari.”

He nodded. “Alright, Miss Akari. Have you ever had a concussion before?” She eyed him warily before nodding, and he continued. “You have. Then you know that head injuries can be serious. And it’s not as common knowledge, but there’s certain healing moves that are dangerous to use on people or pokemon with head injuries. I have an Audino with me, and she knows a healing move, but I need to make sure it’s safe before we use it.”

Akari hesitated. “I…I get that, but…” Her grip on her mask tightened. If Mason was reading her correctly, she seemed afraid.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Iris typing on her Xtrans and decided to keep Akari’s attention off of her and give her time to find out whatever information she was looking for. He took a deep breath. “Ok, how about this? I’ll check you over as best I can without taking the mask off. I won’t try to look under it or even touch it. Would that be alright?”

She hesitated some more before nodding. “I…Yeah, I think that would be fine.”

Mason wasn’t about to look a gift-Mudbray in the mouth and didn’t question her on why she was so insistent that he not see her face. Instead he just nodded and stepped forward, gently checking her over for any visible head injuries before stepping back again. “I don’t see anything, but it’s always good to do a secondary assessment.”

She eyed him. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing scary.” He gave her a reassuring smile. “It’s just easy questions like what today’s date is, your name, basic math, things like that. It’s to check cognitive function.”

He felt a wave of surprise and worry as she shrunk in on herself. “I don’t know how well I’m going to do on questions like that. I don’t know when or how I got here, so I don’t know what today’s date would be. I go by Akari, but I don’t even know if that’s my birth name or not. I can probably do the math stuff though, if I have to.”

Iris shifted uncomfortably next to him. “Akari…? Exactly how similar was your situation to Ingo’s?” Mason’s head jerked up to stare at her. Ingo?! This kid knows Boss Ingo?!

The barest hint of a smile was visible at the bottom of her mask. It looked bittersweet, bordering on outright sad. “More similar than I wish, and yet not similar enough. Uncle Ingo remembered his name, and a few notions of those who were close to him, but nothing else. When I…fell…I didn’t even have that much. I remembered some about the place I used to live in. What it was like to catch and raise pokemon. How to work alongside them. That we didn’t need to fear them. But I didn’t even remember my name.” She sighed. “Akari is the Hisuian word for daybreak. I remember that my name had something to do with mornings, but nothing beyond that.”

Mason was reeling. This kid knew Boss Ingo. Very well, if her calling him ‘uncle’ was anything to go by. And she had amnesia. And made it sound like Boss Ingo did too. He stole a glance at Iris and felt a chill go down his spine. She’s not surprised. Sad, sure, but not surprised. She caught his eye and signed subtly to him. “Keep this quiet for now. We’re still deciding how to tell people.”

Mason nodded numbly, and Iris swapped back to speaking verbally. “Well, it doesn’t seem like you have a head injury. At least, not one right now. So would it be alright with you if Mason brought out his Audino to heal some of your injuries?”

Akari eyed the pair of them as Mason held up the appropriate pokeball in demonstration. “What’s an Audino?”

Mason blinked. “Oh, you’re not from Unova, are you? I hear other regions tend to use Chansey or Blissey. They’re similar enough.”

She relaxed slightly, hand drifting absently towards one of the other old-fashioned pokeballs on her belt in instinctual self-reassurance. “If it’s like a Chansey, then that’s alright.” She eyed him again, and Mason felt like it was he, far more than his pokemon, that she didn’t trust. “Would it be alright if I switched out which one of my pokemon is out?”

Mason shrugged, doubting whatever the new pokemon would be could be more hazardous to his health than a pissed off Typhlosion already was. “Sure, as long as the new one isn’t going to attack when we try to heal you.”

Akari nodded, pulling out a ball. It was a distinctly different texture than the standard pokeballs Mason was used to. It looked almost like one of those apricorn balls he’d seen a Johtonian tourist using once. She flicked the metal clasp up, and the ball popped open, light streaming around her Typhlosion. “Pyre, come back and rest for a bit.” The ball clicked shut, and she flicked the latch back down before swapping to a different ball and repeating the motion. “Dancer, come on out.”

There was a bright pop of light, and a new pokemon appeared. Mason couldn’t help but stare. “What…is that?”

She shifted a bit as the strange pokemon twirled in place gracefully. “Dancer is a Lilligant.”

Mason couldn’t help but think that this was the strangest looking Lilligant he’d ever seen in his life. It seemed a lot lankier, and its flowing dress of leaves had been replaced by a graceful pair of legs. Overall, it looked far less passively comforting, and far more capable in a fight. “...Right. Ok, then.”

He decided not to question her, instead releasing his Audino and thanking the dragons that the girl didn’t have a head injury so he was alright to direct his partner through using Life Dew. It took a few uses of the move before Akari looked relaxed enough that Mason didn’t suspect she was hiding pain from them. He recalled his Audino and stood. “Alright, you should be good to travel now. Miss Iris, where are the two of you staying?”

Iris smiled. “My dad’s house in Opelucid City.”

He nodded. “Alright. I’ll get the two of you into a private car on the next train over to Opelucid.” He checked the time on his Xtrans. “Looks like it should be departing in about twenty minutes. We can take the staff access hallways to the platform so we don’t have to deal with quite so many people.” He beckoned, watching as Iris gently took Akari’s hand to lead her to follow him. “This way. We’ll have you home in no time.”

Emmet was trying his best not to fidget as they drove away from the hospital and to the private airfield for Skyla to fly them home. Or rather, more accurately, he tried to not fidget with anything other than the fidget toy Elesa had slipped into his hands at one point without his notice. His mind was focused on far too many other things to be worried about trivial details like his surroundings. Ingo was home!

Well…They weren’t home yet. But they were going there! Ingo would be home soon. Even if this Ingo did not act the same as the Ingo of before had.

Emmet stole a glance at his brother. Ingo was sitting quietly in his seat, arms wrapped protectively around his bizarre Sneasel and eyes flying around their surroundings as buildings and cars drifted by outside. He felt his smile twitch, and he fought to keep it from dimming. Ingo was not supposed to be quiet. He hadn’t even seemed to know the meaning of the word before he’d disappeared.

Now, he was silent.

Emmet took a deep breath, trying to refocus his thoughts away from imagining just what his brother might have gone through that he’d needed to learn to be quiet, when their whole lives he had never been able to gain the skill before.

His wandering mind was brought into focus by his wrist vibrating as they pulled into the parking lot adjacent to the airfield. He glanced down to see a message from Iris. Wondering what his cousin could be needing, he opened it up and read. “Hey, can you ask Ingo why this Akari girl seems so freaked out by anyone seeing under her mask?”

Emmet tilted his head. He knew Uncle Drayden had briefly mentioned seeing a mask on the girl who called Ingo ‘uncle’, but hadn’t heard any more explanation than that. Turning, he grabbed his brother’s attention with a small wave. “Ingo?”

Ingo turned to look at him fully, and Emmet fought a wince as he watched him force a small smile. They needed to work on helping Ingo feel comfortable with not masking again. “Yes, Emmet?”

“Iris messaged me about your…” How did he describe someone who called his brother ‘uncle’ that he himself had never met before? “...Your friend. Akari. She wears a mask, is that right?”

Ingo nodded, and Emmet felt a wave of relief as the fake smile disappeared when Ingo stopped thinking about it. “Indeed, for as long as I have known her, she has always worn that Zoroark mask. My understanding is that the idea of taking it off is quite distressing to her, and so I have never had cause to ask her to remove it.”

“That sounds verrry unfortunate for her. I will tell Iris not to press.” He turned his attention back to his Xtrans and messaged his cousin as the group worked on climbing out of the cars and transferring to the plane. “Ingo does not know why she wears the mask, only that she is distressed by the idea of becoming uncoupled from it. She has worn it for as long as he has known her.”

“Damn, not very helpful. Oh well, it doesn’t seem to be an issue at the moment. Mason got her patched up with his Audino and we’re on the train back to Dad’s house now. Thanks for sending him, by the way. I’m going to keep her inside and away from the press until all of you are home and we can handle it together.”

Emmet fought a grimace at the reminder of having to deal with the press. “That is a good route to travel, by the sound of it. I am glad that Mason was able to help. Keep our new passenger away from those Mandibuzz in human skin. Uncle Drayden and Elesa will help us deal with them when we arrive home.”

Iris responded to that particular statement with several laughing Gengar emotes. “Come on, Emmet. That’s an insult to Mandibuzz everywhere. At least they have some semblance of manners.”

Emmet felt his smile widen a bit, and he chuckled softly. “Perhaps. But we will be departing our station soon. I will not be able to message while in the air. Stay safe. We will be home tomorrow.”

She sent him a wave of sparkly hearts. “Have a safe flight. I look forward to seeing you. All of you.”

He smiled, sending her a sparkly heart of his own in return before swapping his Xtrans to airplane mode. He watched as Uncle Drayden helped Ingo get settled into the seat, gently explaining what all of the safety procedures were. He nodded to himself. Safety checks were verrry important, and Ingo did not currently remember his.

Adam and Ida settled down in the back of the plane, looking awkward. Emmet couldn't help but feel grateful that the two Rangers would be accompanying them back to Unova. He wasn’t a very big fan of the police these days, especially after he had been treated as the prime suspect in his brother’s disappearance for a while. However, Pokemon Rangers held his utmost respect, and he was grateful that there was some kind of official agency overseeing the investigation into his brother’s mysterious return.

Uncle Drayden was sitting down in the seat next to Ingo. Elesa had already headed up to the cockpit to spend the flight talking with Skyla. Adam caught Emmet’s eye and flashed him a smile and a thumbs-up as the plane began to move. Finally, they were bringing Ingo home. Emmet settled back in his seat, idly playing with his fidget toy as they took to the air. For the first time in years, it felt like things were getting back to normal.

If only that were actually the case.

Chapter Text

Adam woke up to the uncomfortable sensation of his ears popping at the change in air pressure. He grimaced in discomfort, glancing out of the window and watching as their plane descended below the cloud layer. A sprawling city came into view, growing steadily larger as they approached the airfield on its outskirts. He glanced around the plane, checking the other occupants. Emmet was playing with a small toy in his hands, murmuring quiet reassurances to a very nervous-looking Ingo. The poor man’s eyes were wide as they were locked on the view out the window, seeming unable to fully take everything in.

Drayden sat to his other side, also attempting to reassure Ingo and help him relax. Adam didn’t see Elesa anywhere in the cabin, and so he assumed she was still in the cockpit with Skyla. This brought his attention around to his partner, and Ida gave him a small smile when she noticed he was looking at her. “So, that’s Opelucid City, huh? Looks like it’s on par with Jubilife in terms of size.”

Adam nodded, stifling a yawn as he stretched. He felt his back pop and let out a satisfied sound. “Seems like it. But remind me again why we’re going here first instead of taking Ingo and Emmet home? Weren’t they from a different city? Numbo-something?”

Ida giggled. “Nimbasa,” she corrected him with a snicker. “Yes, the twins are from Nimbasa City. But Drayden lives in Opelucid, and that’s where this Akari girl is right now. We need to pick her up.”

He grimaced, pinching the bridge of his nose and already feeling a headache starting to form at how complicated his nice and simple mountain rescue mission had become. “Right. Akari. The other time traveler with no memories. Would you mind telling me exactly when our jobs got so weird?”

She laughed, rolling her eyes. “When we became Rangers. Really, Adam, you act like you don’t remember that team that had to deal with a Celebi. We spent a week going over that report in training.”

Adam shuddered. “Don’t remind me. I’ll take even this mess over that one any day of the week.” The thought of that particular report from Ranger training still made Adam break out in a cold sweat just thinking about the nightmare it was to sort out, involving three governmental agencies, an international crime syndicate, two separate instances of timelines being rewritten, and one very apologetic ten-year-old.

We’re up to a government agency, evidence bordering on downright proof of two separate cases of time travel, and a mysterious teenager who apparently refuses to show anyone her face. Adam really hated that tiny voice in the back of his head that pointed out these things. He was pretty sure most people would call that voice ‘logical reasoning’ or ‘observational skills’. He mostly called it ‘an asshole’ for pointing out things he’d really rather not think about right now, thank you very much.

He was brought out of his thoughts by the small jolt of the plane landing shaking him in his seat. Ingo’s Sneasel hissed in displeasure, face scrunching up with fangs displayed, and the man hurried to reassure the pokemon. “It will be alright, little lady. We are arriving in a safe terminal.”

Drayden nodded with an encouraging smile. At least, Adam thought he was smiling behind his beard. “Yes, that we are. Oh, and don’t forget that the hospital is sending someone to meet up with us before we leave the airport to lend us one of their Audino.”

Ingo nodded. “Indeed. Although I have no memories of this pokemon, I do hope that my experiences with it are a bit more pleasant than those I have had with Blissey.”

Emmet gave his brother an odd look, tilting his head curiously. “What derailment did you have with a Blissey? They are verrrry kind and nurturing pokemon.”

Ingo shivered slightly, holding his Sneasel close and reminding Adam quite suddenly of a small child cuddling a stuffed animal for comfort. “Alphas aren’t.” The Sneasel let out a comforting sound, halfway between a growl and a chirp.

An awkward silence fell after that, no one really seeming to know how to respond. Luckily, they were saved from the necessity by the plane coming to a stop and Elesa and Skyla emerging from the cockpit. “We’re here! Everybody, exit’s this way! Let’s get off this ride!” She led the way to the door, opening it up and being the first one to depart. Drayden followed, beckoning the twins after him. Adam and Ida were the last two to exit the plane and head into the airport.

Adam caught the briefest of glimpses of the crowds standard to such a busy international airport before their group was quickly ushered into a quiet, private room. Already waiting inside was what was clearly a nurse from the local hospital. She looked tired, and more than slightly distracted as she tossed a pokeball back and forth between her hands. Her hair was tied back in a rather severe-looking bun, and she kept checking her watch.

She visibly perked up when the group entered, making a beeline for Drayden. “Mayor Drayden! It’s so good to have you back home in Opelucid City again. Here is the Audino you requested.” She thrust the pokeball towards him, and Drayden took it from her, if for no other reason than he really didn’t feel like being punched in the chest with it at the moment.

“Ah. Yes, thank you.” He turned the pokeball over in his hands with a thoughtful expression, analyzing its surface. “Tell me, what moves does it know?”

The nurse nodded distractedly, already packing up her things to leave as she checked a list on her Xtrans. “The Audino assigned to you knows Protect, Life Dew, Safeguard, and Helping Hand. Feel free to contact the hospital if you have further questions. I’m sure that your primary care physician would be happy to assist you.” And with that, she was gone, the door swinging shut behind her with a soft click.

Adam huffed, nudging Ida with his elbow. “And you call me impatient. At least I can get through a conversation without seeming like I’m desperate to leave.”

Ida nodded, a frown wrinkling her brow. “She really was rather rude. I hope not all Unovan nurses are the same way. She made me feel like I was wasting space just being near her.”

Drayden huffed, looking annoyed. “In my experience, most are quite pleasant. I must say I was far from impressed with that one, though.” He shook his head, his face clearing. “Regardless, we have what we need.” He tossed the pokeball, and an Audino emerged in the customary flash of light. It looked up at him with curious blue eyes, and he gestured towards Ingo. “This is Ingo, the man you’ve been assigned to help. I trust his situation and needs have been explained to you?”

The Audino nodded, wandering over to stand by Ingo, who watched it approach with an ever-so-slight air of distrust. However, he said nothing, and the pokemon came to rest at his side, waiting for the group to be ready to leave. He ran a comforting finger over Sneasel’s fur as she growled quietly at the unfamiliar pokemon.

Drayden was messaging what seemed to be several people on his Xtransceiver. It was a few minutes later that he gave a satisfied nod. “Iris knows we’ve arrived and has already arranged for two of my gym trainers to escort us to my home.” He looked over at Ingo. “It seems Akari is quite eager to see you again.”

Ingo nodded, his frown lightening a bit into something closer to a neutral expression. “Indeed. I must admit that I find myself eager for our tracks to converge again as well.”

Drayden’s Xtrans vibrated, its screen lighting up, and he grunted as he checked it. “Well, it seems that’s going to happen sooner rather than later. Denae and Ron are here.” He turned, leading the group out of a side exit, into what almost felt like an alleyway on the edge of the airport. There were two cars waiting there, with a man and a woman standing next to them.

The two were very clearly experienced trainers, holding themselves with the confidence and self-assurance that came with said experience. They wore similar outfits, largely black with a few red details here and there. The man stepped forward. “Sir, it’s good to have you home.”

Adam decided that it was entirely too hard to tell if Drayden was smiling. He thought he was. But he couldn’t be certain. “Thank you, Ron. It’s good to be back. And thank you both for coming on what would otherwise be a day off for the two of you.”

The woman, who Adam could only assume was Denae, shrugged. “We’re not particularly fond of just sitting around and doing nothing. We’re happy to lend you a hand wherever you need. Now, let’s get you all home.” She opened the door to the backseat of her car, Ron doing the same to his.

The group divided between the two cars, Ida ending up in the car with Elesa, Skyla, and Drayden while Adam went with the twins and the hospital Audino. Ingo was clutching his Sneasel like a child with a stuffed Teddiursa, Emmet watching him with a concerned smile as he tried to reassure his brother and help calm some of his anxieties.

Adam gave them both a small smile. “Hey, it’s going to be alright. We’ll be here with you, and you’ll get to see your friend Akari again, right?”

Ingo nodded, relaxing slightly. “Indeed.” Emmet shot Adam a grateful look, and he nodded with another smile. Glad I could help the poor guy relax, even if it was just a little bit. Adam had no idea how he himself would react if he were in Ingo’s shoes, and frankly, he hoped that he never had to find out.

The cars came to a stop on the road outside of a walled-off house. There was quite the crowd outside, and Denae sighed as she tried to inch her car through them. “Not again. Rhona and Lucius were supposed to try and keep the reporters away today.”

Emmet’s smile became more fixed as he watched his brother tense. Then he caught sight of movement from the car ahead of them as the window opened and an Emolga poked its head out. “Pause for a moment. I recommend you turn off the engine. Elesa will clear away this delay in our commute and then we may proceed.”

Denae didn’t even question Emmet, immediately putting the car into park and turning off the engine. Adam noticed the car ahead of them doing the same. He frowned. “What’s the plan here, exactly?”

Emmet’s grin was entirely too sharp. “Safety check! Everyone close and cover your eyes.” No sooner had they registered his request and done so than Adam saw a very bright flash of light against his eyelids. Emmet made a satisfied sound. “Now we may proceed. All aboard!”

Adam blinked, clearing the spots from his vision as Denae started the car back up and drove through the now-open gate. It seemed the gathered reporters hadn’t been nearly so lucky, many yelling and rubbing at their eyes desperately to try and clear their vision. Adam grunted. “Does that happen a lot?”

“I am Emmet. I do not like reporters. They bothered me too much. And they do not leave Elesa alone.” It was rather hard to tell, given Emmet’s tendency to speak in a monotone voice, but Adam thought he sounded angry.

Ingo’s hand found Emmets, and he squeezed it comfortingly. “We are past them. Let’s not dwell on the unpleasantness of unruly passengers.”

Emmet visibly relaxed as Ingo took his hand. He nodded and gave Ingo a smile as the car came to a stop. “Yes. Let us get you inside. You have a niece to introduce me to.” He chuckled. “If you are Uncle, would that mean I am also Uncle? Or have you assigned me an offspring while you were away?”

Ingo’s eyes widened. “I would never presume to do something like that to you! That decision will be one for you to make with Akari for yourselves!” Adam suppressed a wince at the volume of Ingo’s voice. This guy really has no concept of an ‘inside voice’ when he gets excited.

Emmet laughed. “I know, Ingo. I was only joking. I look forward to meeting her. I hope she is nice.”

He nodded eagerly. “Young Akari is quite kind and a most pleasant passenger. She is also one of the most skilled battlers I have had the pleasure of meeting.” He hesitated. “Or at least, that I can recall meeting.”

There was something just a little bit menacing about Emmet’s smile now, in Adam’s opinion. Sure, it didn’t look like the man was angry, but he was entirely too eager for comfort, a kind of quiet intensity hanging around him. “I want to battle her.”

Ingo seemed unbothered, merely chuckling. “I am sure she will be most happy to oblige, once she has had the chance to get settled.”

Before either twin could say much of anything else, the door on Emmet’s side of the car was opened. Adam politely didn’t comment on how badly Ingo startled at it. Elesa poked her head in with a pout. “Are you two Slowbros coming, or what?”

Emmet groaned. “Really, Elesa? That was a terrrrible pun.”

She grinned. “I thought it was good! You’re both slow, and you’re brothers! What more could you want from a pun?”

His smile looked somewhat pained. “For them to not exist.” Elesa just laughed, holding the door open for him.

Emmet clambered out of the car, Ingo following cautiously after him. His Sneasel perched on his shoulder, one clawed hand resting gently against the side of his head to steady herself. He didn’t seem to mind at all. Drayden nodded in thanks to his two gym trainers, and both Ron and Denae departed as he led the remaining group up the path towards the front door.

Drayden looked back at the group, taking careful stock of Ingo and trying to gauge how he was feeling. Ingo gave his uncle a nod, ready to go inside and reunite with his friend. Drayden nodded back and slid his key into the door. It unlocked with a click, and before he could do much more than withdraw his key, the door flew open and a brown and purple blur burst through it and half-tackled him.

“Dad! Welcome home!” The blur resolved itself into what Adam realized was a dark-skinned teenage girl with purple hair. She beamed up at Drayden, who had barely staggered from her full-body flying tackle.

He chuckled fondly. “Thank you, Iris. It’s good to be back. Now, I believe you owe a hug to more than just me.”

Drayden gently set her down, and Iris whirled around and hugged Emmet fiercely. “Welcome back, Emmet.”

Emmet’s smile was soft and genuine as he returned his cousin’s hug. “Thank you, Iris. I am glad that we were able to return to the station with such precious cargo.”

Iris released Emmet at that, eyes shyly tracing their way over his shoulder. She smiled somewhat nervously. “Um…Hi, Ingo. I know you don’t…really remember me. But I’m Iris. Your cousin. And I know you don’t really like hugs, so I promise I won’t hug you unless you say it’s ok ahead of time. But it’s really good to finally have you home. I’ve missed you.”

If Adam had to put an emotion to it, he thought Ingo’s frown was gratefully apologetic, if that was even possible. “Thank you, Miss Iris. It is good to make your acquaintance. I apologize that my previous memories of you have come uncoupled from me, but I look forward to our commute together.”

She giggled, a relieved smile appearing. “Even without memories, you’re still you. Good to know some things will never change.” She stepped aside, opening the door wide for them to all pass through. “Come on in. Akari is out back right now, but I know she’s looking forward to seeing you.”

Everyone filed through the door, and Adam caught a glimpse of a clean, well-decorated house as Iris led them through towards the back door. It was a nice place, but it wasn’t so fancy that it felt as if real people didn’t actually live there. Iris stopped at the door, opening it and poking her head out. “Hey, Akari. They’re here. Are you ready?”

Adam heard a teenage girl speak up excitedly. “Yes! I want to see Uncle Ingo again.” He watched as Ingo’s frown turned fond and content. Iris opened the door wide, and Adam caught the barest glimpse of a girl in an old-fashioned kimono and strange pokemon mask before she squealed and launched herself at Ingo. “Uncle!”

Ingo chuckled, catching her easily. “Hello again, Akari. It is good to see you again.”

She pulled back, checking him over with a sudden concern. “You’re ok, right? When I fought Beni he said that he and Kamado locked you up! Are you hurt at all?”

Ingo made a soothing sound, rubbing her back comfortingly. “Steady on the tracks, Akari. All safety checks have been fully completed. I am more operational now than I was for a large portion of my stay in Hisui. The medical capabilities of this time far outstrip those we have grown accustomed to.”

Akari gave him what Adam thought was probably an odd look from underneath her mask, but she didn’t question him. He got a sinking feeling in his stomach. We’ve told Ingo about the whole time travel theory. Has anyone told this kid yet?

He was distracted from this rather distressing thought by two of the strangest pokemon he’d ever seen. The first didn’t seem that bizarre at first glance, just looking like a slightly oddly colored, slouchy Typhlosion. However, he watched as purple flames sprouted into life as a collar around its neck and mentally sighed. Add another one to the ‘weird regional variants I’ve never heard of’ list.

Or rather, add another two, he decided, as he saw a pokemon that almost looked like a skinny Lilligant. He noticed Emmet eyeing the strange pokemon as well, but he had a feeling their emotions regarding said pokemon couldn’t be further from each other.

Emmet was grinning excitedly, one hand fiddling idly with the pokeballs at his belt. “Miss Akari. You have two verrrry interesting looking pokemon. Do you have more? How many do you carry with you?”

Akari stepped back, staring at Emmet in shock for a moment before seemingly brightening. “You’re the man in white! The one who smiles a lot and likes winning.”

He nodded. “I am Emmet. I am Ingo’s twin. I like battling and combinations of pokemon. And I am curious what combinations you use.”

She looked towards Ingo in surprise. “You didn’t tell him? Or did he not ask?”

Ingo shrugged. “The pokemon you carry with you on your commute has varied widely since I have known you. I was uncertain which you might have had on your person when you changed stations.”

“Oh…I guess I do tend to change it up a bit.” She shrugged. “But I still have the same team I did before…” She shivered slightly, and her Typhlosion nuzzled her. She cleared her throat. “I still have the same ones as the last time we saw each other.”

Ingo’s eyes widened. “Does that mean you still have…?”

Akari nodded, a soft smile just barely visible under the bottom of her mask. “Yeah, I do. He was a big help. Do you want him back?”

Emmet spoke up, looking intensely curious. “Who are you talking about?”

Akari shifted. “Things got…weird in Hisui. Uncle Ingo was with me when it happened, and he lent me one of his pokemon so I’d have a bit of extra support and type coverage. I still have him with me.” She reached down, unclipping one of the strange, old-fashioned pokeballs from her belt and passing it to Ingo.

He took the ball almost reverently before flipping the clasp up with his thumb and throwing. “Gliscor! All aboard!”

In a bright flash that almost resembled fireworks, a massive Gliscor popped into existence. It took mere moments for it to notice Ingo, letting out a delighted sound once it did and swooping down to nuzzle him happily. Ingo hugged it. “Hello, old friend. I am glad that I did not come permanently uncoupled from you.”

As he watched the two interact, Adam had the feeling that the Gliscor was more than just one of Ingo’s pokemon. With how close those two seem? That’s the kind of bond people form with their first partner pokemon. And he just lent it to this girl? Just how close are these two? Close enough to call him uncle, Adam reminded himself with a shake of his head.

Refocusing, he saw Emmet smile gratefully at Akari. “Thank you for returning one of his pokemon to him. He was verrrry upset to not have them anymore.”

Akari shrugged. “I get it. I’d be pretty upset too if I lost these five.” She patted the balls still attached to her belt, looking fondly at the two currently flanking her. “Even if I would swap out who I was carrying a lot, these guys mean a lot to me.”

Emmet nodded. “That is understandable. Your Typhlosion and Lilligant look verrrry weird. And interesting. Like Ingo’s new Sneasel. What are their typings?”

She hummed. “I didn’t think they were weird. All of them look like this in Hisui.” She pointed towards the Typhlosion. “Pyre is fire and ghost.” Her hand moved to indicate the Lilligant. “Dancer is grass and fighting.”

Emmet was positively beaming in excitement. “Those are excellent combinations. What others do you have? Are you willing to show them?”

Akari hesitated. “You…want to see my pokemon? You’re not scared of them?”

Ingo cleared his throat. “It seems that in Unova, people are far more close to pokemon than they are in Hisui. My brother in particular is fond of both battling and breeding them. Your team will not frighten him, or anyone present.”

She seemed to relax at that, finally pulling out her remaining pokeballs. “Alright, then. If you’re sure.” She threw the first one. “Riptide, let’s go!”

Adam watched as what appeared to be a punk-rock Samurott emerged from the ball. It barked a greeting before nuzzling Akari. She giggled, answering the excited, unspoken question on Emmet’s face. “She’s water and dark type.” He nodded eagerly, silently encouraging her to throw another.

She seemed only too happy to oblige. “This next one is dragon and steel. Come say hi, Nautilus!” In a pop of light, a Sliggoo was sitting on the grass looking up at them. It seemed to be half-encased in some kind of incredibly sturdy shell, and it let out a warbling coo of greeting.

Emmet looked incredibly excited. “You have such interesting pokemon! I cannot wait to be able to battle you.” He eyed the pokeballs at her belt. “You have one more, yes?”

Akari hesitated slightly, hand resting protectively on the last pokeball. “I do…She’s a bit shy, though, so try not to crowd her. She gets anxious around people.” She waited until she got confirmation nods from everyone present before gently unclipping the ball and tossing it forward. “Specter, come on out.”

There was one more flash of light, and then Adam found himself looking at what seemed to be a bleached Zorua with a red, wispy tuft of hair on the top of its head. The little pokemon let out a squeak, scampering back to hide behind Akari’s ankles as she registered just how many people were present.

Emmet tilted his head, taking in the nervous pokemon’s appearance. “She is a Zorua. All of your pokemon seem to be regional variants. The Zorua in Unova are black, and they are dark type.”

Akari hummed. “This little lady is ghost and normal.” She crouched, petting the Zorua comfortingly and trying to get her to relax.

Drayden cleared his throat, speaking for the first time since they’d come into the backyard. “Tell me, is she the pokemon your mask is modeled after? The appearances are quite similar.”

Akari tensed slightly. “...I suppose, kind of. Really, I think it’s more of a resemblance to Zoroark, her evolved form.” It was clear that the girl did not want to discuss her mask right now, so Drayden simply nodded and let the matter drop.

The group spent the next few hours simply getting to know each other. Emmet released some of his own – and Ingo’s old – pokemon to meet and greet with the new ones. As the sun dipped lower and lower in the sky, Iris convinced Drayden to order takeout to be delivered for them all to share. It didn’t take much for him to cave once she turned on him with Lillipup eyes.

Some time later, with stomachs comfortably full of food, the group found themselves splitting off towards the rooms they’d be occupying for the night. Drayden’s house, while large, was certainly not big enough to accommodate each of them having their own room. The twins, of course, immediately opted to stay together, neither seeming particularly eager to be separated.

Iris turned to Ida with a smile and offered to let her share her room for the night, which the Ranger agreed to gratefully. Adam gave Elesa and Skyla a smile, telling the two of them to take the guest bedroom while he himself opted for the couch in the living room. Thankfully, it was a rather plush and comfortable one. He’d definitely had to sleep in far worse places in the past.

Not long after the sun dipped below the horizon, everyone had settled down for the night. It was quiet and peaceful, with only the occasional, sleepy coo of a Pidove or similar nighttime sound breaking the silence. Soon enough, the entire house was asleep.

Chapter Text

Emmet did not remember Ingo moving this much in his sleep before.

Perhaps Emmet was once a heavier sleeper than he was now. Maybe he was just misremembering, due to how much time had passed. Yes, that must be it. It has been so long since Ingo and I have shared a station and slept side by side like this. I am simply not remembering how much he used to toss and turn. That is all.

He fought to ignore that tiny voice that spoke up in the back of his head. The one that pointed out what a heavy sleeper Ingo used to be. How he would lay like a rail, steady and immobile as he snored faintly.

Ingo was silent now. And he moved. A lot.

Emmet’s smile wavered as he was once again roused from his drowsy, nearly-asleep state by his brother tossing and turning fitfully in his sleep. He didn’t snore. He couldn’t lay still. It was as if he was constantly on-edge, prepared to wake up and dodge away from an attack at a moment’s notice. He seemed completely unable to fully relax and rest.

It made Emmet’s heart ache, witnessing how different the brother he had gotten back was from the one who had vanished. He tried not to let his mind run wild with imagined scenarios of exactly what Ingo must have been forced to endure to change him so drastically. He knew a few details, and those details made him want to cry. Or punch something. Or both.

He was found with burns and a head injury severe enough that it took two days for him to even remember his own name. And the clan that found him gave him this Warden job. Which was verrrry dangerous, based on the number of injuries he says he received while performing his duties. Emmet shook his head. And that is before we even consider his imprisonment.

Ingo was very tight-lipped indeed when it came to the details of that event. Emmet knew that something had happened to the sky. And that Ingo had been blamed for it and imprisoned, just as his…friend? Niece…? …Just as Akari had been similarly blamed and banished, instructed only to return once she had found the source of the problem and resolved it.

He was pulled from his thoughts by Ingo twitching rather forcefully, a soft sound of fear escaping his lips. Emmet felt his gut wrench at the sound. He reached out a hand, wanting to comfort his brother before he hesitated. What if he made it worse? Ingo needed to rest, what if Emmet accidentally woke him and he couldn’t go back to sleep.

His hand hung in the air, paralyzed by indecision. Then Ingo’s Sneasel made the decision for him. She carefully clambered up the bed, tucking her small, fuzzy body underneath Ingo’s chin and beginning to purr softly. Emmet watched as Ingo visibly relaxed, the tension easing out of his body. He still did not seem to be having pleasant dreams, but at least he did seem less frightened of them than he had been before.

Emmet sighed, letting his hand fall gently back to his side and glancing at the clock. Five in the morning was a reasonable time to get up for the day, right? It wasn’t that much earlier than when he got up for work at Gear Station. He would be fine.

He eased himself out of the bed as gently as he possibly could. Even with the little Sneasel comforting him, Emmet still did not want to wake Ingo. He silently padded out of the bedroom, gently closing the door behind himself before making his way to the kitchen.

He paused in surprise when he saw the light was already on and Adam was looking over the coffeemaker to figure out which settings to use. “You are awake.”

Adam jumped about a foot in the air and whirled around, swearing. “Arceus!” His wild eyes found Emmet and he gently massaged his chest, breathing just a little too hard. “Holy shit, Emmet, you scared the hell out of me.”

Emmet gave him an apologetic smile. “I am Emmet. I am sorry that I startled you. I was not expecting anyone else to be awake.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I wasn’t either. Kind of why you spooked me so bad. That, and you can move really quietly, apparently.” Emmet made a mental note to try and make more noise as he walked, at least while other people were awake. He didn’t want to scare Ingo like that by accident.

He shook off that new worry as best he could, relegating it to the back of his mind as he strode forward, fixing the settings on the coffeemaker and turning it on. “There is food, if you are hungry.” He grabbed a couple of slices of bread, popping them into the toaster and going to look through the pantry.

Adam grunted. “Thanks. I think I’ll just have whatever you’re having.”

Emmet paused, eyeing him uncertainly. It wasn’t that he necessarily minded, but… “Are you sure? My food is verrrry weird to other people.”

He raised an eyebrow, and Emmet idly noticed that there was a small slit in it. He thought it suited the man. “Weird how? What exactly are you making?”

Emmet grinned. “Honey toast with Cheri jam and pickles.”

He was fairly certain that ‘horrified fascination’ was an accurate description of the look Adam gave him at that. “That has got to be one of the weirdest breakfasts I’ve ever heard of. I think I’ll do normal toast. Although I’ll take some of that jam, if you have some to spare.” Emmet nodded, passing him two slices of bread and the appropriate jar as he removed his own toasted bread from the toaster and began slathering it with honey.

Adam just stared for a minute before beginning on his own food. “I have not had enough caffeine yet for this.”

Emmet laughed. “Do not become derailed. The coffee is almost ready. There is creamer in the fridge.”

True to his word, soon the green light indicating the coffee was finished brewing flicked on. Emmet got out two mugs, passing one to Adam before filling his own with what seemed to be only half coffee, half creamer and sugar. Adam watched him do this before shaking his head, filling his cup to brimming with coffee and proceeding to chug half of it black. He held it back, looking at the cup nodding to himself. He refilled the cup before sitting down at the kitchen table to eat breakfast. Emmet sat with him.

The two fell into a companionable silence. Emmet appreciated the fact that Adam didn’t seem to require conversation from him. He seemed content to simply exist in the same room together, without feeling the need to talk. The two enjoyed their coffee as the room slowly brightened around them, the sun rising and shining in through the windows.

Iris and Ida were the next two to make an appearance, followed almost immediately by Drayden. Each of them gave Emmet and Adam greeting nods and smiles as they got their own food and cups of coffee.

As everyone settled down to enjoy their breakfast together, Drayden glanced sideways at his daughter. “I probably should have asked this last night, but it slipped my mind. Has Akari been staying with you in your room? I didn’t see her go into the guest room with Elesa and Skyla.”

Iris grimaced, taking a large swig from her coffee. “No. And before you get upset, I did offer. Several times. She didn’t want to.”

Adam frowned in confusion. “Well, she wasn’t in the living room. So where has she been sleeping?”

Iris sighed. “The shed out back. She pretty much claimed it as soon as she laid eyes on it.” She shrugged helplessly. “I tried to convince her to stay somewhere in the house, but she refused.

Drayden sighed, rubbing his eyes and already looking tired. “It could be worse, I suppose. It has temperature control built in. And a lock. Did she agree to take a blanket, at least?”

Iris nodded. “Oh, totally! I gave her one of those nice camping sleeping bags we had in the attic, along with a couple of spare pillows. She seemed to like it out there, so I didn’t really try to change her mind after the first night.”

He nodded. “Well, if that’s what she wants while she’s here, I won’t fight her. Besides, if I’ve judged correctly, I have a feeling that she’ll be heading home with Ingo and Emmet before too long.”

Emmet nodded. He was already planning out which room would be the most comfortable for her in his head. It was a foregone conclusion that she’d be coming to Nimbasa City, in his mind. “We have plenty of room. And she makes Ingo happy. She is welcome to hitch her car to ours for as long as she likes.”

Iris sighed. “Yeah, the only issue now is how to handle the media. They’re in a frenzy. They can tell something is going on, and they’re not taking ‘no comment’ for an answer anymore. Haxorus caught one trying to climb the garden wall to peek into the freaking windows.”

Drayden let out an honest to goodness growl at that. “They’d better not try that again, or they’re going to find themselves banned from Opelucid City as a whole.”

Adam hummed. “That’s all well and good, but what about Nimbasa? I don’t think you can ban people from someone else’s town.”

He sighed, wild beard ruffling slightly in the wind from such a motion. “I cannot, more’s the pity. But Ingo and Emmet’s apartment complex is secure access with round the clock security. They won’t be bothered at home.”

Emmet nodded cheerfully in agreement. “It is true. Stan is head of security. He is very good. No one gets past Stan.” He tapped his chin. “We will need to introduce you to him. So that he knows you are allowed into our house.”

“Wait.” Ida was frowning in confusion, looking between Emmet and his uncle. “Drayden said apartment complex, but you just said house. Which is it?”

He beamed. “We have a big townhouse. Technically, it was a duplex. One for me and one for Ingo. But we connected them. Now it is a house. With a verrrry secure fence around us and the neighbors. Do not worry. We will have plenty of space for all passengers.”

The talk around the table moved on to more menial topics after that, conversations turning to mundane small talk. Elesa and Skyla finally made an appearance, and after a while, Akari entered through the back door. Iris gave her an encouraging nod as the girl grabbed some breakfast and pokemon food before slipping back out into the yard.

It was not long after she did this that Emmet heard one more door open down the hall. He strained his ears and thought he could hear the quiet clicking of Sneasel claws on the hardwood floor of the hallway. He turned with a smile as Ingo came into view, one hand rubbing his forehead gently. The Sneasel was walking alongside him, the hospital’s Audino trailing in their wake.

Drayden nodded in greeting, his voice cheerful. “Good morning, Ingo. How did you sleep?”

Ingo grunted, sinking into a chair as Emmet found himself getting up and preparing his brother a cup of coffee with a dash of creamer and pinch of sugar, just the way he always liked it. “I slept adequately enough to manage, thank you.”

Emmet couldn’t help but notice that Ingo did not claim he slept well as he offered the steaming mug to his brother. Ingo blinked down at the cup in surprise before taking it with a nod. “Thank you.” He took an experimental sip before making a pleased sound and draining half the cup in a single go. “This is most delicious. Bravo, Emmet.”

If his smile got any bigger, Emmet thought to himself, he thought he might break something. “I am Emmet. I am happy you like it!”

Ingo nodded, sipping his coffee again. He held the cup with one hand, the other drifting back up to rub his forehead. Emmet’s smile dimmed slightly. “Ingo? Are you alright?”

He blinked up at Emmet. “Hm? Oh, I seem to have woken up with a bit of a headache. No cause for alarm. It is far from the first time this has happened, particularly after a nightmare.”

Despite his reassurance, Emmet couldn’t help but feel worried for his brother. It would seem that he wasn’t the only one, either. Adam and Ida exchanged a significant glance at Ingo’s admission of having a nightmare. Drayden shifted forward, looking concerned. “Ingo, if you’re in pain, there are ways of dealing with that. We have pain medication. And you have a medically trained Audino with you that knows a healing move.”

Ingo shrugged. “I have performed my duties with my cab in far worse states of disrepair. I will be fine, I assure you.” Drayden didn’t look happy, but he didn’t push the issue for now.

Slowly everyone finished with their breakfasts and began settling in various places throughout the house, each in their own way preparing for the group dispersing throughout the region. Ida and Adam began discussing logistics of travel to and within Nimbasa City with Elesa. Skyla was chatting with Iris, agreeing to take her back to the League before she headed back to Mistralton. Drayden seemed to be messaging with several people at once, likely trying to catch back up on his mayoral and gym leader duties while also coordinating with the police regarding Ingo’s sudden reappearance.

All of this activity left Ingo and Emmet alone together. Gently, Emmet made sure that Ingo ate at least a little, even if his brother didn’t seem very hungry. He got him to change his clothes, despite Ingo’s insistence that there was nothing wrong with the clothing he had slept in. Eventually they found themselves in the backyard, watching Akari fawn over their pokemon.

Ingo had a fond look on his face as he watched the young girl play with them. Emmet was pretty sure that this was the most relaxed he had seen either person since being reunited with Ingo, and he couldn’t be happier that his brother was finally able to unwind and get some much-needed rest.

However, as the morning wore on towards noon and the sun grew brighter in the sky, Emmet noticed Ingo starting to sit more stiffly. His hand almost never left his head now, absently rubbing at his eyes or his temples when he thought no one was looking. His frown grew just a bit deeper, and just a bit more genuine. By the time Drayden called the three of them inside to eat lunch, Emmet was feeling genuinely worried for his brother.

It would seem he wasn’t the only one, either. Akari kept looking towards Ingo, her posture seeming stiff. Adam and Ida, even Iris and Elesa gave Ingo worried glances as he settled down at his spot at the table. Drayden seemed the most concerned of all. “Ingo?” His voice was gentle, consciously quieter than normal speaking volume.

Ingo squinted up at him, his usual frown more resembling a grimace. “Yes?”

Drayden sighed. “Your headache has gotten worse, hasn’t it?” Ingo’s frown deepened slightly, and Drayden took that as all the confirmation he needed. “Ingo, the doctors told you not to push yourself like this. You need to take care of yourself. There’s a reason you were assigned an Audino.”

The pokemon in question padded forward with a greeting coo, knowing she was being discussed. Ingo looked down at the Audino, rubbing his forehead. “Do you believe you have the capabilities of righting my rails?”

The Audino tilted her head, clearly confused by the odd turns of phrase. Ida spoke up kindly. “I think he’s asking if you think you can help with his headache.”

Blue eyes turned excited as the Audino’s fuzzy pink head bobbed up and down. Ingo sighed. “Very well. I suppose that the Blissey in the hospital was most helpful. You may attempt. All aboard.”

The pokemon still seemed quite confused by Ingo’s words, but his nod of permission was all the encouragement she needed. The Audino’s eyes closed, and Emmet watched as moisture began collecting in the air around them, droplets hanging suspended before dispersing and impacting all of them. His smile became a bit more fixed as he felt the uncomfortable, damp sensation that always accompanied this particular move. He was not a big fan of Life Dew. Even if it did heal and was excellent with dampening pain, it also dampened Emmet and left him feeling slightly wet for hours.

Glowing water struck Ingo as well, seeming to be mainly centered around his head as the Audino directed her efforts towards relieving the pain of his headache. Emmet watched, feeling relieved as he saw Ingo’s muscles involuntarily relaxing, tension bleeding out of his body as the pain started to fade.

Then everything went wrong.

Relief turned to horror as suddenly Ingo’s eyes flew open and rolled up into the back of his head. His whole body stiffened and began jerking and twitching uncontrollably. There were mingled cries of alarm as he slid completely out of his chair and began convulsing on the floor. The use of Life Dew cut off abruptly, but the damage was already done.

The kitchen blurred into a whirl of motion, Ida diving forward to protect Ingo’s head from impacting the leg of the table. Adam turned, managing to catch Akari before she could hurl herself at Ingo. “Don’t! Holding him down just means he could get injured. Clear a space, make sure he won’t hit anything.”

Drayden was already calling for an ambulance, practically roaring into his Xtransceiver at the poor emergency operator about what was happening. Emmet found himself frozen, shaking slightly as Iris and Elesa found him, wrapping their arms around him. He wasn’t sure if they were seeking comfort, or if they were trying to comfort him. Maybe both. All he knew, as the sounds of sirens grew closer and his brother lay twitching on the floor, was that he needed to make sure this never happened again.

Chapter Text

As Drayden took in the image, once again, of his nephew laying in a hospital bed, he felt an undeniable rage begin boiling in the pit of his stomach. In the chair next to his bed, Emmet sat pale and worried, holding his twin’s hand. Ingo’s other hand was held by Akari, who seemed to be anxiously chewing her lip from what Drayden could tell behind the mask.

Ingo himself was unconscious, unaware of the worry all around him.

Drayden fought off the urge to growl in anger. He should have realized what was going to happen. Of all the stupid oversights to cause an issue, the hospital just had to give them an Audino that knew blasted Life Dew instead of Heal Pulse like they should have been given. And Drayden hadn’t noticed. Had even convinced Ingo to trust the pokemon to use its move on him.

As the saying went, there was no fool like an old fool.

Life Dew couldn’t be used on those who had head injuries. The manipulation of healing water had a danger of causing swelling in those whose brains were not at full health, and doctors had yet to find a way to prevent this from causing blackouts and, in some cases, seizures. Drayden knew that. Hell, Emmet, Elesa, Iris, the Pokemon Rangers, all of them knew it. And yet not one of them had managed to catch the error in time.

Neither did the hospital. That stray thought gave him pause, allowing his inner dragon to redirect its anger slightly. The hospital assigned him that Audino. Surely they had other ones which knew Heal Pulse instead. But they gave him one with Life Dew. The nurse who handed it off even said so.

Drayden scowled. Said nurse was definitely on his shit list in more ways than one. She’d been eager to leave since before they had arrived, handing off the pokemon before rushing out the door with barely an explanation of its moveset. She was the one the hospital had sent? Drayden was far from impressed. And his lawyers were going to be even less so.

He felt no small amount of savage delight at the recollection that his lawyers were circling like Sharpedo in bloodied water to go after the hospital as a whole, as well as the individual nurse responsible for the error. They planned to take down anyone and everyone who had a hand in this gross bit of medical malpractice.

None of that helped Ingo, though.

Drayden sighed as his eyes wandered back over to his unconscious nephew. He could only hope that the error wouldn’t have permanent consequences for Ingo’s health going forward.

The screen of his Xtransceiver lit up again, and he grimaced at the reminder of the other problem he had to deal with. They were really starting to pile up. He shook off the unhappy thought and forced himself to focus as he read Iris’s latest text message. “The hospital has had to call in the police to keep reporters from storming the place or blocking the door. Elesa and I don’t seem to be satisfying them very well. They keep trying to pester Ranger Adam and Ranger Ida too. You may want to talk with Emmet about what exactly we’re going to tell them. I don’t think we can keep this quiet much longer.”

Drayden’s grimace deepened. An ambulance had been called to his home less than a day after he returned alongside rumors that his missing nephew had been found. Yes, he could only imagine the frenzy that the media had worked itself into by now.

He sighed, raising his attention to his other nephew. “Emmet? We need to talk.”

Emmet hummed, barely even glancing his way before returning his gaze to Ingo. “What?”

“Iris and Elesa are finding it difficult to calm the media. I can go talk to them, but I think…I think we need to decide what exactly we’re ready to tell them.” He rubbed a tired hand along his face, absently carding his fingers through his beard. “We can’t keep this quiet any longer.”

Emmet’s smile, small as it was, became even more fixed. “We do not owe them anything.”

Drayden nodded. He suspected Emmet likely held a severe grudge against the media after the circus that surrounded Ingo’s disappearance. Some had even gone so far as to insinuate that Emmet might have had something to do with it, as ridiculous as that concept was to anyone who had ever even met the twins.

“You’re right,” he conceded, and truly Emmet was. “However, that won’t stop them. They’ll just get more desperate, and you and I know how badly that can turn out.” Stan had gotten quite the workout after a pair of reporters had tried to sneak into Emmet’s home while he was at work. And all of the depot agents had gotten their fair share of fighting off reporters to give their boss some peace and quiet.

Emmet huffed, but he nodded all the same. “You are right. And our friends should know that Ingo is back.” He hesitated. “Can we not say where he was, yet? Or that he does not remember?”

Drayden nodded. “I’ll find a way to talk them down. After all, it is still technically an active police investigation. Particularly with your addition, young Miss Akari.”

The girl’s head jerked up from where she’d been petting Ingo’s Sneasel. “What?”

He shrugged, trying to ignore the drop in his stomach as he watched her whole body tense. She really didn’t like having attention focused on her. “You are a minor, which means that details about your case will likely be held rather close to the vest until they determine your identity in this time, if you do have one. Currently, I believe they are treating it as if you are a missing person, just from the other way around.” He gave her a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, it’s a good thing. It gives me a good reason for telling the media almost nothing.”

He thought he could see a timid smile on Akari’s face. “So they won’t tell anyone who I am? And it helps Uncle Ingo?” Drayden nodded, and he watched as she visibly relaxed. “Then that’s alright, I guess.”

Drayden nodded again, more to himself than to anyone else as he stood up and brushed a hand over his clothes to straighten them. “You two stay here with Ingo. I’ll go deal with our latest media circus.”

As he strode out of the room, he nodded to the police officer stationed outside of Ingo’s door along with Ranger Ida. It seemed she had retreated from dealing with the media for now. He turned first one corner, then another, then down two flights of stairs. As the main lobby of the hospital came into view, he found he could already see the telltale flash of cameras in a frenzy of photography.

The flashing only increased when Drayden exited the hospital, overlapping voices shouting questions so quickly they were incomprehensible, reducing themselves into an awful cacophony of sound that accomplished nothing at all. Drayden sighed, making his way over to stand in between Iris and Elesa. He gave his daughter a smile before nodding to Elesa. His fellow gym leader tossed a pokeball into the air, and her Emolga emerged. Drayden closed his eyes as the little flying squirrel pokemon used Flash, opening them when he knew it was safe.

The gathered reporters and camera crews all cried out in dismay and outrage as they were blinded. Drayden glared at him, projecting his voice to cut through the crowd before they could recover themselves. “That is quite enough from all of you. If you want answers, then you will be quiet and listen to me. Otherwise, you may leave not only this hospital, but Opelucid City itself and wait for a time when you can prove you are better behaved. If that happens, I might be willing to allow you back into the city.”

The threat, combined with the angry note in his voice and the absolutely furious look of danger in his eyes got the reporters to shut up immediately. He surveyed the group in silence for a long minute, ensuring that none of them would gather the nerve to interrupt or badger him. He almost found himself hoping that someone did. He was itching for a pokemon battle to relieve some of his pent up emotions right now.

Whether luckily or unluckily, no one seemed to have that much bravery in them. He nodded to himself. “Very well. As you all likely know, I recently took a trip to the Sinnoh Region. As I explained before my departure, this was a planned vacation to visit an old friend of mine. So those of you who are reporting otherwise, cease and desist now, or my lawyers will be finding you.”

One or two of the gathered reporters paled, quickly sending a message on their XTransceivers before refocusing on Drayden. He felt a surge of satisfaction at that before continuing. “However, the trip proved to be far more fruitful than just catching up with Professor Rowan. You see, some of you may have read about the unexpected storm and subsequent avalanche at Snowpoint City there.” Heads bobbed, he could tell the reporters were starting to get excited.

He sighed to himself before continuing. This was about to get hectic again, he could already tell. One gloved hand traced along the smooth surface of his pokeballs, itching to grab one. “In the aftermath of that avalanche, a man was found in a cave and brought to the Snowpoint City hospital for treatment. While he was unconscious, the Pokemon Rangers responsible for finding him put out a bulletin asking the public to help identify him. I saw the broadcast, and later visited the hospital. I was, in fact, able to identify the man.”

Drayden took a deep breath, mentally fortifying himself for the next words to come out of his mouth. “My nephew, Ingo, has been found.”

‘Uproar’ was not quite a strong enough word to describe the practical explosion of sound that followed moments after those six words had left his mouth. Six Exploud using Uproar simultaneously in an echo chamber might have come close to the level of volume. Maybe.

Drayden simply stood there, flanked by Iris and Elesa as he waited for the media to calm itself. Idly, he noticed Ranger Adam leaning against the wall nearby, looking over the gathered reporters in an annoyed yet bored sort of way. The ‘Mandibuzz in human skin’, as Emmet had often referred to them, were squawking and shouting over one another, trying and failing to get answers from him.

His eyes caught on one reporter near the front of the crowd, recognizing the badge for the Nimbasa Times on her lapel. Hers was a face he actually remembered from several interviews previously. Amber, he thought her name was. She was waiting quietly, occasionally glancing at her fellow reporters with an annoyed expression. So you can teach an old Stoutland new tricks, Drayden thought to himself. Clearly she knew he wouldn’t give any more information until they stopped shouting at him.

Drayden finally got fed up with the shouting. He unclipped a ball from his belt and tossed it into the air. There was a bright flash of red light and a roar as his Haxorus appeared in front of the reporters. Many of them took an instinctive step back in fear as they quieted. Even if they knew this was a trained pokemon, having an armored giant of a dragon with a face full of blades towering over you and very much in your personal space was an intimidating prospect.

He cleared his throat. “Are you all quite finished?” He didn’t wait for a response before continuing. “Since you all have decided to act like ill-behaved children, I have decided I will treat you as such. Welcome back to first grade, everyone. If you have a question, you will raise your hand and wait for me to call on you. If you repeat a question I have already answered, I will consider you to be wasting my time. If you try to shout a question at me, I will have you removed from the city. Am I clear?” None of them dared to answer verbally with both he and his Haxorus glaring them down. They all simply nodded frantically, hands shooting into the air.

Drayden sighed, pointing to the reporter he’d seen earlier. “Miss Amber, of the Nimbasa Times.”

The reporter in question flushed slightly, clearly pleased that he had recognized her enough to know her name. “Mayor Drayden, you stated that your nephew had been found. What does that have to do with the ambulance that rushed from your home to the hospital, particularly if he was found in Sinnoh and assumedly cleared to be transported here?”

He sighed. Leave it to this mob to have the first question be one of the most difficult. “It is true that Ingo was injured when he was found. However, the hospital staff in Sinnoh were able to heal him to the point that we were able to bring him home.” His jaw tightened. “That being said, he was assigned a temporary medical aide pokemon to accompany him. And through an oversight, the details of which my lawyers are currently investigating, there was an issue between one of his injuries and one of the moves the pokemon in question was equipped with. The ambulance bringing him here was a result of that issue.”

“What was the issue? How is he injured and where was he? Was he kidnapped?” One reporter couldn’t contain himself and started shouting questions. That is, until he quailed under Drayden’s glare.

“Mr. Blake of the PokePower Gazette, you have just broken the rules I so clearly set out. Not only are you asking for privileged, private medical information, but you have done so by interrupting and shouting at me. Leave Opelucid City immediately.”

The reporter spluttered. “You can’t just kick me out of the city! What about freedom of the press?”

Drayden’s face morphed into a dangerous smile. “I warned you of the consequences before I began this interview. If you would like to contest my ruling, by all means throw out a pokemon and we can have a battle right here, right now. As you can see, I’ll be leading with Haxorus.” The man paled and promptly ran away. Drayden’s smile widened to a smirk. He knew the man only carried a rather pitiful example of a Herdier. Hardly a match at all for Haxorus.

He turned back to the reporters that still remained. “Would anyone else like to join Mr. Blake?” There was a flurry of heads being shaken. “Excellent. Then before I take the next question, allow me to stipulate. I will not be discussing any personal medical details regarding my nephew. Nor am I permitted to give certain details about his situation, considering it is still considered an active police investigation. Are we clear?” This time there was a flurry of nods. “In that case, let’s resume with these questions.” Thirty hands shot into the air, and Drayden fought off a sigh. This was going to take a while.

Several hours later, after two impertinent questions that had to be shut down and seven threatened pokemon battles, Drayden finally finished dealing with the reporters. He headed back inside the hospital, Adam catching up to walk next to him as Iris and Elesa followed behind. “That was an impressive handling of the ravening horde,” the Ranger commented with an impressed smile.

Drayden snorted. “After all these years, one would think that they would have learned how to properly behave when dealing with me.”

Adam laughed as they waited for the elevator to come down. “It’s the media, sir. They never learn.” The gym leader huffed as the elevator doors opened with a ping and the four of them stepped inside, riding it back up to the floor Ingo was staying on.

Emmet glanced up as they reentered the hospital room. Ida smiled from her chair in the corner. “How did it go?”

Adam gave her a lazy smile. “Drayden handled it like the champ he is. That should hopefully keep them off our backs for a while, long enough to get Ingo sorted and home, at the very least. How is he?”

Ida shrugged. “No worse, but he’s still out thanks to whatever the doctors gave him when they brought him in. They took him to do an MRI while you were gone. I think they’ll be back with the results soon.”

Drayden and Adam nodded in acknowledgement, settling down to wait. It wasn’t terribly long afterwards that there was a soft knock on the door and a doctor came into the room. She blinked in surprise at the sheer number of people she found within. “Oh, my, I’m not used to quite the audience. Which ones of you are to be Mr. Ingo’s primary caregivers?” When every hand in the room raised, she laughed. “Well, I’m sure he’ll be well cared for, then.”

Drayden nodded. “Are those the results of his MRI?”

The doctor grew more serious after that. “Yes, sir, they are. And I hope you’ll pardon my saying this, but if I ever find out which idiot gave you that particular Audino, I think my Duosion and I would have some rather choice words for them.” There was an angry spark in her eye that promised violence. Drayden approved.

“I appreciate you saying as much. I understand that it is no fault of the pokemon. Clearly the situation was not explained to her sufficiently. However, the humans involved hold no such forgiveness. My lawyers are working on the matter. Now, what news of Ingo?” He had a nasty feeling in the pit of his stomach that it was not going to be good news, based just off of the doctor’s anger alone.

She sighed. “First, I need you to understand that this may not be permanent. In fact, it’s likely that it won’t be, particularly if that move is not used on him again. But the usage of Life Dew combined with his pre-existing traumatic brain injury has produced swelling that may result in future seizures like the one he already experienced.”

Drayden grimaced. “It’s going to happen again?”

She nodded. “Most likely, yes. I highly recommend he get a service pokemon, perhaps one a slight bit more permanent than the hospital loaning one out. Of course, we can provide one in the meantime, if you would like while you make other arrangements.”

Emmet’s smile was sharp and dangerous. “I do not want another Audino. I know it was not her fault. But not another one. Ingo won’t be happy either.”

The doctor nodded. “I completely understand. I do still want to keep Ingo here for observation for the rest of the day. Why don’t I get you the contact information for a service pokemon breeder and trainer, and we’ll go from there? If they have one ready and certified, I can clear Ingo to use that one instead of one provided by the hospital.”

Drayden inclined his head. “That would be very much appreciated. Thank you.” The doctor gave him an understanding smile before she stepped out of the room again. Drayden rubbed a hand tiredly down his face.

“Mr. Drayden…?” The voice was soft and timid, and Drayden internally winced when he saw Akari flinch as his attention snapped to her.

He kept his voice gentle. “Yes, Miss Akari?”

“Is Uncle Ingo going to be ok?” It was clear that the girl was worried and hadn’t been able to understand most of the conversation that had just occurred.

Before Drayden had the chance to answer, Emmet leaned forward with a smile. “Do not worry, Akari. Ingo will be well. We will help him. We will go home and you and he will rest and recover.”

Drayden thought he saw the ghost of a smile on Akari’s lips as she nodded. “Yeah, we’ll help Uncle Ingo with whatever he needs.” His heart lightened. Even if he wouldn’t be able to stay with Ingo full time due to his own duties in Opelucid City, he knew that his nephew would be in good hands.

Chapter Text

Adam tried to fight off the urge to frown as he looked out over the pasture of pokemon before him. Through a group consensus – involving two shouting matches and a near-breakdown – Emmet was selected to go visit the service pokemon breeder and trainer in order to check if there was an appropriate aide for Ingo ready, or if they would need to request one be bred and trained for the purpose. Adam wasn’t quite sure how he got roped into coming along, if he was honest. Probably because he was seen as a responsible, somewhat well-put-together adult and Drayden needed to stay with Ingo to prevent Emmet from coming completely unglued.

Emmet plus Elesa is just chaos, from what I’ve seen. Iris is a kid, and Akari is a kid with amnesia. He mentally checked through the list of everyone involved. Skyla already went back to Mistralton to deal with her airport. And the Sneasel likes Ida better than me. Yeah, it made complete sense, then, why he was the one to accompany Emmet.

Of course, it was a given that Emmet was selected. Aside from his clear knowledge of their home situation and Ingo’s preferences before he lost all his memories, Emmet also had quite a lot of experience in pokemon breeding himself.

Adam tried not to stare at the Joltik peeking out at him from under the man’s hat. Or at the other one nestled in his coat pocket.

Refocusing his attention away from the tiny bug pokemon that seemed to constantly be with Emmet, Adam looked back at the pastures. Ah, looks like we’ve been spotted. A breeder was setting down his bucket of pokemon feed and making his way over with a smile. Adam took one glance at Emmet before firmly making a decision. Yeah, I’m definitely going to be doing most of the talking.

The breeder waved. “Hey, there! The name’s Tim. What can I help you guys with today? Looking for a search and rescue pokemon, Ranger?”

Adam shook his head. “No, actually. Emmet here has a brother who suffered a bit of a nasty head injury and will be needing a service pokemon for the foreseeable future. I’m just helping…handle his case.”

The breeder brightened. “Wait, are you the ones that Opelucid General Hospital called about?”

Adam sighed in relief and nodded. “Probably, yeah. How much detail did they give you? We’ve had a rather…unfortunate miscommunication before regarding service pokemon, and I’d like to avoid that happening again.”

Tim tapped his chin. “Let me see…Head injury, so no Life Dew, and something about seizures, right?” When he got a confirmation grunt, he continued. “Well, Heal Pulse is a popular one, of course. Then there’s Pain Split, usually paired with either Rest or Recover.”

Emmet shifted, his smile not reaching his eyes. “I do not think Pain Split is a good idea. Ingo’s headaches are verrrry bad, and he does not like to make others feel uncomfortable. He is unlikely to use Pain Split.”

Tim nodded. “Yeah, I’ve run into a few people like that. Any other preferences you’re aware of? Pokemon you’re leaning towards or would like to avoid?”

Emmet’s smile became slightly strained. “No Audino.”

The breeder raised an eyebrow, but he made no comment, simply writing it down on a notepad he’d produced from seemingly nowhere. “Alright. Anything else? Seizures were mentioned, so with those we tend to recommend a pokemon who knows Psychic or Protect. To prevent the patient from getting injured during one.”

Adam was forcibly reminded of how Ida had needed to dive between Ingo’s flailing head and the leg of the dining room table. He shivered slightly. “Yeah, I can definitely see that. One of those is absolutely a good call.”

Tim nodded, making some more notes as he glanced out over the pastures. “Sounds like you’re almost definitely going to end up with a psychic type. Any other needs?”

“Nightmares.” Adam’s gaze twitched back to Emmet from looking out at the pastures himself. “Ingo has begun to suffer from nightmares. He does not sleep well. It does not seem restful. Nope.”

Adam remembered that Ingo had mentioned something about a nightmare when he’d come out of the bedroom for breakfast. Tim jotted a few more notes down. “So Dream Eater, if possible. Hmmmm…That’s a very specific list of moves there. Let me go check our records and see what we have that might be a good fit.”

Tim headed to the office after that, leaving Adam and Emmet to wander the fields as they waited. Adam hummed, watching a breeder training with an Elgyem and a Solosis. “What kind of pokemon do you think we’ll end up getting?”

Emmet hummed, seeming to be mentally running through the pokedex. “Potentially one of the Gothita line. They are capable of most of the moves we have requested. Although, they cannot learn Dream Eater.”

Adam blinked at him in surprise. “Do you just…have entire movesets memorized?”

Emmet tilted his head and gave Adam a rather odd look. “Do you not?”

Before Adam could figure out exactly how he was supposed to tell Emmet that most people did not, in fact, have the ability to remember movesets of pokemon lines they didn’t even use regularly without having to look them up, Tim returned. Adam frowned when he noted the breeder looked slightly nervous.

“So…We do have one pokemon that meets the specifications you gave me. The only thing is…Well, how important is it for the pokemon to be native to Unova?”

Adam raised an eyebrow at that. “Not especially, as far as I’m aware. Why?”

Tim was visibly relieved. “Oh, good. I do think she’ll be a great fit. She’s really quite a sweetheart, and she fits the moves you need perfectly, but we’ve had a few people turn her down because she’s not a native species.”

Emmet shrugged. “Ingo has a Gliscor. And a verrrry weird Sneasel. He will not mind, I think. What is the pokemon you have selected?”

The breeder produced a black and gold luxury ball, which surprised Adam. He supposed it would make sense for a service pokemon to be in a ball that promoted friendliness, though. “She doesn’t have a name, but your brother is more than welcome to give her one. Come on out, sweetheart!” Tim threw the ball, and in a familiar flash of red light, a Ralts stood on the grass before them.

The Ralts looked up at them from under her green bangs and let out a soft coo before waddling forward and putting a little hand on Emmet’s shin. Emmet reached down and gently lifted the pokemon, inspecting her with the practiced eye of a breeder. “She is healthy. Verrry well cared for. Do you have a list of her stats?”

Adam watched in fascination as the Ralts automatically climbed onto Emmet’s shoulder as he accepted a clipboard from Tim and began looking it over. Tim shifted. “She’s not exactly bred for competitive battling, but we do our best to ensure that the best stats possible are present. She’s been trained in the use of Heal Pulse, Dream Eater, Hypnosis, and Psychic. She’s good at recognizing pain and oncoming seizures, as well as fatigue, trouble sleeping, and nightmares.”

Emmet grunted, studying the information carefully. “How is she around people? Ralts are shy. And they like people who are cheerful. Ingo is hard to read. Many people think he is never cheerful, even when he is.”

Tim nodded. “She’s actually really good at sensing emotions rather than relying on visual or auditory tells, so even if your brother doesn’t emote very much, she should be able to tell if he’s happy. This particular Ralts also is a very caring and nurturing soul. If she finds a person or pokemon who’s upset, she tries to comfort them rather than hiding.”

“That is good. Ingo will like her, I think. I need to make a phone call to be sure.” He handed back the clipboard, gently handing the Ralts off to Adam before striding away to call Drayden. At least, that’s who Adam assumed he was calling.

Adam took the opportunity to look over the Ralts himself. While he might not have the breeding background that Emmet did, he still knew a thing or two. What drew his eye most was actually the tiny necklace that seemed to be hanging around the Ralts’s neck. Instead of a pendant, there seemed to be a small stone dangling from the chain.

He raised an eyebrow. “What’s with the Everstone?”

Tim smiled. “We do that for all service pokemon before they’re assigned. Some people feel more comfortable with one evolution over another, and it’s not exactly possible to go backwards down a line. This way, the pokemon and the patient can both work out which evolution will be most comfortable for the both of them.”

Adam nodded. He supposed that made sense. He’d met more than a few people who were particularly intimidated by pokemon larger than themselves. This method helped prevent that from being a barrier for a service pokemon being selected.

Emmet came striding back a few minutes later, his phone call finished. “I am Emmet. Akari and Uncle Drayden do not think the Ralts will be a problem. Akari even recognized the species. Apparently they are in Sinnoh.”

Adam nodded to himself. That’s good. Hopefully having a pokemon species around that he recognizes will help relax Ingo a bit. That is, assuming he didn’t somehow have a horrible run-in with a Ralts of all things. He wasn’t quite sure how that could even happen, but time travel was weird enough already that Adam figured anything was possible at this point.

Emmet nodded decisively. “We will take her with us. Where is the paperwork? I will sign.”

Tim beamed at them. “Wonderful! Right this way, I’ve got everything prepped in the office.” He led the way to the main office building, seeming thrilled that the little Ralts was finally getting a home and a patient to help.

Ingo felt like he was floating through fog. Sensations were distant and muted, sounds being reduced to a muffled, far-off murmur, unintelligible. He thought there was something soft under him. What was it? His Lady Sneasler’s fur was incredibly soft, when she or her offspring would cuddle with him. It was a pleasant way to spend the long winter nights, curled up in the cave his lady called home with her offspring piled around him.

But no, this was a different form of softness. There were no hard pinpricks of carefully restrained poisonous claws, no tiny bones poking him from beneath that furred softness. No, this softness was more uniform, like one of the Pearl Clan sleeping pallets he’d been given before it was converted into a Sneasel nest and his lady had given him a pile of furs to sleep on instead.

No, that wasn’t quite right either. But it was closer. This softness was man-made, of that Ingo was almost certain. He knew he had felt it before, but his brain was stalling on the details like a steam engine with a half-functioning boiler.

Bed.

It took him a few moments to recognize the stray word drifting through the gray fog of his mind alongside him. Yes, that was it. Ingo was lying in a bed. That made sense.

But when had he gotten into the bed? He remembered being in the backyard of Drayden’s home with Emmet and young Akari before coming inside for lunch. He remembered a headache. Had he gone to lay down and try to sleep it off?

If he had, then Ingo idly thought that he had to congratulate…something. Either himself or the bed, he wasn’t sure. Probably the bed. Sleeping off his migraines had never been particularly successful before. Then again, before he hadn’t been laying on something quite this soft.

Yes, he definitely needed to congratulate the bed.

Ingo wasn’t certain how long he laid there before he noticed that the drifting gray fog was beginning to diminish around him. He became vaguely aware of a pressure around both of his hands. It wasn’t a bad sort of pressure, the way touch usually felt distasteful and uncomfortable to him. No, this was a nice sort of pressure.

Someone was holding his hands.

Two someones, actually, if the difference in hand size between the grips was anything to judge by.

These thoughts also penetrated slowly. Ingo didn’t find them particularly alarming. The touch felt surprisingly nice, narrowing the list of people who might be holding him down to a scant few.

His eyelids felt like they were made of lead, resisting his casual attempts to open them. He must have moved or made some noise he was unaware of, because the larger hand squeezed his own right hand. “Ingo? Are you awake?”

The tone was flat, words clipped as if they had been neatly cut from paper. Ingo knew that voice. “…-met?” The name came out a rather garbled mess. Ingo frowned.

“I am Emmet. You are awake, which is good. We were verrrry worried.” He could hear a note of tense concern in his brother’s voice.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Ingo finally managed to drag his eyelids open. Emmet was smiling down at him from a chair by the right side of his bed. Akari’s familiar Baneful Fox mask greeted him to his left. He could see that there were others in the room, but he paid them no mind. Emmet and Akari would make sure all passengers followed the rules.

Glancing around that room, he realized it was not one he recognized. Indeed, it was similar to the one he had first awoken in after being found in that cave. Hospital. That’s where I am stationed. But why? He had thought he’d left the hospital behind.

Something of his confusion must have shown on his face, because Emmet leaned forward. “There was an accident. You will be allowed to come home soon.”

“Accident?” Ingo didn’t remember an accident. He didn’t really remember much of anything after lunch. When had that been? Was it earlier today? Yesterday?

Emmet’s nod brought him back to the present. “Yes. It was an accident. Not the Audino’s fault. None of us caught it in time.” He sounded apologetic, and Ingo recognized regret in his smile.

Ingo glanced over at Akari, but she seemed to just be focused on holding his left hand with one of hers, using her other hand to pet his Lady’s offspring. He looked back to Emmet. “I do not understand. What happened?”

Drayden cleared his throat, stepping into Ingo’s view. “The pokemon that the hospital gave us to accompany you was misassigned. We should have been given a different one. However, none of us caught the error until you…collapsed.” He sighed. “The Audino we were given only knew Life Dew as a healing move. It reacted badly to your previous head injury. Or rather, your head injury reacted badly to it.”

Emmet nodded in agreement. “Life Dew is bad for hurt heads. Yep.” He glanced at Ingo. “But you will be ok. The doctors said we could take you home once you woke up, assuming we took a proper service pokemon with us.”

Alright, that was…quite a bit to unpack. He would have to deal with most of it later, when his brain wasn’t quite so full of fog. However, the ending of Emmet’s speech stuck out to him. Ingo gave him a wary look. “…What pokemon?”

“Not another Audino,” his brother reassured him. “I know it was not her fault. I still did not want another one around. No. Adam and I went to a breeder to find one special for you.” He looked Ingo up and down before pulling out a smooth black and gold ball the likes of which Ingo didn’t remember ever seeing. “Would you like to meet her?”

He eyed the ball. “What manner of pokemon have you obtained?”

Emmet gave him a wide smile. “She is a Ralts. Akari said you might have seen some of them before in Hisui.”

Ingo blinked in surprise. “A Ralts?” That was a surprise. They were incredibly shy, mostly seeming to prefer solitude and hiding when they heard anyone approach. Ingo had caught only glimpses of them during his time in Hisui.

Akari shifted in her chair, drawing his attention. “Mr. Emmet let me meet her while you were asleep. She’s sweet.” Her voice was quiet, but Ingo could hear the soft smile buried within her tone.

Well, that settled the matter, in Ingo’s personal opinion. Akari was never wrong when it came to the temperaments of pokemon. He nodded. “Very well. I will meet our newest passenger.”

Emmet beamed, clicking the button on the strange, smooth ball. There was a flare of red light, and Ingo found himself looking at a small green and white pokemon. The Ralts peeked through her bangs at him, letting out a soft coo. He held up a finger, and The pokemon took hold of it with a happy sound.

Ingo’s mouth flattened into a straight line, a smile to those who knew him. “She is very cute. I think she will make a fine passenger.”

The Ralts cooed, curling into him and settling down. He rested a hand gently on her as Emmet stood. “That is good. Now we will go talk to the doctor about taking you home. Not just to Uncle Drayden’s house. Home.” He nodded to Akari. “Please accompany Ingo while we make arrangements. Uncle Drayden, all aboard!” He strode out of the room, Drayden following on his heels.

Akari giggled as she watched Emmet leave. “He’s a lot like you. I like him.” She looked over the little Ralts. “What are you going to name her?”

Ingo blinked. He hadn’t really been planning on naming the pokemon, but at the question he was reminded of Akari’s fondness for doing so. She had taken to calling his Noble ‘Lady’ as if it was her name rather than her title, and she enjoyed suggesting various names to his Gliscor, even if the pokemon rejected all of them. “Do you have any suggestions?”

Akari sat back, idly running a finger over the feather of the Sneasel in her lap. “Hmmmmm…Well, I had a Gardevoir back in Hisui. I named her Celeste, after the Celestica Ruins.”

Ingo considered the name before carefully shaking his head. “No, I do not believe I wish to repeat a name already used. Do you have any others?” The concept of naming her after a location was an interesting one to him. He knew that Ralts were sometimes found in the Crimson Mirelands. However, the place he was most familiar with glimpsing them was actually at Snowpoint Temple near the Pearl Clan settlement.

Akari shrugged. “There’s the normal psychic type names, like Seer or Mystic.” She didn’t seem particularly taken with any name, simply listing options. “You could name her Ada, because she’s your aide, although that might get confusing with Ida around.”

The more Ingo thought on names, the more he thought about the names he would never have cause to speak again. Calaba, Irida, Palina… I am the last member of the Pearl Clan, he realized with a growing sense of sadness.

There was a soft coo, and a gentle, tiny hand lightly rested on his face. Ingo blinked, finding himself face to face with his new pokemon companion. She was startlingly white, but in a way that filled him with nostalgia, reminding him of the stark white snows that surrounded the Pearl Clan.

And suddenly, he knew exactly what to name her.