Chapter Text
Getting money for their various modes of transit (and for other necessities) was not as hard as Ingo thought it might be - thank the dragons. Nimbasa was a battle city, and Ingo was a more-than-competent battler, so going into the battle district and challenging a few people in and around the gym got him some easy money - and having Akari there as moral support certainly helped (Especially since he had to only rely on Gliscor, as he didn’t want to overwhelm his other pokemon as of yet. He still had to explain things to his main partner pokemon, but that would have to come later).
By the time noon had come around, he had more than enough money for transit to Galar and food, at the very least.
To top it off, he hadn’t been recognized, and while it took conscious effort, had only ever introduced himself as Nobori Sho, and introduced Akari as his daughter.
Akari, on the other hand, didn’t seem to have any similar issues with calling him “dad”. Getting right on it the moment she had to talk to him outside of the pokemon center.
The first few times nearly gave him heart palpitations.
Dad really was different from uncle
But as of now, after those fights, they were now in the waiting area for the boat - a cruise, really - for their trip. A several day trip from Unova to Galar, and then Galar to Sinnoh - the longest trek was that part at over a week on the boat.
He was gonna be “dad” for a while, wasn’t he?
“Da-ad!”
Akari returned to their bench with some food and drink from a nearby stall - one large pretzel, one fruit parfait, and two bottles of water. It seemed to be a bit difficult for her to carry, but she was managing quite alright.
He’d told her they needed to remain lean when it came to food, but she was clearly so excited to have some real, not-pokemon-center food that he was unsurprised when she came back with the parfait.
What did surprise him, was when she handed it to him.
“I wanted the pretzel” was the only explanation she gave upon seeing his confusion, climbing up to sit next to him on the bench, and placing the bottled waters between them before taking a generous bite of her pretzel.
He looked at the parfait in its clear plastic cup - a relatively simple, no frills dessert with kiwi and strawberry. It looked quite good, and very fresh.
He took the spoon out of it, and began to eat, deliberately pacing himself.
The sweetness nearly overwhelmed him, but he didn’t stop eating.
It was divine, truly. He’d forgotten how much he liked sweet foods. He needed to pace himself - he’d get cavities at this rate-
“Pardon me! Might we sit beside you?”
Both Ingo and Akari froze at the familiar voice, but Ingo braved a glance upwards.
A familiar grin was looking down at him - and just to the right, an extremely familiar frown.
“My brother and I wish to sit - we are waiting to board the ship, and there is very little seating! Might we?” Emmet requested, smile wide and polite.
Did he.. Not recognize him? Was the dyed hair truly enough?
Highly unlikely.
Ingo’s eyes fell behind Emmet, and saw.. Himself… again - such a bizarre thing to see - who wasn’t looking at him - eyes staring over at one of the many food stalls in the station.
“Sure” Akari smartly answered for them, taking another bite of her pretzel
Ingo ended up just nodding in agreement with Akari, deliberately taking another spoonful of the nearly-finished Parfait.
Emmet sat next to Ingo, and “Ingo” sat on the other side of Emmet - seemingly as far away from his dyed-haired double as he could without becoming uncoupled from his brother. His eyes fell to Akari, who shyly gave him a little wave.
“I am Emmet!” the smiling twin introduced “And this is my dear twin, Ingo!” He motioned to the man being introduced, who seemed to deliberately not look at the only other adult in the conversation.
“I’m Akari!” Akari jumped in- hoping to save “her” Ingo from any nervousness at the situation. “This is my dad, his name’s Nobori” she nervously kicked her feet, taking yet another bite from her large pretzel
Ingo- Nobori, he had to go by Nobori, especially now - spotted the bewilderment and alarm in his past self’s eyes, staring down at the little girl.
Nobori took a second to clear his throat after the staring didn’t stop “Good to meet you. Please refrain from staring at my daughter. You are making her uncomfortable”
“Ah uh,” Ingo cleared this own throat “My apologies,” he muttered - partially to himself “You look quite alike…”
“Strong genes” Nobori stated rather plainly, getting a giggle from the girl, who was just about finished with that pretzel at this point
“Where are you guys going?” She asked, trying to sound as innocent as a curious five-year-old could.
“Oh, we are headed to Sinnoh to as a favor for our sister, Elesa” Emmet answered “Where are you going?”
“Sinnoh! My mom is there” Akari answered - it wasn’t a lie, not technically!
“...So you’re going home then?” Ingo asked, leaning a bit so he could be seen by the child.
“In a sense,” Nobori answered for them.
“It’s complicated,” Akari added, taking one last bite of her pretzel.
Emmet’s eyes showed that he found her answer verrrry interesting, but he said nothing else, taking a sip of his own bottle of soda, eyes going elsewhere.
Ingo- Nobori - was grateful that the conversation died, as more and more people came into the waiting area, and the standing room became rather dense.
The crowd was starting to make Akari squirm, no longer distracted by her food, she was staring down at her hands.
Nobori imagined that being so small surrounded by so many adults was uncomfortable, should his own memory of childhood be any indication.
And so - now mostly done with the parfait, he wiped off his hands, and grabbed the little girl around the waist, lifting her into his lap - getting a startled expression from her.
“Huh?”
“You looked uncomfortable” he commented, his focus on lessening her very obvious anxiety.
“Oh..” she looked away for a minute, before giving his jacket a shy tug.
Ah…
Opening the jacket, he wrapped the child up in it, and she seemed immediately calmer, leaning into him, her face shoved in his sweater.
He’d done the same for her as a teenager in inclement weather back in Hisui, so it didn’t feel too odd, though - yet again - her size was a factor here. Before, it was a courtesy. Now, it felt.. Needed.
Ingo - the present day Ingo - kept looking over at Nobori and Akari, raising his anxiety just slightly. Lucky for everyone, Emmet started speaking again - reading the mood as excellently as always.
“So…” Emmet pat his legs a-rhythmically “What has brought you to Unova? Sinnoh is quite a ways away!”
Nobori thought about the question for a few seconds “I have lived here for many years, but I have not been back to Sinnoh in some time. Akari also has not seen her mother in some time as well, so we are making the journey.“
“I wanna see my mom” Akari added, sincerely, turning her head to look at Emmet.
“Well, why not take a plane? Much faster!” Emmet questioned
“I am afraid we do not have the funds for such a flight” Nobori answered “We are traveling rather light due to this”
“Plus, dad doesn’t like heights,” Akari added cheekily, getting an unimpressed look from Nobori. Ingo snorted.
“Then we are one in the same!” Emmet admitted with a chuckle “I quite dislike heights as well, that and we are overdue for a proper vacation, which is why we took up the favor for our sister. My brother and I work in the battle subway, see, and it is currently-”
“Undergoing heavy renovations. In preparation for a new battle line” Ingo finished
“The Multi Line” Nobori named it
Something seemed to … glint , knowingly, in Emmet’s eyes “Yes, that is it! My brother and I will be heading that battle lines! We are verrrry excited.”
“Battle line?” Akari looked up from her little enclave in Ingo’s jacket “Like, in a subway? Is that safe?”
“It is being built for that purpose! The multi-line will be reinforced, which is why it is not open yet!” Emmet explained “So all types of battles will be permitted and accessible on the line, with a few exceptions, of course!”
“Wow… “ The little girl reached over to a little backpack she’d had, if only to wrap her arms around it. She was still leaning against Nobori, but her attention was on Emmet “And you battle inside the subway car? You and your brother?”
“We do!”
“It's what we love most” Ingo added, looking up at Nobori “It is our favorite job. We have never been happier that we are about to live our dreams”
“That’s really nice!” Akari commented with a nod and a smile
“Might I ask for your occupation Mister… Nobori?” Ingo asked, eyeing his doppelganger with what - at a surface level - must have looked like a pretty neutral stare.
Nobori was aware of the suspicion in his eyes. But this was a question he’d rehearsed-
“I am a walking guide. I work in guiding people throughout the parks in the far north” He answered
“He’s really good at it too!” Akari added, recalling him coming up with the backstory before they left that morning.
“I conduct others carefully and thoroughly through dangerous trails” he stated “Safety is of utmost importance in my job, as I am sure you understand”
“Of course” Ingo responded “Safety first”
“Always” Nobori agreed.
The conversation paused when Akari audibly yawned “Ughhh why am I tiii-ired?”
“You are tiny” Nobori commented “Tiny people get tired a lot”
Akari groaned dramatically “Ughhhh I wanna be big!”
“Soon, Akari” the man recalled vaguely.
Ingo held down an amused chuckle, Emmet did not.
“She is very cute” Emmet complimented
“Thanks” Akari gave him a thumbs up with one hand, already looking like she was ready for a nap
After that conversation finally died, the boarding announcements were made, and thankfully, the twin brothers were called first.
Once they were out of sight, Ingo exhaled deeply, Akari looking up at him with concern.
“Are you okay?” Akari asked, pulling at his shirt to get his attention.
“Yes…” he sighed, looking down “But.. They seem to know” He pointed out
“.. Yeah, they do.” She acknowledged “But. we gotta keep up the ruse, right?”
Ingo nodded “Yes. Now-”
Just before he could continue, their boarding number was called
“Ah, It is time to get going”
Akari nodded, getting off of his lap, and grabbing at his hand as he stood up
“Take care not to become uncoupled!” She parroted him, getting a small smile from the man.
“Indeed.” he nodded back, before looking up and pointing towards the doors that led to the gangplank “All aboard!”
“Nobori- Nobori!” Ingo sat on the bed in their room, exasperation clear and present in his voice “Could he have possibly been more obvious??”
“It is only obvious to us, Ingo” Emmet commented, emptying his small suitcase.
“Still!” He huffed “... I suppose we can rule out lost triplet, then”
“Indeed. He seems to be.. You, which I can only imagine is disorienting” Emmet admitted, hanging up his coat in the cabin closet.
“... Then who is the child?”
“He said that she was his daughter. Perhaps they are from an alternate dimension! What pokemon is known for those? Yveltal?”
“Giratina, Emmet. Where did you get Yveltal from?”
Emmet thought it over “... Not sure. But, anyway, perhaps he is from another dimension!”
Ingo contemplated it, but then asked,“... Then where is his Kudari?”
Ingo’s expression was verrrry telling to his twin.
“... Well, we’ll have to find out, hm? For all we know, this Ingo is a single child!”
“I cannot believe that for even a moment” Ingo huffed, recalling the look of surprise and near-pain the other Ingo had on his face when he’d seen Emmet that first time “ Before I start thinking too much… Shall we go eat?”
Akari had fallen asleep on the bed the minute they got into their small inside cabin.
Boats were pretty cheap to travel on when you consider everything that was included, but the accommodations were minimal. Comparatively, at least, to other modes of transit unless you wished to pay a premium. However, the two of them were used to sleeping on dirt, so this was an upgrade.
And Akari felt safe enough to sleep in their private room. That was… that was good.
Ingo rubbed his face, going over the conversation he had with his previous self and his brother over and over in his head, thinking over every moment until it was causing a headache
A part of him had nearly broken down into (admittedly justifiable) tears at simply seeing and interacting with Emmet (even if this wasn’t the Emmet he was supposed to be reuniting with). But having Akari there helped. He was focused on conducting them safely back to Sinnoh, on keeping the two of them safe.
He had to keep her safe.
Ingo sat himself down on a chair by the television, not tired enough to sleep, but not wanting to leave her alone during her nap - he needed the alone time, anyway.
He took out his pokeballs, contemplating which pokemon would be the safest to take out that would both fit in the room and not awaken Akari.
After a second, he released Gliscor into the room
Luckily, Gliscor was at least partially aware of the predicament, and seemed pretty calm when summoned from the pokeball. It looked around the room - its eyes falling on the bed, and looked at the small child sleeping on the bed with much interest.
“Do not wake her, Gliscor” Ingo warned
The pokemon gave him a funny face in response
“ Don’t ” Ingo pressed, as quiet as he could get his voice to go.
The pokemon looked back at the littler human, ever curious, but did not touch or wake her. He then returned to his trainer's side with a quiet, questioning trill.
“Yes, I know” He responded to the questioning look. “I will talk to the others as well about this, I assure you”
“Scor! ”
“I am aware that the dark hair is odd, thank you”
The pokemon sniggered at him, calming right down at the seeming reminder that his trainer was okay despite the visual change.
An hour or so passed, with Ingo releasing a few of his other pokemon to get them up to speed on the current situation and give them a moment to stretch. He had to go into the hallway to speak with Tangrowth, but that only took a few minutes. He’d let them out for more thorough “Leg stretching” later, when Akari was awake and ready to look around the ship. They’d already unmoored and were on their way, they had time.
The girl did eventually wake up just a few minutes after he returned from speaking with tangrowth.
“Mmh…” She grumbled, rubbing her face as she sat up, and looking over at Ingo, who was reading a magazine he’d found on the table - just a travel magazine, but it passed the time.
He looked up “Rest well?”
She nodded, yawning and stretching “Can we go get some food?”
“I am a bit peckish myself. But first, you must let your pokemon free so we can let them know what has happened.” Ingo instructed.
“Oh!” She bounced a bit on the bed in excitement “Tha’s a good idea!”
She took out her four pokeballs from their place in her pack - she always kept a pretty small team, and looked them over to decide who to release first.
She grabbed one, and released her Samurott
“Sammy!” She called to get his direct attention.
“Ro!” the pokemon looked at her, expecting his teenager trainer, and the shock on his face made the girl laugh
“I’s me!” She assured, fighting off more giggles “I’m jus’... small”
The Samurott leaned its head over to her, and gave her a sniff, before letting out a startled sound - looking to Ingo as if he’d have an explanation.
“Arceus sent us to the wrong time” Was all the warden responded to the look with.
Samurott jumped a bit, and nudged Akari right in the stomach, which startled her and made her laugh “It’s okay! I’m okayyyy!”
It took a few more minutes before she managed to calm the Samurott, and returned it to its pokeball.
One down, three to go.
Akari’s Alpha Ponyta reacted very similarly to that, though was much harder to calm down than the Samurott, with Ingo having to step in to calm the pokemon that barely fit in the room.
Her Luxray was calmer, though he clearly thought that this was funny in some way, and made a point to lick her directly on the face, making her squeal in disgust.
“Ew! Ew! Back in your pokeball you meanie!” She recalled him, scowling adorably.
“I will get you a towel” Ingo went into the en-suite bathroom as he said so.
“T’anks” Akari muttered, her face still twisted in disgust - feeling - eugh - damp.
Ingo grabbed a little washcloth from the bathroom, and approached her, not bothering to hand it to her, and proceeded to wipe off her face carefully.
She gave him a weird look at the action, but he just awkwardly coughed “You still have your Zoroark left, yes?” Ingo asked.
She nodded, holding up the pokeball with both hands, looking a little worried.
“She’s gon’ be real confused” Akari commented
“That is why we are telling her” Ingo reminded, backing up from her to give the large pokemon room.
Akari gave a grimace. “Here we go..”
She tossed the pokeball, and the alpha Zoroark let out a “Zoh!” and stretched out before taking a loto at its surroundings for a moment. Its eyes caught Akari, and she stared with absolute bewilderment.
“Uh.. Hiya” Akari started “We’re in the wrong time. We’re goin’ back t’Sinnoh - Hisui so we can go where we’re s’posed to”
The Zoroark leaned down at Akari, and stared intensely at the small child
“ Zo! ”
Akari found herself lifted up and startled, before the pokemon climbed up on the bed and curled around her
“Oh my” Ingo commented, but didn’t intervene
“This is wha’ I was ‘fraid of” she huffed, before she was pinned by the Zoroark’s claw so very gently. “... Oh no”
Ingo grimaced as Akari was once again licked directly on the face, though this time it was clearly aimed at her hair, which made her start kicking futility
“Ew! Ew! I don’t need a bath!!” She whined
“You’re going to need one after this” Ingo commented - trying to hide how amused he was at this
“Zorh! ”
Akari just groaned as the licking at her hair continued.
It took a good while to calm the Zorark down and get her back in her pokeball, which they put back in Akari’s pack, and then back in her backpack.
“Phew..” Akari sighed, but wasn’t given much of a chance to decompress before Ingo spoke up
“Shower”
She turned her head sharply towards him with an upset expression “But food!”
“Shower first. The shower knobs are low enough for you to reach.” Ingo argued
“UghhhHHHHHHHH” Akari flopped on the bed “I don’t wannnaaaaahhhhhhhh”
Ingo gave an unimpressed look “If you do not bathe and get that Zoroark smell off of you, we cannot go to eat”
“But-”
“No, Akari. Listen to your father”
She gave him a sour expression that Ingo could not take seriously “I bought that ‘pon m’self, didn’t I?”
“Yes, you did”
Akari rolled over to glare at him, but his face did not change - as it rarely did.
She finally got up, making a show of being inconvenienced as she went into the bathroom and shut the door behind her.
Huh. Teenagers and little children really aren't all that different after all.
Once she was finally not covered in pokemon drool and dressed in new clothes, they went to eat something and walk about the main deck, letting out one pokemon each - decidedly taking out the pokemon that wouldn’t raise any eyebrows - with Ingo letting out his Nosepass and Akari letting out her Luxray.
They managed to avoid Emmet and the other Ingo for the rest of the first day on the ship
Great. Now, they had to do it for another four days at sea before docking in Circhester
They’d try their best.