immortallifeform:

… He wanted to hug her. Hold her as she let her frustration out, cried, did something better or worse than this quiet anguish, this quiet wait over someone who’d promised their return, yes, but failed to deliver.

But, as much as he wanted to, he couldn’t. He couldn’t because he’d done the same. He’d done the same to so many people on his birth world, and all for the same reason.

It hurt. It hurt so much that, every time he even saw them, he felt his heart, his very soul, tear asunder, with no chance of recovery. It cut so deeply that even he couldn’t heal the wound.

He could only hope that wasn’t why N had never returned.

Green eyes looked at the sky, and, after a few blinks, he gave a sigh and an answer.

“News or not, I’m sure he misses you. Fateful encounters such as those stay marked within one’s mind, and the people you bond with during that time are not easily forgotten. He might return, he might not, but I’m certain, absolutely sure that he thinks of you. Maybe not as often as you want, nor as often as he wants, but he thinks of you and misses you. Deeply.”

Rebecca looked up at Hark, hope in her eyes before she gave him a happier smile and nodded.

“Y-Yeah, I bet he does… Even so, I’m gonna give him a noogie when I see him again, just for worrying me.”

Her pout could only be described as adorably determined. She huffed and crossed her arms underneath her head with a tiny smile on her face.

“I miss him a lot too. He’s a giant dork and I just hope he’s doing okay.”

She was quiet for a moment, thinking about something before speaking up again.

“… N’s the one who suggested the orchard before he left. He said I could help out the whole region with just ten simple berries. And look at it now, the orchard’s huge and I supply berries to a lot of people who help out trainers.”

immortallifeform:

Half-conscious. Sounded just like Rebecca, and the fact that Zeke found it hilarious that he – Hark looked at the pokedex for confirmation – they could practically turn their trainer into a walking lightbulb was no surprise. He seemed like the type, anyway.

But the sad look that Rebecca gave pushed all of his joking aside. N. Seemed like an important person to her. And it seemed like she hadn’t heard about him in a while.

A hand went to her shoulder, and Hark smiled sympathetically.

“I think you should try contacting him, no? To have confirmation?”

“N, he…  He doesn’t exactly have a cell phone. I was only able to find him again eight years ago because Reshiram showed me the way to the collapsed Plasma Castle.”

“I haven’t seen or heard from him since then. I can’t have a poor Flying type deliver a letter that I don’t know where to send.”

She softly sighed, closing her eyes as Zeke started to quietly snore.

“At this point, all I can do is hope he remembers me in all his adventuring. We made a promise years ago that we’d see each other again.”

immortallifeform:

A USB port? Oh! That did make things a lot easier! He took his communicator, pulled out the cord and connected the Pokedex to it before creating a folder for the entries. He then let the ‘Dex download itself, setting it aside to pay attention to Rebecca, now noticing her hair.

Well now.

“I’m supposing that taking a wet brush to it doesn’t help?” he chuckled. “I’m glad he doesn’t get too near me. I’d probably look like a fluff ball. And good luck getting it down without giving me a bath. Static electricity is a horror for Mobians.”

He collected the ‘Dex, going through the entries before tilting his head.

“… So Zeke’s a Zekrom? The… personification of ideals and he has a counterpart, Reshiram, personification of truth. Huh,” he stated aloud, “Both double types, too. Dragon-Electric and Dragon-Fire. I can only imagine how Reshiram is with its partner if Zekrom is like this.”

“I wouldn’t dare. When he gets crankier, actual electricity starts going up and down the strands and he finds it hilarious, the lazy bum.”

Rebecca looked up at the sleeping Legendary with a smile, rolling her eyes before nodding at Hark, her face a little pink.

“Yep, not the best nickname of the bunch but I defend my choice with the fact that I was half-conscious at the time and it stuck.”

Then that subject was brought up and she softly sighed, a sad smile on her face now.

“Probably the same as Zeke is acting now, knowing N.”

immortallifeform:

Hark only gave a snort when Zeke got up, shaking his head. Definitely a mix of both cat and dog, it seemed, although he could have done without the bolt of lightning which woke up his new friend who was now terrified and hiding under the kerchief, trembling.

Great.

Needless to say, he was glad when Rebecca came back, and blinked at the flat object, ears perking when she said it was her Pokedex. That would definitely help!

But, before he got the chance to thank her after taking the device, Zeke claimed her as his pillow once again, making him laugh. Yep, definitely between the two.

“I suggest you don’t move too much, he’s getting grumpy,” was what Hark started with before waving the ‘Dex a bit. “And thank you. This will be tremendously useful. I have no idea how many there are, but having the data on me will be nice. I’d rather not have a headache over it.”

That was when the young Wurmple crawled partially out from underneath the handkerchief, almost fleeing back underneath it when Hark’s hand found its head.

And his tone softened along with smile, a finger gently petting the side of the caterpillar’s face.

“Hey, it’s okay. There’s no danger. Zeke is calm now, see?”

Before he gently took the Wurmple and put him on his shoulder.

“It’s okay. I’m right here. He won’t hurt you.”

And the young pokemon snuck into the crook of his neck, making him chuckle as he spoke a little higher, to Rebecca.

“So, is there a way to connect the Pokedex to an outside device?”

At Hark’s comment, she pointed to her raised hair with a quirked eyebrow and and grumble as Zeke slept on.

“I figured. A grumpy Zeke is like walking around with a dryer strapped to your back.”

“And I sure hope it’ll help, I’ve got a ton of entries in there already.”

Rebecca listened to Hark talking to the tiny Pokemon with a warm smile on her face before the other asked his question.

“There’s a USB port on the bottom, it’s how the regional professor checks your ‘dex.”

immortallifeform:

If the surprise had Hark looking away in doubt, the comment and bright smile had him returning it with a chuckle, giving a thanks in response.

No way he’d leave the little one to himself, not after actually bonding with it. For some reason, it had grown attached to him, and to leave it to itself after that…

Gosh, he could only imagine the cries and the walks back and forth until he returned, only to be left to itself again. Heartbreaking. He just… couldn’t do that. Really couldn’t do that. He cared way too much to even think about it.

So he was glad he’d found someone to take care of the little one, and friends to play with.

He did blink, though, when Rebecca took off in a rush, saying she was getting something. Ooookay. Hark only chuckled, turning his attention to the sleeping legendary.

“It’s a wonder you’re still snoozing. With all at energy, you would think it would wake you up.”

Zeke grumbled, an eye opening to look up at Hark before he ended up rolling over to sit up. He let out a jolt into the sky grumpily before plopping down on his tail, waiting for Rebecca to come back outside.

The trainer ran back outside, skidding to a stop on the grass before heading back over to Hark, a blue device in her hand. She offered it to Hark, a bright grin on her face.

“Here, y’can copy my ‘Dex entries. It’ll probably be helpful when you find yourself in this world again.”

She was promptly flopped on by a cranky Zeke, causing her to let out a squeak when he grumbled and settled down for another nap.

“….Dammit Zeke.”

immortallifeform:

So there was someone. There was someone in the midst of all the drama, fixing things. That was a good thing. A seriously good thing.

Then again, he shouldn’t be surprised. All cataclysm that was caused by men came to an end by men, after all.

Which left the favor.

He looked at the Wrumple and gave a smile as he took the kerchief, shook it free of the berry crumbs and folded it before putting it over the sleeping pokemon.

“As much as I know this little one would like to follow me and as much as I’d like to take him, my home… is inappropriate for Pokemon. There’s no berries, no pokeballs, and no real environment to live in. Plus, as much as I am a hedgehog and my fiancé is one, we’re… surrounded by birds. He might get eaten. So it’s better if he lives in a safe environment, a familiar environment. I will return, of course, I leave no one alone for long, but… Can you make sure this little one is safe? And loved?”

That left the champion with a surprised expression before fading into a bright smile.

“O’course I can. I can have Goop look after them while I’m up in the League.”

Rebecca snapped her fingers before carefully wedging Zeke off her lap again and running inside the house with a faint “I forgot to get ya somethin’! Gimme a sec!”

immortallifeform:

… That sounded familiar. Way too familiar. The Doctor had never learned. Hell, it was a wonder that the megalomaniac had never returned to show off, reincarnated or not. The alternating droughts and heavy rain, though…

He’d always wondered what a fight, a constant fight against his younger brother would look like. How well would pure Chaos would hold against the fires, and how destructive it would be. Now, he knew. Now, he knew the violence, the destruction it would cause.

Ears lowered and smile strained, Hark couldn’t help but feel guilty. Sometimes, Chaos was no better, certainly in the hands of people.

Which always led to a last minute response, it seemed.

Still…

His smile returned at the chuckle and the fond look. It was moments like these that made the fight, any fight for peace or freedom, worth it. It was moments like these that gave everything meaning.

He looked at the Wrumple on his lap.

“It sounds terrifying, although where I come from, I’d most likely be in the eye of the storm, trying to solve everything. It’s who I am after all.

"… Can I… ask for a favor?”

Rebecca nodded before giving Hark a small grin.

“There was probably a trainer in the middle of it, trying to fix things like you would. The newspaper said something about that but I can’t remember who they were.”

“And sure, ask away.”

The champion was halfway curious about the favor, Zeke sleeping peacefully on her lap as she finished her Pecha berry.

immortallifeform:

The Guardians of Land and Sea, that sounded like quite the story. Hark could only imagine how that had gone, and how the hell they had stopped the quarrel. Because if they both guarded a different portion, Hark could only guess how that went.

He was rather glad, though, when he heard that Rebecca had no other incident to share, even if she was wrong. Sure, it didn’t seem like it happened often, but that made a lot of Legendaries to keep track of, certainly if their wrecked the amount of havoc they did.

Not to mention if all of them turned into cuddle bears like Zeke and were approximately the same size. That would make for one hell of a line.

“Sounds almost disastrous. Gotta be tough to have all those Legendaries hiding away to have them nearly destroy everything every time they show themselves. I’m guessing it’s always a last minute save or something similar?” Hark chuckled before pointing at the Wrumple sleeping on his lap. “And don’t worry, I can’t move either. Sure I could probably scoop him up, but I have too big of a heart to move him. He’s adorable and it would be mean to cut that.”

“Some people just don’t learn, even with the incidents so far. I think it was Teams Magma and Aqua who woke ‘em up and provoked ’em actually. It was a long time ago but I definitely remember that the berry crop got ruined one year when I was a toddler from alternating droughts and heavy rain. It was pretty scary, even scarier was the fact that it originated all the way in Hoenn. That region is halfway around the world.”

Rebecca shivered subtly, gently petting Zeke when he grumbled in response.

“According to what I found, yeah. Last minute stuff.”

She gave a soft chuckle though, looking down at Zeke fondly.

“Agreed. When they’re fond of you, Pokemon are adorable.”

immortallifeform:

Totally expecting the blink and the stutter. Yep. Totally. Hark simply chuckled away as Rebecca explained, absorbing every word. So the origin of the world here started with a Pokemon named Arceus. Interesting. And Dialga and Palkia were both involved in an incident in the Sinnoh region? Probably something similar to here, he was guessing.

“So here, the world came to be through a Pokemon, interesting. And nice to know that there are equivalents to the gods I usually hear about. Although, it is a bit strange. If you don’t mind, I’d…”

He cut himself off as he looked at his lap, and looked at Rebecca’s. Wrumple on his and good luck dislodging Zeke.

“We’re not going anywhere, are we?” he asked, chuckling.

“I think there was an incident regarding Kyogre and Groudon over in Hoenn… Those are the guardians of the Seas and Land respectively. I haven’t heard of any more Legendary incidents though. But I haven’t done any research on ‘em in ten years, I’m sure I’m wrong.”

Rebecca looked down at her lap and softly laughed, a bright grin on her face as she nodded.

“Nope. Not ’til this big lug wakes up from his nap. Once he does though, I’m gonna make a berry smoothie for ya.”