Chapter Text
Murkrow I
“Feared and loathed by many, it is believed to bring misfortune to all those who see it at night.”
-Pokédex Entry #208 Pkmn Gold
“That’s a wrap everyone! Thank you for your hard work! Miss Elesa, I’ll be sure to forward the raws to you if you’d like to see them.”
The director steps forward while the crew begins to tear down the lights and roll up the backdrop. One of the photographers stands up to shake Elesa’s hand, the model reciprocating cheerfully and thanking him for his hard work.
“Yes, please! I’ll see you on Sunday, Jessica,” she calls back to the director before turning her attention to her Rotom phone, updating her schedule while the other two models on set relax from their own poses.
Well, stand-in models more accurately. It’s almost amusingly obvious, as both Emmet and Ingo are immediately rolling their sore limbs and stretching after shooting, unused to the demands of modeling.
Massaging his shoulder and windmilling his left arm, Emmet approaches Elesa, his face pinched with a bit of pain, “Elesa, how do you stand still for so long?”
Ingo appears by his side, windmilling his opposite arm.
“Yes, it is quite impressive how you manage to maintain poses for extended amounts of time. And in such a way that seems effortless too!”
“Aww you boys are such flatterers. It just comes with experience, same with anything.”
Elesa waves off the compliments, checking off one last note on her Rotom phone quickly before giving them her full attention.
“Speaking of experience, thank you guys for standing in for the backup models again today. I know this isn’t exactly what you signed up for when going on vacation.”
“Not like we signed up for it to begin with.”
“Emmet.”
“It is the truth.”
Ingo clears his throat, “Yes, well, we’re happy to help Elesa. Although, I must admit I’m a bit concerned about taking too much of the other models’ work. We would hate to impose, especially when they could be getting the necessary experience instead.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that, Ingo. The backup models we had contacted only cancelled because they had better offers from another company. Seems like they’re already making their way up in the modeling world,” Elesa flashes him a reassuring wink.
“Oh, is that so? Well, bravo! That is wonderful to hear,” Ingo breathes, relieved, clapping his hands together gently.
“Mhmmmm,” Elesa confirms before tilting her head, her eyes lifting in consideration, “In fact, with them gone, we’re going to be a bit short staffed. My bosses really liked our last shoot and may even be convinced to let you both do individual shoots for the male collection… if you’re interested, that is.”
Emmet blinks in response, matching Elesa’s head tilt with his own. He had assumed they would do a good enough job and be okay as stand-ins due to their standing as Subway Bosses. But certainly not enough to do solo work or anything.
“I am-”
“As flattering as an offer,” Ingo cut in, “I’m afraid I’ll have to decline. Though I am overjoyed to hear that our work as your backups was well received.”
Emmet nods his head emphatically in agreement, “Yup! But, while we are turning down solo work, we are still happy to help if you need stand-ins, Elesa.”
“Exactly so. You can depend on us should the need arise,” Ingo confirms with a nod of his own.
Elesa hums for a moment before shrugging, “Well, if you guys are sure. But let me know if you change your mind. With your already established popularity as the famous Subway Bosses, you’d be guaranteed to make waves… perhaps even a Shock Wave.”
Emmet groan of dismay almost drowns out Ingo chortles.
The model giggles, allowing herself a short stretch before checking the time on her Rotom phone.
“Anyway, I suppose I promised you guys lunch for your help, didn’t I? It’s already almost noon.”
“Oh yes! Our engines are running quite low, let us depart at once!”
With Ingo’s loud decree, he and Emmet turn in perfect sync to exit the studio, Elesa following with a small smile, her eardrums only hurting a little bit.
The day outside is the same as it normally is in Alola, partly cloudy, full of sunshine and swelteringly hot. After ordering their lunch, Ingo helps himself to a pecha berry flavored sundae to help cool off from the temperature outside.
It has been almost a week and a half since their arrival in Alola and it is still hard to adjust to such different temperatures as the more temperate, perhaps even naturally chilly, climate of Unova. Thankfully smearing themselves with sunscreen has helped save them from getting burned even under the hot Alola sun.
Emmet looks out the window and takes in the view meanwhile, taking in the casual vibe of the area. For how many tourists make this a destination spot, he’s pleasantly surprised that Alola has not turned into an urban metropolis at this point. As much as he enjoys the hustle and bustle of his home, the different atmosphere is nice. Very different, but very nice.
“So, got anything fun planned after this?” Elesa looks up from her Rotom phone, finished swiping through some photos she took of their food.
Ingo swallows a spoonful before answering, “Absolutely! I’ll be touring the Aether Foundation today. I’ve heard that their technological advances are quite impressive and I’d like to get a closer look should they permit. Meanwhile, Emmet has said he’d like to challenge the Battle Tree.”
“You’re not going together?” Elesa’s question sounds more like a statement, enough for Emmet to purse his lips.
“Unfortunately, we have a limited time here in Alola,” Ingo is quick to explain, “Certainly not enough time to experience everything we’d like to. So our tracks will be temporarily split from time to time, including today. We did discuss this last night and it seemed like the best course of action.”
Emmet’s smile tenses a bit, but he nods silently in confirmation. He had agreed and he understood, truly he did. They can do other things for a bit. It was fine. He was Emmet and he was fine.
“That’s fair. Maybe you should ask the committee if you could have a time extension on your vacation,” Elesa jokes.
But, the two shake their heads in sync, their demeanor serious.
“Certainly not! While this time off has been enlightening so far, we must not prolong getting back to our duties further than what is necessary.”
Emmet nods solemnly with Ingo’s statement.
“Sure, sure. I should have known you’d say that,” Elesa shakes her head lightheartedly, “Well, I guess then enjoy what you can while it lasts. Sounds like you have some fun plans at least. Though I’ve never been to the Aether Foundation or Battle Tree before, actually.”
“You should do multi-battles with me, Elesa.”
“Huh?”
The half-demand catches Elesa off guard as she glances at Emmet, confused. But Emmet only stares back at her with passion burning in his eyes, his smile certainly wider than anything she had seen this morning.
“Our combination at the beach last time showed promise. We made a good team. You have never been to the Battle Tree before. So we should team up! Yup! It would be exciting!”
That was a good point. But usually Emmet would be more than happy to simply challenge it by himself. After all, that’s what he had done at the Battle Royal Dome.
Elesa thinks for a moment more, her fingernails tapping an offbeat rhythm on the table before eventually shrugging.
“Why not? I don't have any other plans today.”
Emmet’s grin gets even wider.
Elesa raises her finger with a wink, “Buuuut if I do this one little thing for you today, then you have to go mantine surfing with me this evening.”
Emmet’s grin shrinks immediately to an offended grimace.
“That is not fair! I do not know how to Mantine Surf!”
“Yeah that’s the point. It’ll be really funny, Em.”
“Don’t you mean fun?”
“Well, for me, maybe.”
“You are a sadist. I am no longer friends with you.”
“Then, you don’t want me to accompany you to the Battle Tree after all?”
“I did not say that.”
Elesa turns her attention unsubtly to Ingo, “You sure have your hands full with this one, huh?”
“I am right here.”
Ingo chuckles and finishes his last spoonful of ice cream.
“Well, let us depart to our destinations, shall we?”
“Fine. You have a deal,” Emmet pouts, standing up from the table to follow his brother before crossing his arms petulantly.
Trying to shake off the burst of heat hitting his face after exiting the small café, Emmet pauses briefly before waving goodbye to Ingo, wishing him a good time at the Foundation.
It takes him another few seconds to force his body to heel turn, his body feeling heavier than it should as he walks in the opposite direction with Elesa in tow.
“So, Em. What kind of pokémon do you think the trainers at the Battle Tree will have?”
Emmet smiles gratefully up at her, appreciative of her kindness.
Turns out there’s pokémon of all kinds. They’re lingering around the base of the tree with their trainers. Some trainers are definitely locals, while others stand out the same as Emmet does, tropical themed shirts and all. He is happy to feel a comforting solidarity with them.
The tree itself is gorgeous to behold. He can safely say this venue is way bigger than even White Tree Hollow. Breathtaking in its size, he doesn’t think he can see the top of where the canopy of branches ends, extending far up into the sky and even past a thin layer of fluffy clouds.
Out of the corner of his eye he sees Elesa already taking out her Rotom phone to take pictures. He has to agree that the view is picturesque.
Squinting a bit he can see the faint sight of rope bridges winding around the base of the tree. He can even see a few wild pokémon scampering over the wood panels, before climbing higher toward their nests in the wide branches.
Well. That explained how that system worked at least. Good thing he wasn’t afraid of heights.
After a few more moments of gazing and picture taking, the duo step inside and into the hollowed out lobby. Emmet notices even more trainers idling inside of the tree, talking with each other and their pokémon– trying to decide strategies, giving praises for a job well done, and the occasional comforting condolence from a loss. Yes, he had made the correct decision in coming here.
He can feel his smile involuntary tugging into one of genuine excitement and begins searching for where they can register. Spotting the desk quickly, he tugs Elesa to follow him while she’s in the middle of taking more pictures and he can hear her click her tongue in annoyance. A sound which he promptly ignores.
After filling out the registration information, they are directed to the entrance where they can enter and exit at any time following the start of their challenge. Emmet’s face lights up as he speedwalks toward it, Elesa grabbing his elbow to slow him down with varying degrees of success. However, as he is about to call out to the doorman guarding the entrance, the doors flare open and he pauses in his speedwalk – causing Elesa to bump into him with a yelp of surprise.
“Emmet! What in the–”
Elesa is quick to voice her displeasure, rubbing her nose gently from the impact, but quickly follows Emmet’s gaze to see a disheveled but satisfied looking Grimsley exiting the hollow of the tree. After speaking with the doorman, he’s handed an updated card and seems relatively pleased.
“Oh, Grimsley, you’re here too?” Elesa waves her free hand in acknowledgment.
Grimsley perks up slightly in recognition, inclining his head casually in greeting before wandering over.
“Of course. I come here occasionally to make some fast cash. And the challenges are pretty invigorating too. I just finished floor fifteen of the Super Single Battle Challenge,” Grimsley shrugged, flashing his card briefly before slipping it inside his kimono.
“Single Battles, huh?” Emmet droned, unimpressed.
“Don’t look so disappointed, Emmet,” Grimsely drawled, “you might hurt my feelings.”
“I am certain that is much harder to do than you are letting on.”
Grimsley barked a laugh, “Oops, looks like you caught me.”
“You should try the Double Battle Challenge instead. It is the best way to battle. They are very exciting!” Emmet stepped into his point and call pose, suppressing a shiver from how cold and empty the space to his side felt. If Grimsley noticed, he didn’t comment on it, simply tilting his head lightly with a smirk.
“Hmm, I’m not sure. Single battles have always been plenty exciting for a thrill seeker for me. Perhaps you could be mistaken?”
Emmet furrowed his brow, “Was our battle on the beach not invigorating enough for you?”
“It was alright,” Grimsley hummed, bringing a finger to his chin in fake consideration, “Certainly not better than a true one-on-one though.”
Emmet blinked before relaxing his pose in understanding.
“Ah. You have bad taste, don’t you.”
Grimsley bit his lip, trying to keep the tremble of laughter from escaping before squeezing his eyes shut and placing a dramatic, comforting hand over his heart.
“There you go again, hurting my precious feelings. I thought we were trying to start over, Emmet?”
Emmet’s own grin matches in its trembles, though for an opposite reason. As Grimsley squints his eyes back open he can make out the Subway Boss is valiantly holding himself back from saying something. Probably inflammatory if Grimsley had to bet.
Deciding to show a little mercy, Grimsley chuckles, shaking his head with poorly disguised mirth.
“Right, I forgot that you’re almost honest to a fault. You can insult me if you’d really like to.”
“Well, now I do not want to.”
Elesa peered back and forth at the two, pursing her lips as her mind moved, lighting quick, taking in the scene before her. Bantering. This was bantering, right? It was too lighthearted in spirit to be arguing. Emmet was still relaxed even during his admittedly rude phrasing, but Grimsley was certainly taking it in stride. So, it was fine, nothing for her to have to break up.
Bantering was fine as long as Emmet didn’t take it too far.
Bantering was great, even. The sparks of rivalry were easy to see. This could be really good for Emmet. He needed someone to cheer him up during his temporary separations from Ingo. And Grimsley seemed to match that energy really well too.
So yes. Bantering was awesome. Because she could see the passion return to Emmet’s eyes as he and Grimsley clashed wit. Bantering.
Bantering.
Bantering…
…
…It was just bantering, right?
Her eyes widened as her lips parted in shocking comprehension.
“No insults? Do you forgive me then?” Grimsley crossed his arms, leaning forward.
Emmet mimicked the pose, the promise of a challenge in his eye, “I’ll forgive you if you have a double battle with me.”
After a moment of consideration, Grimsley’s eyes unlocked with Emmet’s and he leaned back slowly, “Hmm, I would but my Pokémon are exhausted from today. I shouldn’t push them so soon.”
Emmet hesitated before also leaning back with solemn acceptance, “That is true. Another time then.”
“Actually, I have an idea,” Elesa piped in, leaning forward into their space to point a manicured finger and a wink at Grimsley, “How about you join us for some Mantine Surfing?”
“I am not going to forgive him for going Mantine Surfing with us,” Emmet monotoned, “I do not even want to go Mantine Surfing to begin with.”
“Oh come on, Emmet, it’ll be really fun! You didn’t try it last time. And Grimsley here is an expert, so he can help you out. Isn’t that right?” Elesa flashed a beseeching smile at them both.
Grimsley uncrossed his arms with a small shrug, agreeing.
“If you’d like.”
Emmet’s lips press so hard against each other that Elesa is afraid they’ll grind into dust. But eventually he forces himself to relax with a drawled out acceptance.
“Fine. You can come if you want to. But we are doing the multi-battles first.”
“I’ll meet you there,” Grimsley confirms with a nod, turning to Elesa, “I trust you still have my contact information?”
“Yep! I’ll let you know when we’re finished! See you then!” Elesa gives him a thumbs up, before striding to the doorman and handing over her registration card.
Emmet stares blankly at the space Elesa used to occupy.
‘They have each other's contact information?’
“Hurry up you Slowpoke! Weren’t you the one so excited about this?”
Emmet breaks out of his reverie with a click of his heels, marching swiftly over.
“Right, yup! Departing, now! All aboard!”
Grimsley idles for a bit longer, watching them enter the challenge area with an amused look before turning to leave.
‘What an amusing guy.’
“I told you that I am not cut out for this.”
Emmet’s demeanor might be intimidating, his face pinched with upset, if his body wasn’t doing a very good imitation of a beached Staryu, seaweed sticking to his hair after washing ashore for the fifth time that afternoon.
Elesa dismounts her Mantine gracefully, pacing over to where Emmet is sprawled out in the sand.
“It’s not like you to give up so easily, y’know.”
“I am not giving up, I am taking a break.”
Elesa sighs, long-suffering before chancing a glance over the waves, noting the swift pace Grimsley is keeping from on top of his own Mantine, unwavering even as they crash into a wave… yet still coming out unscathed on the other side.
She hums lowly, still gazing at the gambler, “You know you could ask–”
“Nope.”
“Em.”
Exasperating was an understatement to describe this man, truly, Elesa groused.
“I can do this on my own. I can figure it out.”
Elesa shoots him an unimpressed look even as she holds a hand out for him to take, helping him up.
“You’ve always relied on Ingo before, what’s so different about this?”
‘Because it is not Ingo,’ is plain to read on Emmet’s face.
But he doesn’t say anything, only going to hop on the Mantine, wobbling a bit before gaining his balance. The Mantine pushes from the shore into the surf as Emmet reaches a hand forward to steady himself on its back.
Elesa watches him go, hand high on her hip.
‘Stubborn.’
Half an hour later and half a dozen attempts later, Emmet is washed up ashore again.
“That last try was better!” Elesa cheers, though she can’t disguise the sympathy oozing into her tone.
Heaving a sigh through his nose, Emmet looks up into the sky. He notes the sky beginning to darken as the sun hangs further down into the horizon and silently contemplates defeat. A moment more and he is on his feet and trudging back to the Mantine.
“Hey, it’s starting to get late, Emmet,” Elesa hesitantly offers, absentmindedly wringing seawater from her hair, “Maybe we should call it here? We need to get some dinner.”
“You can go get dinner,” Emmet refutes, already climbing aboard the pokémon, “I am still trying.”
Mantine warbles gently, gliding back into the ocean.
Elesa groans, placing her hands firmly on her hips and gritting her teeth. She begins opening her mouth to scold him when Grimsley sidles up calmly alongside her.
“I’ll look after him. You can go on ahead.”
Elesa reflexively goes to decline before suddenly pausing, worrying her lip in thought. She waffles back and forth for a moment before rubbing her temple.
“Thanks, Grimsley. He’s always been stubborn, but he’s really been pushing it this past week.”
“Not a fan of vacations?” Grimsley jokes, his eyes regarding the unstable balancing act happening in the water.
“Who knows,” Elesa murmurs, “He’s just been… struggling. It’s why I agreed to do the Battle Tree with him and had him try something new, you know? I thought it’d do him some good.”
Elesa joins Grimsley’s gaze to watch Emmet practicing with the Mantine, trying to perfect his balance as they slowly move out of range of the waves.
“But, here we are.”
She frowns faintly.
“Maybe I was wrong.”
“Luck might not be on your side with this one,” Grimsley acquiesces, tearing his gaze away to look up at her, “But worrying over him too much won’t help.”
He gestures over to the city with his chin, “You should get some rest. Like I said, I’ll be a good babysitter.”
That, at least, gets Elesa to huff a hesitant laugh, “Alright, alright. Let me know if he causes any trouble though. I can be back in a– Quick Attack .”
Grimsley only hums, not really acknowledging the joke. Elesa wrings out her hair a bit more, hesitating a bit longer before ultimately taking her leave.
Oranges and reds tint the sky as the sun sinks further into the horizon. Grimsley sits peacefully, cross legged on the shore as he watches Emmet crash into the sand below for the umpteenth time.
Feeling the cold breeze of dusk start to set in, Grimsley rises, silently stalking over to Emmet and looming over him.
Emmet looks up and catches his gaze, his face twisted and displeased, but takes the hand Grimsley offers if only to keep the peace between them.
“Are you ready to accept my help yet?”
Emmet roughly brushes the sand off of his thoroughly soaked shirt, sulking at the other.
“You never offered your help.”
“I was waiting for you to ask.”
It is obvious to Emmet that his shirt is beyond saving at this point. It is too caked in sand.
It is also obvious to Emmet that his solo attempts at Mantine Surfing are beyond saving at this point. And he could really use some help.
“If you are offering your advice then… I will accept.”
A cold feeling blooms in his stomach as Grimsley smiles slyly at him. Perhaps he should just learn to be okay with being beyond saving at this point.
The thought reinforces and solidifies in Emmet’s mind as water whips past him, tears bubbling from the sting of the wind against his face. Sharpedo Surfing, he thinks, should be illegal. The only reason he hasn’t fallen off completely, as he barrels through the sea, is that he is being held hostage by Grimsley, the gambler's arms locked around his waist from behind while they rocket through the water on his trusty (and very dangerous!) Sharpedo.
To Grimsley’s credit, Emmet can feel him subtly re-positioning his limbs whenever he is about to lose balance, correcting his posture with a hand while the other closely holds him around his waist. He has half a mind to be impressed with how naturally the gambler is able to multitask; but the other half of his mind is too busy silently screaming all while berating himself for accepting Grimsley’s help and berating Grimsley for being such a–
They go to crash over a wave and Emmet instinctively reaches back to loop his arms around Grimsley for better stability. Pressed so tightly together now, Emmet can feel the quiet shake of Grimsley’s chest against his back. He was laughing at him.
Emmet has a full mind to be incensed. If he could talk, he would give Grimsley a piece of that furious mind.
Emmet jolts as Grimsley leans forward to speak in his ear, loud amidst the waves, “Don’t worry, Emmet. I won’t let you fall. Trust me.”
His words are reassuring, but his tone is rife with amusement and Emmet debates the merits of taking this man at his word.
But, it is true that he has not gone flying off yet into the great blue depths below. So, he wills himself to steel his shoulders, to memorize where and how Grimsley is repositioning him as they surf, and also try verrrrry hard not to freak out while they begin to ride on the side of a wave.
It feels like hours pass as the wave curls around them, what is surely seconds in reality, and Emmet holds his breath. As Emmet feels the crash of the wave happen, he recognizes that it’s far behind him. They have come out unharmed.
Emmet heaves with relief, leaning forward to catch his breath as Sharpedo finally begins to slow its pace.
“Looks like you’re keeping your balance now.”
Emmet freezes in his stoop, acutely noticing that Grimsley’s hands are gone from around his waist and then he’s standing… perfectly fine. He’s standing perfectly fine even though Sharpedo is still moving (albeit at a much slower pace than before.)
Emmet glares back at him because he can’t find his words right now in order to berate Grimsley.
Grimsley only offers him a content smile back.
“Are you ready to try again?”
Emmet looks to the side, his gut clenching, though he notes the knot in it from before has loosened somewhat. He feels himself nodding.
Sharpedo eases itself alongside the beached Mantine and Emmet hesitantly steps onto the offered flipper, boarding it with trepidation.
But, as they push off and he prepares himself, he blinks a few times as a couple thoughts filtered in.
Had… the Mantine always been this slow?
Because he wasn’t wobbling at all; his muscles seemed to adjust easily to the pace.
He whipped his head around to Grimsley who was leisurely reclining on the beach, giving the Subway Boss a leisurely wave when he noticed his gaze.
Maybe he wouldn’t yell at him when his voice returned after all.
He whipped his head back around when he felt the swelling of a wave underneath him and swallowed thickly. Swiftly directing the Mantine to speed up, he found it… surprisingly easy to keep his balance this time. He takes his time to look with more fascination at the tunnel starting to surround them, reaching a hand out to briefly touch the water before he exists just in time to feel the crash of it behind him; and yet he maintains his balance even with the rough treatment, only needing to correct his posture once during the crest of the wave.
He calmly conducts Mantine back to the shore for the last time tonight, quiet in his contemplation, though he can feel his voice returning to him unbidden.
Hopping off of the pokémon and bidding it a sincere thank you for its patience, he absentmindedly feeds it a handful of treats, giving it some solid pets of affection before waving it goodbye.
“So?”
Emmet turns to Grimsley sharply.
“Grimsley. Will you accompany me to surf again tomorrow?”
Grimsley makes a noise in the back of his throat, taken off guard.
“I would like to practice more and your guidance was… helpful. I would appreciate it if you could do the same tomorrow,” Emmet continues, his voice scratchy and rough but clear and certain in its delivery.
Grimsley blinks, before shrugging, “Sure. I don’t mind.”
Emmet claps his hands together with a grin.
“Excellent! I will meet you tomorrow at 3 pm sharp.”
“You don’t want to just meet at the same time as today? Seems like it would be easier.”
Emmet falters for only a moment, “No. Ingo and I will be splitting up at 3 pm so that he can… do other things.”
‘Without me,’ is what goes unsaid.
Grimsley nods, quiet understanding knocking around his brain, “Sure I’ll see you then, Emmet.”
“Thank you, Grimsley.”
His grin widens to its usual happy size and he claps Grimsley firmly on the shoulder before turning to make his leave. Grimsley raises his brows, watching him march away.
‘Yeah… a really amusing guy.’
He smiles secretly to himself before turning towards his own destination.
Later that night, tucking himself into bed at their hotel, Emmet hums a soft nonsensical tune to no one and closes his eyes, happily prepared for sleep.
They snap open.
‘I should have asked him for his contact information.’