Work Text:
You dragged yourself onto a small ledge overlooking the lower portion of the Coronet Highlands, panting heavily from exertion. Your ankle throbbed with pain, and blood seeped through your torn uniform coat. Beside you, your Umbreon made a concerned noise, nudging your uninjured leg.
“Sorry, buddy,” you managed to say. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”
Apparently, the completion of the Pokedex had made you overconfident; you had left Jubilife that morning feeling invincible, heading into the rainstorm and massive outbreaks like nothing could harm you. An alpha Gliscor had quickly proven you wrong, though, knocking you over in one hit. Your Umbreon had left its Pokeball on its own volition and driven the Gliscor back, though not without incurring a few wounds itself, and you’d sprained your ankle in your haste to get away.
Well, if you had to bleed out anywhere, at least the Highlands were pretty.
You rolled onto your back and sighed, looking up into the gray sky. Beside you, Umbreon prodded at your shoulders, trying to get you to move. Suddenly, its eyes locked onto something, and you faintly heard the sound of footsteps over Umbreon’s low growl.
A shock of blond hair met your vision, and your blood ran cold.
It had to be him.
For perhaps the first time since you’d met him, Volo looked shocked; he hovered over you, flinching as Umbreon growled at him. His mouth opened and closed as he stumbled over his words. “You–are you–”
“I’m fine,” you spat, shifting into a sitting position despite the pain that shot through your abdomen.
Volo frowned, taking a step towards you. “The blood on your clothes tells a different story–”
“Don’t touch me,” you interrupted, scooting even further away from him. “I don’t need your help.”
“So you’d rather bleed to death in the wilderness than accept help from me?” Volo huffed, crossing his arms. “Doesn’t strike me as a particularly good attitude for a Survey Corps member to have.”
You sent him the most venomous glare you could muster. “What do you care?” you asked. “I thought you wanted me dead. Then the plates would be all yours, wouldn’t they? What was it you said up there? You’re ‘not above using force to get what you want’?”
Volo winced, and for a fleeting moment, you regretted your words. But you shook your head, making another motion to get away from him. He didn’t care about you. He never had. He was just trying to manipulate you again.
Thinking about the alternative would just hurt you more.
Volo sighed, taking another futile step towards you. “That’s not–”
“Just shut up!” you exclaimed. “Just shut up and leave me…alone…”
Your vision started fading, and you briefly registered Umbreon nudging against you in an attempt to keep you awake. The last thing you heard before slipping into unconsciousness was a shout of your name that sounded genuinely concerned.
But that couldn’t be right, could it?
The soft crackling of a fire was the first thing that met your ears as you returned to consciousness. You felt the glow of heat on your back as you slowly opened your eyes; you were laying on your side facing the wall of a cave. Your jacket had been removed, and your undershirt was bunched up to make room for the bandages on your stomach. As you took stock of yourself and your surroundings, you also noticed that your ankle had been treated.
You were just about to yawn and stretch when you heard a voice behind you.
“Am I some kind of fool, Togekiss?”
Your blood ran cold as you recognized Volo’s voice, as well as the chirp from his partner Pokemon. ‘Don’t move,’ you thought to yourself. ‘If you keep pretending to be asleep, he’ll eventually leave.’
Volo let out a sigh, and you heard him move around a bit. “This must be some kind of cosmic joke,” he continued. “They hate me. They have every right to. And by all accounts, I should hate them too. They ruined everything that I was working towards. So why…”
He trailed off, and you heard your Umbreon make a soft noise. You held back a sigh of relief, thankful that Umbreon hadn’t been abandoned.
When Volo spoke next, it was quiet, almost like a prayer.
“Why can’t I hate you?”
A shiver ran down your spine as he shifted from talking to his Pokemon to talking directly to you. Did he know you were awake? Surely not. Then why…?
“You seem to have no trouble hating me,” Volo continued. “But somehow, it’s so difficult to hold anything against you. Why do I care for you like this? Why…do I wish you still cared for me?”
A lump formed in your throat as your cheeks flushed.
He didn’t hate you.
He cared about you.
You did your best to still your beating heart, evening your breathing like you did when you were creeping through the grass. If he didn’t hate you, then nothing made sense; if he cared about you so much, then why would he have betrayed you like that? Why would he have been so angry when you defeated him?
If he didn’t hate you, then how could you bring yourself to hate him?
You must have slipped up in your breath control; Umbreon, suddenly alert, raced to your side. Volo tensed as you turned around. “You’re awake,” he said simply, readying himself to stand and leave.
You sat up gently, wincing at the dull pain that throbbed in your abdomen. You avoided his gaze, instead looking at the fire. Umbreon settled down at your side, eyeing Volo warily.
When you made no move to chase him away, Volo relaxed a bit. “How are you feeling?”
“Fine,” you replied softly, your voice hoarse. “...thank you.”
“You’re…Good. That’s…good.” Volo looked away from you towards the mouth of the cave. An uncomfortable silence draped over the two of you like a thick fog; the crackle of the fire was the only sound echoing off the cave walls. Volo looked uncomfortable, and you could only imagine you wore a similar expression.
Togekiss chirped, nudging Volo gently, and he sighed. “I’m sorry.”
You looked up at him. “What?”
“I know that doesn’t even begin to cover…everything,” Volo continued, not meeting your gaze, “and I know you deserve far more from me than a two-word phrase, but I wanted to say it.” He glanced at you out of the corner of his eye, and the fire reflected against his slate-gray iris. “I didn’t want you to think…”
He trailed off, struggling to find the right words.
“...that you hated me?” you finished for him, meeting his gaze.
Volo’s face flushed. “Did you–”
“I did,” you interrupted. “...You and Togekiss were kind of loud.”
“Oh.” Volo fell silent, once again not meeting your gaze. That uncomfortable silence returned, and you suppressed a shudder.
Volo opened his mouth to speak, but you beat him to it.
“I don’t…want to hate you either.”
The words had left your mouth before you had time to think about them, and they surprised you in their sincerity. You really, truly, didn’t want to despise him; he had been your only solace when you were kicked out of Jubilife, and up until the temple, you had considered him one of the best friends you had made during your time here. A few times, close to the end of it all, you’d even found yourself thinking of him when he wasn’t around, committing his smile to your memory.
The only reason you’d been able to hate him was because you were convinced he felt the same toward you.
Volo seemed just as surprised as you were; his mouth hung open, and he turned his head to face you fully. “...you don’t?”
“Don’t get me wrong,” you continued, sitting up straighter. “I’m still…really angry about everything you did. And I don’t think we’ll ever get back to the way things used to be.” You met his gaze, trying to stay calm as he looked back at you. “But…I can’t keep pretending like I hate you.” You looked back at the fire, trying and failing to suppress the tear that ran down your cheek. “It wouldn’t hurt so much if I really did.”
Togekiss chirped happily, and Volo let out a breath that he didn’t realize he was holding. “...that’s…a relief to hear.”
You glanced up at him, and for the first time in months, you saw a genuine, happy smile on his face. It was small, and his lips quivered like he might drop it at any moment, but it was there.
And there, in the fading light of the fire, you found yourself smiling back.