Work Text:
KANTO
Alex was having quite a good time letting MewTwo wreck shop at the Silph Co headquarters. They couldn’t tell if it held a grudge against the company itself, Team Rocket - which was currently occupying it - or both. Either way it was cathartic to watch. None of the Rocket grunts had been fun to fight anyway, so it was a lot more satisfying to watch them cover in fear instead.
“Hey.”
Alex stopped in their tracks and took a couple steps back, looking into the break room they had just passed by. In it sat some grunt, sipping coffee easy as you please, as if they weren’t surrounded by melting and crumbling walls, or as if the lights weren’t flickering ominously on and off. The small Magnemite whirring next to their head, however, was definitely aware of the situation.
“Oh, don’t stop on my behalf!” the grunt said upon meeting Alex’s eyes. The Magnemite made a distressed beep and hid behind their trainer. “Please, continue your rampage.”
That was not the right reaction. “You’re supposed to try to stop me,” Alex said.
“Nope, that’s way above my paygrade,” replied the grunt. “I’m just the warp tile repair guy.”
“Right.”
“I don’t even have any pokédollars on me, if it's battle money you’re after.” The rocket grunt rummaged through their bag. “I’ve got this, though, one of my colleagues stole it earlier, but I don’t think he’s coming back. Catch!”
Instinctively, Alex caught the object. It felt warm in their hands. “What?”
“It’s an egg! Be nice to it!”
With that, the grunt put down their empty mug, gave Alex a farewell salute, and stepped onto a warp tile.
“...What?”
JOHTO
Alex was so sick of Team Rocket. All Alex wanted to do was sweep through the gyms, crush the elite four, and kick champion ass - but those goddamn dweebs got tangled up in their business at every step of the way. Was Alex really the only one willing to do anything about this pest problem?
“Pi?” came a noise from their bag.
Alex gave the Togepi a reassuring pat. “We won’t be here long, Gyarados and me are just gonna destroy a machine real quick.”
The giant scarlet serpent in question was twisting through the corridor ahead of them, setting off every alarm at once. Alex could hear Rocket grunts making hasty retreats, screaming. They smiled.
“I told them it was a stupid security system, but do they ever listen to me? Nooo,” sounded a voice Alex instantly recognized.
Whirling around, Alex found themself face to face with the same, nondescript grunt they had met Kanto back when. They were carrying a toolbox and clearly talking to the Magneton hovering over their shoulder.
“You!” Alex said.
“Me!” said the grunt cheerfully. “Fancy seeing you here… Alex, was it? Kanto Champion?”
“And soon to be Johto Champion as well.”
“That’s cool, that’s cool…” The grunt looked over the Persian statues, all of them varying degrees of Crushed By Gyarados. “Man, you really did a number on these.”
The Magneton buzzed in solidarity.
“I’m not sorry,” said Alex.
“No, I’m not mourning these, either. If they only let me install a better security system.”
Alex was just about to make an awkward exit when they remembered - “oh, um, the egg you gave me hatched.” They picked Togepi out of their bag.
“Oh my gosh, that’s adorable! Hi little guy!” the grunt cooed.
Togepi chirped happily.
“Did you… want it back?” Alex asked, feeling unusually sheepish.
“What? Why? He looks like he loves travelling with you!” The grunt shook their head. “But I’ll gladly give you my PokéGear number so you can send me photos of him.”
Before Alex could fully comprehend the situation, they had a contact labelled Morgan in their phone.
HOENN
“Who’s a good girl! You’re a good girl!” Morgan told the Absol, giving it plenty of scritches and pets. “Oh, hey Alex!”
Maybe Alex should’ve expected to find Morgan at the submarine hideout, donning a Team Aqua bandanna and uniform to match. “Hello, Morgan. Is that a Team Magma hoodie tied around your waist?”
“Look, I just do contract work, and it very clearly says in my contract I will not be stationed at any volcanoes.”
Alex laughed. If they had to enter an active volcano one more time, they would sick Rayquaza on someone.
“Is this your Absol? She’s cute!” Morgan said, still giving it lots of attention.
“Not really, but she’s been following me around for a while. Dunno why.”
Morgan giggled as Absol licked their face, and Alex felt a strange emotion at that.
They cleared their throat. “Could you, um, watch Togetic for me while I go dismantle that submarine or whatever? He doesn’t like explosions.”
“Sure thing! You’ll want to take the warp tile on the left, by the way.”
“Should you be telling me that?”
Morgan shrugged. “Doesn’t say in my contract that I can’t.”
SINNOH
As fascinating as the Distortion World was, Alex had to get out sooner or later. If for no other reason, because they had promised Giratina - floating alongside Alex like a river made of void - to show it around Sinnoh like a tourist. They were nearing the rift when Absol suddenly perked up and bound ahead.
Alex rolled their eyes fondly when they saw Morgan, standing on the wall in a twist of gravity. Their Magneton had become a Magnezone since last time, but it was beeping anxiously as always.
"Heyo! Nice weather we're having," Morgan said by way of greeting, gesturing at the vortex of darkness.
"You can't convince me you're here for work reasons," Alex said, indicating the Team Galactic uniform Morgan was wearing - although they had clearly refused to cut their hair and dye it green.
"Eh, I figured I'll be out of a job again, so I might as well bring you some hot choco while I'm in the area."
Alex tried not to feel the stab of guilt as Morgan brought out a thermos from their backpack.
"Okay, the differing gravity fields might make this difficult, let me just -" Morgan jumped over to the plane Alex was standing on, and poured them a cup of steaming chocolatey goodness. "Do you think the beastie would like some, too?"
"Um." Alex looked over to Giratina, who had flown closer. "Sure?"
While Morgan figured out the logistics of offering hot drinks to a primordial being of chaos, Alex noticed a small ghost zipping about.
"You got a Rotom?"
"Oh! Yeah! Met it in a haunted house, it took a liking to me," Morgan said. "Sorry if I ever send you weird texts, it has a habit of possessing my Pokétch."
"It suits you."
For a little while, they sat in companionable silence, dangling their feet over the edge of their floating platform, sipping hot choco and watching the purple clouds twirl.
"I'm sorry I keep destroying your employers," Alex said at last.
"Don't even worry about it, I'll always find new ones."
"Good, I don't regret any of it. Their schemes are so… so stupid."
Morgan chuckled. "I know."
UNOVA
Alex was watching Kyurem destroy the last pieces of the Team Plasma Castle when their Xtransceiver beeped with an incoming call. Morgan's face filled the screen upon accepting it.
"Hey, Alex! Are you busy right now?"
Alex surveyed the calamity in front of them. They smiled at Morgan. "I'll be free soon. Why?"
"Just wondering if you want to hang out," Morgan said. "I saw you on the news earlier, it looked like you could use a break."
That was one way of putting it. "I could, yeah. Where do I find you?"
"Meet me at the ferris wheel in Nimbasa! See you!" The screen went blank.
The. The ferris wheel? Alex didn't even try to unpack the implications of it as they flew Togekiss southwards.
For once, Morgan was not wearing any kind of uniform. They were accompanied by their Magnezone as always, as well as a small Klink that seemed to constantly attach itself to Magnezone as an annoying younger sibling.
"So you may be wondering," Morgan began,"why I've brought you to a ferris wheel outside of its operating hours."
"Not for long, I'm sure."
"Rotom, hit it!"
Morgan's Rotom made a noise of mischief, and immediately zapped into the ferris wheel. It lit up in all its splendour.
"And now we've got it entirely to ourselves, for free!" Morgan excitedly grabbed for Alex's arm.
"Is it safe?" Alex asked, hoping Morgan couldn't see their blush in the multicolored lights.
"Definitely safer than the rollercoaster, but we can try that one after, if you'd like."
Alex had nothing to be afraid of, definitely not a slow going ferris wheel ride with… a friend. They were friends, right?
Morgan laughed. "Yeah dude, we're friends."
Ah, so they had said that part out loud.
The view from the top of the wheel was lovely. Alex had seen all of Unova from an aerial view many times, but they were always in a rush to get somewhere. It was nice to take it slow. Just this once.
Alex watched the lights move across Morgan's face. "You didn't join Team Plasma?"
"I almost did, but their work environment was horrible. I may have low standards, but I still have standards."
"Yeah, not joining cults is a good line to keep." Alex smirked. "I destroyed their castle today, though, so that was fun." That's what they got for interrupting the championships.
"Oh, I wish I could have seen that! The news didn't cover anything after the battle with the legendary dragons."
"I'll take some pics for you next time."
"Of course there will be a next time with you. Exciting things happen wherever you go. All I've been doing here is subway maintenance."
"I'm going to Kalos next, by the way." Alex gave Absol a few pets, trying not to feel nervous about the question they hadn't asked.
Morgan looked thoughtful. "Kalos, huh… I've heard they've got good food, and I'm sure there's plenty of work opportunities for me…" They met Alex's eyes. "I'm sure I'll see you there, then."
KALOS
"Well, that was brutal." Morgan simply removed their Team Flare pin and threw it into the gaping chasm that used to be Geosenge. Their Klefki looked after it as it disappeared, while Magnezone made a solemn buzz.
Alex snorted. "That's what happens when you try to wrangle death gods into doing what you want."
"Unlike you?"
"Unlike me who just lets death gods do whatever they want."
Yveltal cried a screech of contentment behind them and started preening. Alex repressed an urge to gush about how cute it was.
"Can't argue with that. What now?"
"Well, I still need to beat the elite four, and-"
"I meant like, wouldn't you like to sit down and have dinner first, maybe? I know a place in downtown Lumiose that's pretty good."
Oh. "Are you asking me out for dinner?"
"I might be," said Morgan. "But I did just lose my job, again , so please don't order the most expensive dish if you can help it."
Alex struggled to keep their thoughts straight - well, not straight, but - "Morgan," they blurted out. "Would you like to… travel? With me? To Alola or Galar or wherever you want. I understand if you want to do your own thing, and I'll be happy to meet up with you wherever, but if you'd like… You could just come with me. Togekiss and Absol would love that, too, and -"
"Of course I would, Alex. Just let me treat you to some galettes first, okay?"
"Okay," Alex beamed.