Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ingo stared at the wall in front of him. He had been doing this for a very long time. There… used to be a light… but it was gone now. He desperately wished that it would come back.

It was not like he could approach the light, chained to the wall as he was, but it was something to look at. Something that changed, how it flickered and twisted in the air.

Ingo missed the light.

It was… getting harder to remember why he was in here… there was a red sky and angry voices. Painful hands throwing him into this cell and locking him to the wall. 

He stayed there for… a short amount of time. He thinks. It’s nearly impossible to judge time in here.

The ground shook, and there was a horrible crash. The light beneath the door ceased, and all that was left were the tongues of flame. 

No one came for him.

The flames went out.

And Ingo stared. 

Except, not quite. It was… hard to focus. Hard to keep counting all the small cracks in the wall. Hard to feel.

He had taken to… hitting the walls. It… used to make him feel things but now… 

Everything lately has been so… dull.

It had taken a… long time? An amount of time. For the chains to rust. At one point Ingo trashed enough that they fell apart. It was… so nice. To walk, to brush his fingers against the walls. 

He was used to it now, but sometimes he would wait for a long time before doing it again. He liked the sudden shock of feeling.

Sometimes it was not enough. Sometimes he needed to feel pain. Bashing arms against walls, finger bending the wrong way, biting at skin, and pulling hair… It took a long time to heal, but in the end, no matter how he set it- if he even bothered to- they healed perfectly.

It was both a relief and… a huge pain.

Nothing changed in those walls. Ingo paced, ten steps to reach each wall, fifteen if he took smaller steps. 

He used these to count time.

He paced for as long as he could, so many steps sometimes he would lose count, until his legs gave out beneath him. Ingo hated it when they did that. It took so long for him to get well enough to stand. 

At some point, the pain of broken bones and bruised knuckles faded away, like the hunger and thirst he barely remembered. He thought his legs should ache with how much he was using them, but they never did.

Or, if they did, he did not notice.

It has been… such a long time. Ingo could not remember the world outside of his small room, and the short hallway outside of it. When he was not pacing, he was attempting to sleep, when that inevitably failed, he lay on the floor and stopped thinking.

The silence was a constant.

Until it wasn't.

Ingo grew aware of some sort of rattling noise. It felt like it should have reminded him of something, but he was too focused on the sound to care. Something was making noise, and it wasn't him!

Could there be something real outside of this place?

The sound grew louder and louder, it felt like it was hammering straight into Ingo's skull. He clutched at it, just to make sure there wasn’t anything going through it, and collapsed to the ground.

He thought he liked the noise, why was it causing him such pain now? His heart beat so fast- it felt like his head was going to split open.

Ingo held his breath, the short choppy ones he was making before pierced his ears, making the loud rumble worse. If he held his breath long enough, things would get fuzzy.

He normally did not like it to be fuzzy, but now it was a comfort to the uncontrollable pain of the noise.

He was on the floor when light entered the room. Light! He had forgotten what it looked like! But oh it hurt. He was used to pain, but that pain was controllable, comforting. This was sudden. He did not like this Pain.

He covered his face with his hands, desperately trying to keep the worst of the light out. Still, it bled through the cracks of his fingers, turning the edges of them red- 

It hurt it hurt it hurt.

There were… voices. Noise, softer noise. The rumble ding had stopped. Footsteps, getting closer. The voided got pounder, then softer. They were harsh and fascinated. It had been… so long since he heard a voice that was not his own.

He did not think he could speak anymore. He did not even think that there would be anyone to speak to.

There was warmth- a burning horrible warmth- on his shoulder.

Ingo made… a noise, flinching away to the… touch? Was that what touch felt like? Ingo did not know if he ever wanted to feel it again or cling to it.

The voices grew louder in surprise. It turned into hushed whispering. 

Ingo shook. He did not know what to do- what was happening-

He wanted it to stop.

The touch came back, and Ingo violently flinched away, but it followed, Ingo tried to stand up, only managing to curl up into a ball and shuffle into the far corner. 

The voices grew soft, comforting. Slowly, the footsteps got quieter, farther away.

Ingo did not know if he was relieved, or desperately wanted to feel the horrible touch once more.

Ingo would cry if he had any water left in his body.

Time passed. Not much at all, not to Ingo, but the light that was once so blinding had gone pale and then brighter again.

Ingo tried to remember what that meant. He did not know. He gave up.

It was. Brighter now. Ingo stared at the splash of light coming down from the ceiling. He had gotten used to the blindingness of it, and he watched as the speck of dust danced in the air. 

It was… pretty. 

Not that it was a particularly high bar down here. 

Ingo startled at the sound of voices again. Were the things back? No… not things… They were like him. Human? That sounded right. Yes, humans. 

The voices got louder, were they going to come down again? Ingo wondered where they came from. He had… forgotten so much of the outside world. He had forgotten there was one.

A clatter as something shiny crashes to the ground, leading up to the surface. It had platforms where you could put your feet and hands… Ingo knew what this was… a.. latter? He supposed it was hard to get down places without one. 

Footsteps again, loud and clunking. Ingo curled further up into a ball, staring over his knees at the “latter”. One figure came down, dressed in blue that was so covered in dirt it was hard to tell, a bright yellow hat was on its- their- head. Another quickly followed, this one wearing a white coat. 

The human in blue- male, very deep voice- pointed at Ingo, and looked at the one in white. The one in the coat slowly approached him, holding their hands out in the universal sign of peace. Ingo tensed as they were five steps away. The one in white stopped their approach.

They stared at each other for a time. Ingo could no longer tell if it was short or long, but eventually he tilted his head. He looked closer at the person in white. Something nagged at him, but he did not know what. He disregarded the thought.

Ingo was… tired. He has been tired for as long as he could remember. Today, the exhaustion that ate away at his bones was worse than usual. He was too tired to keep being tense, to be weary of these strangers. Beings he had forgotten that existed beyond himself.

Ingo slumped and closed his eyes. The voices grew worried, and footsteps rapidly approached him. Touch. The horrible wonderful sensation was all over him now- his chest, head, arms- he did not like it. It hurt.

Ingo wished, not for the first time, that he could actually sleep.

After a… Time of touch, it stopped. Ingo was brought somewhere very very bright and placed on a soft white thing. He could barely pay any attention to it though. Not with the. Sounds. So many sounds. Cooing from the trees. A rumble of metal things. Honking, footsteps, sirens. So many voices. 

Ingo did not know there could even be that many beings. 

He was placed in one of the rumble metal things, and it shook so violently it felt like he was going to be sick. He did not like the rumble things. 

It moved, Ingo could tell it moved. Sometimes it would stop for a short time, or make a sharp turn. Every movement Ingo hated. He almost wished to be back in his small dark rooms. It was silent there, but it did not hurt like this place did.

Ingo did his best not to think, ignore the prodding and voices around him. He had gotten good at not thinking. His awareness ended with a white roof and a soft bed.

His awareness came back with a gray ceiling and a hard bed. 

He blinked. There was… beeping. It marked time. Like pacing. Ingo stared at the ceiling for 205 beeps. Then looked to his left. There was a blue curtain. He stared. 482 beeps. Ingo looks at himself. There were… tubes. They went under the scratchy blanket. 960 beeps. 

Ingo thinks he would have been bored if he were not so used to nothing. He was glad it was dark in this room. Near silent. Just the beeps and muffled voices.

This is okay.

It was 326 beeps later that there was light in the room. It made a rectangular shape in the ceiling. There was the shadow of a human in the rectangle. They were holding something. 

The curtains shifted. Ingo flinched back. The beeping sped up.

No no no. The beeped should not speed up- how is he supposed to tell time if the rhythm changed? But it just kept getting faster- 

The blue curtains moved to reveal another person in white, who rushed over to his bed. Ingo flinched horribly, who was this? What was happening?

The beeping was only getting faster and faster before it gave an ear-piercing shriek. 

The human in white held up a needle, piercing it through a tube and pushing the plunger.

Ingo felt… sleepy. 

The beeping slowed. 

Ingo- finally finally finally- fell unconscious.

He awoke in a daze. There were… things happening. Many people in white were surrounding him. He did not like it. The lights were on. The voices were too loud. 

But the beeping was back to a steady rhythm. He liked that. He was too tired to focus on anything else.

Things faded away. 

There was. Something. Next to him. It was sitting, slumped over. The lights were off and the beeping was steady, so Ingo did not mind the quiet presence. He felt like it should have been familiar.

The figure was in white but not like the others. there were stripes of red. A hat. There was a symbol on the hat. It had nice colors, a soft dark blue and shiny white. 

The person was laying their head on the bed, carefully an inch away from Ingo’s arm. Ingo was glad, no one had seemed to care about his space until now. 

Or perhaps… touch was supposed to hurt? That… did not seem entirely right, but Ingo knew not to trust his memory. 

Ingo stared at this person, something deep inside him hurt. He barely registered the pain.

24,379 beeps.  

The human stirred. Ingo stared. The human- male, he knew that face- sleepily blinked open their eyes, and focused on Ingo.

The man froze. Ingo looked him in the eyes blankly. The man reached out, stopped halfway, and breathed out a name Ingo only remembered by whispering it to himself.

“Ingo.”

The man spoke more, softly, ever so softly, but Ingo could not understand. It seems the man realized this, as he leaned back and curled up a bit, still looking at Ingo's face.

Ingo saw the pain in the man’s eyes. Ingo decided he did not like that look. Not on this person. Not on the person who did not touch, did not shout.

He did not know how to comfort this man. He had been trapped in the dark for too long. He did not know many things. But he knew, in his bones, that he had to do something.

He reached out, slowly, and brushed a fingertip ever so gently against the other cheek, wiping away a bit of water that was leaking out of his eyes. 

More spilled, so much so that Ingo could not remember a Time he had seen such a large amount of water. 

The man closed his eyes, leaning ever so slightly into the touch. Ingo was surprised when it did not burn. It felt. Nice. Grounding.

The man spoke more, soft whispers in the quiet room. Ingo moved his finger across the other's face. Perhaps, with this person, touch was not so bad.

The man continued to speak, soft mutterings Ingo still could not make out. They sounded… pleasant. To listen to. Ingo felt like he could listen for a very long time.

Slowly, Ingo pressed his palm against the man’s cheek, taking in the wonderful feeling of it. The man’s head pressed further into his hand, eyes closed and humming happily.

540 beeps

The man’s eyes open, and he points to himself. 

“Emmet” he then points to Ingo “Ingo.” 

Ingo nods, opening his mouth and forming the syllables of the word- no, name. 

“Emmet. Emmet. Emmet.” He mumbles to himself. He will not forget this, not like everything else. He liked the feel of it on his tongue, edging on familiar. 

The man- Emmet, smiled. Ingo liked that smile. He decided to endeavor to keep it there.

Emmet spoke more, but Ingo still could not understand. He was very saddened by this. Emmet had a lot to say, it must have been important. He spent a long time talking, most of the time he sounded happy, but sometimes the tone would dip into apprehension or sorrow. Each time it did, Ingo did his best to comfort Emmet. 

Cooing made Emmet very confused at first but now made him giggle a bit. Sometimes Ingo would hum. He did not remember tunes, but he had lots of practice making his own. Emmet seems to enjoy these as well. 

At some point, there was a hard sound coming from the door. Ingo involuntarily flinched at the noise, so much louder and harsher than the soft whispering of Emmet. The man himself quickly looked over his shoulder, and lightly pat Ingo on the hand. 

It had taken some time for Ingo to communicate to Emmet that he did not mind his touch. Still, he did not enjoy too much, it got overwhelming too quickly, but small brushes were okay. Emmet stood and padded over to the door, footsteps soft. He opened the door a crack, letting in as little light as possible, and spoke to the person behind it.

Emmet's shoulder slumped, he looked back over at Ingo, then turned to the other. They spoke a bit more. After 963 beeps, Emmet finally walked back to Ingo. 

He gently brushed against Ingo's hand, speaking softly and sadly. Ingo reached up and brushed against Emmet's cheek. He leaned into it and looked Ingo in the eye. 

“… back.” Ingo did not understand the whole sentence, but he understood the last part.

Emmet had to leave. 

Emmet would be back. 

Ingo hummed sadly but moved his hand from the other’s face. He did not like it, but as long as Emmet returned… he could live with it.

Ingo watched as the only person he found comfort in slowly exited the room. 

He whistled sadly in the darkness.

43,365 beeps.

That was… a long time? It was hard to tell. But it was after 43,365 beeps that the door made a noise. No no. That was… something behind the door making the noise. Knocking. Someone was knocking on the door. It stopped and then continued in a pattern. 

Ingo blinked. He liked that pattern. He tapped it with his fingers. Then hummed it. The pattern came again. Ingo hummed it a bit louder. After a moment the pattern changed. Ingo hummed the new pattern.

This continued for a Time. Ingo was having too much fun to count beeps. He felt the tips of his mouth pull up. Fascinated, Ingo bright a finger up against them, forgetting to hum back.

His mouth was making a different shape. It had never done that before. 

The door opened, Ingo looked over, quickly blinking away the light, to see Emmet looking in worriedly. Ingo blinked back at him. Emmet looked shocked for a moment, and then seemed to melt, slumping against the door. There was relief in his smile, and tears in his eyes. Ingo tilted his head. What had caused such emotions in Emmet?

Slowly, Emmet approached, softly closing the door behind him. And whispering comfortingly. Ingo liked the sound of his voice. He did not think he would like to go back to complete silence again.

Emmet sat down on the same chair he did last time, reaching out to Ingo, palm up. Ingo blinked before reaching out and brushing the others with his own. Little sparks danced between where they touched. Ingo liked the feeling. 

Again, Emmet spoke to him softly, and Ingo listened.

Time passed.

Emmet was Verrrry happy to see his brother again. Even if he was…. Different. A bad different. Silent. Emmet’s brother was never silent. He liked it when Ingo hummed. It was quieter than his brother should ever be, but it was better than nothing. still, Emmet could see his brother in little things. reactions, stims, and his cat smiles. he was still there, only changed.

It had only been a year. For Emmet at least. From what he could gather from Interpol, it had been around 200 years for Ingo. His amazing older brother had spent 200 years stuck in a prison. 

They know from historical records that Ingo had once been a Warden to Lady Sneasler. When the “Red Sky” event happened, the Galaxy team imprisoned him. At some point, there had been an earthquake, and it caused the building Ingo was trapped under to fall. 

No one had searched for his brother. No one had thought to check the wreckage. No one seems to care. 

Emmet's heart hurt. It is because of them that his brother is like this. 

Quiet. Scared. Lost in his own world. 

He… did not even recognize Emmet. It hurt, but he could not blame him. 200 years is a verrrry long time.

He had been visiting Ingo for the past couple of months, teaching him galarian and trying to remind him of the outside world. 

It had. Varying success. Ingo knew how to speak simple sentences, but if he spoke too much or too loud, he would panic. Unfortunately, Ingo always gets loud when he was excited. Ingo was. Very easy to excite. 

This led to… problems.

But today was a special day! Ingo would be let out of the hospital today! 

Not for long, or that far, but still! They had been slowly reintroducing stimulus to his brother, turning the lights brighter and brighter, and Emmet was instructed to be a bit louder. Eventually, they added some noise machines, which Ingo did not like at all. 

Emmet secretly turned them off when he visited. But he had to turn them back on when he left. Ingo seemed to understand, but he did not like it.

Now, Ingo was used to noise, sometimes not even flinching from an unexpected one! Emmet was verrrrry proud.

Emmet knocked on the door, not expecting the soft “come in!”. Emmet took a second to flap his hands before entering.

“Good morning brother!” Emmet spoke excitedly, but softly, “you are leaving your room today!”

Ingo paused, staring at him from his position in the middle of the room. He must be pacing again. 

It had taken a long time for Ingo to realize that he could remove the blanket on top of him. Emmet had thought that he was just too tired to move, not that he didn’t think he could. Thankfully, it did not seem that his muscles could atrophy, so the moment he could, Ingo got up.

He did not stay up for long, flinching horribly and panicking at the chill of the floor, but Emmet was there to sit him back down and calm him. 

No one quite understood how his brother survived this long, or why he was perfectly fine physically. Emmet did not particularly care for a reason, just as long as his older brother was okay.

Emmet reached out, offering his hand. Slowly, Ingo approached, grabbing it in his hand and rubbing his thumb across the back of it. Emmet lightly tugged on his arm “let us depart!” and with that, Ingo left the room for the first time in four months. 

Ingo was fascinated by the outside world. It was. A lot. But it was so pretty! There were. So many people. At one point there were six people in the hallway they were traveling through, and that was not including Ingo and Emmet!

While the white halls were not much to look at, the tiles on the floor made a pattern of white and blue. Ingo liked the diamond shapes of them. Eventually, they entered a very small room with buttons next to the door. Emmet pushed one and the doors closed on their own! 

Ingo did not like the lurching feeling he got, like he was falling, and held on tighter to his brother's hand.

How amazing was it, to have a brother? They apparently had the same face, not that Ingo remembered what he looked like, and they used to do everything together! Ingo liked that idea. Someone always by his side, never abandoning him. Ingo loved his brother a whole lot, he always made sure Ingo was as comfortable as he could be. And Emmet must be the best brother in the world. No matter what Ingo did, or how much he panicked, Emmet was there. 

It was the greatest feeling in the world, to be cared about.

Emmet wrapped an arm around him, leaning into his side with a comforting weight. Ingo immediately pressed his face into his brother's hat, relishing the soft texture of it.

The moving room chimed, and the doors opened. Emmet lightly tugged Ingo through, not forcing him, but a gentle suggestion. Ingo took a second before moving with him, weaving their fingers together.

They walked out into another hallway, almost identical to the last one, and took a sharp left.

They walked down a few more hallways, a right, a left. Straight then another right. Ingo pictures the way in his head. It was. Difficult to keep track of, but he did his best. Eventually, they came to a window. It was bright outside, and there were so many different things- the rumbling things were traveling in neat rows, and people (so many people!) chatted and walked and ran. There was. Grass, a brighter green than Ingo had ever seen. And buildings! They were so tall Ingo could barely see the tops of them! The huge expanse of the blue sky shined above everything.

Emmet watched him, fondness in his eyes with only a little bit of sadness.

Ingo turned his wide-eyed stare to his brother, “this is… outside? We are going out there?” He whispered.

Emmet squeezed his hand, “only if you want to. We are going to a quieter place. Less people there. I think you will like it.” Emmet smiled wide, “it is your choice.”

Ingo hummed, turning back to the outside world. It seems like so much. Too much. But Emmet said that they would go somewhere quieter. He could… do that. Ingo wanted to do that. With a hard nod, they set off further down the hall.

It took a few more turns before they reached a glass door leading out into a courtyard. There was a tree in the middle, offering shade to a few starly and growlithe. Emmet stepped out into the light, and Ingo made to follow. 

He flinched back at the sudden heat he felt when the light touched him. It was almost like the burning touch of others but… not as bad.  Emmet patiently stood outside as Ingo worked up the courage to step out into the light again. 

He reached out with his hand first, feeling the sunlight shine on it with a comforting warmth. Ingo had not felt a warmth like this before. 

Slowly, Ingo moved out of the shade, letting the sunlight shine on the rest of him. It was so warm. Ingo shook at the feeling, reaching out to his brother. Immediately, Emmet grasped his hand and held onto it lightly.

He guided him over to a bench, one that was in the sun, and sat down. Ingo did not join him, too busy looking around at the colors everywhere. There were splotches of red and purple and white all over the ground… those were flowers! Ingo mumbled the word under his breath, reaching out to touch one. Its petals were silky soft under his fingertips. Ingo hummed happily as he tapped a rhythm against his side. 

Emmet laughed next to him. Also bending down to look at the flower. “You always did like buttercups.”

Buttercups. Yes, Ingo liked buttercups. They were small and bright yellow. They looked so happy. Ingo’s lips twitched up the slightest amount in what, to him, was a beaming smile. 

After a while of looking at flowers and feeling their petals, Ingo settled on the grass, next to his brother sitting on the bench. He leaned against his brother's leg, resting his head on the other's knee as he stared up at the clouds. Ingo wondered what they felt like. Would it be a silky texture like the flowers? Or perhaps the plush pillow he slept on? 

Ingo was distracted by a soft yip. He almost flinched but managed to only grasp his brother's pant leg instead. There was a growlithe in front of them. It sat on its haunches, tail wagging and tongue sticking out. Ingo stared at it for a time, and slowly reached out. The pokemon stood and tried to push its head into his hand, but Ingo flinched back at the movement. 

Growlithe sat down again, tail wagging slower. Ingo curled his hand to his chest, staring at it. He felt Emmet place a comforting hand on his shoulder. 

“Growlithe will not hurt you. It was excited. It is verrrry soft. Try to pet it again.”

Ingo glanced up at his brother, seeing a comforting smile, and then back at the pokemon. It did look soft. He could… try again. 

Slowly, Ingo reached out once more, the growlithe was still, even its tail stopped moving. Ingo lightly brushed his fingers on the fur of its head. It was so soft that he could not help but run his whole hand over it. The pokemon leaned into the touch, tail starting up again.

Ingo began to scratch it behind the ears, so distracted by the fluff he did not notice when the growlithe made it into his lap. 

Was this what clouds felt like?

Ingo settled further into his brother's leg, petting the soft Pokémon in his lap, and soaking in the warm sunlight.

They stayed there for a long time.

As the days went on, Ingo went outside more and more. He loved being out there, where it was warm and bright. There were so many things to look at and question. He did not voice these questions out loud, but sometimes if he looked at something long enough, his brother would talk about it.

He loved it when Emmet did that. 

At some point, Ingo was feeling good enough to go outside the front doors for a small while. It very quickly got too much, but he was happy to make such progress. 

Some days it was hard to go outside. Sometimes even his brother's voice was too much, and Emmet had to go back to whispering. The lights had to be dimmed and Ingo wanted nothing more than to sleep. 

But there were more good days than bad now.

Eventually, Ingo was able to handle the sounds of the cars and hundreds of people moving around. Sometimes Ingo liked to look at them and figure out where they are going, or what they are like. 

Emmet seemed to enjoy it when Ingo whispered his made-up stories in his ear. Ingo tried to do it when he could, but talking was still hard. 

At one point, on one of Ingo's better days, Emmet came up to him with a proposition. 

“Skyla has arranged a plane ride to get us back home. To Unova. Do you remember when I talked about our home?” 

Ah yes. He remembered his brother speaking fondly of the bustling city of Nimbasa. It sounded like too much but… he wanted to see where he lived. He nodded.

Emmet smiled wider, flapping his hands a bit in excitement. “Do not worry! We will leave in three days. And then we will head to our home town. It is quiet there.” Ingo couldn’t help but relax a bit. He wanted to go to their home city but… he could barely handle outside this one, which was notably smaller. “Uncle and our sisters will be verrrry happy to see you!”

Ingo was excited to see them as well. Emmet had told many stories about Elesa, Iris, and their uncle. Mostly funny ones, how they met, and of their pokemon. Ingo was so very excited to see his Pokémon again. He could not picture what they looked like, but from what Emmet told him, they were very precious indeed.

The next few days were spent enjoying the outdoors, mostly in the courtyards, and playing with Pokémon. 

On the third day, Ingo went with Emmet into one of the rumbling things, a car apparently, and set off to where the “cargo plane” was. All Ingo knew about it was that it was loud and would fly them back to their home. Ingo wondered if he could touch the clouds if they were going to travel in the sky. 

He wanted to ask Emmet about it, but he was too apprehensive of the flight to get the words out.

Ingo had nestled his face into Emmet's neck when the rumbling of the car started. He was used to the sound now, but the invisible movements made him feel sick. At least they did not have the siren on. Emmet had wrapped his arms around Ingo comfortingly, and quietly asked for a pill from another doctor in the car with them. 

Emmet gently nudged Ingo, “take this, it will make you feel better.” Ingo looked down at his brother's hand. A little white pill was in his palm, a plastic cup of water in his other hand. Carefully, Ingo took the pill and drank down the water, tucking his head back into his sibling's shoulder. 

After a while, he did feel better, if a bit drowsy. He had almost nodded off when Emmet nudged him to stand up. He huffed, but acquested, slowly getting to his feet and walking with his brother out of the car. 

There was a large metal thing with wings in the middle of a concrete clearing. A few people were chatting with a short woman near the head of what must be the “cargo plane”. Once the woman noticed them, she waved, smiling brightly. Ingo politely waved back, and Emmet smiled next to him.

With a few final words to the other people she was conversing with, she jogged over to meet them. 

“Hiya boys! Ready to get going?” she smiled widely at them, hands on her hips. “And Ingo! Wonderful to see you again! Even if you don't recognize me. I'm Skyla!”

Ingo nodded politely, still holding onto his brother's hand. He very softly mutters “Skyla” under his breath. It tasted weird on his tongue. Floaty, almost. He liked it. 

“I am Emmet, and I am ready for departure! All aboard!”

Skyla laughed and copied his shout with gusto. Ingo whispers it softly, but from his brother’s smile, Ingo knew Emmet heard it.

They piled into the plane, the brothers settling in the plush seats in the back as Skyla slid into the pilot's seat. Emmet buckled them both in, Ingo watching carefully at his motions, and then settled back onto the seat. 

Ingo took a close look at the plane. He now knew why it was called a “cargo plane”; there were far more spots where one could fasten crates and luggage than seats for people.

Emmet offered his hand again, which Ingo gladly took, and they shifted to a more comfortable position. 

Skyla looked over her chair “y’all ready for takeoff? Warning it’s about to get loud!” 

Emmet looked at Ingo “safety checks complete?” Ingo took a minute to take stock of his mental state. He was. Nervous, but not overly so. He felt drowsy, so he could probably fall asleep at some point during the ride. 

He nodded at his brother “Ok! All clear Skyla!”

With a “Roger!” They were off. 

The rumbling got worse, and Ingo tightened his hold on his brother's hand once more. Emmet gripped back harder. The plane began to move forward, steadily gaining speed. Ingo felt the moment they left the ground, a sudden weightlessness like going up an elevator. 

He did not like it. It felt like he was being pushed into the chair. He pressed further into his brother's side, wincing as the pressure around him increased.

He noticed Emmet cringing as well, pressing his head into Ingo's hair as Ingo did the same into his neck. 

It seemed neither of them enjoyed this. 

After a Time… no… it was a few minutes. Just a few minutes. Both began to relax as they got used to the new pressure. Emmet began to whisper stories into his brother's hair as Ingo slowly nodded off. 

While it was mildly uncomfortable, the whirring of propellers and a strange pressure, Ingo felt safe in his brother's presence.

As long as Emmet was by his side, Ingo would be fine. And even when he wasn't fine, Emmet would help him get there.

Ingo did not think things would get back to the “normal” that his brother knew, but he would try his best. He wanted to get better, to be able to go out in crowds and conduct these amazing “trains” his sibling talked so much about. He wanted to go out to eat with his sisters and uncle, to walk through the city without panicking.

He wanted, more than anything, to be able to stand by his brother's side. As equals.

That was something worth getting better for.

Chapter Text

It was a long flight from Sinnoh to Unova. Ingo had managed to sleep through most of it, but the second half had him uncomfortably stuck in that space for being too tired to stay awake, and too stressed for sleep. Emmet did his best, but with the motion sickness pill wearing off, Ingo was too uncomfortable to find the usual whispers and cuddles comforting.

The landing was rough. The sudden increase in pressure caused horrible pain in Ingo's ears like they were being crushed in a compressor. Emmet did not seem to be faring much better. All they could do was hold on to each other's hands and the plane skidded onto the ground and slowed to a stop on the runway.

Ingo decided that air travel was the worst thing in the world.

They finally exited the plane, Ingo was very grateful to stand on solid ground. He immediately began looking around. There were a lot of trees next to a large building, and on the other side of the runway were many glass buildings. Ingo wondered what would be stored in such structures.

Emmet hummed behind him, getting his attention. “I am Emmet, I am finished. We can go home now.” his brother reached into his pocket, showing Ingo a white slip. “These are train tickets. We will be going over to anvil town by train. There is a line in this city that will take us there. No transfers. There will not be many people this late at night.”

Ingo nodded, grateful that the day was almost over. While he had slept most of the way here, he was still mind-numbingly exhausted. He could not imagine how Emmet was feeling, he knew his sibling did not sleep as much as he did.

With a final goodbye and thank you to Skyla, the twins headed to the underground station. Ingo stuck close to his brother's side. Neither were wearing their coats, just some extra clothing Emmet had brought with him to Sinnoh, but he still did not wish to be recognized. Not yet.

The trip on the train was peaceful at first. Very few passengers rode this late at night, and those who were didn't bother to head to the caboose of the train. Ingo was happily looking out the window, late night scenes flashed past at amazing speeds, and unlike the cars, Ingo found the soft rumble of the train comforting. The sway of it reminded him of something long forgotten, but nothing besides the feeling of comfort came from the depths of his mind. With Emmet almost dozing off at his side, it was turning out to be a wonderful train ride.

Until a haunting howling chime sounded. Immediately, Ingo sat up, not knowing what in the world could make such a sound. Was there a malfunction in the train? A Pokémon of some sort? Whatever it was chilled him. He did his best to calm down, taking deep breaths like Emmet had shown him. Slowly, he felt his heart slow down and grew a bit drowsy at the sudden loss of adrenaline.

That was when a ghost phased straight through the wall and rushed towards him.

Ingo immediately shot to his feet, waking his brother, and pressed himself against the wall. He did not know what this thing was, or why it was approaching him and screeching like that-

“Chandelure! Please steady your engine!” Emmet shouted beside him, a calming hand was placed on Ingo's shoulder. He did not calm down much. “Please do your safety checks! Remember what uncle told you? He does not remember. You are scaring him.”

Ingo was too focused on the ghost to admonish Emmet on his blunt words. The pokemon (chandelure?) froze three feet from them and stared at Ingo. A few seconds passed as it seemed to stare straight into his soul. It was a ghost, perhaps it was. It dropped in the air, softly crying out with a decrescendo howl. Its eyes welled up with fluorescent tears(?) as it pulled back, tucking its limbs closer to itself. It was the picture of a kicked puppy.

Ingo elbowed Emmet in the side, hard enough to hurt for a bit, but not enough to bruise, and carefully held out a hand to the crying pokemon.  Nothing should look as sad as what this chandelure looked like, and Ingo wanted to rectify this immediately. He took a few calming breaths and took a step forward. The pokemon did not move, gazing at him with a mix of fondness and heart-wrenching sorrow.

Once Ingo got close enough to touch, he carefully attempted to brush his fingers on the glass. The ghost moved a bit towards him, causing the hands to flinch back again. His heart rate sped up, but he did his best to not spiral. Chandelure was just excited, that’s all.

He could do this.

He reached out again, regulating his breathing in the way Emmet had taught him. He would not run away. Not if this was who he thought it was. Chandelure. Emmet frequently talked about his precious partner. How close of a bond they had. If this really was the Chandelure…

Ingo would not abandon someone so important to him.

Fingertips lightly brushed against warm glass. The flames on the Pokemon's body died to a soft flicker at his touch as Chandelure howled once more. This one sounded notably happier than the desperate call of the last howl. It still had an undertone of sorrow, which Ingo would not stand for. If this was his precious partner, which there was little doubt for now, then he would strive to get to know her better. He did not want to keep making the people he loved sad.

He gently placed more of his hand onto her body, letting the wonderful warmth soak into his skin. Slowly, he wrapped more and more of his arms around Chandelure’s frame. She pressed into his chest, chiming in delight as her metal arms moved around his waist.

This… this was nice.

Ingo relaxed into the embrace, humming as the gentle warmth radiating from her body suffused into his. There was little more calming than this. Emmet moved forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. Ingo looked up at his brother to see his smiling face, guiding them to sit back down on the plastic seats.

The three of them settled there, Ingo and Emmet leaning in on each other as Chandelure provided a source of heat.

They slept through the rest of the train ride.

Ingo and Emmet walked through the silent streets of the small town, heading towards a large building with an empty driveway. He scanned the house, puking up as many details as he could, as Emmet worked the lock. Even if they were only staying here temporarily, he wanted to be sure he could remember it.

With an “ah ha!” The door opened to reveal a large sitting room. A couch sat on the right wall, adjacent to a TV, and many more plush chairs surrounded a short table in the middle of the room. There was still lots of space, most likely to make sure the large Pokémon they owned had room to move.

Emmet quickly walked in, hanging his hat on the stand next to the door, and moved further into the house. “Make yourself comfortable! I will retrieve the others!”

Ingo hummed in answer, hesitantly taking off his ratty hat and placing it next to his brothers. He moved farther into the house, Chandelure silently floating beside him as he investigated every part of the room. He etched each detail into his memory. It was not very lived in, but there were multiple train models scattered about the room, as well as pictures. Mostly of him and Emmet but there were quite a few with their uncle and sisters, And even less with other people Ingo did not recognize.

During one of his analyses of a picture with him and someone covered in paint, he was interrupted by the sound of his brother's footsteps entering the room. He looked over to see his sibling's arms full of pokeballs. Right, those contain the rest of their teams.

“I have already spoken to them about you, so they should know not to make any sudden moves. I will introduce them one at a time. Are you prepared?”

Ingo hummed. He wanted to meet the pokemon he used to work with every day. Emmet spoke so highly of them… Ingo wanted to get to know them once more.

“Alright, here is the first one.” Emmet placed all of the pokeballs onto the table and plucked out one. “Excadrill, remember what I told you. Gentle.”

A Pokémon with sharp blades appeared out of the light of the Pokeball, the moment it spotted Ingo it froze. Its eyes grew wide and teary, but its mouth was pulled up into a wide grin. It raised its claws and practically vibrated in place. It was very clear there was not much keeping Excadrill from running to Ingo.

Carefully, with the comforting presence of chandelure and Emmet by his side, he reached out to greet his friend.

It was soft to the touch.

The introductions went better than both brothers were expecting, Ingo only having to take a small break to catch his breath after meeting so many Pokémon. While they only got through half of all the pokeballs, Ingo was quite happy with his place cuddled beneath Chandelure, Excadrill, Haxorus, Garbodor, Klinklang, and Crustle.

Ingo sank into the purring pile while Emmet made dinner (and took secret pictures of Ingo to send to his sister). Emmet was not allowed to give his twin much of any processed food yet, which meant he had to get very fresh ingredients to cook with. There would be no take-out for a while longer.

Ingo and his partners stayed cuddled up even when delicious smells were pervading from the kitchen. It was only Emmet's call of “foods ready!” That got Ingo shifting around to get out. Slowly, one by one, his Pokémon began to rouse themselves. They still stuck close to his side as they traversed into the kitchen, Excadrill demanding to be held.

He felt a bone-deep love for his precious friends. He is very sad that he forgot them.

Once they were seated, Ingo attempted to communicate this to them, but the words simply would not come. He sighed and turned his attention to his brother, who was trying to balance multiple dishes on top of each other so he wouldn’t have to make multiple trips.

It was quite impressive.

Ingo got up to help his overburdened brother, grabbing what dishes he could while attempting to not knock Emmet off balance. It was a simple dinner of rice, vegetables, and… strange flat thin bread. Ingo did not recognize it, but it looked tasty.

They set up the table, and Emmet began coaching Ingo on how to make a “soft taco”. It took a few tries to fold it right, but the taste was more than enough reward. Ingo hummed happily at the different tastes of the sweet corn and bland rice, sweetened onions and cut chicken tastes heavenly on his tongue.

This was quite possibly the best thing he has Ever Eaten.

Ingo devoured his portion very quickly and spent the rest of the meal petting his Pokémon or looking at Emmet. There were a few times during the silent meal that Ingo tried to speak, but the words got too big and got lodged in his throat. After the sixth attempt, he sighed and looked down at his empty plate.

“We should teach you sign language,” Emmet spoke up. Ingo startled and looked at his brother's sad smile. “You always have a lot to say. You should be able to say them even if they cannot get out of your mouth.” Emmet pushed some of the vegetables on his plate around “we both learned when we were young. I did not speak much. You have forgotten it now, but I can teach you!” Emmet looked back at him with a real smile.

Ingo couldn’t help but almost smile back.

It was on the fourth day, after Ingo had met all their Pokémon and gotten used to them, that Emmet asked if he wanted to see Elesa.

His brother had spoken at length about the pranks and silly games the three of them would play. Ingo was sad he could not remember, but it was wonderful hearing the stories brought to life by his twin. Ingo would love to meet their sister face to face, he wanted to have that same kind of connection that his brother had with her again.

They arranged a meeting for the next day, Elesa coming to their house (which Ingo found out Emmet had bought purely because he knew Ingo wouldn’t be able to live in the city yet) so Ingo could feel the most comfortable. He couldn’t help the burst of love he had for his brother and sister once he heard that.

How did he deserve such wonderful siblings?

The rest of that day and the beginning of the next held a sort of anxious excitement that made it very hard to sit still. Ingo had spent a lot of time learning about his partners again, where they liked to be scratched the most, and their personalities. Ingo loved finding out something new about them. It was also nice to mumble sayings to them, things that seemed to make no sense, but Ingo could feel their importance.

He especially liked telling them “we are like a two-car train”. He desperately wanted to tell his own brother this, but the words kept getting stuck. His signing lesions haven’t reached the point where he could say such things. Fingerspelling just wasn't the same.

So he would wait. Just until he could tell his brother with his own words.

At midday, the doorbell rang. Emmet walked to the door and pulled it open, revealing a figure Ingo had only seen in photos. Elesa. She was tall, taller than Emmet, and had a large puffy yellow coat. It looked soft. She had a gentle smile on her face as she greeted Emmet, which got bigger once she spotted Ingo on the couch.

“Ingo! It’s wonderful to see you again!” She walked into the house, and carefully made her way towards the chair opposite Ingo.

He appreciated her caution.

“So… you enjoying your freedom away from the hospital? It’s way better here than in Sinnoh.”

Ingo hummed, eyes moving to show an invisible smile. It was much nicer to have a whole house instead of a room… and he could safely go outside without worrying about other people being there, not to mention his own pokemon.

“Ah. You… learn anything interesting about trains?”

Ingo lit up.

The conversation was rather stilted, Ingo finding it difficult to sign out thoughts fast enough, and Emmet having trouble translating the disjointed signs. Sometimes Ingo would simply opt to text his sister his words, unable to voice them aloud and Emmet not quite getting what he was trying to say.

He felt bad about that. Once they had been a two-car train, complementing each other perfectly. Now… Now a lot had changed. Ingo appreciated Emmet's hard work, however.

During a particularly interesting conversation about how exactly the third rail worked Elesa offered to let out her Zebstrika to test the conductivity of a metal fork. Ingo was okay with it, and the large Pokémon was calm when let out, happily nodding its head in Ingo's direction. He even was able to pat it on the nose!

It was when the electric type carved up some power to feed it through the fork that things went wrong.

Not with Zebstrika, surprisingly, but with the two Emolga Elesa had on her.

The small gliding Pokémon must have gotten excited and wanted to see Ingo again, for when the quadruped pokemon shocked the fork, the two leaped out of their pokeballs and rammed full speed into Ingo Ingo's chest.

Not expecting the two Ingo, naturally, panicked.

Immediately Elesa recalled the two Pokémon, who had not even realized they had caused Ingo so much stress and were still nuzzling him. Emmet immediately rushed over and grabbed Ingo's hand, reciting the breathing exercises they used to calm down.

Elesa watched as Emmet held her brother close, trying to ground him with touch. She took a few steps forward and gently kneeled on his other side, sitting on her heels, and began humming.

Emmet gave her a grateful look as she sang the song often played by the flutist in town, “lullaby for trains”. It had been the twin’s favorite song for as long as she could remember.

Slowly, Ingo began to calm down.

Once his breathing was a bit more calm, Ingo turned to his sister, who still sat on the floor. He released a hand from where it was gripping Emmet's coat and reached out to her, palm up.

She smiled, and gently took it, allowing him to pull her up and onto the couch next to him.

“May I?” She asked, holding her arms open in an invitation for a hug.

Ingo pulled her in, Emmet reaching around his brother to wrap around her as well.

Ah… she could get used to this again…

To get Ingo more used to crowds, the twins have taken to going out for walks every other day. Today was a pleasant walk, they had walked to the railyard and Emmet had begun telling Ingo all about the trains stationed there. He could tell his brother wanted to go back to work, to ride and work with all the trains he had barely even looked at for half a year, yet still, he waited for Ingo. Although he felt guilty about it, Ingo couldn’t help the warmth and love he felt for his amazing little brother. He couldn’t ask for a better sibling.

Once the sun had fallen a bit past its zenith, quite a long time considering it was just beginning to crest the tops of the forest trees nearby when they left, they agreed to turn back home for lunch. Halfway home, Ingo spotted a young girl, probably no older than fifteen, pacing back and forth in an alley, wringing her hands.

He did not doubt the safety of the small town, but he did wonder why this young girl was so panicked. He gently tugged at his brother's sleeve, wordlessly asking him to stop. He didn’t like the thought of leaving such a clearly distressed girl all alone.

His brother turned to look at him, brow raised, but quickly spotted what had caught Ingo's attention. They shared a look, no need for words, not anymore, and calmly approached the young lady. Understandably, the girl looked even more nervous at being approached by two, admittedly somewhat intimidating, adults, and shrunk back away from them. Emmet immediately smiled kindly and stopped moving, Ingo right beside him but trying his best to make his usual frown less frightening.

This seems to make it worse.

“Hello! I am Emmet. This is Ingo. You are nervous, are you lost?”

The girl kept glancing at them and then back at the floor, shoulders pulled tight and shuffling as she continued to wring her hands. She took a few breaths and spoke, “n-no. I’m not. Lost. I- um, actually needed to- to talk to, um. Y-you two. If- if that’s okay?” She continued to look around the alleyway, anywhere but at them.

Emmet seemed confused but still smiled patiently. “I am Emmet, I do not see why not. May I know your name first?”

The girl startled, finally looking at Emmet, and stammered, “I-I’m sorry! My name is, uh. Akari?”

She did not sound very confident in that answer.

His brother seemed to agree but did not push. “Okay. Would you like to stay here, or at our house? We are about to have lunch! I can make more for you.”

The girl- Akari, looked indecisive, still wringing her hand, but the noise coming from her stomach answered for her. She looked down, ears tinted red, “I, um. Would like that, yeah.”

Emmet nodded and turned on his heel out of the alley. Ingo quickly followed, only glancing back to make sure the young lady was following them. She caught his eyes with her own and seemed to almost tear up. She quickly looked away.

Ingo looked at his twin, who was now turned around waiting for them and furrowed his brows. What should I do?

Emmet raised his own brow How should I know?

Ingo gave him a deadpan stare

Emmet turned around. Coward.

They made their way to the house in good time, and soon ingredients for ham and cheese sandwiches were set out. Ingo had trouble using some of the appliances in the house still, but sandwiches did not need to be put in the oven, so he helped where he could. Soon, five were set out on the table, and three plates were put in front of the chairs.

Young Akari had been sitting in her seat since Emmet had offered it to her, and she hadn’t looked up from the table since she sat down. It was. Concerning, to say the least. Why was the young girl so nervous around them? Sure Ingo knew they were intimidating at first, but it was hard not to warm up to his brother.

What could be troubling her so?

After all of them had grabbed a sandwich and placed it on their plate, the girl finally spoke up.

“I’m sorry.”

Emmet paused, sandwich halfway to his mouth, and gave Akari a confused look. “What for?”

She shuffled in her seat, not touching her sandwich, “I just- um. It’s hard to… explain. I um. K- Know what happened to your brother.”

Ingo looked up from his food and looked over at the young girl. He did not recognize her except for a faint sense of familiarity. He knew not to trust it, it could just be from how she was acting, but perhaps he really had met this girl before. He was sad that he did not remember.

“How do you have that information?” Emmet, even if his words made it seem like it, was not angry at her. It was somewhat difficult to tell, however, unless you were Ingo.

But the girl was not Ingo, “I just- um. I k-know it’s hard to believe, but I was um. You- you know about the person that completed the Pokédex? In ah. Ancient Sinnoh? That was- that was me. I’m. That Akari.” Her shoulders were so tense she could be confused with a statue, if statues shook like she was.

Emmet held up his hands in a calming gesture, “I am Emmet, I did not mean it like that. But you… time traveled? Like Ingo?”

The girl silently nodded.

Ingo knew that he had apparently been set through time, that he had been a “warden” for a Pokémon called Sneasler, but he could not remember any of it. Nothing but a vague sense of familiarity. He had come to terms with the fact that he might never remember what happened to him, but it still hurt to be reminded of the times he lost. Had they been close? That girl and him?

“I was sent back to help people and pokemon unite. A-Arceus said that they would send me back when I finished. But- but then I met Ingo. And, and I knew that he… wasn’t supposed to be there. And then.. he go-got arrested and- and then the Hall collapsed and-“ the girl stopped, taking a few breaths. “W-when I finished my task, and Arceus was about to send me home I. I asked if. If they could get Ingo home too, e-even though… But- but they said that- that I-Ingo couldn’t come b-because that w-would mess-mess up the time stream a-and-“

Emmet quickly moved in front of the girl, placing his hands on her shoulders, “It's okay, calm down. I’m not mad, I promise.” The poor girl was shaking like a leaf, and Ingo hesitantly reached out from where he had moved when the girl started crying. He gently placed his hands over his brothers.

Slowly, Akari calmed down.

Emmet bugged the teary girl up from her seat, and gently guided her to the couch, Ingo following close behind. They settled on plush cushions, Akari nestled in between the two brothers.

Haltingly, the girl continued, “when Arceus said they-they couldn’t send him home, I. I asked if there was anything they could do. They s-said that they could. Make Ingo live. Just until he was at his proper place. Back- back in Unova.” She took an unsteady breath. “I- I asked what they meant. I- if Ingo would be okay. And- and Arceus said that- that. Ingo wouldn’t age. Would heal from any injury. But. But he couldn’t go outside. That- that he- he-“

Ingo gently placed his hand on her shoulder, trying to ground her. It worked with him, but it seems that all it did was make her cry harder. He looked at Emmet and blinked at him. This… he was not familiar with this expression. Emmet was staring wide-eyed at Akari, his usual smile tipped down into a frown. If anything, Ingo would call this expression… horror.

The girl fought through her tears, “he was stuck there. For-for 200 years. And- and I knew it. I- I could have stopped them, but I- I didn’t. I- just. I- I’m sorry!” She was fully curled up in a ball now. “I couldn’t let him die! Even- even though I knew he would suffer more! I just! Couldn’t say goodbye to him! I. I didn’t get the chance to w-when Kamado got him- and- and I. I. Just couldn’t! I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry-“

Ingo helplessly attempted to soothe her, rubbing her back and trying to hum a tune, but the overwhelming emotions in the room made it difficult to get the sound out. He looked again at his brother. Still with the horrible expression. It shifted minutely, horror, sorrow, anger, horror, confusion, and then anger again. Finally, it settled into something unreadable. Emmet slid down from the couch and kneeled in front of the sobbing girl.

He placed his hands on Akari’s head, and brought his own face closer. “You knew Ingo was not supposed to be there, correct?” Akari nodded “and you asked Arceus to bring him home, yes?” Another nod “but they could not do that. So you took a compromise.” Akari looked up at Emmet's face, it was still unreadable “you knew he would be trapped there, but you agreed anyway?”

The young girl's shoulders rose. Tears continued to fall from her eyes, “I- I’m sorry I didn’t mean-“

Emmet brought their foreheads together “I am not done. You care about him, yes? You wanted to see him again, and you asked Arceus for help.” A nod “I also love my brother. I am. Angry, that he was not given a choice. I’m verrry angry this had to happen. I’m angry that you had to do that. I am angry that he was sent back in the first place.” Emmet took a breath. “But. I am very, verrrry happy that he is back. I missed him verrry much, but you brought him back. He is not the same,” Ingo couldn’t help the small flinch at the reminder, “but he is still Ingo.”

Emmet moved away, holding out his arms in an offer for a hug. “You brought my brother back. For that, I am grateful.”

Akari’s face scrunched up, lips trembling and tears continued to fall down her face like a waterfall. She leaned forward and collapsed into Emmet's arms, sobbing with such force it shook her whole body. Emmet wrapped his arms around her and held her tight.

Ingo… didn’t know what to do. It was clear that Akari knew him, cared for him a great amount but… he did not remember her. And now… he knew she was the one that got him stuck in prison for 200 years…

Ingo did not know what to feel.

Ingo stood up and walked around his brother and Akari, moving to the table and cleaning up. There were still two sandwiches untouched but… Ingo was not feeling very hungry right now.

He left the filled plates on the table and headed back into the kitchen. Opening the cupboard, Ingo grabbed two glasses and filled them with water. He moved back into the sitting room silently, placing the two cups next to the two on the floor. He moved back to the kitchen. There were dishes to be cleaned.

The monotonous movements of hand washing all the dirty plates and pots in the sink quickly became not enough of a distraction from Ingo’s thoughts. He did not want to think right now. That did not stop the feeling of… something. He did not know what it was, but it did not feel good. It was uncomfortable and tight. His thoughts raced faster than he could catch them, only making the feeling worse.

He could not fault a 15-year-old for caring about him. So he would not. This was not her fault, this was Arceus' fault. He did not remember her, but he thinks he would like to get to know her now.

He may not know how to feel about her, but he would not condemn her for her actions. How could he, when she was crying like that? When his brother had forgiven her?

He could ignore the something he was feeling. For them.

Ingo finished the dishes and left them on the drying rack. Quietly, he made his way back into the sitting room. The sobs that once filled it were all but gone now. Ingo settled adjacent to his brother, leaning into his side as Emmet pressed against his. He had tear tracks leading down from his eyes, but he was no longer crying. The bundle in his arms still hiccuped but was not outright sobbing like before. Ingo picked up the untouched glasses and pressed one into his brother's hand. Emmet drank from it gratefully.

Ingo gently smoothed his hand over the young girl's back, urging her to sit up. Her head raised to look at him, and he offered the glass. Tears pooled in her eyes as she took it and drank. When she lowered the glass once more, Ingo wiped away any stray tears. More fell in response.

She placed the glass down and lunged into Ingo's chest, wrapping arms around him. Ingo tensed, not prepared for the sudden contact, but mechanically moved his arms to pat her back.

“I’m sorry.” Akari breathed into his shirt. Ingo managed a hum.

After a few seconds, Ingo shot a desperate look at his brother too much

Emmet nodded.

He tapped Akari on the shoulder to get her attention, “I suggest leaving your current station, lest you make your passengers uncomfortable.”

Immediately Akari moved away from Ingo, who relaxed his tense form, and stuttered apologizes.

Ingo shook his head. Moving his hands downward, palm down.

“Ingo says to not worry.”

Akari looked at Emmet, and then back at Ingo. “Y-you can’t… speak?”

Ingo shook his head, touching his pointer and middle finger to his thumb. He then moved his right hand at chin level and brought his left hand up further to his forehead while furrowing his brow.

“Ingo says that he can speak, but that sometimes everything is too much to get the words out.”

Akari nodded “okay. As… as long as you're okay.”

Ingo paused, and then motioned again, moving his hand over his shoulder, palm down, and acting like he was swatting something. He put his fingers together with his thumbs sticking out, palms facing himself, and brought his left hand to the back of his right. He pointed at Akari, then at himself, and tilted his head.

Akari looked to Emmet.

“He was asking if you two were close. Back in ancient Sinnoh.”

“Oh! Ah. Y-yeah. We were. I was taken in by the Galaxy team, but I had to work really hard to earn my keep. And the other two clans took a while to warm up to me but… you didn’t. You always made sure I was eating enough, and helped me take care of my wounds. Um… we used to battle a lot too! You were, you were really good.”

Emmet smiled “that sounds like Ingo, Yep!”

Ingo huffed in amusement and turned back to Akari. He flattened his hand, palm facing towards the side of his head, and moved it in an arch forward. He then pressed the tips of his fingers to the side of his head and pointed to The girl. His eyes squinted as if he were smiling.

Akari blinked at him and waited for Emmet to translate.

“I am Emmet, Ingo says he would like to get to know you in the future. I would like to as well! If you are agreeable.”

Akari looked like she was going to cry again. “I. Y-yeah.” She breathed “I would like that a lot.”

So it was decided.

Akari had her own room with her mother across town, but Akari’s mother had told them that she could stay as long as she wanted, as long as she was home in time for dinner. The majority of that time was Akari sharing stories of her time in Huisi, which both brothers enjoyed.

Eventually, it was time for her to go. The walk back was calming, but it was clear to Ingo that his twin was having trouble continuing the conversation. They settled into a comfortable silence, taking in the sounds of the nocturnal Pokémon beginning to wake.

Akari was safely dropped off at her hotel room, and the twins made their way back home. Emmet reached out, arm hovering over Ingo's shoulders, only falling onto them and pulling him closer when he nodded at his brother.

“I’m verrrrry glad you're here.”

“… me to”

Ingo awoke from a strange noise. There were not many sounds this late at night. Only the soft chirping of ghosts and trilling of nocturnal Pokémon. He could drown those out. But this sound was worrying. Ingo knew this sound was bad.

It was the sound of someone muffling their tears.

The only other person in the house was Emmet. Emmet should not be crying. Not on Ingo's watch.

He immediately sat up from his bed and looked at the bed adjacent to his. No dice. carefully maneuvering around his Pokémon and stepping out the door, He rounded the corner to the sitting room. As he thought, there sat the curled-up form of his brother. Eelektross was doing its best to comfort him, but it was clear it was floundering when nothing seemed to work.

Ingo hesitantly approached, slowly stepping to stand in front of his brother, and reached out to him. He stopped right before he made contact, curling his arms back into his chest. How does one comfort someone? The only experience Ingo has of comfort is his own brother and Pokémon. Should he… do the same thing Emmet did for him?

Ingo, now steadier with a plan, sat down next to his sibling, and carefully leaned into Emmet's side. He slid his hands to card his fingers through his hair, and the other went around Emmet's arms, wrapped around his legs. He nestled his head into his brother's hat and pulled Emmet closer. Eelektross loosely curled around them, cooing softly. Emmet choked on his own breath and leaned his full weight into Ingo’s side. His face was turned into Ingo's neck in a horrible reversal of position, and his hands let go of his legs in favor of his brother's shirt.

Even close now, Ingo could clearly hear the choked-back sobs that wracked his brother's frame. He felt so stupid now. He was so focused on everything else that he did not see how much of a toll the situation was taking on Emmet. He swore to do better in the future.

He would not let further derailments occur.

But all he could do now was ease the pain his brother was in now. He was so proud of his sibling's tenacity. He had worked very hard for a long time. So much had happened and Emmet still did his best and supported Ingo unconditionally. There was a word that Ingo was thinking of. A very important word. It meant congratulations, but it was more than that. It was like how Emmet’s “Verrrry” was Emmet’s. He pressed closer into his twin's side.

Ah. That’s what it was.

“Bravo, Emmet.” Ingo whispered, “bravo. bravo. bravo.”

Emmet froze for half a second, and then the shaking got worse. A new wave of tears ran down his brother's face, but there was now a small smile where there wasn't before.

Happy tears.

Ingo kept whispering as he hugged his brother tight.

They would be alright.

A few days after meeting Akari again, it was time to finally let their uncle and niece back into their house. Ingo couldn’t help but feel guilty that they had not been allowed to see either twin for so long.

The plan was to have them over, and stay with them until Ingo felt he was ready to try the city. Ingo himself was still nervous about the number of people he knew who lived there, but he wanted to get better. He Would get better. They were taking it step by step, and it was slow, but Ingo appreciated it greatly.

He would get better. For them, and for himself.

Drayden and Iris were set to arrive by midday, leaving the morning to prepare the house for them. Not that they had to do much, Ingo and Emmet shared a room, leaving the two other rooms untouched, and both enjoyed having a clean space. The most they had to do was air out the other two and wash the mildly dusty sheets.

They had just finished setting the table for lunch, sandwiches again, when the door rang.

“Do you want to get it, or me?” Emmet asked.

Ingo thought for a moment before shaking his head and pointing to his chest. He walked up to the front door, took a breath, and opened it.

In front of him was a very tall man with a bushy beard that completely covered his mouth, next to him was a young girl, only a little older than Akari, with black bushy hair. She was shaking with excitement but thankfully did not tackle him in a hug.

“Ingo…” the man sounded both relieved and very sad “it is wonderful to see you again.”

Ingo did his best approximation of a smile and nodded at him. The girl squeaked.

“Ingo! You’re okay! Emmet said you were fine, but that you couldn’t talk that much, which is so weird by the way, not that I mind! But he also said, That you didn’t like touch, so just so you know, I really really want to tackle you right now.”

Ingo held both his hands in front of him, palms down and with one hand two in each over the other, he sharply moved them forwards, but stopped them quickly, then moved so one hand was on his chest, and the other on his stomach, making a circling motion.

Iris and Dryden blinked in confusion. “Oh dear,” Dryden sighed, “I'm afraid i've gotten too rusty to understand. I'm sorry ingo.”

Ingo shook his head and gestured them in. They all sat down after Emmet greeted them with a hug, and began eating.

Iris was the one that broke the silence, “what did you say back there?” Ingo looked up from his food, and tilted his head in question, “you learned to sign right? That’s what that was. I wanna learn too! It can be, like, a secret code!”

Emmet gave her a cheeky grin “it is not a secret. Anyone can learn.”

“Hush it!” She turns back to Ingo “but really, what did you say?”

Ingo turned to Emmet and made the same hand motions he did at the door.

“Ingo says… he appreciates your restraint?”

“Oh! Yeah. No problem! But once you let me you will be tackle hugged.”

Drayden laughed, “let’s let him get used to us first.”

Iris rolled her eyes “obviously”

Ingo already loved her.

“So, any plans to get back to work yet?” Drayden asked, “I know you’re anxious to be back on the rails.”

Emmet hummed “yep! I am waiting for Ingo to take his certification exam again, but he has already done a lot of studying.”

Ingo hummed, the studying had not felt like studying, not when trains were so interesting. He and Emmet could sign for ages about them, “train” was one of the first signs Ingo learned. He was about as anxious to get back on the rails as his brother.

Ingo moves his hand palm facing to his head, out in an arch again like he did at the door. Then he points up with his two pointer fingers, and moves them downward, curling them and uncurling them. He points to himself, then moves his hands so they are open, palm down at chest level, as he raises them he curls them into loose fists.

Drayden and Iris turn to Emmet, who sighs.

“Didn’t you want to learn sign language? I can teach you now,” Emmet squinted at Dryden, “didn't you learn when we were kids?”

“Yes well…” their uncle coughed, “why don't you teach Iris now?”

Iris’ eyes lit up, she quickly stood and slammed her hands on the table, causing Ingo to flinch. “Yes! Please!”

“Ok! Ingo do the first sign again!”

Dutifully, Ingo repeated the arcing sign.

“That one means “future”. Depending on the size of the arch it can be a longer or shorter amount of time.”

Iris hoped in place a bit, “oh! That one was really short! So you mean soon!”

Ingo’s lips perked up a small bit.

Emmet hummed, “yep! Ingo if you could do the second sign, yep! That means test. I’m sure you can guess what the pointing means, and the final one,” Ingo repeats his final sign, “means take! Specifically one for doing things, like taking a Pokémon out for a walk.”

“Or taking a test!” Iris smiles, “but… ‘soon test I take’? That's weird.”

“I am Emmet, grammar is different in sign. Time always comes first. So, I would translate it as ‘I will take my test soon’. You get the hang of it quickly, yep!”

Iris’ eyes glimmered, “you gotta teach me.”

Ingo couldn’t help the almost smile that spread across his face.

The rest of that day was spent teaching their uncle and niece sign language.

Ingo set a goal for himself: make it to the store and back.

He and Emmet had been going out for walks for a while now, but there was a difference between simply passing someone by and actually existing in the same room with them.

They did not need much, simply going out to get some more poke chow they were running low on. The store they would be going to was small and somewhat out of the way, Emmet made sure to plan a time when there weren’t many people shopping.

Ingo couldn’t help but pause at the front door, hesitating in completing the action of pulling it open.

He stared at it, very aware of the people he could see through the glass window. There were at least ten people there, not the most Ingo had seen in one place, the most he's spent time with in such an enclosed space.

His breathing sped up a bit, unable to move.

Another hand wrapped around the one on the door, gently squeezing it.

Right. It would be okay, Emmet was there, Emmet would keep him safe.

The brothers shared a glance, and Ingo opened the door.

Crustle and Haxorus were pleased to find their favorite food in their respective bowls that night.

Time goes on

Chapter Text

“You go first ingo!”

“Hm? Did you forget your key again Emmet?”

“Mmmmmmmmaybe.”

A sigh, “Alright. Make sure to remember it next time!”

Emmet hummed, smiling a bit wider than usual, and gestured to the door. Ingo swiftly unlocked it and pushed it open. The lights were off, as they should be, and ingo wasted no time flipping the light switch on, already reaching to remove his hat. 

He was not expecting the sudden cries of “surprise!” And “happy two year anniversary!” 

Understandably, the commotion caused ingo to startle right into his brother, who was not two steps behind. Emmet immediately grabbed ingos shoulders, grounding him. 

Ah… it was their friends! 

Elesa, Iris, Drayden, Akari and even Skyla were there. 

Ingo put a hand to his now slowing heart, “apologies, you surprised me!”

“That was the point ya bidoofus!” Elesa crackled in a manner very unbefitting for a model. 

“We hope we didn’t scare to to bad though. Are you alright uncle?” Akari took a step forward from her spot behind a chair. 

“Ah, no no. I am alright. Bravo! I was not expecting this at all!”

“We thought we might do something special for the anniversary of the day we found you.” Drayden smiled, not that you could tell.

Ingo stumbled under the weight of a 16 year old girl tackling him. 

“Told you I'd do it!! TACKLE HUG!”

“Ah! Betrayal! By my own niece!”

“Muahahaha! Yes! Bow before me!”

“I am Emmet, forcing someone to bow by hanging off their back is not really bowing.”

“Shut!”

“If you are finished,” Drayden interrupted fondly, “we can start cutting the cake.”

Iris immediately jumped off Ingo’s back and ran to the kitchen while shouting “CAKE!” Akari quickly joined in.

Ingo almost-smiled at them.

“So how was work today?” Elesa asked, longing on the couch with Skyla.

“Verrrrry boring, yup! There were not many challengers.”

“And any that did meet us didn’t quite have the right combination. Some of them were promising, I do hope they will challenge us again.”

Emmet laughed, “it is verrrry hard to beat us, yup! Our combination is the best!”

“Oh yeah?” Skyla piped up, “you wanna go against Elesa and me?”

“Easy,” Emmet smiled, “you two get distracted by looking at each other all the time. You should conf-“

Ingo slapped a hand against his brother's mouth, “quite enough Emmet.”

It was too late, both girls were now alarmingly red. 

“You little-“

“I’ll get you for that!”

Both girls jumped off the couch, Emmet already halfway down the hallway. Ingo sighed as they chased each other around the house, honestly one would thing they were the 16 year olds. 

A cry of “uncle!” Brought Ingo to the kitchen where a white frosted cake sat on a plate. There were rainbow sprinkles on it with a messly drawn train in black frosting. 

“You cut the first slice!” Akari grinned, “and then you can give you faaaaavorite niece the second slice?” 

Iris immediately pushed Akari, making an offended noise, “excuse you! I’m the favorite niece!”

“Oh yeah? Got any proof?”

“Do you?”

“Alright!” Ingo grabs the knife out of his uncle’s hand, “if you two continue like that I’ll give the second slice to Emmet.”

There was a metallic crash of something falling in the other room, followed by a cry of “Emmet!” Broken up by laughter.

“Perhaps the second slice should be given to Chandelure instead.”

Drayden laughed heartily, slapping ingo on the back, nearly knocking him straight into the table.

Eventually, they all managed to sit down, everyone enjoying a slice of the fluffy cake, including their pokemon. The second slice had indeed been given to Chandelure.

Ingo happily savored his slice, looking at the rest of his family. Elesa and Skyla were mercilessly teasing Emmet, Iris and Akari occasionally joining in, with Drayden laughing at particularly bad ones and throwing in occasional dad jokes.

It wasn't the same as it once was, Ingo knew this, but it was much better than he thought he would get in a very long time. His wrist watch ticked on comfortingly, and Emmet made increasingly more dramatic reactions to everyone’s teasing, occasionally throwing a line or two back at them.

Ingo smiled at everyone. No, it wasn't the same as it was before he disappeared, but change wasn't always bad. 

Ingo stared at his family, warmth radiating in his chest, and a big grin on his face. 

Yes. Change wasn't always a bad thing at all.