Chapter Text
Thou hast become disillusioned from thy purpose. I seek to reignite thy resolve, and for that reason I shalt send thee to discover thy roots. See, hear, feel… live the experiences of thine ancestors, and rediscover that which thou art missing, which thou hast lost.
Seek out all Pokémon, and thou shalt find me once more.
Akari – this name is the deity’s last whispering declaration, right before it spits her out into the atmosphere. She falls, senses consumed with blinding white and vicious crackling and numbing cold. She falls some more, and the distance helps. Her vision marginally clears; it’s still riddled with spots, but she can just about make out that the sky is shattered. Jagged fissures of light slice through the empty blue, pulsing and flickering and stretching beyond what she’s able to see.
She falls for a while. Hair slaps against her face, forces her to remain conscious. The further she gets from the broken sky, the more the fissures seem to recede – it’s as though the whole thing is shrinking in on itself, the cracks gradually resealing until only a single rift atop the mountain remains.
It seems about time for her to make a merciless collision with the ground. Just when this thought crosses her mind, a soft glow washes over her and bathes her in its light, slowing her descent until she can hear the distant sound of crashing waves. Gently, she is placed down onto soft sand, grains shifting to accommodate the new body.
The glow fades. She lies there, Staryu-spread, and closes her eyes. She strongly considers not moving. With nothing present to argue in opposition, the proposal wins out. The chill slithers through her veins, worms its way deep into her bones, and she lets it.
Later, when a hurried pair of crunching footsteps approach, skidding to a stop nearby and kicking up sand into her face, she’ll continue lying inanimate, pretending to be asleep. She’ll pretend until she can’t anymore, and then she’ll blink blearily up at the worried face of a man in a lab coat, who demands to know whether she’s alive.
Akari, huh? It’s as fine a name as any other.
The bright, sparkling object that burst out of the rift and crash landed near Jubilife was impossible to miss, so of course Volo had to investigate. Even without Giratina’s presence in the back of his mind, compelling him towards it, it is simply not the kind of occurrence that he would just ignore.
His trek to the village takes only one night. Since connecting with his co-conspirator, there seems to have been a shift in dynamic between him and the wild pokémon – they’re warier of him now, many of the weaker creatures more likely to keep their distance instead of heedlessly attack. Whatever they can sense is acting a warning, and Volo revels in this new power Giratina has bestowed upon him. The sensational lightning produced by the rift merely acts as a backdrop to his raw presence.
Thankfully, the people of Jubilife apparently perceive no such change. He arrives just after dawn and stops to chat with the guardsman.
“Volo, welcome! Don’t tell me you travelled during last night’s storm?” Ress asks, stance rigidly straight as always with his boundless vigilance.
“With so much sudden activity befalling your village, how could I not? Don’t worry, for I am perfectly unharmed, as you can see,” he replies pleasantly. Ress grimaces.
“I take it you saw the woman fall out of the sky, then.”
Oh? That’s… not what he expected.
“The woman? I believed it to be a meteor, or something similar.”
“No, it was a woman all right. I haven’t seen her myself – she came in Prelude-way, you see – but word is that she caught three whole pokémon for Professor Laventon without even batting an eye.”
This is a complication. Volo’s convinced that she wasn’t a part of Giratina’s machinations, and she absolutely wasn’t part of his own, which begs the question: what is she doing here?
“Now isn’t that impressive. I suspect Professor Laventon will be eager to recruit her into the Galaxy Expedition Team, then. Do we know where she’s from?”
Ress’ frown pulls tighter, if that’s even possible.
“Not anywhere around here, that’s for sure – no one recognises her strange attire. And she’s not very forthcoming, either. It’s all mighty suspicious, if you ask me, or anyone else.”
Well, of course. The settlement is terminally distrustful of change, as set in its ways as the guardsman’s spine. Though, Volo will admit that this is an exceptionally unusual case. He’ll have to size up the woman himself.
“She sounds very intriguing, indeed. Where might I be able to meet her?”
“She’s meeting with Captain Cyllene this morning. Knowing the Captain, that won’t take very–”
A cheerful call cuts Ress off. They both turn to see Rei lightly jogging over, but it’s his companion who has Volo’s attention. She doesn’t deign to run, so she lags behind, but in that foreign, flimsy getup, she’s undoubtedly the woman of the hour. If that wasn’t proof enough, then there’s also the apprehensive looks the locals shoot her as she passes, but she doesn’t give them any reaction. With the blank expression she wears, it’s difficult to know if she notices the glares at all.
“Volo! It’s been a while since I last saw you here. How are you?” Rei greets. Volo plasters on his merchant face.
“I’m as well as ever. I see you’ve already made friends with the latest sky-fallen phenomenon.”
“Ah, well, I’d like to think so! It’s, um, a little hard to tell.” The young Galaxy member’s voice trails off at his admission, a quiet, hesitant laugh taking its place. When she approaches the group, he shakes his head, rushing to recover his confidence. “Let me introduce you! This is Akari. Akari, this is Volo of the Ginkgo Guild.”
Akari doesn’t acknowledge them. She carries on walking with no signs of slowing, and it quickly becomes apparent that if Volo doesn’t do something, she’ll stride straight through them. He slides in front of her path at the last second, and she only just stops herself in time to avoid collision.
“You’re in quite the hurry, aren’t you? I must say, the news of your appearance has piqued my curiosity. Would you be interested in humouring me in conversation as you walk?” he asks, taking in her staunch posture.
Her arms are tense by her sides, skin awash with gooseflesh. Hisui, especially compared to other regions, is known for its chilly climate – does this mean her arrival from the rift was unplanned?
“You’re in my way. Move,” Akari says. The frosty tone to her voice startles Ress, though Rei only winces. So it’s likely that this is her usual disposition, then. Still, Volo can’t let the mystery girl go without initiating some form of connection.
He spots the pokeball hanging from her satchel.
“Oh, but I see you have a pokémon! It would be remiss of me not to investigate this rarity – you wouldn’t begrudge me a quick battle before you go, would you?”
Her jaw visibly clenches. She scowls at him, steel eyes unflinching, which he matches with an innocent grin. On another day, she might’ve won this standoff; she can certainly pull off intimidation well. But today, those irises are dulled, no glint of a knife’s edge to be seen even as the early rays of sun alight her face. She’s the first to look away.
“Will you get out of my way afterwards?”
Victory.
“Of course! You have my word on my honour as a merchant. With your negotiation skills, you could very well join our guild yourself, if you so pleased.”
Instead of dignifying him with a response, Akari turns on her heel, putting enough distance between them for a duel. She unclips her pokeball and throws it out unceremoniously. A Cyndaquil emerges: flameless, head cocked to the side, sitting on the ground looking anything other than prepared for a fight.
“Are we battling or not?” Akari prompts.
“Naturally. I wouldn’t waste this opportunity you’ve so graciously given me,” Volo replies.
“Then hurry up.”
And battle they do. At the sight of Eve, his Togepi, the Cyndaquil remains seated. When Akari barks out her first command, however, he reluctantly drags himself up and launches into action. Volo offers up his own commands, and Eve responds in kind, weaving and rolling away from her opponent while trying to land attacks where she can. He lets himself submit to the newly familiar rush of pokémon combat.
It's over all too soon, with Cyndaquil yawning where he’s settled over the top of a poor unconscious Eve.
“That was dreadful,” Ress says, wrinkling his nose.
“That was amazing,” Rei echoes.
“The thrill of a battle is always so exciting, isn’t it? It’s a shame that so few people are willing to get close to these wonderful creatures,” Volo says, reaching for the pocket of his rucksack as he recalls his little fighter.
He only receives a sceptical grunt from Ress.
“If you’re satisfied, then I’m leaving.” Akari watches indifferently as Cyndaquil, having abruptly lost his seat, flops to the ground with a squeak. He flails around briefly before she recalls him.
Volo retrieves the med kit he was rummaging for and beckons her to hand the pokeball over.
“Allow me to refresh our battlers, then, before we set out.”
When he moves to take the pokeball, she doesn’t relinquish her hold.
“We?”
“Yes, I believe I’ll accompany you on your outing this morning. I’d quite like to see for myself the rumoured prodigy in action.”
“That wasn’t part of the deal,” she says, eyes narrowing.
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about me. I’ll stay out of your way, as promised. But tagging along wasn’t prohibited, was it?”
Nothing he’s said has been a lie, so far. Primarily, though, he’s inviting himself along because he wants to endear himself to her. She must be here for a reason, and he intends to find out what it is. After all, with her talent, she might instead be the one to get in his way. If she fosters an attachment for him, he can mitigate that risk.
Given how prickly she is, that’s going to take some commitment. But Volo is nothing if not persistent; he’s sure he’ll earn her trust eventually.
“Don’t you have a job to do?” Akari grumbles.
Volo allows her to win back hold of her pokeball so that he has two hands to root through his med kit.
“How kind of you to remind me. Here, my sky-fallen friend: five potions, free of charge, as a thank you and a peace offering.”
She assesses the potions at first with disgust. The curl of her lip then flattens, thinning into a straight line, and she marches right past him without claiming her gift.
“I’m not your friend. Don’t speak to me.”
He’ll see about that. He skips past a bewildered Rei to catch up with her.
“But Akari, we still need to heal your Cyndaquil!”
The rumour is not unfounded – Akari sails through the challenge that Captain Cyllene assigned her with ease, catching all three pokémon with a total absence of fear. She listened to Rei’s guidance when he explained how to catch the Bidoof, and once she nailed the technique on her first try, she then proceeded to brush off any other advice he tried to give, leaving him mid-sentence to carry on down Aspiration Hill. Volo, having lightly pestered her with a very one-sided conversation on their way over, finally stayed true to his promise and found a suitable vantage point to sit down quietly and watch her work. He studied her every move attentively, from the gentle underhand throw she used on the Starly to the way she pre-emptively shielded her eyes with perfect timing before the Shinx tried to blind her with its gleaming electric fur.
It's undeniable that she’s leagues ahead of everyone else in terms of skill. The question is, where did she build up all this experience? And how far does it extend? Volo ruminates on these mysteries as he wanders over to re-join the group celebrating her success. Bad timing – the Professor is whipping out his camera to commemorate the occasion. Volo deftly ducks out of frame just in time. Akari looks like she wants to do the same, but only stiffens and looks away from the lens uncomfortably as the camera snaps.
But then her gaze returns in full force, locked onto the photo as it’s printed out, as the professor flaps it lightly, as he gleefully shows her the result before tucking it away into his coat pocket. Interested in it, after all. Volo files this little tidbit away for a later date.
Akari is a complete and total enigma. Volo finds himself excited to find out how to crack her open.