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Two days after Elesa’s departure for her annual summer trip to Undella Town, a man in black was found passed out in front of Gear Station. Between the phone call, the race to the hospital, the reunion, the confusion, the tears– more tears than Emmet would have ever thought he was capable of shedding– and everything, it wasn’t until the evening of that very, verrry long day that Emmet thought to contact Elesa. Thankfully, she didn’t hold it against him, even pointing out how it would probably be a good idea to space out each reintroduction a bit.
It took Elesa a day to return, which was well enough, as it gave two very important guests time to visit. Once they arrived, his parents barely left his side, and by the next day, Emmet had to all but shove them out of the room and force them to promise to eat something in the hospital cafeteria. Sighing, he returned to his seat at the bedside– and then the door opened once again.
“Did you forget–” Emmet glanced up. “–oh!”
The man sitting in bed turned his head to follow his brother’s gaze.
A stunningly tall woman stood framed in the doorway. She wore a hoodie and sweatpants, as well as a baseball cap that hid most of her face. “Sorry,” was the first word out of her mouth. “I had to stop and change into something more inconspicuous,” and as she spoke she took hold of her cap’s brim. “Otherwise I would have made a Combeeline over here.”
With a grace that was far too entrancing for such a mundane act, she removed her hat, exposing her black hair and sleek blue eyes. Emmet heard a sharp intake of breath from behind him.
“I…” Elesa began, and then she didn’t seem to know how to continue. Her eyes were fixed on the man in the bed, and as her pregnant pause went on, they began to look a bit shiny. “Is…” She slowly stepped closer, her voice tremulous. “Is it really you?”
Emmet turned to Ingo.
His eyes were wider than Emmet had ever seen them. He blinked, his mouth opening and closing for a few seconds before he suddenly looked down at the bedsheets, bringing his fist up and clearing his throat. “I’m… my apologies, ma’am, I don’t…”
“It’s okay, it’s okay!” Elesa laughed, rubbing at her eyes briefly. “Please, don’t apologize, Emmet explained everything to me…” She took a seat next to Emmet, keeping her eyes on Ingo the whole time. He met her gaze briefly, only to look away again, rubbing his cheek self-consciously. “I’m… guessing you don’t remember my name, then.”
Ingo managed to make eye contact. “Ah…” He screwed his face up in concentration for a moment. “El… Elesa?”
Elesa let out a choked gasp. “Y… yes!!!” She leaned in, placing her hand on Ingo’s, causing him to jump slightly. “What else… do you remember anything else?”
Ingo’s gray eyes darted from side to side. “I-I…” He swallowed, rubbing his face again. “I’m sorry, I don’t… I remember small things… you’re, ah, a Trainer, yes? A strong one…” She nodded encouragingly. “Yes… I think I remember you as an acquaintance of Emmet and I…”
Elesa’s shoulders sagged, but she hid her disappointment well. “Well, that’s pretty much right! I’m a Gym Leader– if you remember what Pokémon Gyms are– and the three of us are acquaintances… more than that, I’d say! I met you two due to work, but we became pretty friendly over the years…”
She trailed off. Ingo was suddenly aware that Emmet, who hadn’t said anything since Elesa had come in, was giving the woman a pointed look. Ingo had found over the past few days that Emmet, much like him, relied mainly on his eyes for emoting, and that they could be very expressive… but in some cases, like this one, whatever he was trying to convey was so complex that it made Ingo more confused. “Is, um, something the matter?” Ingo asked timidly.
“Oh, no, no, nothing’s the matter!” Elesa said, waving her hands. “I just…” She glanced at Emmet again. “W-well, you know, the three of us are all friends, pretty good friends…”
Another glance at Emmet.
“And… um…” Elesa shyly tucked some of her hair behind her ear. “The two of us… you and I, Ingo…” She tapped her index finger against her cheek. “We were also… sssort of together?”
Ingo stared at her.
“I… excuse me? I’m not sure if I understand… by ‘together’, you mean–”
“What I mean is–”
“The two of you were dating.”
Ingo and Elesa turned to Emmet.
“Well you were,” he said simply.
Elesa turned back to Ingo, who looked… he was looking at his brother like he had started breathing fire. His mouth worked open and shut, giving him a striking resemblance to a Magikarp. “I… that is…” His neck turned his head mechanically towards Elesa. “Dating? So… we were… together… romantically?”
Despite the circumstances, Elesa chuckled softly. “Well I hope so.”
Open mouth. Closed mouth. Open mouth.
“Are… are you sure?”
This time Elesa’s laugh was full and unrestrained. “God. You haven’t changed a bit, have you Iggy?”
He blinked. “Iggy?”
“Oh… that was sort of a nickname I had for you. But it’s okay if you don’t…”
“N-no, it’s fine,” he mumbled, looking down almost shyly. “I like it.”
Elesa gave him a smile that probably could have lit up the entire city. “I like it too.”
Judging by his expression, Ingo’s brain had completely short-circuited. Emmet stepped in to save him. “I’m sure you want to talk a lot more Elesa! But unfortunately, the doctors will be coming in soon to be checking in on him. We should probably leave before then.”
“Oh…” Elesa looked crestfallen, but she quickly brightened. “Well it’s no problem!” She paused, and then gave Ingo another heartmelting smile. “We have all the time in the world to catch up.”
With that, she stood and made her way to the door. Emmet made to follow her, but Ingo spoke up. “Emmet, could you actually wait a minute? There was something I needed to ask you very quickly.”
“Oh, uh, sure.”
Despite Ingo saying he needed to ask him “very quickly,” he didn’t say a word, instead watching Elesa wave before leaving the room and shutting the door behind her.
“What's wrong?” Emmet asked.
It took a few seconds for Ingo to speak. “That was… real?”
“That? You mean Elesa? Is Elesa real?”
“Was this… a prank?”
“What?”
“Did you… hire that woman, to pretend to be my…?”
“Ingo– what the hell, no!” It took a lot to make Emmet’s feelings apparent in his words, but the mere insinuation he’d do something so cruel to his brother– to his amnesiac, anemic brother, who had been missing for the past three years!– was definitely more than enough. “Do you seriously think I’d do something like that to you?!”
“No… no, I don’t.” Ingo looked down at his bedsheets again, placing his hand over his mouth. “Then she really… she and I were really…”
“Yes, Ingo, you and Elesa were dating. We all became friends after you and I began working on the Battle Subway, and you two eventually went out, and you were together for about two years before you disappeared. Is that really so hard to believe?”
Ingo buried his face in his hand.
“Are… you okay?” It occurred to Emmet that this might be overwhelming for Ingo. Even learning he had a girlfriend could be upsetting… he had been away from her for years, after all. He suddenly felt guilty. “Hey… it’s alright, you don’t…”
“Almighty Sinnoh,” Ingo whispered.
“Huh?”
Ingo finally lifted his head to reveal that his entire face had gone red. “That was the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen.”
“...oh.”
“And she– I–” He dragged his fingers down his cheeks. “We’re lovers?”
“Yes, as I said–”
“Almighty Sinnoh,” he muttered again. “How the hell did I manage that? She…” Ingo pointed to himself, dumbfounded. “Me?”
“Yes, you,” Emmet replied patiently.
“On purpose?”
“I would certainly hope so.”
He brought a trembling hand to his mouth. Emmet had been trying to avoid the topic, but Ingo had aged visibly in the years he had been missing. And yet, right now, he looked for all the world like a blushing teenager. “She’s so beautiful,” he said, almost dreamy.
“Yes, you said that already.”
“And she loves Pokémon battles?”
Emmet’s smile widened. “Very much so.” He leaned in towards Ingo. “And she’s consistently been ranked by Trainers as one of the most difficult Gym Leaders in the region. Comments have included ‘worst Gym battle ever’ and ‘those fucking Emolga.’”
“Her Emolga…!” Ingo glanced up. “I remember them!”
“I’m not surprised. Those little fuzzballs can be surprisingly nasty.”
He laughed. “So she’s kind, and beautiful, and she’s a powerful Pokémon trainer?” Ingo put a hand on his cheek and actually sighed. “She’s perfect…”
Emmet was about to mention that Elesa also had an absolutely horrendous sense of humor, but his eye was suddenly caught by something. The door to the room had a small window, and on the other side it looked like someone was standing there. As soon as Emmet noticed, however, the person zipped off.
“I still can’t believe it,” Ingo went on. “It hardly seems real…” But a small shadow crossed his face. “And I left her…”
“It wasn’t your fault, Ingo.”
“But still, it hurts to know… she must have been worried sick, just like you.”
Emmet wasn’t good at lying. “She was.”
Ingo winced. “I have to make it up to her. Even if wasn’t my fault, I have to.”
Emmet gently patted his shoulder. “You’ll have plenty of time to.”
The two brothers were quiet for a minute.
Then: “she’s so beautiful.”
Emmet, who considered it something of a small personal pride that he consistently used the same phrases on the job, was starting to think Ingo was beginning to sound a bit like a broken record. Still, he was objectively right, so he replied: “yes, she is.”
“Her face… those legs.” Ingo pressed his fingers to his mouth and made a noise in his throat that was distressing close to a groan. “They seemed practically a mile long!”
Emmet– who had been through more emotional turmoil in the past few days than he had experienced in some entire years of his life, who could still barely believe his beloved, long-lost brother had returned to him, who was beginning to realize with some alarm that his beloved, long-lost brother had been so overwhelmed by the revelation that he was dating a supermodel that he was now revealing a peek into his libido to his younger brother– said: “uh.”
At that moment, thankfully, a nurse opened the door. Emmet took the opportunity to gracefully excuse himself before he was forced to listen to his brother continue to babble about his beautiful girlfriend.
As he walked down the hallway, a spot of black caught his eye. Emmet walked up to the stairwell, where a woman was crouching facing away from him. “I guess it’s easy to eavesdrop on my brother when he speaks so loudly, huh?”
Elesa didn’t respond. It took Emmet a second to realize that she had her face buried in her hands.
“Elesa?”
“I can’t believe him.”
“What was that?”
Elesa jerked her head to the side. “I can’t believe him,” she hissed.
She was bright red, Emmet noticed.
“I just… oh my god?!” Elesa was very emotionally composed as a rule, as a fashion model and as a Gym Leader, but she currently looked and sounded more like a flustered Lass. “I can’t… I can’t even with him?! Saying all those things about me being beautiful and nice and…!”
“Yes.”
“He’s so… he’s so freaking cute??? He’s such a cute little old man???”
“...we’re the same age, you know.”
“Oh my godddd,” Elesa moaned, dragging her hands down her face. “I’m gonna fall in love with him all over again at this rate! I just… he’s just such a sweetheart! And… and that mature look he’s got going on now? With the goatee?! He’s so cool! And so cute??? How did I even get a guy like that?!”
These dorks deserve each other, Emmet thought.