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It was late spring, and the humidity in Mistralton had been an ill omen for the weather to come.
They had been traveling for a while now, and Unova was achingly familiar, but at the same time so wrong that it almost hurt.
At least the nostalgia had awoken some of Emmet’s memories (his brother! The man in black, his dear friend, the one he missed, that was his brother!), although he could do without the splitting headaches that always accompanied them.
In his eagerness to ride these tracks to their end terminal, he had made the assumption that they would be able to reach Driftveil before the rain started.
He was, of course, incorrect.
He had made that initial error upwards of two hours ago, as he had assumed that it wouldn’t take terribly long to reach Driftveil.
He was, once again, incorrect, and by now it was too late to turn back to Mistralton. The freezing rain was too heavy for him to want to risk damaging his map so he couldn’t even check which location he was closest to, and the sheets it came down in were dense enough that he could hardly see the route around him.
He could, however, make out the dangerous churning as the river rapidly threatened to flood its banks. Mantine, the dear, had taken to flying over his head, blocking the worst of the rain. The rest of his Pokèmon were securely in their pokèballs (barring Phantump, of course, who rather chose to tuck itself in his coat) and he found himself once again grateful that he had encountered some traders from Johto who had been more than happy to let him barter for a few of the oddly familiar spheres.
He was, more than anything else, frustrated at his own haste in trying to reach the next stop rather than parking his cab in Mistralton to wait out the rain.
Alas, here he was, his supposedly waterproof coat soaked through as he trudged slowly through the cold downpour.
Grumbling quietly to himself, he continued onward, shivering occasionally against the chill, until he finally spotted someplace he could take shelter.
Across the river, which was flooding alarmingly quickly, he could just barely make out the opening of a cave. The forest could only provide so much protection, so he reached up to get Mantine’s attention.
He knew it wouldn’t be able to hear him over the rain, so he wordlessly gestured towards the cave. What little remained of the bridge was being consumed by the water below and he would rather not risk his life trying to cross it when he could just have his newly-evolved companion Surf across.
Mantine swooped down and he squinted against the onslaught of water suddenly hitting his face, before reaching out to carefully slide himself atop its back and grab hold of its wings. It took a bit of wriggling before he could find a position that was both comfortable and stable without crushing Phantump, who still refused to leave its spot below his arm, but as soon as he gave the go-ahead they were soaring over the rapids.
As they made their approach, Mantine tucked in its wings just enough to glide through the entrance, and he slid off as soon as there was stable ground below his feet.
(Emmet trusted his Pokèmon, truly! He simply… wasn’t overly fond of being in the air. And would prefer to do it as little as possible. No offense intended to his airborne companions.)
He shook himself out, taking a step further into the cave and stalling to a halt once more as he became aware of the uncomfortable splash beneath him.
In the dim light of the clouded sky outside, he could make out nearly half an inch of water covering the floor of the cave.
He sighed heavily and dramatically.
Luckily, the light was enough that he could just barely see the outline of what appeared to be a rough-hewn staircase further inside.
So, for the sake of not drowning in his sleep, he sloshed through the muddied water and made his way up the steps. The unpleasant squish of his soaked shoes was one he would simply have to ignore until he found a moment to deal with it.
Up one floor, then another for good measure, and he shuffled blindly towards one of the walls, slumping against it and releasing his other Pokèmon.
Immediately the space was warmed by the faintly illuminated wings of Volcarona, and he shucked off his sopping wet outer layers, dropped his messenger bag to the side, and settled cross-legged before gratefully drawing it closer to settle in his lap. Contentedly, he buried his face in its warm fur as it churred softly.
He could feel the rest of his Pokèmon settling around them, Loudred curled up on one side with Phantump on the other, and Mantine floating up to hover just overhead. The bug stretched out its wings to cover those on either side, embracing them in its warmth.
Emmet would likely wake up with an ache in his spine from sleeping sitting upright like this, but he was frankly too exhausted to care at the moment.
He drifted off, still slightly damp but comfortably warm nonetheless, surrounded by the soft breaths of his companions.
He was awoken suddenly by a loud crunching just over his head.
He blinked blearily into the dark, realizing that at some point in the night he had tilted over to lie on his side. Loudred was curled up against his legs and Phantump was tucked into his chest, and he could feel the weight of Volcarona loafing on his side. He could also make out the vague shape of Mantine, who at some point must have drifted down until it was laid across the group like a slightly slimy blanket. At least his movement hadn’t disturbed them in their rest - they had more than earned it.
He mentally shook himself, trying to recall what it was that had roused him. There was a beat of silence before the odd sound resumed.
Yes, that was… definitely a concerning crunch. Wasn’t that where he had set his bag, as well?
…
He bolted upright, dislodging Volcarona who in turn fell onto Loudred, who woke up with a loud shout.
In the very faint glow, he could see… something standing by his bag, frozen with half its head still inside. With a jerk, it freed itself from its canvas confines, and he stared into its large blue eyes.
It stared back.
They glared at each other for a long moment, before it very deliberately made another disturbingly loud crunch.
“Hey!” Emmet shouted, attempting to scramble upright. “Cut that shit out, please?!”
The small Pokèmon made a displeased wehhh and rushed forward to ram its hard skull directly into his gut.
He wheezed, all the air knocked out of him, and tumbled backwards onto his slowly-awakening Pokèmon, causing them all to collapse like a house of cards.
He managed to right himself soon enough though, barely catching his breath as he made out its faint form scampering away. He dragged himself mostly upright, not even fully standing before he started sprinting after it, tripping over himself in the dark.
He could hear the ruckus of his Pokèmon trying to figure out what was going on as they chased after him, and as one they stumbled down the stairs in pursuit of the thief.
“What do you have?!” he called as he ran. “What is in your mouth, you awful little beast?!”
It made another angry sound, muffled around whatever it was attempting to eat, and he was briefly disoriented by the way it bounced around the large cavern.
He halted at the bottom of the stairs, stumbling again as Volcarona collided directly with his back.
He whipped his head around, trying to pinpoint its location, before faintly making out the shine of its eyes reflecting Volcarona’s light.
He gave another wordless shout, pointing accusingly at it. It squeaked in response, continuing its mad dash through the cave, and he could hear the loud clunk of it half-falling down the last set of stairs.
He continued racing after it, down the stairs, only to nearly trip over it where it stood at the base of the steps.
“Excuse me,” he panted, “please return your stolen goods. Unruly passengers will be removed by force if necessary.”
It shot up another angry sound, shaking with some sort of emotion, and finally spit out whatever it had taken.
“Thank you. Now could you ple-“
It cut him off with a shriek, firing off a Metal Sound to try and disorient him enough that it could slip by.
… But nothing happened, as the screech was drowned out by the already constant ringing in his ears!
Emmet affixed it with a disapproving frown, hands on his hips, and opened his mouth to speak.
He was once again interrupted, this time as the Pokèmon attempted to dodge past him to the stairs.
It was halted by the presence of his own team blocking the path, and he swiftly reached to pick it up and hold it at arm's length so he could properly scold it.
(It was heavier than he was expecting - although he wasn’t sure why he was surprised, considering it looked to be made of solid metal - but he held firm regardless.)
“Seriously? Listen. You - stop squirming, I do not want to drop you. Listen. I am Emmet. You are a little thief. If you want something, you should simply ask. Rummaging through the luggage car is verrry rude.”
It squeaked up at him indignantly.
“No, you are not allowed to sass me! You are the one who got caught eating…“ He glanced down to see what it was that it had been carrying in its mouth. “You ate a knife?? Those things are verrrrrrry expensive, you know!”
The knife in question was, as a matter of fact, not too expensive, and it was evident in the quality - but it served its purpose well enough.
Of course, it likely wouldn’t be very functional anymore, considering there were bite marks in the blade.
Emmet huffed a sigh. “You are a troublemaker. Causing problems on purpose. I hope you are happy with yourself.”
The look on its iron-plated face seemed to indicate that, yes, it was quite pleased with itself.
He tucked it under his arm, ignoring its angry squeaks and casting his gaze across the still-flooded cave. At least the storm outside seemed to have calmed somewhat, if the lack of noisy winds was anything to go off of, but it would likely still be some time before the river receded back to its banks.
Another sigh, and he turned sharply on his heel, pointing back up the stairs with his free hand. “It appears that we will be parked at this terminal until the tracks are cleared to proceed! So you, mischief maker, are stuck with us for the foreseeable future.”
He trotted back to the third level of the cave where his bag still sat, his Pokèmon trailing after him. He half-dropped the thief, intending to set it down gently but losing his grip when it wriggled free, and rolled his shoulder in an effort to relieve the ache in his muscles.
He leaned against the wall where he had sat before, folding in on himself to sit cross legged and pulling his bag into his lap to rummage around in. His team gathered around him eagerly as he triumphantly dug out the pouch of berries, and they were so wonderfully patient as they tripped over each other in search of treats.
He laughed, pushing Volcarona’s face away from where it was dangerously close to the stash of berries. “All passengers are required to patiently wait for the conductor to punch their tickets!”
It took another few minutes to distribute the berries in a way that everyone would be happy with, and they dispersed to give him enough room to breathe.
Eventually, the only one left was the little armored Pokèmon, sitting with its legs splayed awkwardly and a pitiful look on its face.
Emmet rolled his eyes with a smile, pulling out a handful of berries and waving it over. It chirped happily and scampered over to tuck into the offered food.
By the time it had finished eating, Emmet’s Pokèmon had once again gathered around, getting as comfortable as they could on the stony floor so they could continue their rest.
The newcomer stared up at him, blue eyes the size of dinner plates, and he cleared enough space for it to shuffle close and make itself into a little loaf shape.
He gently rubbed his knuckles against the steel surface of its head, finding a familiar comfort in the feeling of cool metal on his hands. He took a deep breath, leaned his head back against the rough rock wall behind him, and closed his eyes once more.