Chapter Text
Your hands shake as you release each of your pokemon; one by one, most recently caught to your first partner. Most of them don’t want to go, and this strengthens your resolve as much as it breaks your heart.
“Are…are you sure about…this?” You turn to your friend Penny, who sits ashen faced beside the motionless forms of Arven and Nemona. You’d dragged them all the way here together, to the time machine’s room, and you can only hope they’re just unconscious. You recall Arven’s lurching in front of you, taking the brunt of an attack you hadn’t seen. Nemona went down fighting, resorting to her fists after her pokemon were spent, and you’d just had time to drag her away as she laughed breathlessly, eyes stuttering shut. …Even if this timeline is destroyed, or a paradox; even though you’re leaving, you just can’t… give up. On them.
You’re doing this for your friends.
You nod to Penny as your throat works to speak, failing and leaving you with only gestures. Penny nods as well, pensive and sad. Finally lifting her hands from the laptop she holds, she fixes you with a look of deep despair.
“Well, I guess that’s good, at least. I can only stall the time machine’s protocol for about three more minutes.”
You don’t even have five minutes. You and Penny exchange a wordless glance. She’s holding back her tears; fighting to be brave, as always. You, however, don’t bother. Warmth slides down your cheeks and Penny makes a soft noise, somewhere between apologetic and dismayed. You take three more steps towards the podium, fists clenched. You’re only one movement away from entering the time stream, towards your goal of fixing this. At least…for another version of yourself. For another version of your friends. You can’t help swinging around to look back, one last time. Penny’s arm is shaking as she waves; Arven and Nemona don’t stir. You tear your eyes from them back to the closest of your friends who is still conscious to say goodbye. Though words fail you again, Penny seems to understand.
“It’s ok. With me. Even if I disappear. I’ll just… find the rest of my team…again. Wherever….yeah.” You can’t keep looking at her twisting expression, so you turn again towards the paradoxical pathway to change fate.
“Hasta la vistar…” Penny mumbles. In reply you leap alone towards the hell of a timeless abyss.
~~~
“'Ello, 'ello, hola! Ciao and Bonjour!!” Iono finishes her catchphrases as you pass the remote to Arven, sitting beside you on your dorm room bed. He’s smiling as he reaches to accept your controller, only for Nemona to swoop in at the last minute from your other side, snatching the object in command of your small recently installed television so fast your fingers faintly burn.
“What was that for!” Arven objects, as you shake out your harried digits. “Ugh, whatever…” Sighing, Arven scoots closer towards you, hovering his hands above and below your stinging hand. “Let me look at that? Did it hu-”
“Arven, don’t be silly. My rival is made of tougher stuff than-” Nemona huffs as you gingerly lower your palm into Arven’s grasp despite her argument. You keep your glance firmly focused on the tv, processing nothing of the program, pretending you aren’t acutely aware of the boy beside you as he gently moves your fingers.
“I’m ignoring that on account of you should think more before you act,” Arven mumbles, failing entirely at ignoring your fellow friend. All too soon he’s let you go. “Doesn’t look like that’s gonna hurt long, actually.” He speaks to you nearly apologetically, and Nemona laughs.
“I told you!” your fellow league champion crows, swinging an arm to affectionately bat at your back. Arven isn’t done frowning at that until you laugh and bump her back with an elbow. Nemona snorts at the look on his face, raising an eyebrow at you, knowing you’d seen it too. You narrow your eyes, defensive in light of her teasing. In response she crosses her arms, chuckling. “You two are-”
“-Hello,” Penny cuts in, opening the door after likely knocking too softly for you to hear. “Sorry I’m late. I heard you all talking, so I just came in.” You nod and smile her way, while Nemona and Arven greet her as well. Penny’s also smiling, though faintly, as she shrugs off her iconic Eevee backpack to pull out her laptop.
“Are you not going to watch The Iono Zone?” Nemona inquires. Penny just shrugs.
“It’s cool to hang out on a day off, but I do have some work to do, too. I want to get it out of the way as soon as I can.” You tilt your head and she explains, “league stuff,” pulling a small pillow from her bag as well, making herself comfortable against a wall and typing away.
Nemona pokes some fun at Penny, who snarks easily back at her. You’re so happy to be surrounded by your three closest friends that it takes you a minute to notice the way Arven keeps looking away from the television towards his bag with an odd, distant expression on his face. You catch his eyes by chance, and he blinks, knowing without you asking that you’ve figured something is odd. Still near from before he leans in closer, the lock of hair that usually covers his right eye falling over your shoulder. He whispers to you,
“There’s something I want your help with, later?” You give him as discreet a thumbs up as you can manage, and when he’s back upright he’s smiling, relieved. Forcing yourself not to continue watching your best friend from the corner of your eye, you do your best to focus on The Iono Zone - and realize only then Nemona has changed the channel.
“Hey,” you complain, and Nemona shakes her head in faux exasperation.
“You just now noticed? I’ve been watching battles for about two minutes.” You don’t have to look Penny’s way to sense her curious raised eyebrow, don’t have to make eye contact with Nemona to know she’s smirking. Glancing again at Arven, you find him too off in his thoughts to notice the details of your interaction. You find yourself feeling glad he missed that; as much as you confide in him, there are some things you aren’t ready for Arven to know. Some things Arven might not be ready for, considering recent events.
You can easily recall his expression crumpling as he held the worn, chiseled tablet in one hand, the blinking holographic device in the other; as he brokenly attempted to explain what he’d been told. You’d lifted the time capsule from his hands as he cried, you’d read it over and handed it back in exchange for the repeating voice message with his fathers words and face.
He’d learned from a time capsule and a mailed message what had become of the parents who were never home. Two pokeballs sat untouched near the news. You hadn’t asked about them, as Arven wasn’t in the mindspace for questions.
Yet crying over his lost parents had washed something clean within Arven. Within a week, you’d watched him go from brooding to beaming, racing around campus excitedly for hints of what his parents had truly been like, now that he knew they had loved him.
(If you caught a glance of him yesterday sniffling and hugging Mabosstiff in a far corner of the school grounds, you’d kept his secret safe.)
There was no way he had processed everything so fast; you’d known this before the other day’s sight. Yet you hadn’t pried, instead waiting for a time he would reach out. Nemona’s shout at the battle taking place on screen pulls you from your thoughts for a moment, and you listen to the background tip-tap of Penny’s computer keyboard, wondering if that time will be soon.
…You want your friends to be happy. To spend time with you, casually, lightheartedly. You’d do anything for days like this to last.