Chapter Text
The air was crisp that morning, and a low fog hung against the sunrise. Emmet glanced over his shoulder on either side, before letting out a sigh of relief. He held out his arms, trying not to notice the newly lightened litany of small scars that now littered his skin, as he interlocked his fingers out in front. The satisfaction of each popping joint that wasn't accompanied by any additional pain was a minor high for Emmet. A sign that his body was finally returning to normal. Well, the normal he had become accustomed to over the past two and a half months. Cogita had been kind enough to help Emmet establish to a timetable for how long he had been in Hisui, one of many kindnesses she had shown him. Honestly, if he had met Cogita first, Emmet probably wouldn't have had such a sour impression of the region. She also put him to work learning actually useful information about how to live off of the land. Once he was at the point in his recovery where he could physically leave the bed, that was when his education began.
Emmet would often accompany Cogita on minor foraging expeditions in the immediate area. It was a verrrrry great day when Emmet learned that there were other things to eat out there besides raw Oran Berries and burnt Magikarp. He was probably never going to eat another Oran Berry for the rest of his life. Although, he was definitely excited when Cogita showed him how to combine them with a plant known as the Medicinal Leek to create an early equivalent to Pokémart Potions. Poppy, too, had benefited from Emmet's forced summer school lessons. With stronger recovery items in his pocket, as well as less pressure as their sole defense from being randomly killed in their sleep, she could now take on rougher challenges solely for the experience. Emmet was pleased to watch her level rise via the Gira-trans app, and a familiar swell of pride would fill his chest every time she won a battle. It wasn't long before they fell back into a scheduled routine, a better routine. One that involved collecting crops from a nearby garden, achieving victory against the latest Wurmple invader, assisting Cogita with her latest cooking venture (As an aside, Emmet had yet to convince her to stop putting mint into everything, so everything still tasted like a tube of Cress-T brand toothpaste...Emmet will never understand why the former Straiton gym leader decided to branch out into the dental care business after he and his brothers closed down their gym. Regardless, it was still better than the flavor of raw Oran Berries), and then checking on the progress of his recovery.
Emmet winced as he accidentally overstretched his shoulder. Some things had gotten better faster than others. He began opening and closing the fingers on his right hand, trying to shake off the numbness before it could overtake the entire limb. His fingers twitched as they moved, and even after he stopped moving them, they continued to shake a little. Cogita had done a brilliant job of doctoring his injuries, and Emmet appreciated everything that she had done to keep him alive and mostly well up to this point, but she wasn't a real doctor. She wouldn't tell Emmet the reason why Volo had chosen to bring him to her for treatment, only that, for what it was worth, he and she have a "shared history." Emmet couldn't even begin to fathom what that had to do with the decision not to take a dying man to a hospital, and rather to a random cottage in the middle of nowhere that was NOT owned by a licensed medical professional...but he supposed such a point would be moot by now. He began absently rubbing his right arm, trying to will the feeling back into it. He didn't want anything to prevent him from the day's plans, and Cogita could easily tell him to remain at the house should she deem him unfit for travel.
"Good morning, Emmet."
Emmet immediately dropped his left arm, and he replaced the worried look on his face with a large smile. Cogita came strolling down the path from the house, carrying a large basket off the crook of her elbow.
"You certainly seem excited about today," she remarked. "You even woke up before me, for a change."
Emmet ran his left hand through his hair, "It is the first time that I will be visiting a new station in a verrrrry long time."
Civilization was finally within Emmet's reach, of course he was excited...or nervous. He also didn't want to tell Cogita that this was less of an "early-rise" situation and was more akin to a "staying-up-so-late-that-it-was-now-dawn-and-he-should-just-get-out-of-bed-already" incident. As much as he wanted to keep an open mind about the potential people of the region, that didn't change the fact that he had only ever met two of them. The parameters of "Volo" and "Cogita" left a distressingly wide gap on how the general public could treat him. Still, when Cogita first began to float the idea of bringing him along with her to the nearby village, Emmet immediately added fuel to her train of thought. He wanted to do this.
"I suppose that would motivate most. How are you feeling today? Any pain?"
Emmet feverishly shook his head, "Nope! My cab is not in need of any further maintenance."
Cogita gave Emmet a look. He kept up his usual smile...before dropping it after five seconds. Emmet pouted, lying never has been his strong suit. Well, lying to others, at least.
"My shoulder hurts," he admitted, "but that is the only part."
Cogita raised an eyebrow, "So, your arm is all better now?"
Emmet bit his lip. His right arm has been slowest of all to show any signs of recovery. He couldn't exactly describe what was wrong with it. The appendage didn't hurt, unlike his shoulder, which does so near constantly. Instead, Emmet found both an absence of pain...and most other feeling altogether. He could still move it, along with his hand and fingers, with a great deal more effort than he thought should be necessary. He also dropped things a lot more often, resulting in him owing Cogita more than a few new dishes one day. Maybe the village had a shopkeeper who took Tumblestone as payment? In all seriousness, the lack of progress was really starting to concern Emmet. However, he continued to write off his anxieties as simple impatience. If he was back in his own time, he would have access to drugs, physical therapists, and every other modern convenience designed to speed up the healing process. Cogita, and Hisui as a whole, simply didn't have that level of technology and scientific advancements. He wasn't even sure if germ theory was accepted yet. Emmet was simply just going to have to keep waiting it out, was all. No need to worry himself.
"Come on," Cogita put down her basket. "Let's go have some breakfast. I'll wrap up your shoulder, and then we can head for the village."
Emmet nodded as he followed after her. Poppy had been less than willing to join him when he stepped out, a little too early in the morning for the Eevee's liking it seemed. Emmet was more than happy to let her rest, she more than deserved the reward of a safe place to sleep. However, as he absentmindedly rubbed his arm, he did wish that she would have given up her claim to his coat. As cute as she looked curled up on top of it, it was cold without anything to cover his upper body with! His shirt was beyond trashed, and it was a wonder that the rest of his clothes had been able to be salvaged. He already lost his hat, he didn't want to lose his coat too. His pants and shoes, while thankfully able to be saved as well, were not made for this. They were meant for his job, to look both professional and iconic while battling or running the subway, and were in no way meant for an intense month long struggle of survival in the wilderness.
Emmet really hoped there was some kind of clothing store in the village. He'd even settle for a Spence-arak's or Hot Tropius at this point. Despite the fact Ingo and Elesa both made him promise to never buy another piece of clothing, merchandise, eyeliner, or body jewelry from those places ever again. That probably wasn't his greatest phase in life. In Emmet's defense, he only went in there originally to inquire about getting his ears pierced because he was told that it would help with his motion sickness. He didn't want to just wait and see if he would naturally grow out of it, like his doctor had suggested, and that appeared to be a viable option for treatment. Elesa was also the one telling him to branch out and "find his own style" once they had all settled down after completing their Pokémon journey. Ripped t-shirts featuring obscure bands from Galar, along a row of additional rings that wrapped around his cartilage, seemed to be a good start in that endeavor. He definitely stood out more when placed next to his brother, just like how everyone had been encouraging him to.
It took over two years, the threat of a five year old Iris copying him...and then the subsequent threat from Uncle Drayden to feed him to Salamence should his daughter ever come home with a single hole punched into her face, to convince Emmet to wear his old style of clothes again. Ingo was also there to steer him down the right track, and he helped to refit Emmet's wardrobe with a much more toned down look. They soon went back to their old habit of matching, though with an added gimmick of the opposing colors as way to better differentiate themselves. No piercings were to be included, their uncle was verrrrry specific about that. Thank Giratina that Emmet did eventually grow out of his motion sickness, or else he would have never been able to become a Subway Boss, much less ever ride a train for longer than ten minutes. Emmet's wrist vibrated.
Thou are welcome, Emmet.
Emmet picked up the pace to Cogita's cottage. Giratina may work for Volo, but he had no qualms about watching over Emmet still it seemed. Was this considered a form of stalking? Or, perhaps it was more akin to spying? Emmet didn't know, and he wasn't going to ask.