Chapter Text
Saturn is vaguely aware of wind rushing over his body. He’s also aware of something prodding at his right side, which normally wouldn’t be a problem considering Toxicroak did that all the time, but this didn’t feel like the claws of the Pokémon he knew.
He rolls over in the opposite direction of whatever’s prodding into him, feeling the ground- no, sand- shift under him slightly. It’s sunny, and he has to squint to look up at the sky. He remembers something was poking him and looks over, spotting a small pile of boards, with one sticking out more than the rest. A little further off, he can see a huge lake- no, it’s an ocean. Even with his head feeling stuffed full of cotton, there’s no mistaking the smell of saltwater.
… That’s not right. He was just at Spear Pillar- the legendaries, the girl that kept showing up to try to stop them, Cyrus-
With a burst of energy surprising even himself, Saturn scrambles up onto his feet, looking around wildly. Giratina had taken them both to who knows where, so then- he was here somewhere. He had to be.
“Cyrus?” Even though he felt shaky on his legs, he had to find him. He coughs a couple of times- sand tickles the back of his throat, he must’ve inhaled some while he was out… It occurs to him he has no clue how long he’s been unconscious for, but he forces the thought aside. Worrying about that can wait. “Cyrus!”
The only response he gets is the waves lapping at the shore, the wind whistling through the air. He waits a few seconds more, then inhales, preparing to yell as loud as he can. And-
“Excuse me?”
“GAH!” Saturn starts so hard he loses his balance and falls over. Whirling around to look behind him, he spots a boy with faded brown hair looking at him curiously. Next to the boy is a Typhlosion- though he notes right away that it has markings around its neck, something he hasn’t seen before.
Both of them stare at each other for a few seconds. Then Saturn shuts his eyes, breathes in, and when he opens them again he’s not Saturn, but Lieutenant Commander Saturn of Team Galactic, a man who makes few connections and trusts even fewer. “If you’re looking for a battle, look elsewhere. I don’t have time to goof off.”
The boy blinks twice and takes a step back. “O- Oh, no, I’m- I’m not looking for a battle. I heard yelling and came to see what was happening… I only brought him out in case I got attacked.” He gestures at the Typhlosion, to which Saturn only raises an unimpressed brow. “Uh! I’m… Rei, and this is Plume, what’s your name?”
“Rei”, he notes, is nervous, judging by how close he’s standing to his Pokémon. That also isn’t his name, given how he said it more like a question and not as truth. He ignores both things as he stands again, also ignoring his legs threatening to give out from under him. “Not important. Have you seen a man with short, spiky blue hair? He comes up to about my shoulders, and he’s wearing clothing similar to what I have on.”
“Uh-” The boy seems confused by the lack of a response to his question, but thankfully doesn’t press. “No, I haven’t… People don’t come from the beach very often, and a newcomer wouldn’t have been let in.”
He clenches his jaw for a moment. “Then we’re done here.” And he starts walking past the boy to the path and where it’d take him next.
Behind him, he can hear the shuffling of shoes on sand. “Rei” calls out “wait!”, which he pretends he doesn’t hear. It’s only when he says “they won’t let in a stranger!” that Saturn stops and glances over his shoulder to fix him with a withering stare, scoffing.
“It’s a town. What’s the worst that’ll happen, I get comments on my hair? That already happens more than you think it does.”
“Rei” shakes his head. “The village is distrusting of newcomers, they- they won’t let someone in unless they have relations with someone living there already.”
“... Village,” Saturn repeats, the word finally registering to him. “What do you mean, village?”
“Jubilife Village. This is Hisui.”
He drops the withering stare. Hisui is a name from the history textbooks. “... Now you’re just wasting my time. This can’t be Hisui.”
“It is. You’re…” The boy shuffles even closer to his Typhlosion. “You’re from the future too, like me. Right?”
Saturn looks him dead in the eye, and instead of saying what he would say normally (“what do you mean, from the future too?”), says “Spit out your real name.”
He visibly winces over being caught lying. “... Kigan. I wanted to try and blend in better, so I picked something that sounds… convincing enough?”
I was expecting something more humiliating if he was using a fake name, Saturn thinks to himself, before turning fully to face Kigan, who’s not quite looking at the ground. “So, if you know more about Hisui than I do at the time. What would you have me do?”
The question doesn’t seem to be one Kigan was expecting, but the tiniest of smiles makes its way onto his face as he looks up. “... I would talk to the professor, see if you can get into the Survey Corps like me. We can try and find a way back to the future together?”
The hope in the kid’s expression isn’t enough to get Saturn to drop the self-preservation tactics, but he considers doing so for a brief moment. To what Kigan proposed, there aren’t any visible downsides that he can see- returning to the present, to Mars and Jupiter (and Charon, as much as Saturn despises the man), might be his best shot at finding Cyrus again. He doesn’t have many other options either, considering he’s in an unfamiliar land and doesn’t know what he’ll find in it.
“... Sure. I have nothing else going on.” He makes a broad, vague gesture, one that Kigan snickers at. It makes him feel the slightest bit uncomfortable- and he doesn’t let it show. There’s a time and place for that.
The boy nods once he recovers, recalling his Typhlosion back into its ball. “Great! I’ll… uh, get the professor. He got me into the village, you’ll have a better chance with him on your side.”
“Wh-” Before he can ask for him to elaborate, the boy has already started running down the path. Saturn watches him go for a few moments, then rolls his eyes as he returns to the sand and lets himself sit down. His legs are more than grateful for the rest after being forced upright for a time.
He shifts his attention to his surroundings again. He’s sitting on sand, it’s sunny, there’s an ocean. Aside from the ocean’s waves, as well as the wind, it’s silent. There’s a dock on the beach, and tied to the dock is a wooden boat, one that he suspects is sturdier than it looks. In the other direction, along the path, there’s… he can only assume that’s an outhouse, and really has no interest in checking to see if he’s right or wrong. Off in the distance, there’s a rip in the sky over a mountain. It has to be Mount Coronet, he concludes. Right then and there, Saturn decides getting up to that rip will be the next major step in his plans to find Cyrus.
Plans. Right. He has no paper to write them down on, nothing to visualize with. He jabs a fast frown into the sand, staring at it- then pauses and smiles. Drawing out his plans like this isn’t what he’d do normally by any means, but it’s available…
***
“You can see him over there, Laventon…” Kigan says to the man next to him, gesturing. In the distance, the man with the pointy blue hair could be seen reaching out and doing something in the sand.
“Very peculiar…” Professor Laventon strokes his chin in thought, observing the stranger. “Rei, do you reckon he might be from beyond the Rift, like you?”
Kigan nods, not looking at the professor. The man was able to see through his fake name so easily, when everyone else bought it even with him pausing. It made him worried that someone else would realize “Rei” was something he made up. “I’m almost sure of it. His shirt has the Galaxy Team logo on it, but it looks… fancier.”
Laventon claps a hand on his shoulder. “Well then! I’m sure that despite the personality you described to me, he’ll be willing to help if he’s already part of the Galaxy Team in any way!”
He trailed behind as Laventon hurried along to introduce himself. People were scary in general to him here, but there was something about the man with the pointy hair that made him feel like he had when he saw that alpha Bibarel in his way for the first time. Laventon made him feel safer about this whole thing, at least…
Kigan watched as the professor called out a greeting, making the other man jump. Then he… grabbed a stick and started rubbing it over the sand? He picked up his pace a little to hopefully see any of what was being hidden, and as he got closer he started hearing the conversation.
“-uch a shame to get rid of your own art! Do you not like it?” That was the professor.
“I don’t like sharing it with other people,” the other man responded curtly.
“Ahh, not ready to share with the world yet, are you? Not a problem, my dear boy, we all approach the world at our own pace.”
The other man glanced up at Laventon, making a- disgusted? It was hard to tell- expression. “Call me that again and see what happens.”
Kigan was close enough to be able to see what remained of what had been drawn, but when he saw what it was, he stepped behind Laventon a little more. AT ALL COSTS was written into the sand, and it looked harshly written, too. He didn’t feel any better after the man wiped it away with the stick.
“So you’re the professor here. Laventon, you said.” The other man crossed his arms, looking the professor up and down. “... You look the part, at least.”
Kigan recognized that was at least a small insult. Laventon didn’t seem to notice, though. “The hat compliments the rest of the outfit, doesn’t it? Oho, but before I get distracted talking about that!'' He brought a hand around Kigan’s shoulder as he spoke. Kigan found it nice how the professor always seemed to know where he was without looking. It made him feel safer. “My boy here told me about how he met you, and how you may be from beyond the Rift just like him! You seem to have a no Grookey business aura about you… I’m sure that’d be valuable to the Survey Corps, what with many of the others fearing Pokémon so much!”
The man rolls his eyes. “Fearing? There’s nothing to be afraid of.” He reaches inside a pocket Kigan didn’t know was there, and watches as his brows furrow. He checks another pocket, then turns them inside out. Whatever he didn’t find makes him wide-eyed, but then his expression goes back to that annoyance. “My Pokémon, they- where are they?”
Kigan sighs, making it loud enough for the man to hear. His gaze turned to look at him, but with Laventon’s arm over his shoulders, he didn’t feel as afraid. “Mine were missing too, when I got here… I’ve had to catch a new team. You’ll have to too, but- but the ones here are good.”
He’s unsure if his comment made the man more or less upset, but either way, he takes that as an answer, nodding just once. Laventon pipes up right after. “Nothing to worry about, my b- so sorry, it’s a habit, it’d be much easier to stop if I knew your name. But! You’re welcome to pick out one of the other two Pokémon I have with me at the lab for yourself to start with!”
The man squints, then sighs. “Not much choice... Sterling.”
“Hm?”
“My name. It’s Sterling,” Sterling repeats.
“Oho! Now that’s quite a name! Sterling, how lovely!” The professor beams, reaching out for a handshake. When Sterling shakes his head no, though, he pulls his hand back. “I’m sure Cyllene will want to put your skills to the test come tomorrow morning, so we should get back to Jubilife and have you get acquainted with your new partner before then!”
Kigan runs the name over in his head as Laventon beckons for Sterling to join them as they walk back. He wonders if that’s his actual name- then jumps as he’s tapped on the shoulder.
Sterling comes up next to him. His head is tilted a little. “Hey. Do you know if there’s Croagunk around anywhere?”
Maybe he misses his Croagunk, he thinks, and so he nods. “I don’t have any of my own, but I’ve seen them in the mirelands…”
The man looks surprised for a moment, then narrows his eyes. Kigan thinks it’s not out of anger, but he’s not sure. “Good to know.”
The guards let all three of them inside after the professor explains the situation, and Kigan and Sterling both listen to Laventon chatter about recent findings as they walk to the Galaxy Corps building.
***
Saturn doesn’t consider it important to carry himself in full Galactic manner- Kigan and Laventon evidently don’t care about how he presents himself, so long as he can be helpful- until he steps inside the building. A woman who bears resemblance to Cyrus is in a room in front of them, sitting at a table and reading over some papers. She doesn’t look up when the three of them enter, but he stands up straighter regardless, holding himself more properly.
He’s surprised when it’s not Laventon who speaks first, but Kigan. “Captain Cyllene…?”
“If you have progress to report, I will judge its worthiness. Show me…” She trails off upon noticing him, glancing from him to Kigan, then to Laventon, and back at him. Saturn recognizes the way her words are clearly practiced, how she’s not typically interrupted by others or herself when speaking. Even as she gauges how to proceed with the development that is him, she commands the room. Her eyes bore into him in a very familiar way.
Something sparks in his chest. He’s very quick to put it out before it becomes the only thing on his mind. He has things to do.
“... I would like an explanation.” She sets the papers down entirely and stands, waiting for someone to begin.
“Of course!” Laventon chooses now to speak. Saturn catches Kigan’s shift in posture; he must be glad to not have to do the talking. He also notes the Abra in the room with them, but pays it no mind. “Rei was headed to the beach when he found this man, Sterling, there. After conversing with him a bit, Rei concluded that he too came from beyond the Rift, and I found that he has experience with Pokémon as well. Their exploration for a way to return home, as Rei put it, would line up perfectly with our goal of filling out the Pokédex. I have a hunch Rei’s existing experience with Hisui combined with Sterling’s determined attitude will be a jolly good pairing!” He beams, clapping his hands together.
“Captain,” Saturn greets with a nod, addressing her formally. If Cyllene is anything like Cyrus, she expects professionalism from others as she thinks and observes (not that he made that easy for Cyrus in the slightest). His assumption is proven right when she studies him for a few moments, then nods in turn.
“You understand you will have to work to earn your place here in Jubilife,” she starts.
“Of course.”
“And you understand this will be a dangerous, possibly deadly, task. You will come face to face with many wild Pokémon, the majority of which will be hostile. Should you fail to prove yourself a benefit to the Survey Corps, you will have to figure things out on your own in the wilderness.”
I’ve been through harsher than whatever that’ll entail. “That doesn’t scare me. I’ve been put in charge of large projects with tight deadlines before. Never once have I failed. Getting more hands-on won’t change my ability to succeed.”
He’s no stranger to convincing people of things, and this is no exception. Cyllene nods again, taking her seat. “Tomorrow, then, you’ll prove yourself to us by completing the same trial as Rei: going into the Obsidian Fieldlands and catching one each of Bidoof, Starly, and Shinx.”
He raises an eyebrow, but decides against arguing. His team isn’t with him, so he’ll have to be fine with catching basic Pokémon for now, just like when he was youn-
The thought is shut down as fast as it came up. Reminiscing is out of the question.
He comes back to the present. The conversation is, at least for now, over. Cyllene has resumed reading her papers, and Laventon and Kigan are gone. He turns to see if he can find any evidence of where they went, and sees the tail end of Kigan’s scarf disappearing into a room on the left that he didn’t notice when he’d walked in. The professor had likely said something he’d missed while getting rid of… whatever irrelevant thought he’d just had. With little hesitation, he turns and-
“On the desk.”
He glances back to Cyllene at her words, then checks the desk. On the corner closest to him, there’s a plain brown bag with a strap. It’s apparent that it’s for him, and he picks it up right after he makes the connection. “Thank you, Captain.”
“Just Cyllene is fine.”
“I’ll wait until we’re more acquainted to refer to you by name.” Which will never happen.
He takes another moment to get it secured around his midsection, then turns to follow the other two into the other room.
Yep. He’s definitely a professor.
The very first thing Saturn notes, even before stepping through the doorway, is that Laventon’s lab is disorganized in the way only a Pokémon Professor can make it. He counts at least ten separate stacks of books on various surfaces, papers scattered about on the floor, and once he actually steps inside he recognizes a couch. There’s a blanket on it, as well as socks, and he sighs. Charon is more organized than this, which is saying something.
“Something the matter?” the professor asks, while Kigan sits down on the couch. Saturn just shakes his head. Any comment he can think of making about the lab would get him some dislike, and he has to keep positive relationships up if he wants to find Cyrus.
So he lies with a partial truth, as he’s learned to do. “I miss home.”
Laventon nods in understanding. “I see… Well! Not to worry, my friend! Soon you’ll be able to get out there with Rei and work towards getting back to… wherever you’re from, alright?”
He answers with a short noncommittal hum, glancing at the boy. Kigan seems a little lost in his own world, but after a few seconds, he realizes he’s being looked at and offers a little wave. Saturn gives a single nod back in acknowledgement- then sharply turns his head at the sound of splashing water. There’s a tank full of water behind him on his left, and-
A wet seashell lands on his face.
“Euh,” he manages after a second, because that’s all he can think of as water drips onto his face. Jerking his head forwards, he catches it in one hand as it falls, ignoring Laventon’s wide-eyed stare and the way Kigan looks like he’s about to start laughing as he looks for the source of whatever threw the shell at him.
He finds it in the shape of a white and blue Pokémon that clearly hopped out of the water tank, given the dark spot where it’s standing. It looks up at him and chirps several times.
“S- Sterling, I’m so sorry!” He blinks as Laventon starts talking, faster than usual, while picking the Pokémon up. “Oshawott typically doesn’t behave like that- ohhh, you darling little rascal, why act up now?”
The professor seems busy scolding Oshawott, so he instead looks to Kigan, still a bit stunned. The boy starts laughing, though he’s trying hard not to be very loud. And Saturn smiles and closes his eyes to snicker a little. The situation is pretty funny.
It instantly feels like he’s being torn apart. What are you DOING?, he screams at himself. Just because you’re in a different place doesn’t mean you can let your guard down and start making friends again. Anyone will hurt you if given the chance. Don’t let them.
The room feels distant.
These people aren’t your friends. Working with them just helps you get back home. You can only trust the Pokémon you catch and train, and you know this. You can’t afford to-
Something jostles him so hard it snaps him out of helping himself. Laventon’s hand is on his shoulder, and he’s looking at him with concern. “Sterling, please answer, you’re starting to worry me- if you’re feeling ill, I can get a Medical Corps member to take a look?”
Saturn blinks and processes what was said- then realizes he didn’t do it right. So he takes a moment to focus, slipping right back into how he was before, processes again, and shrugs the professor’s hand off him, stepping back. “You’ll see it happen sometimes. Ignore it. You said you had two Pokémon; the other one is?”
Laventon- and Kigan, for that matter- both look concerned still, but he silences any questions by crossing his arms and tipping his head up just slightly. The room still felt distant, but if he could get this done quickly enough, he’d be able to isolate himself and recollect without any more interference.
The professor relents, stepping back and gesturing to Saturn's right after putting Oshawott down. He looks, and is surprised to see a tree inside the lab. More importantly, though, is that the other Pokémon is perched in it. It hoots at him, tilting its head- or... body, at him. It's both, he decides, given how small the creature is.
"This is Rowlet," Laventon says, extending an arm. Rowlet doesn't move until he says "come on, now!", which it then takes as its cue to leave the tree and fly over, coming to perch on the professor's arm. "You've likely noticed Oshawott is a Water-type. Rowlet here is a Grass- and Flying-type, and considerably not as bold as Oshawott." He scratches a little underneath Rowlet's beak, and the Pokémon coos happily. Then he meets Saturn's gaze. "You're welcome to pick whichever one tickles your fancy!"
Cyndaquil must have been the Fire-type, he reasons. Typhlosion is the final evolution, and considering Kigan has one, it'd check out.
While he's at least a little familiar with Cyndaquil, he knows nothing about Oshawott or Rowlet, or what they'll evolve into. He decides to base his decision off of personality- he can work with anything, really, but something helpful will make everything easier. To make sure Laventon doesn't get worried about him again, he steps a bit closer to peer at Rowlet. The Pokémon peers right back.
It’s curious about new things and people. And needs a bit of coaxing to do things- settling on the professor's arm is a good example of that. Gentle or quiet nature, if I had to guess. I didn't notice it was here at all initially.
Then he shifts his attention to Oshawott- which is very easy to do, in fact, when the Water-type is already attempting to climb his pant leg (and failing due to the material). Laventon described it as bold, and that's likely accurate. It had no problem launching a shell at me so soon after I entered the lab, and got right out of its comfort zone. It's at least somewhat determined to accomplish things if climbing like this is anything to go off of.
Saturn very suddenly realizes he’s still holding the shell, and gives it back to the Water-type. It takes it and puts it on its stomach, something that looks oddly right to him, and he decides. "I pick Oshawott."
The Pokémon, recognizing its name, chirps again. Laventon claps, startling Rowlet into fluttering up and back into the tree. “Oh, Rowlet dear, I’m sorry! I forgot you were there-” He watches the professor take a berry out of one pocket, tossing it up for Rowlet to catch. It begins nibbling on it as Laventon continues. “Now then- you’ve selected your Pokémon! Good, very good… Admittedly, I was going to suggest you pick Rowlet since it’s not as high-energy as Oshawott, but now that I’m thinking about it, the two of you are driven in your own ways, hmm? You’re quite alike in that regard!”
“Something like that,” Saturn agrees halfheartedly, not getting the meat of the sentence and only catching the positive tone. The professor hands him a Poké Ball, presumably Oshawott’s, and he runs a couple of fingers over it. It’s a little heavier than what he’s used to, but it still fits comfortably in his hand, and he slips it into his pocket. Laventon then holds out several more, which he blinks at. “Mm?”
“You’ll, uh… need them for your trial tomorrow,” Kigan pipes up. Both he and Laventon look at him. “You don’t know how to make Poké Balls here yet, so now you’ll have some for your trial… and-” The boy raises his voice, bringing Saturn back to the present a little more. “Captain Cyllene, where will he sleep?”
“The living quarters next to your own will suffice,” comes the reply from the adjacent room.
Even though there’s no possible way for her to see, Kigan nods, then gets up from the couch, stopping by another doorway and turning back to look at him. “It’s not a long walk, and it’ll be good to get to know Oshawott before tomorrow.”
He has no idea if he’s intentionally being offered an escape from other people or not, but either way, he takes the opportunity. “Agreed.” Oshawott’s Poké Ball is removed from his pocket briefly to return the Water-type to it, and he starts following Kigan out.
“Ah, Rei! Do bring Sterling by the Wallflower later to meet Beni and get something to eat, won’t you?” Laventon calls out behind them. Saturn doesn’t look back at all, brushing past Kigan and to the front doors, though he does hear the boy agree.
He pushes both doors open, the wind outside feeling much better than the stuffy air inside the building. It occurs to him a second later to hold one open for Kigan, so he does, and the boy steps out, coming to stand in front of him. “... Thank you,” he says after a moment. His tone suggests he wasn’t expecting the door to be held open at all.
After an awkward moment, he starts walking off to the left, and Saturn follows, trying to note everything he can. A cart is being manned by two people wearing blue outfits with white and yellow accents. Someone on his right has a hairstyle like Charon’s. Someone else further ahead has the same color hair as Mars.
Kigan stops and turns to face him. “This is it,” he says while gesturing to his right. “If you forget, just look for Anthe there...” He waves at a woman right across from the quarters. Her hair is tied up in a big bun like Jupiter’s.
Everything is too familiar.
It’s not familiar enough.
He doesn’t miss anything. He’s not supposed to.
“... Not eating,” Saturn mumbles. Spending more time with people is the last thing he needs. Before the boy can say anything to try and convince him otherwise, he slides the door open and gets inside.
The bed in the room, a futon, is plain. He doesn’t care. He beelines for it, intending fully on laying down and not moving for a while. Behind him, he hears the door clack shut. Kigan must’ve closed it.
Not yet, he orders himself, starting to count. He needs to make sure he’s alone.
He gets to 72 before the walls crumble, and he curls in on himself, the tears spilling. Trembling, he thinks about everyone.
Matthew.
Charon. Mars. Jupiter, Cyrus.
Kigan, Laventon, Cyllene.
Why do people have to be so nice when you first meet them? Their inevitable betrayal hurts more because of it. Causing pain is all people know how to do.
His thoughts hone in on two people in particular.
I still haven’t forgotten that you stole my life from me. I was something to be used. Your kindness and praise was manipulation, and I saw it for what it was. Hurting you so you don’t hurt me first, like it’s happened so many times before. Not once did you fight back. You’ve been what drives me forwards for so long.
Why did I try to save you? Why didn’t you look afraid, but concerned?
Saturn wakes up to knocking at his door.
His eyes feel so tired from earlier, and he rubs at them- then at his face, to get rid of any tear stains. He wasn’t supposed to fall asleep. “What,” he says, and he hates the way his voice cracks a bit.
There’s no reply. He doesn’t need to speak any louder; the walls, while made of sturdy wood, likely don’t provide much soundproofing. When nobody comes in, he grumbles a swear- really? Knocking and ditching even in the past?
He’s about to try and go back to sleep when he hears something hit the door lightly, followed by a sharp inhale. A few quick footsteps come after that, then the sound of wood on wood, a clack, and the right wall shakes a bit. Nothing else happens after that.
… If that was Kigan, the behavior is very odd, even for the boy being more nervous than the average person. It has his attention nonetheless. Hesitantly, Saturn gets up and slides the door open a crack. It’s definitely evening now. Nobody’s outside that he can see except the guard by the gate. He decides that’s fine, opens it a little more, and looks down.
At the foot of the door is a bowl of… something. The contents are covered by some kind of brown paper, but whatever’s inside is definitely food, judging by the smell. He pulls his sleeves down over his hands before picking it up in case it’s hot- which it isn’t- and brings it inside, closing the door behind him.
Leaning against the side of the room, he moves the bowl to one hand and removes the paper with the other. Inside, there’s several lumps that look like rolls of bread, but he figures out they’re mochi after a few seconds.
… Only one way to find out what kind these are. He uses the paper to pick out one of them, biting into it, and-
He’s had potato mochi enough times to be able to recognize it by now. This one, though, tastes better than most he’s had. Part of him doesn’t want to keep eating, but he does anyway.
After he finishes three, he brings the bowl over to the futon, sitting down and placing it in his lap so he can better enjoy the mochi. After three more, he realizes he doesn’t feel as numb as he did when he woke up. Normally, he’d consider that a downside, but this time…
Once he’s down to the last two, Saturn pauses, thinking, then pulls out his lone Poké Ball and releases Oshawott from it. The creature chirps, looking around at its surroundings, then turns to face him.
“Hey, Oshawott.” It chirps back at him while he picks out one of the remaining mochi, and he offers the food item to the Pokémon. “You want something to eat?”
Oshawott grabs it eagerly from him and starts gobbling it down; he watches with interest that, while muted, is present. Once it’s done, he just places the bowl down in front of it, waiting to see how long it’ll take to click. The answer is “a few seconds”- the Water-type quickly realizes that there’s another mochi in the bowl and gets it out even faster, squeaking in between bites.
Saturn finally relaxes more than he has in a long time, the majority of his thoughts quiet, and decides on something else.
He’ll give Kigan a chance. Kids are very sure of themselves and what they want to do. If they don’t like someone, they won’t go near that person, plain and simple. The boy could’ve run off and told the village he was a huge threat, but he stayed true to his word and got Laventon. He shut his door for him earlier, and got him potato mochi even though he said he wasn’t going to eat.
He picks up the bowl again and stands, walking over to the little table and placing it down there. Oshawott follows him, even with the distance being very short, and it also follows him back to the futon, watching as he lays down on it again.
He silently questions what it wants before he figures it out. Shifting over slightly to make room for the little creature, he pats the new available space. The Water-type looks very happy for a moment, then gets into the spot, snuggling up against him. He pats it a few times on the head before getting comfortable, sighing.
Saturn, for the first time in a very long time, doesn’t dream about anything related to his past.