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Aggron was worried.
Before them loomed a box of concrete, stoic against the skyline of the city far away. Walls sloughing off paint, windows curtained with thick fabric...
Aggron was worried.
“You're sure this is the place, Tyrantrum?” they asked into the quiet air. It didn't look like any sort of place for a club meeting. Or any civilised activity, really.
“Don't sweat it! Used to be a warehouse before the owner snatched it up. Was a steal for the size, the way I heard it.”
The rocky dinosaur beside Aggron paused, grin turning sheepish. “But, well, it was a steal. She, uh, never got around to renovating the outside, or so I hear.”
“I... see,” Aggron said.
They did not.
When Tyrantrum had mentioned a special support group, they’d expected some friendliness to the aesthetics, at least. Or neutrality. Not chipping paint burrowed into faded concrete.
Aggron was...
“Dude, trust me,” Tyrantrum insisted. “My sis started coming here a bit ago, and she's the happiest I've ever seen her. Just – hold on.”
Before them stretched a loading bay, fluorescent lights shining down onto the dirt-tracked floor, the roller-shutter doors along the wall still and silent. Aggron watched as Tyrantrum stepped up to the control panels one by one, fiddling with buttons and knobs.
Silently.
...Awkwardly.
“Need help?” they asked, wincing at the slight echo that followed.
“No thanks, I've got it! It's just - I swear, the entrance teleports around every time I come here. Gimme a few – aha!”
A mechanical beep – and the shutters groaned, creaking up from their rest like an old beast. Aggron felt themself stepping back, all their doubts flashing across their mind in a moment. Perhaps it wasn’t too late to turn and leave, to go back to their solitary life-
Then Aggron felt the crisp, fresh air wafting from beyond the door, the moist smell of mountain moss tickling their snout. A rocky valley lay before them, walls piled high with boulders and pebbles alike.
It felt nostalgic, like their life before it all. Before the city, the League, the years of battles.
Before they knew it, the door finished opening with a thud. On one of the mossy slabs a Rampardos grunted, heaving herself up. Her voice was rough as she spoke.
“Tyrantrum, that you?”
“Yep! Brought my friend too!” Tyrantrum answered, stepping aside to reveal the Aggron. They froze as Rampardos' gaze landed on them.
“I was wondering who you could've brought,” she started, stepping onto the floor. “We've already got every fossil Pokemon in the League here. Well, almost every fossil.”
She threw her gaze at Tyrantrum, who responded with a grin and salute.
“...But you make sense,” she continued. “We don’t have a session today, so most of the others aren’t here. But come with me and I’ll make a few introductions.”
“O-Okay.”
“Ooh, ooh! Can I come too?” Tyrantrum wove a claw around.
“Hey, you pay your dues to the snack fund every time you come. You’re welcome anytime.”
“Knew bribes worked,” Tyrantrum mock-whispered as the trio walked deeper into the building.
“You said you were all from the League?” Aggron asked curiously. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around.”
“Don’t battle much,” Rampardos replied with a shrug. “Was inducted in the Sinnoh season myself, but turns out my species just isn’t cut out for it.”
Aggron winced. “I… see.”
“But the money’s too good to pass up, eh?” Rampardos turned her head, meeting Aggron's eyes knowingly. “If not me, it’ll be some other Rampardos. So I just stay on call until some newbie comes along and drafts me into their team.”
It was very painfully familiar, yes. Aggron knew the crushing weight of passing time well. Restlessly practising their moves over and over, one eye on the announcement board all the while.
They'd had glory days before, relatively speaking. Got to re-live a part of them, even, with the new Mega Stones in the past seasons. But now, with the Mega ban in Galar...
Rampardos let out a mildly sympathetic grunt. “Can't say I can relate much myself. But remind me to introduce you to Aerodactyl the next time he comes.”
“Him?” Aggron paused, mind blanking. “But he was one of the greats, right? Back when I first joined. Even before the Mega Stones.”
“Times change. And it's been a decade since then.”
“It's been...? Oh. Oh, it has.”
Those were the days. Striding into the League as a young 'mon, taking in sights so different from the wilderness of their childhood home.
A new frontier, foreign and fresh. A whole new world.
“I had my time too, you know, early on,” Rampardos continued. “Was a nice time. A short time. But that was then, and this is now. Doesn't do much good to keep being attached to the past.”
Aggron's heart ached as they spoke. “But those were the best times.”
“Eh. If remembering them brings down the rest of your life...”
She let the words hang in the air between them as Aggron stared into the ground.
"Hey, the present's not so bad. C'mon, we're almost there."
“Old-timers!” Tyrantrum cheerily shouted, and the moment passed.
“Could still show you what a real Head Smash looks like, you wet-eared rookie,” Rampardos sniped back with a grin.
They stopped in what seemed like a common room. A simple one painted a plain light brown, unlike the extravagance of the entrance. It was no less cozy for it; piles of beanbags laid at the center, and a gentle light illuminated the walls. On the far end a television sat, the screen blank.
“Hoy, Cradily. Any news?”
Aggron jumped as a green blob unfurled from the ceiling, casting its gaze around. The Cradily in question let out a warble and a shake of their head before detaching and landing on the ground.
They stared at Aggron. Aggron stared at them.
“New member?” Cradily warbled questioningly.
“I, um, haven't decided yet.”
“Oh,” Cradily said. Was that mild disappointment in their tone?
“Can play Dungeons and Dragonites,” the plant offered hopefully. “Campaign next month. Room for one more.”
Aggron's jaw gaped. “That sounds... interesting, actually. But I, uh, don't know how to play.”
They wished they did, looking at the curious Pokemon in front of them. Aggron had heard of the game before, and the concept of going on adventures did appeal to them. It was just a shame-
“Can learn,” Cradily... shrugged? As much as a plant was capable of shrugging. “Basics are easy. Can show later.”
“Really?”
“Nothing else to do.”
Aggron didn't, either. And – truthfully, even if they did find something to do, it wouldn't be... interesting. Or fun. Battle practice was more a chore than actual entertainment after so long, and forget about real battles in the League.
...But what if they did have to go and battle again? What if this distracted them from their training, from the practice that Aggron would surely regret skipping out on? They couldn't just-
...Get a hobby, for once? Wasn't that something they'd wanted to do for a while now?
So why was Aggron still so hesitant about accepting that outstretched hand?
A slap to the back jutted them from their stupor. Tyrantrum.
“They'll think about it, Cradily. Right?”
“Ow. Um! Yeah, I'll give it a try,” Aggron decided in the moment.
“Excellent. Will sleep now.”
It was a rather amusing sight, watching the plant burrow into the beanbag pile. But Aggron was thinking.
When was the last time they'd met up with somebody? Besides Tyrantrum. They hadn't properly called family in a long while, hadn't participated in any of the League events or parties...
Was it that planning session in the last League team they'd been in?
...Did sitting around and nodding once in a while count?
Aggron kept sitting there, laid against the pile of beanbags. Even when Rampardos excused herself to take care of business, even when Tyrantrum left rushing excitedly deeper into the building.
They sat there and thought of what the future could be.
A chill swept by as an Aurorus entered the room, a fellow descendant of the mountains. The architect behind the entrance room's design, Aggron learnt, bringing to life memories of the distant past. Where was her brother, she asked, and Aggron sadly bid her farewell.
A watery presence slid in next, a Kabutops on the way to the kitchen for a raid. A relic all the way from Kanto, yet no less lively for it. Did they want anything, the Kabutops asked, and Aggron admitted yes, if it wasn't any trouble.
Then in trudged a Bastiodon, a sparkle in her eyes. A fellow Steel-Rock type, though separated by a generation. One of the original founders, Aggron learnt as they shared some of their snacks with her. Do you need anything, she asked, and Aggron said not at the moment, no.
Their heart ached for it, they realised, the company of everyone here. And whatever their future was – surely this could be a part of it too?
The thought would nag at Aggron later, after all conversations were had and they headed home for the night, alone. The warehouse behind them loomed, yet Aggron's thoughts kept drifting to it, away from the distant city and its too-bright lights.
It would be easy to just give an excuse. Say that they were preoccupied with chores, that the club was too far away from home, that they weren't a good fit...
But tomorrow, Aggron decided - tomorrow, they would be back again.
And perhaps that counted for something.