Chapter Text

1: A Lesson in Astrology

"What do you think of, Miss Akari, when you look at the stars like this?"

They'd been quiet for so long, Akari had almost forgotten that she had different company this time round. That wasn't Professor Laventon's voice, and the Security Corps guards never talked much. When they did, it was usually amongst themselves, and about things that had nothing to do with the Survey Corps. If Akari ever tried to engage them in casual conversation, not asking for their help or trying to buy something from them, they would look at her as though they were ghosts, stunned at being seen by a living human. So, she'd stopped trying.

Akari knew who it was, this time. But, just to be sure, she sat up and looked over the campfire. The heat warped the air, but she could still see her travelling companion staring back at her, sitting forward with his elbows resting on his knees. His eyes were bright, and Akari couldn't tell whether it was just the reflection of the fire's glow, or his own curiosity.

It felt strange to see him here. He'd been to some of these camps before, but only in passing, or as a merchant. Maybe that was why Akari kept feeling surprised that he was still here. She expected him to get up, say some cheerful goodbyes, and disappear into the night. But, no, he was making himself at home, whittling a piece of wood with a small knife.

Or maybe this feeling wasn't strangeness at all, but a rush of excitement. A bit of novelty. Hisui's groups usually kept themselves so separate. Akari didn't think she'd fallen into that mentality, but perhaps she had. The only people who sat around a Survey Corps campfire were members of the Galaxy Expedition Team. Very occasionally, one of them might bring a brave family member along for a sightseeing trip. But it would always be somebody from the village. Any visitors from elsewhere might stay nearby, but not so close as this.

The bright blue and yellow of that Ginkgo Guild uniform looked out of place. This wasn't what a merchant was supposed to do, and that was unusual, for Hisui. People here generally behaved just as they were expected to. But not Volo.

"Miss Akari…?"

She didn't know how to answer. She didn't feel like she could voice her current musings, or tell Volo that he looked out of place here.

"It's nothing." The words got lost in a yawn. The pair had been walking through the foothills since the morning, just to get to this camp. But it didn't even feel like their first step yet; it was only the pause before that. "I just like looking at the stars."

Akari rolled onto her back, hands cushioning her head, so that all she could see in her field of vision was the vast painting of the night sky. Occasionally, light would streak across the canvas. Whether it was a shooting star, or a stray spark from the fire, she wasn't always sure. It didn't matter. She wasn't making wishes; she was saving those, just in case there was a limit to how many she could have. Even though I only need one.

She'd been admiring this view ever since she arrived in Hisui, but it still awed her. That first night, even though the whole thing had still felt like a dream she couldn't wake up from, she'd looked up at the stars. She'd wondered how people could just walk down the street, go into their houses, and shut their doors. How could they not tilt their heads back until their necks ached, as she did?

"You don't, say…look for some…signs…?" Volo's words were dragged out, laden with pauses, as he tried to focus on carving and talking at the same time. It sounded, to Akari, like he was almost teasing. "As to what the future may bring?"

"What, like astrology?" Akari hadn't meant it to sound so scornful. "No, I don't. I don't think I believe in that. Do you?"

"I used to."

Volo changed position, moving to lie down on his side. He was propped up on one elbow, his upper leg bent at the knee. Reclining, Akari thought. The same way rich people lie on their beds in ancient portraits. The only difference was that Volo was not as still as a portrait. He gently bounced his bent leg; this must have been a fidget of his, but Akari had never noticed it before. And even in this position, he carried on with his crafting. His fingers were so close together, and he worked so quickly, apparently unafraid of the blade slipping.

"You used to?" Akari repeated. "So, then…you stopped? How come?"

"Because it's of no consequence to me. I'm no astrologer. In the olden days, they would have had such people. Astrologers, priests, diviners, and so on. But times have changed. I say, what's the good of signs if you can't read them for yourself?" He paused to blow splinters and dust away from his project. "If the gods wish to send a message, shouldn't they make it clear, instead of hiding it behind an arcane discipline?"

"Huh. I guess you have a point."

Wish he could send that point into the future. Imagine a nineteenth-century merchant putting modern-day horoscope writers out of business.

Akari smiled and returned to looking at the stars. No, she was no astrologer either. She couldn't even have pinpointed the constellations that were supposedly controlling everyone's fates. It wasn't just her lack of interest in astrology; as far as she could remember, she hadn't grown up with this view of the night sky.

"You know, I think the sky looks different in my time."

"You have a different sky? How did that come about?"

"No, it must be the same sky, but…I mean, I don't remember seeing the stars like this. You know how they have those lanterns, in Jubilife Village?" Akari looked at Volo again, just to check that he was following. "Well, in my time, I think there's more of them. Lots more. And they're bright. If you want to see the stars, you'd have to go somewhere dark, get away from any towns and roads - "

"Is that not what we're doing now?"

"Well, yeah. But it's not the same. Because, in the future, there are a lot more…"

Akari felt as though her heart had suddenly leapt into her throat, blocking her from saying anything further. The thoughts behind the feeling were fuzzy, but she understood them, more or less. She glanced at Volo, wondering if he'd already figured it out, too. If he had, there was no sign of it on his face. He wasn't even looking at her, too engrossed in what he was making.

Akari didn't know anything about Volo's background, but there were plenty of hints that he was a Celestica descendant. She didn't want to be the one to tell him that, in the future, his homeland would be changed beyond recognition. No doubt he'd ask about the ruins that he so loved exploring, especially if they were his history, not just a hobby. Akari couldn't remember whether they still existed, in her time. Whether the clans still existed. She certainly didn't remember hearing about them before she'd landed in Hisui.

But, then again, there was a lot she didn't remember. There was no pattern to it. Various things, both significant and trivial, would flit in and out of her memory. Some of them may have been nothing but dreams.

Going home would be bittersweet. That was what Akari was wishing for, because she didn't belong here. There had been a time when she'd imagined she might, someday, but things had changed; now she knew this could never be her home.

And yet, she also imagined herself back in her future bedroom, or in a library, looking through history books and touching old pictures like it would bring her back here. That was assuming she'd even remember, but she hoped she would. It was even worse to think she might be looking at pictures of people she once knew, but with no recognition, no feelings.

"It must be very bright, then," Volo said after a pause. "So bright that you could go out at night, without fear? And do things? Just as in the day?"

"Yeah. Sort of." Akari pointed up at the stars, yawning again. "But…would you want to lose this?"

Volo obligingly looked up and tilted his head one way, then the other, making a vague noise in his throat. He probably wouldn't understand, Akari thought. If you've grown up seeing the stars every night, why would it be special?

"Then again, I suppose nights are already like that in the village, aren't they?" Volo asked.

"I guess. I don't really go wandering around after dark."

There were lots of reasons for that. Akari's work left her too tired. The only people in the village who were nocturnal were those members of the Security Corps assigned to the nighttime guard, and there wasn't much point trying to talk to them.

"No, I suppose that would make you look suspicious." Volo briefly lifted his gaze from his carving and caught Akari's eye. "I assume all is mended, though? Between you and the Galaxy Team?"

Akari turned her head, breaking eye contact. The stars are so beautiful. "Sure."

It was as mended as it could be. Kamado had asked for her forgiveness. Her friends had welcomed her back. Beni still served her potato mochi, even if he and they were colder than before. There was little that could be done about the villagers who still watched her out of the corners of their eyes whenever she walked past them. The ones who stopped to whisper to their companions. Some didn't even have the courtesy to lower their voices. But people had the right to their opinions, didn't they? Even if they were wrong. Even if it hurt.

You can't just whip up a town into a frenzy against someone and then expect it to disappear.

"You must have been…dreadfully angry." Volo's sentences were stilted again as he concentrated on finishing his craft. "Some people…wouldn't have gone back. Or they'd be planning some kind of…revenge, perhaps. To be scapegoated and exiled like that…isolated, cut off from any form of society…or even just from the ones you know and love…it's a terrible thing. A cruel thing. I find it…quite unforgiveable, really..."

Akari chose not to say anything. This wasn't a subject she wished to dwell on. She certainly didn't want to start questioning whether it had been pathetic of her to accept Kamado's apology and retake her place in the Galaxy Team. I had no choice, she would have said. But there was always a choice, right? She'd just picked the easiest one. No, not easy. The one that made the most sense.

She nodded at the wood that Volo had been whittling. By now, it had taken on a familiar shape, with its cylindrical body and oversized head, but Akari was still curious to see it. "A Pokeshi Doll?" she asked.

Volo set it down by the fire, like it was the third guest in their party, and turned it to face Akari. It was giving her a crooked smile.

✧✧✧

Akari thought her parents would have cracked a joke if they saw her up at this time of day.

Will they ever get to know?

It wasn't the first time she'd wondered. Even so, for just a second, it made her chest ache. It cut through her voice as she shouted orders to her Torterra, adding pain to words that had been charged with energy a moment ago.

Torterra might have been a slow mover, which could make him seem dull, but he would pick up on things like that. He turned around to check on his trainer. Akari waved a hand at him to carry on, while with the other she rubbed at her chest, like the ache was physical. It wasn't, but that seemed to help. So did the weight of her satchel at her side.

That's why we're here.

The plates were nowhere near as heavy as they looked, only heavy enough for her to know that they were there. Somehow, they'd never gotten any heavier, no matter how many she'd collected, no matter how many she held. That was part of the reason why she believed they might be something special, and that this wasn't just a case of Volo getting excited about some ancient relics.

So, Akari had become a morning person. The river had looked murky when she had stepped out of her tent into the frosty air, clouds of her own breath billowing in front of her face. Volo's tent had been closed, with no sign of movement, so she had gone quietly, not wanting to wake him.

Although wild Pokémon rarely ventured near the camps, Akari had left Blissey there for Volo's protection as he slept. As long as there was no trouble, Blissey wouldn't mind sitting there peacefully, rocking and cradling her egg, enjoying the morning sun. As Akari had left her, she'd been smiling. The Happiness Pokémon, living up to her name.

Now that the sun was high enough to peer through the mountains and set the river shining, Torterra had already humiliated the local pride of Luxio. The cats lay about, panting beneath the trees or sipping from the water. Akari thought they'd had the best of whatever challenge they were going to get here. She called Torterra back into his Poké Ball and began the climb up the hill, back to the camp.

Volo was right where she thought he'd be.

At the top of the hill, not far from the tents, there was a patch of ruins. Akari had wondered what it might have been, once upon a time. It was easy to think that every ruin in Hisui had been a temple, but the Celestica people must have had other buildings, too. Perhaps this was a gatehouse, or even a tavern, the last chance saloon on the way into the mountains.

Whatever it had been, now there was only the arch of a doorway, a few pillars, and some cracked floor tiles that were slowly being reclaimed by nature. And two Pokémon statues, one in better shape than the other.

The more fortunate statue was a Probopass. The building's roof might have sheltered it, once, but now that it was exposed to the elements, its features had softened. In spite of that, it was nearly intact, and it had managed to retain a striking amount of detail. The Survey Corps maps called this place Heavenward Lookout, and Akari thought it might have been because of that Probopass, fixed there with its nose pointing north, towards Mount Coronet and what was left of the Temple of Sinnoh. That was the highest point in Hisui. The closest point to Heaven. That must have been why they'd built the Temple there.

Akari hung back for a moment to watch Volo. Ruins and relics were what he seemed to enjoy the most; Miss Cogita had said that it was his whole reason for wanting to come on this trip. 'Just an excuse to avoid your merchantry work and go digging around in some old ruins,' she'd said. Akari had to admit that he looked in his element, kneeling amongst the ruins with his hand on his chin. Over his uniform, he was wearing a long and heavy cloak, made of something that resembled wool. It was a drab colour, somewhere between brown and grey. But it looked warm. And with it hiding his Ginkgo Guild colours, with the exception of his hat, Akari thought he looked more explorer than merchant.

The girl wandered closer, though she tried to stand in a place where she wouldn't block the sun's light from the thing that Volo was examining. This was the second statue, which must have fallen from its pedestal long ago. Now it lay on its back, staring forever at the same patch of sky - or it would have been, but the impact had destroyed most of its head. The soft, rounded shape of its body and arms was still recognisable. It lay on a bed of crumbled stone which may have been its wings, in its previous life. Akari felt sad for it, not because she believed statues could feel, but because she recognised what it was supposed to be, and it was close to her own heart.

"A Clefable, right? Have you ever seen one? In real life, I mean?"

"Only at a distance. At Fabled Spring." Volo stood up and turned in the direction of the place he'd just mentioned, even though it was impossible to see it from here.

That was West, Akari knew. She was getting better at figuring these things out, but this time, the Probopass had served as her compass.

"I love that place." As she was talking, Akari stepped around the Clefable statue and sat down on top of a broken pillar. It was more comfortable than she expected, but just a little too high for her feet to touch the ground, so she let her legs swing on either side. "That's where I caught my Clefairy. She evolved, not long ago. So, if you ever want to see a Clefable for real, I'll introduce you to her. She's cool."

Was she talking about herself and her Pokémon too much? Akari felt like it was a bad habit she'd developed since she'd arrived in Hisui. It wasn't like she wasn't interested in Volo's life. Quite the opposite: she would have loved to ask him some questions, but he never gave her the chance. It had been like that ever since they'd first met.

And it wasn't just Volo. People were always asking Akari things, which she supposed she couldn't be surprised at. After all, she was the one who'd fallen out of the sky. The one who was said to be from the future. But nobody ever stopped to think that she might have questions, too. They just expected her to know.

Akari decided that this trip would be her chance to make up for it. It was a long way to the top of Mount Coronet.

"You must like Fairy types, too…?" Nice try, Akari, but that's not really a question. "Did your Togepi evolve yet?

"Ah…yes, I'm sure Clefable and I will get to meet eventually." When Volo turned around, his gaze instantly fell to Akari's swinging legs. Suddenly, she could hear her own shoes brushing against the ancient stone, making a swishing noise that was louder than she'd realised. She stopped at once. But if Volo was annoyed by that, he didn't show it. As always, he was smiling. "Shall we prepare to leave, Miss Akari? Or are you still training?"

He must have missed her question, but it wasn't important. Akari was sure that she would find out, at some point over the next few days.

"Training's done, but I gotta eat something." She took a couple of paper-wrapped parcels out of her bag, offering one to Volo. "I got Beni to give me some potato mochi for the trip. I said that I should get what I would have been eating if I were in the village, but…he didn't buy that argument. Wouldn't give me a few days' worth. Just these. I know they're cold, and they're a day old by now. Probably should have eaten them last night. But they should still be tasty!"

The mochi's sticky sauce had cooled to become a glue, making the mochi parcels difficult to unwrap, and messy to eat. That aside, Akari had thought that having some of Beni's potato mochi might have been a treat for Volo. He wasn't a member of the Galaxy Team, so it wasn't like he got to eat them every day. There was a good chance he'd never tried them before, considering how fussy Beni could be about who got to eat at his establishment. But, though he accepted it with a smile and a nod of thanks, Volo picked at the mochi like he didn't really want it.

"Are you not a breakfast person?" Akari asked. "Why don't you find someplace to sit?"

"No, it's quite alright!"

Volo stayed on his feet, wandering in and out of view as he strolled around the outside of the ruined building. Akari noticed that he started to eat more whenever he caught her watching, which she found odd, but also oddly endearing. Maybe he just wasn't a potato mochi fan, but he was trying to be polite. Akari couldn’t understand how anyone could dislike potato mochi. Even when they were cold and not exactly fresh, the umami taste of that sauce and the nori was more than just food, it was joy.

But everyone's different, right? Maybe he's more of a sweets guy?

"Does Beni ever feed you Ginkgo Guild guys when you come to town?" Akari asked, wondering if there were some unspoken politics preventing Volo from enjoying his mochi.

"Beni? No. But some kind soul usually does." Volo leaned against the stone post that had once been the building's doorframe. "Don't worry, Miss Akari. We don't often go hungry!"

✧✧✧

After they had eaten, they went down to the river for water. Akari noticed that Volo carried two large flasks, and he filled both.

At first, she could only think of how heavy they must have been to carry. But on the other hand, hydration was pretty important. She'd given herself plenty of headaches at first, not realising just how much she needed to drink while out on survey work, even if the weather was cold. The lack of paracetamol, once her headache was in full swing, had slowly pushed her towards making sure that didn't happen. But it was still a work in progress. Volo must have learned that lesson a long time ago.

Now Akari only had to call Blissey back into her ball, and make sure they left the camp in good order.

Since it belonged to the Galaxy Team, the ones who were paying her wages and giving her food and shelter, Akari figured she probably shouldn't make them angry by leaving all of their camps in a mess on the way up the mountain. And her tent was a mess right now, unlike the one Volo had used. His belongings were ready and waiting, with his striped bedroll attached to the top of his backpack. He'd even cleared out the firepit from last night.

"Hey, don't forget your Pokeshi doll!" Akari pointed to it, still smiling its crooked smile, enjoying a campfire that had long since burned out.

"Oh, I think it can stay." Volo knelt down and put one of his water flasks into each side pocket of his backpack. "Let it be a friendly greeting, to whoever comes here next."

"That'll be us, on the way down!" Akari thought it unlikely that there'd be any survey expeditions to the mountains any time soon, after all that drama with Dialga and Palkia at the Temple of Sinnoh. People were still wary about the place.

"Then we shall just bid it a short farewell." Volo tipped his cap towards his own creation. "Until we meet again."

That's so sweet.

A bit sentimental, maybe, but in these harsh mountains, they had to find softness where they could. It put a smile on Akari's face, which may have been Volo's only aim.

As she set about packing and sorting out her tent, she began to think that she'd been wrong to worry.

As they'd left Cogita's home, they had paused by the stream at the foot of the garden, and Volo had suggested that they should go all this way together. And Akari had hesitated.

She didn't know how to put it politely, but she'd thought he might be more of a burden than a help. He'd slow her down. She would be better off doing this alone. With nobody to worry about but herself and her Pokémon, she would get things done faster. And she didn't feel like she knew Volo, despite their frequent meetings.

Travelling together like this was like living with someone, but with some additional hardships. It was a time when any flaws and personality clashes would rise to the surface, and their opinions of each other may have ended up changed forever. What if things were awkward? What if they fell out? Would it be worth it?

Really, Akari had only said yes because she couldn't find a nice way to say no. But she was beginning to feel differently.