Chapter Text
The WonderlandsxShowtime troupe’s sponsors hired another performer last week, a gangly young man with messy brown hair that goes by Leo. When asked if he had chosen Leo as an alias for the Pokemon Litleo, he shook his head and pointed to the night sky. His black gloves caught the glow from the tent's electric lamps, the radiance making his hands shimmer.
“Leo, like the constellation. A proud lion sitting high in the sky, overlooking its kingdom.”
And he offers nothing else.
Aside from his name (which is obviously fake) and his taciturn reaction to everything they had done during practice and quiet hours, Leo left nothing much for them to work on. But it confuses a good chunk of their troupe when Leo excels in their drills and practices.
It's not even hard to practise now their four-man performance has become five-man. Barring the show Pokemon they performed next to on stage, everyone thought another addition to a troupe their ringmaster has painstakingly harmonised would destroy his hard-earned work for good. It's a scary thought, one that Nene, their lead songstress, prompted her to confront Leo after another well-coordinated practice. He seems shocked to be approached by the fuming girl and Emu, their acrobat, scurrying after Nene like a Furret with her tail on fire.
“What are you planning?” She pointed her sharp nails at Leo's face, brows scrunched in distrust. The ringmaster was a bit too late in stepping in, but whatever their latest addition to the team had seen on Nene's face before her ire consumed her, disturbs Leo. That Rui could tell.
“Nene, take a step back. He hasn't done anything wrong.” Rui wouldn't dare place his hand on Nene's shoulder now, she's a ferocious biter and the habit hadn't passed with time.
“He's too suspicious. Waltzed in, didn't offer anything and was good at every trick in the book on the get-go! I can't-!” Nene raked a hand through her hair, loosening the braid Emu had made for her. “Look, I can let it go if he shows any emotion on his face except stone-cold fucking wall. Am I talking to a pile of concrete or a person here?”
He tilted his head at Nene snapping her fingers, taking a step back when she tried to do it in his face. Rui hurried forward when Nene stepped on her dress, going down fast with a yelp. But Leo has it handled, taking her hands and waist and guiding her into an impromptu dance. Luka, who had just woken up from her idle mode, turned on the radio sitting next to her, a fast-paced jazz filling the air.
“Emu… was it?” Leo asked, passing by the gaping girl.
“Y-Yes! What can I help you with, Leo-kun?”
“When the beat slows, take Kusanagi-san from me?” He twirled Nene around twice, her still stunned dumbly following his lead. Reeling her in, Leo whispered something that only the two of them could hear, and let Emu take her after his countdown stops at zero. Luka cranked the volume to be louder, getting up from the bench and approaches the three of them watching Emu dance with Nene, both of them struggling to keep from stepping on each other's toes.
“Would you be impartial to a dance yourself, Luka-san?” Leo asks, his amber eyes trailing after the two dancers in the middle of the tent.
“It does looks pretty fun, but I'm not good at dancing,” Luka raised her hands to refuse his invitation, shrinking when his hand gently took hers.
“I’m sure the ringmaster won't be too harsh of an amateur dance routine?” Rui huffs, shaking his head.
“I would never. Take the floor, Luka, Leo.” He gave Rui a starting bow. One hand placed on his solar plexus and the other folded behind him, back straight as he dipped at a modest angle, Leo slipped Luka's hand into his and guided her to the centre of the stage. He would correct her at times she missteps, encouraging her to make moves outside the routine she has recorded in past performances. A pop of bright laughter bubbled out of her when Leo twirled and dipped her on her back, painted fingernails digging into his sleeves. Rui thought he saw the ghost of a smile on Leo's face before he reeled Luka back onto her feet, continuing their steps until the end of the song.
It is suspicious, Rui mused; how seamlessly Leo fits into the jagged edges of their troupe. After the lanterns were extinguished and everyone had retreated for the night, Rui found Nene singing next to the pen holding the Ambipoms, stacked against each other to listen to her honeyed voice.
“Rainy boots, and I think they drowned instead of me… I'll play this scene and take the grief, to the places I can never be-”
He leaned on the supporting beam, clapping at the end of her song. “You're thinking of singing that one on the next show?”
“I need more practice. And it's a hard song to properly convey the melancholy in the lyrics,” she grumbled. “Can't even find the musician since he's an anonymous performer.” They both basked in the silence, the three Ambipom finally going to sleep after her song had finished, tails tucked around themselves. “He helped me with my vocal practices today.”
“Hm?”
“Leo. Saw me struggling with a soprano note and fixed my posture. I sang like a Meloetta at the gates of the Hall of Origins after that.”
“That's… good. Right?” Rui took a seat on the ground next to her, carefully folding his long legs to not jostle Nene. He almost jumped when she whirled around, tears brimming her lilac eyes.
“It's not! I cannot trust him! Why do you accept Keisuke's deal to take him into our troupe? How are you so sure that he's clean?! How-” Nene buried her face into her cupped palms, and groaned. “Rui, he could be working with them. ”
“And we are employed under a G-Men of the Battle Champion.” He took her hand, squeezing her shaking fingers briefly. Rui messed up badly, and he needed to appease his little sister before she could fall off the deep end. “It's going to be fine, Nene. Shousuke-san knew about my past and he still let Emu-kun stay in our troupe.”
“Emu was a League finalist, and an ex-Fighting Gym Trainer.” Nene hiccupped, rubbing at her wet eyes. “She can kick your ass without stifling her yawns.”
“Still, she's a close family member to our sponsors. Her capability aside, Keisuke-san and Shousuke-san have faith in me to lead our travelling troupe. Even with…” Rui gulped, tightening his grip on Nene’s hand. He felt her squeeze him back, and a small smile graced his lips. “Even with my past as a Team Rocket admin.”
“Maestro is dead, in the exploded lab all those years ago.” Nene said vehemently. “You’re our ringleader. Rui Kamishiro, with your penchant for creating, fixing, and planning wonderful performances with robots and androids to enchant your audience. You-” Nene turned his fist, tugging open his fingers one by one. “Don't eat vegetables unless it's minced as fine as it gets and you couldn't even see it in your food-”
“Wait, so the lasagna-”
Nene pried open another finger. “You had an ongoing feud against a rogue Porygon-Z in online Voltorb Flip, losing 43-46 to it. You think pineapple belongs on pizza- shut it, that's a criminal offence in multiple areas. You have an intricate six-steps hair care routine just for that electric blue highlight in your hair, and you…”
She dropped her forehead into his open palm, and Rui let his fingers go slack. “-you're my big brother that didn't ask to be taken away that night a decade ago.”
“So you're not that ghost anymore, Rui. Don’t you forget that.” Her sharp nail almost gouged Rui’s eyes out. Chuckling, he leaned back, letting Nene trace the lines in his palms.
“Aye-aye, captain. But according to this logic, you also cannot be antagonistic on purpose against Leo. He's not here on Steven Stone's orders to keep an eye on me, after all.” Rui wiggled his eyebrows. Nene opened her mouth to fight him on it, when he raised a hand and asked aloud, “Len-kun? Do you have a minute?”
“I have a total of 427 minutes and 9 seconds to spare, but yes. I have one for you, Rui-kun.” The blond male-leaning android popped his head into the opened flap of the tent. “You need anything?”
“The resume Otori Keisuke-san forwarded to my computer on the 30th. One that belongs to Leo of Fallarbor Town? Read them aloud for me, please.”
“Sure.” The android closed his eyes, brows scrunching with the effort to sift through files in Rui's servers when a ping came from him, his teal eyes blinking open with a soft glow. “Leo, also known as the Star-Catcher in Rustboro and Cosmonaut/The Shining Minior in other performance circuits, age 21, a small-time performer of two years specialising in space-themed effects using special attacks from a wide array of Pokemon. He would never keep the Pokemon he performed with, preferring to trade them with other Trainers and/or return them after he has finished his showcase, making him stick out with his unusual method. No prior interview has yet to be accepted by Leo, and the reason given to Phoenix Wonderlands board of directors has been locked behind a firewall. Do you wish to know it anyways, Rui?”
“No, thank you-”
“Do it,” Nene cuts in. “But discreetly, Len-kun. With Rui's upgrades on your AI, I think you can handle it.”
“Of course, he gives his best to us after all.” Giving Nene a smug grin, he closed his eyes and began slipping past the firewall of the PWL board of directors. Rui turned to give his sister in all but blood a reproachful look, that she deigned to ignore. Len returned to their silent showdown with a voice recording, the two sides distinctly Leo and the two directors of Phoenix Wonderlands, Keisuke and Shousuke Otori.
[A clip from the interview for the performer's vacancy: Male Actor at WonderlandsxShowtime Theater Troupe sponsored by Phoenix Wonderlands.
Otori_Keisuke: ... I'm afraid I don't follow you, Leo. Could you elaborate on your reasons for why you prefer to let your showcase partners go?
Leo_Fallarbor: Pokemon trade is a completely legal interaction between Trainers, last I checked.
(Nene raised an eyebrow at the sass in Leo's response.)
[Leo: But who am I to deny the request from my possible future employers? If you are really hard-pressed for the reasoning… it's because they want it.
Otori_Kei: The Pokemon?
Leo: Yes.]
(A smile bloomed on Rui's face hearing Leo's frustration.)
Leo: The Pokemon that I performed with agreed to be traded to another trainer, because they wanted more than what I can offer them. Not all Pokemon have the same drive in them, and trading can help finding the best match for both Trainers and Pokemon. Think of my performances as… advertising my partners before sending them to what hopefully will be their forever homes.
Otori_Shousuke: So you're just a Pokemon connoisseur playing matchmaker between Pokemon and Trainers?
Leo: No, of course not. I'm a performer, first and foremost. It's in my resume. ]
Len cleared his throat, ending the transcript. “There's that.”
Rui hummed. “That it is.”
Nene chopped him on the head. “Stop it, you two. I need some time by myself to think.”
Rui and Len complied, the latter checking on the Aipoms and Ambipoms snuggled in their holding pen, content to snore in each other's faces than have their own space in the spacious gated area. It floored Rui at times, how such nimble Pokemon capable of juggling ten items in the air at the same time with their tails out of all limbs, prefer to sploot on the ground to go to sleep.
“Well, what will your verdict be?” He shifted into another position once his feet started feeling numb. His long legs are just not used to being still on the cold, hard ground for long periods of time. “Leo-kun sounds sincere in his interview, about wanting the best for the Pokemon he performed with and taking into consideration their wishes. Someone with such care for his fellow performers wouldn't be the kind of person to backstab a fellow star on the stage.”
“It's easy for you to say that,” Nene argued, but her words were losing their earlier vigour. “I- I don't know, Rui. I'm worried about our future, now Mr. Stakataka has joined our troupe and he's just-”
Rui gave Nene's trembling hand a firm squeeze. “You're afraid that he's all talk, crap show kind of guy. Like your old troupe.”
Her shoulders slumped, and Nene gave him the tiniest of nods indicating that she’s listened to him. Rui's murmured “oh Nene…” got her hitting him in the bicep, before she all but headbutted Rui in the chest. He let out a soft oof and patted his baby sister in between her shoulder blades, humming the melody of the same song she's been singing to the Aipoms and Ambipoms before Rui interrupted her. Somehow, the slowed reverb of Rainy Boots in his voice sounded a lot more mournful than he liked. It did the job though; when Nene looked up from his chest, tears wetting her eyelashes as she scrubbed at her red eyes.
“I hated not knowing the future,” she admits, voice all choked up and thick from crying. Rui patted her hair, humming. “Leo's going to change things from what I envisioned- how I see it'll be. I don't like that.”
“You're afraid,” Rui corrected her. Nene's grip on his sleeve tightened. “And it's alright for you to feel that way. Psychics and clairvoyants had drilled it over and over again; knowing too much about the future would spell a catastrophe to those who opened the metaphorical Pandora's box.”
“No, they're not-” Nene wrinkled her nose.
Rui soldiered on. “Planning for the future is a good habit to have, but you shouldn't put all your eggs in the arms of one Blissey; they might drop it all. Your feelings are valid, Nene, but don't pull the brakes just because an anomaly presents itself in the middle of your projects.”
“You're slipping into lab speech,” Nene huffs. She pulls away from Rui and he lets her, picking at the lace on her day dress. “I still don't like not being able to read him, like how I did with Emu and the Otori Directors and you. But you're right, Leo hasn't done anything to make me act so standoffish against him. It was a bad reaction.”
Rui nodded, relieved at his baby sister finally solving her crisis. But… “You still have to apologise to Leo, you know. Your actions earlier today could cause a hiccup in our performances from this point onwards- I'm not forcing you to make one right away,” Rui adds when Nene opens her mouth to complain. “-since he doesn't seem that bothered with your confrontation. Just- think really hard on it. This is for the future of our troupe, okay?”
It took him some time, but eventually Nene gritted out a harsh, “Fine.” Well, a deal's still a deal in his books.
“Speaking of your confrontation earlier, what did Leo say to you? He sent you to flare out then reeled you in, I noticed him whispering something to you.”
“That's some keen observation you got there,” Nene was genuinely impressed. “He didn't really say anything, just quoted a line from a Shakespearan play- one I couldn’t remember. ‘All the world's a stage; and all the men and the women are merely players.’ I was so stunned that it didn't really register until I was passed over to Emu trying to make me do an air-split with her.”
“She did have some impressive limb articulation,” Rui chuckled. “You could do more to follow her stretching drills, Nene. I see… thanks for sharing them with me.”
“Whatever,” she yawned, before excusing herself to bed, Len following her out of the Pokemon enclosure. Rui sent her off with a jaunty wave, the smile slipping from his face as soon as she disappeared behind the tent flaps.
Quoting Shakespeare? And that line too… Who is the real you, Leo?