Chapter Text
Stow-on-side is a calming place, most of the time. The bustling market is a nice sound, once you get used to it. Then again, it's not unpleasant at night, with its absence.
Ika lays in his mums living room. He never felt home here. The town, and the forest to the northeast of it, was always his true place of belonging. Well, except for Hoenn, of course.
The telly is showing a news station. As usual, another story of a Dynamax-related injury is today's headline. They don't occur too often, so when they do, they're plastered all over the news.
Fae lay still in his lap. Ika looks down at her. She is clearly sleeping. Whenever she is absent, there's a radiant aura that suddenly disappears. Likely to do with Ralts' psychic typing. So, her death is easy to rule out. She's not that old, after all.
Hikikomori is eating food in his flying cage. Funny name, flying cage. It's really just a shorter way of saying "flying type pokémon cage", but it sounds like the cage is the one flying.
Either way, he's nibbling on some pecha berries. Strangely, despite Zubat typically not liking them due to their poison-removing side effect, Hikikomori has one hell of a sweet tooth, and seems willing to compromise.
Ika's two partners- Fae the Ralts, and Hikikomori the Zubat- are more family to him than his mum ever was. Or will be, for that matter. It's not as if he doesn't love her, of course. He just... Always valued the life of pokémon over those of humans. That includes himself, of course. He's not a hypocrite, he'd die to protect Fae any day of the week.
...Sometimes, it feels like he wants that to happen, too.
Being a poison type specialist has always been the dream. Except for that one weird lady on that strange island, Galar has never really had one. He doesn't want fame, per se, but he wants recognition as something other than "Champion material". Like... Ika. Just Ika.
Ika. He doesn't know why his mum chose that name, and he's too awkward to question her. He likes his name, but- It's a bloody Hoenni name! Popular YEARS before Ika was even born! And his MUM is GALARIAN! Strange conclusions aside, at least he has a parent now. She doesn't seem to want to get married, so he doesn't expect "Parent" to become plural. Maybe that's for the best. Hop seems to struggle with his parents.
...
Oh. Hop.
Hop has been Ika's best friend since they were, what, 9? While it's definitely a bit one-sided, and Ika'd never actually admit it... He values his friendship with Hop a lot. Better than being constantly lonely, at least. They're both 16 now. They would go to the same class if Ika wasn't home-schooled. He's learnt a lot from his mum, but not as much as Hop has, it seems. Honestly, Ika doesn't understand why he even wants to be around him. Ika is cold, doesn't care much for others, and has a monotone voice. Hop is caring, energetic, and has a voice that bounces around more than a Spoink on X-speed. They're polar opposites, and Ika never really liked that whole "Opposites attract" philosophy. Or any philosophy. He just wants to play his music, and not have to worry about "the meaning of life" or "Ika, Hop is at the door", or-
Oh. That's his mum.
...He'll be damned, Hop is at the door.
About half an hour passes, with Hop carrying the conversation. He doesn't complain about it once. He even seems a bit disappointed when Ika tries to talk - Like he just wants him to shut up and listen.
But Ika knows him.
He wouldn't think like that.
Could it be that Hop just enjoys his company?
No, that doesn't make sense, Ika is an awful friend!
...Hop's talking about his brother now.
Leon. Ika was never much for the guy. He doesn't HATE him or anything, but he does look at him and wonder if him and Hop are truly related - And, why Hop looks up to him so much. Hop is a better person in more ways than one. Hop is kind, he is humble, he is a great friend... Does Leon even have friends? Could you call the professor's daughter his friend? I mean, that question alone proves his point about Hop being a better friend.
Still, Hop doesn't seem to stop comparing himself to his older brother. He tries to be like him in every way. All this talk about wanting to become the champion... Ika never understood it. He never wanted to be champion, it sounds like bloody torture. All those meetings... The battles... Having to sit through the chairman's insufferable ass talk for ages about why coal mines are dangerous... I mean, the last part is true, but the chairman still sounds pretentious as hell. At least he wasn't as self-centered as "Lee" was.
The day passes quickly to midnight. As the sun goes down, Ika be becomes more and more talkative, and Hop starts relying more and more on snacks to stay afloat. The taller one starts nodding along, while the typically quieter one rants on about why poison types are undervalued. He seems very enthusiastic about it, more enthusiastic than even feels right. Eventually, the two fall asleep on the couch, with Wooloo and Fae curled up on a Pokébed.
Outside, the market has gone silent. Nobody but nightly travelers consisting mostly people who work late shifts over in Hammerlocke returning home fill the void that would be filled with commotion. The stars in Stow-on-side are the clearest in any major Galarian settlement, but today, the only thing you can see are the clouds, darkened by the lack of light, but slightly illuminated by the moon. In a way, everything is brightened by the sun. Just, sometimes you don't see it as such.
A Musharna flies outside his window, spewing light pink gasses.