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“Here,” A soft voice said, handing Dawn a small cup of freshly brewed green tea. “Be careful, it’s hot.”
Dawn’s cold, slender fingers cautiously curled around the cup and took it from an unnaturally still hand before taking a small sip between shivers.
Volo took a seat next to the girl with his own cup in hand. He let out a small sigh; not in contentment, but simply as an effort to fill the silence before taking a sip of his own warm beverage.
A blanket of stars began to peek over the horizon as the sun's warm, orange glow made a patient departure. The sounds of a crackling fire under their tea set filled the evening air while embers ran off with the setting sun. Volo spoke up once again as his head remained forward and his eyes dull.
“You shouldn’t forgive me,” He said flatly, swallowing another drink of his tea. He paused between words like one would when savoring a particular flavor, but his demeanor only implied its insipidity. “You know that.”
Dawn remained quiet as the man's words hung heavy in the air. Another long, uncomfortable moment passed before Volo took her silence as an invitation to speak once again.
“You don’t need me, Akari,” Volo added in the same dull voice. “You should forget about me already.”
His voice was smoother than the tea he sipped at as he spoke without hesitancy- a harsh contrast to the pitiful words he shared. While unspoken, Dawn knew that his words were less of a suggestion and more of an unbudging command. Though, she wasn’t sure if she truly wanted to listen to them or not.
“I know.” The girl responded, contributing to their one-sided conversation for the first time. With her hands wrapped around her cup, her fingers securely intertwined in an attempt to keep herself grounded.
‘I know’ didn’t truly express how Dawn felt. She felt like she wanted to scream, and yell, and direct everything she could at Volo. Every negative feeling that bubbled inside her and left her stomach feeling like an abyss, every muscle that tightened and held her back from lashing out, every comforting memory he crept his way into and stained like an ink puddle produced by an unmoving quill- she wanted nothing more but to let it all out and charge towards Volo like a frenzied pokémon.
But at the same time, all Dawn wanted to do was cry. She wanted to let her heavy tears escape her eyes and stream down her cheeks as she embraced Volo in a tight hug. She wanted to sit and cackle as she listened to another one of his stories, losing track of the passing time while laughter filled the air. She wanted to share a quiet sunset over tea with him just one last time.
But Volo wasn’t here, Dawn had to remind herself.
Volo hadn't been here for a while now. She hadn't heard the name 'Volo' muttered by another soul for as long as she could remember. If anything, it felt like the man only lived on in her memories, haunting them with his once welcomed presence.
Being the only one to still think about such a person felt like another cruel punishment forced onto her by Almighty Sinnoh itself.
In the lush forest of Obsidian Fieldlands sat only her and her pokémon around a lone tea set.
It took an immense amount of effort, but Dawn forced herself to turn towards the illusionist beside her and properly demand its attention with her tired eyes.
The figure responded, unnaturally mimicking her head turn with a frown plastered on its face. Its deep, brown eyes, while looking down and meeting hers, seemed to stare through her blankly.
Dawn squinted with fixed eye contact before opening her mouth once again.
“I..I know.” Stated the girl with a quiver in her voice.
“I’m better off without him, I know.” She added with an exhausted exhale. She broke her eye contact with the figure as her gaze fell to the grassy floor below. The figure remained motionless, continuing to stare ahead with unwavering eyes.
Dawn leaned forward, curling into herself with her knees up and her face pressed into them in a desperate attempt for comfort. Her cup remained in a tight grasp, sitting in front of her legs as the tea inside sloshed around gently.
The figure blinked hard, reminding itself to move as it took notice of the girl's shaking body. Neither it nor Dawn knew if the cool, nighttime air or her feelings of overwhelming dread were to blame for her shivering.
Dawn slightly lifted her face away from her legs to speak.
“I’m not going to do anything stupid,” She said, with a slight, trembling scoff escaping her throat. “Don’t worry too much about me, Zoroark.”
Zoroark, continuing its illusion, only hesitated- not like a real person would, but in the way a puppet might abruptly stop as its puppeteer animates another in response to the previous scene.
“Akane, I want to-” Zoroark began to say, suddenly cutting itself off as its words came out sounding less like the soft voice of a man and more like the scruffy growl of a sly fox. It cleared its throat a few times before starting once again.
“Akane,” It repeated, failing to correct its confidently wrong attempt at saying the girl's name- which Dawn almost failed to register after years of being referred to as Akari. It was the closest thing she had to her own name, anyway.
Zoroark continued in its perfectly crafted imitation of Volo’s voice. “I want to tell you an especially good story- one last story that I’ve saved just for this moment.”
Dawn managed to pull her face away from her knees as she registered the pokémon’s words. She sat quietly for a moment, with Zoroark waiting patiently by her side, before sighing.
“How about it?” Zoroark asked after another sip of warm tea.
With a sad glint in her eyes and a small, somber smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, Dawn looked back at Zoroark and silently nodded.