Chapter Text
Akari was in high spirits after quelling the frenzy of Lord Avalugg.
Sure, it was dangerous and exhausting, but the people of Hisui could finally put the thought of rampaging lords and ladies (that were supposed to protect them) out of their minds.
She’d have to admit to herself that Avalugg had been the hardest of the frenzied Pokemon to calm. It was amazing she’d done it with just her own acrobatics, her Pokemon, and really old ice. What was it that Volo had told her- it was a hundred feet tall? Could sprout icicles out from under your feet? Akari wouldn’t believe it if she hadn’t had the daunting experience she just did. Her muscles ached from exertion.
“You looked incredible out there!” Irida had told her. “The way you command both yourself and your Pokemon…both I and Lord Avalugg thank you.”
What Irida didn’t know about were the amount of Oran berries she had to feed to Decidueye to keep it standing, or the burning, icy crystals growing at her hip where Lord Avalugg had struck her with its glacial breath.
Though it was painful, Akari could only smile to herself as she soared over the cold, mountainous Alabaster Icelands with Lord Braviary. The ground far below was shimmering white from the latest snowstorm, Swinub and Snorunt roaming among it.
I’ve quelled every noble, she thought to herself. So maybe Cyllene will finally let me rest for once.
Lord Braviary, the psychically sensitive Diamond Clan noble, sensed the sarcasm in her thoughts and looked down at her puzzledly, the purple flames at his head flickering with confusion.
“What?” she asked. “You know how she overworks me. Go fight this, go catch that…you’ve had to save me from several dangerous Pokemon she’s requested me to survey. Can’t thank you enough for that, by the way.”
Lord Braviary, satisfied with her response, cawed and picked up speed.
Someday. Someday I’ll be able to sleep.
Ever since she’d gained Lord Braviary’s favor several weeks ago, she’d become closer with him than one could expect to be with a Pokemon, and the rest of the Galaxy Team was appalled at this. It was hilarious, actually. The girl who fell from the sky befriends yet another protected, worshipped noble. Why not?
The mountains began to grow smaller in the distance.
Akari gripped the glider Lord Braviary was holding even tighter. They were flying over the Obsidian Fieldlands now, cloaked in an orange sunset. Almost to Jubilife Village, where she’d report her completed mission to Commander Kamado. She’d better receive sufficient payment…
She asked Lord Braviary to let her down, so he flew towards the ground, and waited for her to let go of the glider before settling down himself.
Akari scratched under his beak, and reached into her satchel to retrieve several Nanab berries, which Lord Braviary happily ate from her hand.
“Thank you,” she whispered, “I’ll see you soon.”
Lord Braviary cawed and took off into the sky. Akari smiled sadly, as she couldn’t promise what she didn’t know. The catastrophe seemed to be solved…maybe her home waited beyond the space-time rift. Is it truly my home? she thought. She didn’t know.
She began walking towards Jubilife Village, waving to the Security Corps members walking off to some mission or other, letting Sylveon out of his pokeball to chase off any nearby aggressive Pokemon. The Fieldlands were always peaceful this time of day. Trees swooped and swayed with the wind, the chilly air welcome on Akari’s cheeks as she watched Sylveon giddily beckon to her to follow. Bidoofs ran up to her as Starly vanished at hearing her footsteps, taking off with those strong, tiny wings.
She’d come a long way since catching fragile Pokemon like these. A Bidoof, the first Pokemon she’d caught in this place, had been released months ago, a bittersweet goodbye. The Starly she’d caught alongside it, now a Staraptor, was still on her team. If she got the chance to go “home”, it seemed that she would need to abandon them, and that would be okay. They could fend for themselves.
Akari walked beside Sylveon and smiled to Ress, the man guarding the gates, as she entered Jubilife Village. She recalled Sylveon as to not scare the village people, then headed towards the infamous Galaxy Hall, looming over Jubilife and cloaking its surroundings in shadow. She walked up the stairs, pulled open the heavy doors, and went inside.
She darted to the side upon entering, a habit to avoid Cyllene, in her office straight ahead. Something had always bothered her about Cyllene. Cold eyes, a hard set, stoic face…she was strict, but not unkind, and Akari was aware of this. She was also aware that Cyllene had a fear of Pokemon that was almost laughable. Akari had once seen her quaking in fear from a harmless Wurmple that had made its way into Galaxy Hall. So why did Akari try to avoid Cyllene? No one, not even herself knew.
Akari climbed several flights of red carpeted stairs to the topmost floor of Galaxy Hall, and she was greeted by the face of Commander Kamado.
“Sir”, she addressed him, then bowed.
Kamado, his jacket draped over his black kimono, studied her, arms crossed, for a moment before speaking.
“I assume you have quelled the frenzy of Lord Avalugg?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Hm. Very well. I’ll let Cyllene know to give you your payment within the next few days. In the meantime, I’d like to know how it went.”
“Sorry?”
“Did any fighting break out between opposing clan members? Injuries? Success? Anything we need to expense? A ‘Yes, Sir’ isn’t good enough. These are things I need to know, Akari.”
Her mood dampened. This was precisely why Akari didn’t like Kamado. She’s noticed since the beginning, he was unable to have any confidence in her. His expectations, like everyone else’s in this Sinnoh-forsaken village, were as high as the Togekiss that circled the Fieldlands. It was as if everyone seemed to forget that she was a child. But she was from elsewhere, meaning she was untrusted, and had to work thrice as hard as everyone else for the privilege of shelter.
Akari recounted her experience, explaining the battle with Gaeric, the game Sabi forced her to play to earn Lord Braviary’s favor, making the balms, and the dreadful process of taming Lord Avalugg. She left out the part where she took extra time to survey local Pokemon in the Icelands, as that “wasn’t part of the mission”, and the still painful injury from Lord Avalugg, worrying she’d be told off for getting injured. The Medical Corps girls could always be trusted with a secret.
Kamado, seemingly satisfied with her summary, nodded his head as a signal to leave.
Akari hurried back down the stairs and out of Galaxy Hall. Beni always had dinner ready at this time of the evening. After weeks of only eating wild berries, potato mochi sounded delicious.
She grabbed a bench outside of the Wallflower, opposite of Rei and Professor Laventon. They seemed to be deep in discussion, snapped out of it by Akari plopping down. She gave them a weak smile, the exhaustion and frustration embedded into her eyes.
“Dinner’s on me tonight.” Laventon announced, seemingly oblivious to her misery. He looked between Rei and Akari. “You’ve both provided truly fascinating research from Pokemon that dwell amongst the Icelands! Though, I do have to admit that one of you has helped more than the other,” he said, winking at Akari.
Rei began to protest, before Akari interrupted him.
“Hey, uh, Professor?”
“Yes, my girl?” Laventon had addressed her this way since he’d found her half-buried in sand after falling from the sky. It was endearing, in an almost fatherly sort of way.
“What would become of the Pokédex project if I were to…leave?”
Laventon pondered this question for a moment. “Well, I suppose it’d be difficult to get things done, hmm? You’re the most valuable member of the Survey Corps out there in the field, and the very reason we’ve made as much progress as we’ve had. Why do you ask? Are you planning on leaving Jubilife? Oh, that’d be a disaster for the Galaxy team!” He frowned. “Please don’t tell me you are…”
Akari shook her head quickly. “No, no! Not planning on leaving. It’s just that…the strange lightning that sent the nobles into their frenzies, it only appeared after I fell from the rift, right? So, maybe my purpose for being sent here was to quell them so Hisui could be safe again, so maybe whatever- or whoever - sent me here will take me back to where I came from because I’ve done that? Does that make sense?”
Rei spoke up. “Actually…that does make sense. I’d expect you to get sent back to where you came from any day now. Professor?”
“If that doesn’t happen, I suppose you’re stuck here for who knows how long,” Laventon muttered, “you truly are valued here, Akari, but we can’t be sure if it’s where you belong. Maybe after we complete the Pokédex, which should be soon considering the sizable portion of it we have, we’ll find a way to get you home.”
There was that word again. Home. And Laventon had implied that this, Hisui, wasn’t her home. She couldn’t help being a little offended, even a part of her agreed with him. Her heart swelled with love for this place. The small house the Galaxy Team had provided her, the huge expanses of uncolonized land, Sinnoh, even the unpredictably dangerous way wild Pokemon behaved. As she searched her memories, she couldn’t recall calling another place home, even though she knew that might have to do with the amnesia. But Laventon was right. Nobody could be sure if Akari belonged here, and that pained her. Even if she was doing possibly fatal work on a daily basis, even if the village people didn’t trust her, even if her life at “home” could be easier. She didn’t know where she came from, and worrying it would be worse than here, she didn’t want to take the gamble. She wanted to stay.
Despite all this, Akari only nodded.
Eventually, Beni brought out a platter of potato mochi, his elderly hands shaking. The golden brown treats glistened from the glaze. Akari worried he would drop the plate, despite knowing of his expertise. Laventon thanked him profusely, handing him several crisp bills. Akari, Rei, and Laventon ate the chewy, savory delicacies in silence, all taking from the same plate. When they’d finished, they said their goodbyes, then headed to their own doings, as the sky was almost overtaken by night.
Akari stepped into her little house near Galaxy Hall, closing the door behind her and taking off her sandals. She took a match and small piece of wood, striking it and giving fire to a candle set on a table pushed against the wall. No longer stumbling in the dark, she removed the bandana from her hair, letting her midnight blue hair loose to fall against her back. Akari continued preparations for tomorrow’s work, getting her stuff in order and jotting down extra notes in her Pokédex. Exhausted and ready for sleep, she stripped down into her undergarments, wincing as she peeled her clothing off the crystals still attached to her hip.
It hurt. It felt as if the icicles had started to grow the opposite direction, into her skin and piercing her bones. The skin around the injury had begun to grow red and numb, vines spreading outward around her waist. Akari tenderly touched the tip of a finger to one of the jagged crystals, gasping as it came away bleeding with a new tiny crystal forming on it.
This’ll be tomorrow’s problem, she thought. The Medical Corps might need to use a new kind of medicine or other, and it would probably scar, but that would be okay. Being around wild Pokemon all day, Akari’s flesh was no stranger to damage. She had walked into the village that first day with little patches of scar tissues on her knees and elbows, but nowadays, her skin was covered all over in burn wounds, the remnants of scratches, bloody scrapes, and dozens more matters of harm.
She couldn’t expect any less from having the most dangerous job in the Galaxy Team, but it still hurt. She knew she should see them as battle scars, trophies, proof of her ability to survive. But oftentimes, seeing glimpses in the mirror of how disfigured her skin had become, she couldn’t help but look away. If she experienced so little physical pain at “home”, then perhaps it was a better place.
Deciding to do her best to ignore the new affliction, Akari settled into her futon, letting the pleasant sounds of a windy night lead her to a deep, peaceful sleep.