Chapter Text
“Huff… huff… just a little more. The night is almost over, there’s no way anyone’s got to be up here— I mean, who’d climb all the way up here the last few minutes when there’s a perfectly good mob of trainers descending the rooftops?”
“Evo…”
“Huh? Oh, don’t you worry little guy. We’re almost… huff… at the top. Just a few more rungs and we’re good to go,” [MC] muttered.
A little bundle of brown fur clung to [MC]’s attire a bit more tightly. A small ‘vee’ of acknowledgment left the Pokémon’s mouth as it shivered lightly. It was not unlike [MC] himself, who was shaking with every step he took up the ladder of Lumiose.
“Man they really should put a little stop in the middle of high ladders don’t you think?” he laughed quietly. Unwelcomed chills were running down his spine with any little action he took. Though as [MC] climbed a bit more they could see the ledge of the rooftop at last. “Yo! We’re pretty much here, just give me a minute to—“
!
“Go, Scizor! Use Swords Dance!” A voice yelled from above.
[MC] forcefully heaved himself up as he heard the command. The freezing cold chills and pain in his entire body didn’t matter; he had to protect Eevee no matter the cost. A little Pokemon like that wouldn’t make it by itself on the streets of Lumiose.
And yet…
“Crap I didn’t think we’d battle more. Absol, cough, I choose you!” [MC] threw a Pokéball from his satchel into the direction of the Scizor that had rapidly approached out of nowhere.
Absol gracefully landed onto the ground as it was let out the ball, before countering a Bullet Punch from Scizor with Night Slash. The two Pokémon attacked at a fast pace before jumping and retreating to their respective Trainers’ side.
“Absol!” [MC] yelled. He flinched at the sensation of his throat like it was being clawed at but nevertheless gave another order. “Follow it up with a Quick Attack!”
“Not so fast!”
Wait, that voice is… familiar? Oh well, whatever! I don’t have the time to be worrying about people!
“Scizor, use U-Turn! Aim for the stomach and then push off to pull off a Quick Attack!”
“Absol, dodge!”
Unfortunately, Absol wasn’t able to dodge in time. The Pokemon was knocked back to the very ledge of the rooftop, before Scizor flew to the opposite side and used Quick Attack. Absol slammed into the floor right in front of [MC]’s feet, before struggling to get back up.
I have the rest of my Pokémon but I ran out of Max Potions! Gah, I should’ve never listened to Taunie when she convinced me buying all the Mega Stones and using them in front of Hotel Z would make for good promo.
“Evo… voii…” Paws only dug into [MC]’s shoulder harder.
There was no choice. He could try to jump from the rooftop and pray his sweaty hands didn’t prevent his Rotom Phone from saving him, or he could choose to continue fighting then collapse onto the floor to wait for daytime. No doubt he’d be able to rest then somehow figure out how to get back down.
“Absol, Quick Attack!” [MC] yelled, voice getting raspier with every moment. Damn this Z-A Royale, especially right now!
“Scizor, counter it with another Bullet Punch!”
The two Pokémon listened to the commands of their Trainers and leaped forwards. Absol shot towards Scizor at a rapid speed, slamming into it. Scizor struggled slightly against the force, yet it managed to pull off a Bullet Punch that sent Absol towards [MC]’s way again.
“Good momentum Scizor! We can defeat this newbie at… wait,” the voice said.
[MC]’s expression turned into one of bewilderment. Wait??? Did this Trainer think he was stupid enough to fall for that age old trick?
And yet he stopped yelling commands. [MC] watched as a bush further away on the rooftop began to rustle, before it literally stood up. Entirely too sick to be surprised by a talking bush, [MC] squinted his eyes until he saw that the bush wasn’t a bush but a person.
A Rust Syndicate Grunt no less. Still, a familiar face was always welcomed. Especially right now when [MC] felt like he was ready to pass out.
“Hey, you’re the kid that the boss always talks about!” The grunt said. He approached [MC] with a puzzled look on his face. “What’re you doing up here? It’s almost sunrise. You sure as heck don’t need any money either.”
“…huff… huff… pause.” [MC] shook a little more. Absol turned its head and then ran to support its Trainer. [MC] smiled weakly at the gesture, patting Absol’s head before he looked back up at the grunt. “Um, before anything, could you lend a hand? I got a lil guy here that needs some help.”
[MC] pointed to his shoulder. The grunt cleared some of the leaves from his bush disguise— now that [MC] thought of it why was he wearing it in the first place?— before his eyes widened in horror.
“That’s an Eevee!? Holy Arceus, that back leg looks HORRIBLE!” He exclaimed. “Wait, don’t tell me you…”
The unspoken question lingered in the air for a moment. Despite the aches in his body that was screaming for pain relief, [MC] managed to muster a glare. Or at least a half-hearted attempt at one.
“Do I look like the type of Trainer to do something like this to my Pokémon?” [MC] said. The Eevee on his shoulder stirred again. At this point his vocal cords weren’t going to recover soon if he had to keep screaming at idiotic Trainers. “Never mind your stupidity, get this Eevee to a Pokemon Center asap!”
The grunt blinked. “Me? Why are you dumping your responsibilities on me?”
Before [MC] could argue back, his head throbbed and he dropped onto his knees. One hand immediately went to pressing and rubbing the skin against his forehead, the other still clutching the poor Eevee that had the misfortune of being injured severely.
Absol cried out in surprise, butting its head against [MC]. The grunt rushed forward, hands flailing about as he tried to figure out what to do.
“Wh—? Kid, are you alright!? Hey, kid!”
[MC] inhaled shakily.
“Take care of the Eevee. Huff… huff…” the shortness of breath was returning. Ah, how he hated being sick like this. “Huff… I’ll be fine.”
That was the last thing he managed to utter before he passed out.
_____
“There is absolutely no way that these idiots decided to pay us a visit again. It’s one thing for them to go back to that prissy princess Jacinthe and beg to enter back their little group; that’s her problem. But for them to start causing trouble around the city simply because they can’t be with those rich Trainers? That’s unacceptable.”
“I agree, sir. Innocent civilians shouldn’t be bothered because of a pair of sore losers. Would you like me to contact our highest-ranked grunts to take care of them?”
“…Mmm, no. Actually, I had another person in mind for the job. He rose as the winner at the first encounter and was the one who outed ‘em to Jacinthe.”
Corbeau lifted his head to look at his right-hand man, Philippe. Though those bright fearsome yellow eyes never portrayed anything further than simple disinterest, a glint of fondness lingered in Corbeau’s gaze.
“I figured he’d be able to finish what they started, y’know? That’s if he responds to any of my calls though. The kid has left me on voicemail so many times lately…” Corbeau muttered.
Philippe allowed himself to smile knowingly at his boss’s behavior. Corbeau didn’t seem to stop thinking about a certain Trainer these days, especially after the major events that happened in Lumiose recently. With what calming the Rogue Mega Evolving Pokémon, helping the citizens of Lumiose out with their requests, participating in the Z-A Royale, catching Pokémon to fill the Pokédex, and saving the city of Lumiose then mourning AZ, [MC] had directly kept Corbeau’s attention onto him.
When Corbeau had first learned that AZ had unfortunately passed away, he had merely said his condolences and moved on like nothing had happened. And yet, he kept an eye on [MC] the entire time as if he was worried deep down that the Trainer would do something stupid or reckless while drowning in grief. Work was a struggle for Corbeau in the following weeks, so much that Philippe ended up contacting Team MZ to better monitor their friend before Corbeau stressed more.
Philippe wished Corbeau would have just met up with [MC] instead of monitoring him, but doing that required tearing Corbeau away from work. Not helping the citizens of Lumiose for even a single day? The mere idea would kill him.
“Philippe? Did you just hear what I said?”
“Hm?” Philippe shook his head. Better not dwell on more memories before Corbeau asked him what the hell was going on in his mind. “I’m sorry sir. Could you repeat that again?”
“I’ve always gotta repeat myself, don’t I?” Corbeau turned his head back to his computer. Locations where Mega Shards were prominently growing were marked with X’s on the right side. On the left, there were was a document opened with the numerous tasks Corbeau was tackling. He tapped his finger onto the second sentence. “Contact Taunie. She should know where [MC] is and why he’s been ignoring me.”
Philippe tried to muster the straightest face he could. “Yes, sir.”
“I know you’re trying not to smile again. And keep it that way. I just want to know what I did to make the kid mad,” Corbeau said.
“Sir, there’s no need to refer to [MC] as that term to distance yourself from him,” Philippe said.
[MC] was near Corbeau’s age, and Philippe suspected that part of that name-calling was because of the respect Corbeau had been trying to earn. It didn’t work of course since [MC] didn’t seem to fear Corbeau even after their first encounter.
Amusing, how the tides had turned in the other Trainers favor. “Besides, you deserve happiness as well,” Philippe continued.
“What?” Corbeau frowned, like there was actually no correlation between those two things. “What does my happiness have to do with him?”
Philippe stared at his boss for a solid moment. There was no way Corbeau didn’t know what Philippe was talking about. Unless… oh. Maybe it was better not to say anything. It wasn’t like Philippe was able to prove a point anyways if Corbeau got riled up and defended himself.
There wasn’t a need to speak again though, as the doors to Corbeau’s office burst open. One of the Rust Syndicate Grunt’s rushed over towards them, before tripping over her feet and face planting on the floor. Philippe made a motion to check on her, but she got back up onto her feet.
Corbeau didn’t waste time. “What’s the problem this time?”
The grunt wiped the sweat away from her brow. Philippe made a note to himself to figure out how to tweak the current uniform to allow them to perform their jobs better.
“It’s about [MC], sir Corbeau. Gabriel found him about twenty minutes ago in one of the Battle Zones. He’s out cold and shivering like a Snorunt,” she said.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Corbeau said. He rose up from his chair in an instant. “Tell me his immediate location right now.”
“I believe he’s in the Rouge District on a rooftop in Sector 4. Oh and sir, he had an injured Eevee as well. But I believe Gabriel is tending to the Eevee. Its back leg wasn’t in a good shape and Gabriel left [MC] about five minutes ago with [MC]’s Absol,” the grunt said as she fumbled with her pants pocket. “Most of our groups are already out, but I could go and pick up—“
“No need for that. I’ll go get him myself,” Corbeau interrupted. He turned his head in Philippe’s direction. “[MC]’s probably got a fever. We don’t really need to bring anything other than some painkillers and blankets.”
“On it sir,” Philippe said.
“And you,” Corbeau addressed the grunt. “Find Gabriel to make sure the Eevee is alright. I don’t need him getting lost and feeling like the death of a Pokémon is his fault.”
“Death!? I… yes sir,” the grunt gulped.
“Let’s go Philippe.” Corbeau walked towards the doors of his office, directly to the elevator. “None of us need something to happen the savior of Lumiose.”
Philippe followed Corbeau into the elevator, pressing the button to the lobby. His eyes drifted to the side, a slight pit of worry forming in his stomach. He knew [MC] could handle himself; [MC] was the one who calmed so many of the Rogue Mega Evolving Pokémon and ended up being entrusted by Zygarde to save Lumiose City. Zygarde, for crying out loud.
And yet, he’s always pushed himself if it involved others. Judging from the situation, [MC] likely ended up finding that injured Eevee during the Z-A Royale while having a fever. This implied he was already battling while being severely sick to the point he ended up passing out later, but the scolding Philippe had in mind would have to wait for later.
After all his boss looked like he was about to punch a Mega Shard cluster with his bare hands. Corbeau’s brow was furrowed along with his eyes which were narrowed and staring up ahead. To his side, his fists were ever so slightly clenched.
“Mr. Corbeau.”
“What is it?” Corbeau didn’t even turn his head.
“Wouldn’t it be appropriate to contact Team MZ? I’m sure that they’d be able to take [MC] back to Hotel Z no problem,” Philippe said.
“I already thought about that. But we’re closer to the Rouge District than they are. Besides, it’s our turn to repay him, isn’t it?”
That was clearly a rhetorical question, Philippe thought. Corbeau wouldn’t go out of his way to find a way to repay someone, but he would do so if the opportunity presented it upon himself.
“Right,” he nodded. “I’ll send Skarmory with supplies your way once I find them.”
“Gyrados and I are going to ride off into the distant sunrise then,” Corbeau said as the elevator doors opened. He stepped out and made his way to the front door. The lobby lacked any of the Rust Syndicate grunts, all of them off doing odd jobs early on in the morning. “Go to Hotel Z and wait for us there.”
Hopefully Team MZ wouldn’t freak out knowing their beloved member had passed out. Philippe lowered his head as soon as Corbeau left the building, before turning to walk into another room. It was an overreaction in most cases, but since AZ had passed away so recently he wouldn’t blame them for worrying about [MC]. In fact, Philippe was surprised they let each other out of sight after what occurred.
“They sure have toughened up ever since all these incidents happened,” Philippe said to himself. His hands were rummaging around the shelves to find supplies in the boxes. “They don’t have to pretend to be alright though. Sometimes, you just need to break down and that’s alright.”
Sometimes it’s alright to accept things aren’t okay too.
________
The fresh cold air outside was a complete contrast the warmth within the Rust Syndicate Office. Stars that were splattered across the canvas of the sky were slowly fading as the shades of dawn re-emerged from the sunrise the day prior. Distant cries of Pokemon and their Trainers finishing their last battles for the Z-A Royale echoed through the otherwise silent city night.
Corbeau however, didn’t have time to admire the emotions his city brought. He was holding onto Gyrados with one hand, the other a death grip on his Rotom Phone. Marabella, the grunt that had rushed to his office earlier, sent a pinpointed location on the map.
He was relatively close to the area already, but the issue was trying to not encounter a rogue battle-thirsty Trainer in the last few minutes while he flew through Battle Zones.
“PIDGEOT! USE BRAVE BIRD ON THAT GYRADOS!”
Corbeau whipped his head around, arms wrapped around Gyrados as he hung for dear life; Gyrados did a loop midair to dodge the attack. The Trainer groaned in what seemed to be… disappointment!?
“Stop trying to send people to the Pokémon Center alongside their Pokémon!” Corbeau yelled out as Gyrados flew past. The nerve of some of these people. Corbeau could’ve been a child riding on top of a Pokémon from his parents and this Trainer would’ve just shot him down anyway!
“Not my fault you’re within eye-range!” was all that was yelled back.
Seriously, who in their right state of mind would sent a Pidgeot shooting like a missile towards a person on their Pokémon? Corbeau had half a mind to stay back since that Trainer was clearly asking for it, but [MC] would probably fair worse if Corbeau arrived late.
[MC].
He was a mysterious person, a fact stated and approved by Corbeau himself the moment he met [MC]. What an interesting fellow, letting himself be adopted by Team MZ and roped into their shenanigans. Corbeau was sure that [MC] probably wouldn’t have even stayed in the city for longer than a few days if Taunie hadn’t intervened.
Taunie really couldn’t shoot ads for the life of her, but she sure could pull some pretty great Trainers to her side. Corbeau would never state it aloud but he was grateful she basically kidnapped [MC] to stay in Lumiose.
Speaking of people he was grateful for, Corbeau noticed how most of the people he interacted in with Lumiose talked about how thankful they were to receive [MC]’s help. Philippe had even mentioned how when he went out to grab some lunch, he would see [MC] interacting with citizens and helping them out. It didn’t matter what the request was— [MC] would always complete it even if all he received was a few hundred PokéDollars.
Again, he was interesting. Most people were and still are on high edge about the Wild Zones being introduced to Lumiose City. Someone forgot their purse late out at night? Too bad. It might’ve landed in a Wild Zone or even worse, one of the Battles Zones. Trainers are terrifying to interact with if you’re not one yourself. To go out of his way to help so many people, [MC] was generous. Perhaps a little too much.
Corbeau didn’t want someone taking advantage of such generosity, but lo and behold! [MC] had beaten anyone else by forcing himself to help an injured Pokémon then passing out on a rooftop. As if he was some kind of protagonist with noble intentions and had the plot armor of an anime character… huh. What a coincidence.
I’ll tease him about that later, Corbeau thought. His eyes scanned the vicinity as he came closer to his destination. I don’t see anyone though. Did Marabella send the right location?
The only thing that really seemed out of place was a badly misshapen bush and an Absol—
Wait. An Absol.
Corbeau lightly tapped Gyrados and it came to a stop mid-air. The Pokemon turned its head to its Trainers’ way. Corbeau pointed onto a clear spot on the rooftop where Gyrados could land.
But the next thing Corbeau knew, he was getting the wind knocked out of his lungs. Rapid spheres of psychic energy shot from the sky above, raining down onto Corbeau and Gyrados.
A string of swears left Corbeau’s mouth as he massaged his right shoulder, right where one of the spheres had made contact. Damn [MC]’s Absol. That Pokémon never missed what it aimed for.
Hold up, why was it even attacking Corbeau? Absol had met Corbeau plenty of times before, and Corbeau had even bought Lumiose Galette’s for it!
“Hey,” Corbeau turned to his Pokémon. Everything started to click once he analyzed that out-of-place bush. “Gyrados, distract Absol for a few minutes. Don’t defeat it though.”
Gyrados turned back to Absol, signaling it was ready to do as asked. In one swift movement, Gyrados flew over the rooftop where Corbeau jumped off the massive serpentine-like Pokémon. His ankles cried out when he met the ground but other than that it had been a safe landing.
Absol turned Corbeau’s way and snarled loudly, attempting to set up another Future Sight. Gyrados however, swept in and slammed right into Absol. It was knocked back significantly, giving Corbeau a safe distance to approach the bush that was not actually a bush.
Because the bush contained a face anyone with a brain could recognize. [MC]’s eyes were closed shut, eyebrows furrowed, body shivering and making the fake leaves on his body tremble and shake. He looked exactly as the description Marabella sent from Gabriel’s report, except [MC] was still clearly awake.
“Hey. Hey kid, it’s time for you to get out of here,” Corbeau muttered softly.
He began removing the fake leaves and small twigs off [MC], wondering why the hell they were on him in the first place. It wasn’t like [MC] to wear something weird like that since he always ran all over the place anyways. Or perhaps— no. Gabriel couldn’t have possibly worn something as stupid as this.
If he was, he was about to get one hell of a scolding for jumpscaring Trainers on a rooftop.
“…beau.”
“Calling me handsome instead of my name now, are we?” Corbeau plucked a leaf from [MC]’s hair.
The latter fluttered his eyes to attempt to give the meanest glare he could give. It didn’t run chills down Corbeau’s spine but it did strike a cord of overwhelming empathy inside him. To be stuck helplessly in one place, to be unable to do anything for yourself because someone has to choose to pick you up— it was a feeling Corbeau knew all too well.
“‘m not calling you handsome but… you really are,” [MC] closed his eyes again.
Never mind. That empathy was drowned by a spike of irritation and a ba-dump Corbeau’s heart gave.
“I could always leave you up here you know,” Corbeau said.
“Nuh uh… you’re too nice for that. You’re… cough, you’re a good person,” [MC] said.
“Give me a break,” Corbeau said. He gently pulled [MC] up by the shoulders and propped them up against one of the real bushes. “Nice people don’t end up in my line of work, remember?”
[MC] didn’t say anything, but his breathing started to speed up at an alarming rate. Corbeau reached out and placed his wrist against [MC]’s forehead before pulling away. There is no way…
“I was told you were climbing up here with an injured Eevee. The heck’ve you been doing in the meantime before you found it?” Corbeau frowned.
“Oh uhhh… funny story…” [MC] muttered. He gave a slight feverish giggle which only raised Corbeau’s concerns further. “Hotel Z needs to pay for… for all its expenses. Thought that I could um… try to raise that amount in a few days if I did requests and… battle at night nonstop.”
It had taken him a good minute to state this. Corbeau held back the urge to knock out the brain cell that caused this reckless behavior, but clearly it was the only brain cell [MC] sadly had.
“You’re an absolute idiot and I hope you know that,” Corbeau said.
“Okay but I managed to get the money so…”
“You’re tackling too much all by yourself. Besides, wouldn’t Quasartico help out since you basically saved us all from dying?”
[MC] tilted his head to the side, like he was trying to rest his head on the actual bush behind him. “…Their priorities rest on the people and Pokémon of Lumiose. They shouldn’t have to send money for something that’s our problem…”
“You’re just too stubborn to admit you need help. Honestly. And I thought Taunie was bad,” Corbeau wanted to roll his eyes at this behavior. Arceus forbid they all had a savior complex!
Not to mention, it stung a little to hear that. [MC] wouldn’t go to anyone, not even as he was on the brink of passing out. It was pure luck that Gabriel had been able to find [MC] right before [MC] had collapsed.
[MC] groaned slightly. He lifted his head up from the bush. For a moment Corbeau thought he was actually going to get up and try to leave himself. Instead, [MC] slumped forwards into his arms, his face burying itself against Corbeau’s collarbone.
[MC] was genuinely shaking and trembling so much it actually shocked Corbeau seeing him like this.
Why did bad things have to happen to good people?
Corbeau wrapped his arms around the other Trainer, allowing [MC] to finally rest against someone who was nothing but warmth to him. Corbeau rested his chin atop [MC]’s head. Though his hair tickled Corbeau’s nose, he really couldn’t care less about that right now.
What he did have to care about though, was the fact that Absol and Gyrados had returned this way. Absol was glaring murderous daggers at Corbeau, yet it stayed back. Gyrados kept an eye on Absol to make sure it didn’t perform any sudden attacks.
That was unnecessary at this point. “Gyrados, Absol won’t hurt me. Just—“
[MC] tried to lift his head. Corbeau moved his chin away, allowing [MC] to turn to look at Absol while weakly raising a Pokéball.
“Absol it’s fine. It’s Corbeau, buddy,” he smiled faintly.
Absol took a few steps forward, sadness gleaming in its eyes from seeing itsTrainer in such a weak state. [MC] waited a few more seconds as it approached before pressing the ball against Absol’s head. It returned inside the Pokéball with a flash of bluish light.
“You did good in protecting me,” he whispered. The effort to stay awake any longer left [MC] as he slumped into Corbeau’s arms once again.
Corbeau was quiet for a moment.
I can’t believe someone like you is Lumiose’s savior. You really are something else.
No… actually, I can believe it.
“You did good in protecting everyone else too,” Corbeau quietly said.