Chapter Text
It wasn't like she didn't know what Liko looked like.
Being the virtual eyes and ears of the Brave Olivine, Dot had definitely seen Liko, and by that extension, Roy. The cameras installed on the ship were cheap and rather outdated at best, but they were functional enough that she could describe most of Liko's defining traits in the missing person ad she'd sent out on the web. A girl of average height, fair complexion, black hair, last seen wearing a blue jacket and shorts.
Dot had known this without even needing to pull up the security footage for reference. It wasn't like she wasn't at least somewhat curious when she caught wind of a new girl her age joining the ship's crew. The streamer would flick through the cameras like usual, adjusting herself to the sight of the new resident (residents, with the addition of Roy) roaming the halls, before growing bored and returning to her daily routine. It wasn't like those two were ever doing anything important, anyways.
(She thought of the crumpled piles of sketchbook paper in her wastebin, filled with unfinished doodles that just had to be perfect enough to slip them through the door when Liko was around, a stark contrast from how she yelled at her when they first met. Dot ignored that thought, and ignored the memories of standing frozen in front of her steel door, Liko's voice on the other side. Just close enough to hear every word, but far enough to avoid the decision of turning the handle.)
Unfortunately, the cameras hadn't been so detailed as to lend her the color of Liko's eyes or whatever shape that pixelated green thing in her hair was. Roy’s photos hadn’t been much help either, but that wasn’t too surprising. That boy’s arm could never stay still, making all his selfies with Liko come out blurry and indecipherable. He really needed photography lessons, Dot sighed with exasperation. Maybe that could be the topic of her next video.
Even a clear profile picture would have made a difference, maybe then she’d be able to narrow her searches even more. Unfortunately, Liko’s current trainer photo was a shy selfie of Sprigatito obscuring her face, making Dot’s job ever more inconvenient.
It was enough, though, and she'd had to make do while scouring dozens of files of recently missing persons and online Sprigatito sightings. And in any case, none of that mattered anymore.
Her plan had worked. While far from well-thought out, employing the whole of Levincia to locate the Trainer under the guise of a Nidothing X Iono collab had successfully cornered her in one spot.
…Although, she thought now with her heart racing in anticipation, it definitely would have helped if at least her profile picture had her face in it. At least then I could prepare myself for—
Liko stood atop a building just a leap away. Her Sprigatito was by her side, wind whipping her hair and flapping her jacket at all sides. It was hard to tell from the distance and from beneath Dot's bangs, but her stance looked as if she was ready to jump. For a horrifying second, a soaring girl and Sprigatito were the only things occupying her mind.
“Liko!”
Roy’s shouts came from next to Dot, and she felt her heart cinch and ears ring. The latter was probably due to Roy’s voice, because man, his voice really was as loud as the speaker’s peaked audio made him sound. But more importantly, Dot’s pulse seized as Liko landed, wavering this way and that, ready to topple after her leap.
“Are you alright?! We've been looking all over for you!” Roy fretted, standing in front of a now-stabilized Liko. Dot followed quickly after, assessing the girl for any injuries. She seemed fine after her run-and-jump, and looked rather calm despite the given situation.
Taking in the sight of her friend, Dot picked out all the slight differences that the Brave Olivine’s cameras left unseen. The green thing in Liko’s hair that she could never tell what it was supposed to be was actually the Pokemon League logo, albeit the rather outdated version. Her dark hair, to Dot’s surprise, framed an underlayer of cerulean blue locks that only made her bright eyes stand out. She hadn’t even noticed that the blue was a part of her, chalking it up to tricks from bad lighting. And of course, the fact that the girl in front of her was a good head taller than Dot unfazed her. Nearly everyone was taller than her, much to her frustration, but somehow, she didn't feel bad having to look up to meet her gaze. Liko’s presence didn’t make her feel small or intimidated, she noted.
Dot didn’t even realize that this was the first time ever she and Liko had seen each other in the flesh. It didn't really feel like it. After all, she had just been staring at camera footage and her poor resolution profile picture for the past 8 hours. The prospect of getting Liko back, any clues about Liko's disappearance, and general Liko-centered thoughts had been circling her brain for a while now. The idea of her new friend being ripped away from her, as well as the Explorers having craftily outsmarted her cybersleuthing expertise had sent Dot into a sort of overdrive. Now, having completed her goal with the Trainer in sight, all she could do was breathe a sigh of utmost relief.
“Glad you're all good,” was what she managed, not registering Liko’s expression shifting into worry.
“... There's, um, one thing I can't remember, though,” the taller girl said hesitantly. Liko turned towards Dot, looking up. Behind her thick bangs, her eyes widened, because there was no possible way that any high resolution image of the girl in front of her could have prepared Dot for this.
The cameras had lied. They had to have been. Because no way were the pixelated blobs on her screens any comparison to the Liko standing here, looking at Dot with wide, apologetic eyes and the cutest little pout on her lower lip.
Without the barrier of a screen, door, or speaker, it was like meeting Liko again for the first time. Dot didn't know how much difference such direct eye contact could make, but the full force of Liko’s attention gave her goosebumps. She tried to look anywhere else, but her eyes betrayed her. If she had known that the inward curl of Liko’s hair looked that soft in close proximity, her voice that gentle without being muffled, or her eyes that vibrant of a blue in real life, Dot had the feeling that maybe she wouldn’t have shut her door so tight before.
“I—um…sorry… but, who are you?"
“What?” Bewildered, Dot took a moment to remember their odd friendship (if Liko even considered them friends in the first place).
Liko had never seen Dot’s face before, not even through a screen. The closest thing that came to real interaction was their intermittent texts, one-sided conversations behind a steel door, and Liko’s incessant fangirling every time Nidothing went on stream. The fact weighed heavily in her stomach, that Dot knew so much about Liko, had been allowed to see so much of the Trainer’s life, yet she had made no effort to do the same. “I’m—I’m Dot!” she spluttered out in a hurry.
Dot’s heart rate doubled, carefully watching Liko’s shocked reaction. She didn’t want to make a bad (worse) first impression on her first IRL human friend, after all. “Really, you’re Dot?!” Tensing, she followed Liko’s sky-blue gaze as it flitted around her face, surely trying to match the scrawny kid in front of her with the voice of an irritated hermit who lost her temper far too often.
She suddenly felt way too underdressed for the occasion, her skin prickling under her fleece sweater that never sat right. Her shoulders curled in on herself as she found the urge to fiddle with her bangs. “‘S right, I’m the one and only Dot,” she mumbled lamely, unable to meet Liko’s blue, blue eyes.
Dot stared at the ground, willing the rush of emotions to subside. Relief, exhaustion, guilt, and a strange wash of excitement all buzzed within her veins, threatening to burst out of her chest. She was never the best at IRL conversations, the effort to connect with other humans expended too much energy and too much emotion to be worth it. Too many words welled up in her throat, but she had no idea which ones to say now.
“You’re… you…” Liko started, but unable to finish as a brightness enveloped them all.
With a 3000-watt spotlight, Dot’s fellow co-host made her over-dramatic entrance, saving her from having to dwell on any one of those feelings for too long.
She silently slipped away as Iono snatched everyone’s attention, switching her mental state to “Nidothing Mode” from the privacy of a dark corner. It didn’t matter if Dot had to desperately will away the shakiness in her voice as she addressed the city, forcing as much enthusiasm into Nidothing as she could.
Everything was alright now. Everything was going to be alright.
She sighed, peeking out over the corner of the wall she was hiding behind.
Liko was safe. She was back safe and sound and nothing was going to harm her ever. Dot had nearly failed once, and that was never going to happen again. She’d make sure of that.
…She didn’t know if it was normal to feel this strongly about someone she barely knew, but Dot refused to let go of Liko before they could become proper friends. Dot wouldn't exactly consider herself a “normal” kid in the first place, anyways.
Focusing her gaze on Liko, she smiled to herself. The poor Trainer was being swarmed by Iono and her sensational aura. Overwhelmed, she held Sprigatito up to her face, making Dot’s heart squeeze with affection, and—well.
Maybe coming out of her room more often wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. Not if it meant seeing Liko again face-to-face.
Dot was screaming into her pillow.
It was late at night, and her legs had given out quite a while ago, but Dot still found the energy to groan and kick at her sheets like a child, much to Quaxly’s chagrin.
“It’s not my fault she—! Ugh, she’s so clueless!”
“Kuwaa, wassu!” Quaxly swiped at her head in admonishment. Dot knew she was being unfair, but there was just no other way to handle it. “Kuwaasu!”
Dot let out a frustrated grunt as she slammed her head back into her pillow, hoping to at least find some solace in restless sleep. She didn’t know if she was angry, confused, or embarrassed. It was probably a combination of the three. Just the thought of Liko’s soft, neutral smile in the moonlight exploding into a look of shock and fluster had Dot all riled up.
Look, it was 100% not her fault if Liko was so oblivious that Nidothing’s identity had to be spelled out for her. She had sent her pictures in costume! She blared her channel’s intro music from her room! She had purposefully let the Nidothing suit dry out in plain sight, hoping that Liko would finally put two and two together and realize that Dot was Nidothing. It could have been a quiet thing, an unobtrusive understanding just like the rest of the crew had picked up on and never questioned. Something that didn’t involve Liko blushing and stammering before sprinting back to her own room in a hurry.
It had been a huge pain, even just to confess the truth itself. Dot thought it would be a quick and easy nudge, a weight she could easily unload off her chest. She hated that there was such a gap in understanding between the two, she wanted Liko to know her online identity. Being able to tell her the truth should have been an easy fix. Instead, Liko’s wide, curious eyes staring at her with endless patience made it very hard to speak.
Dot didn’t calculate for how much the rays of moonlight hitting Liko’s creamy skin at just the right angle would have an effect on her ability to keep a steady face.
It was a miracle Quaxly was beside her, otherwise she more than likely would have aborted her big reveal in under a minute. Sigh. Sometimes it felt like Quaxly was training Dot rather than Dot was training him.
“Why couldn’t she have realized sooner…! I could have avoided all of this,” she complained.
“Kuwass, kuwaa,” Quaxly patted her shoulder, releasing some of the tension in it.
It was just… argh! So embarrassing. Dot was known to be particularly irritable with others, but she didn’t think she had flushed that hard in her life ever. She rolled over in her bed, staring at the dark ceiling with contempt. Honestly, she didn’t know if she was more angry with herself or Liko. Sure, Liko didn’t seem like she was the best at reading people either, but Dot had let herself be reduced into a nearly incoherent mess before she blurted her online persona in a manner that did not have to be as dramatic as it was.
And, well, it wasn’t Liko’s fault that her eyes were that round and imploring, was it? Or that her voice was that sweet and gentle. Or that her smile was that reassuring and bright. It was just part of who she was, and Dot didn’t think it was possible for Liko to walk into a room and not immediately make everybody in it feel better. Dot treasured her new friend and all of the charm that came with her, but the thought of sharing her secrets (though it really wasn’t a secret) with someone so radiant felt a bit like bearing her entire soul to her.
“E-eehh?! THE Nidothing?! You’re—y-you—I—like, the r-real…!! Y-you’re—aaaAAH! For real?!”
“...Yeah. Um. Sorry. Again.”
“B-but—how, a-and, oh my Arceus, you’re Nidothing for real! And don’t apologize! I-I’m such a huge fan, b-but, jeez, you already know that—”
“—I figured.”
“—and, oh my gosh, that costume was real, wasn’t it?! Where do you find time to record videos—AH, s-sorry, that’s probably inappropriate of me! How did you manage to keep it a secret? O-or does everybody already know? Oh my gosh, am I the last to know?!”
Each stuttered question Dot did her best to answer made her feel so… exposed. She had to sit there and take it as Liko was allowed to peel back all her layers and examine them as she liked. And, well, she couldn’t help but feel frustrated that after Liko spent a few more moments in total shock, she quickly excused herself for the rest of the night, leaving Dot alone.
Perhaps it was deserved, though. After all, Liko had spent so much time in front of an expressionless steel door, sharing every detail of her own life in hopes that Dot would give her the time of day. She expressed her undying love for Nidothing in an attempt to bond, kept her updated on her and Roy’s adventures, and invited her to group activities every chance she got. It wasn’t fair for Dot to blame her for needing some time to herself to process some new information.
Because despite all of her conflicting emotions, Dot really wanted to keep Liko’s friendship. She couldn’t remember the last time somebody had wholeheartedly made an effort to reach out to her—to truly befriend her—even at her worst. Dot didn’t realize it at that time, but that had probably been the kindest thing anyone had ever done for her. The thought of ruining their still-new dynamic with a misunderstanding or intense awkwardness made Dot want to shrivel up and lock herself in her room for the rest of all time.
The new Trainer rolled over on her bed, ready to end that train of thought, because she refused to let that happen. It was the least she could do for Liko; her contributing part to their friendship. If Liko had put all that effort into starting their interactions, then at the very least, Dot could work to maintain it. That was what friendship was, wasn't it? Someone does something nice for you, and you do nice things in turn. That sounded right.
Roy and Liko had gotten her out of the ship for the first time in months, and somehow…she didn't hate it. It was scary and a total workout for sure, but there was something that sprang to life in her chest when she thought about the battle against the remotely-controlled Pokémon. The cold wind whipping her hair against her eyes, the fire in her eyes that burned in defiance as she called out moves, and the sparkle of her friends by her side…
She thought back to Liko's smile. Then, her resolve had been so powerful, so determined, that the patient and understanding one she gave during their conversation-turned-confession had completely thrown Dot off. They were so different, in such different circumstances, but the weight of which still felt the same. No matter what, it was inspiring and warm, and Dot would battle any Explorer head on if it meant she could feel that way again, especially with her new partner in tow.
Working together with Quaxly was, well, exciting. It was hard, but exhilarating in the way that made Dot feel proud and accomplished. It was so much different from just researching Trainer life for videos. This was real, a glimpse of a world outside her room, where anything and everything could happen but it would be hers to discover and explore.
Dot squinted in her dark room. Slivers of moonlight peeked in through the cracks of her hastily-closed blinds. If she focused, she could make out the color of the indigo sky. Something compelled her to stare at it, taking in each lavender cloud and mountain peak framing the royal blue night.
From her tiny view on her bed, the stretch seemed to go on forever. It probably did, with each pinprick of a star being hundreds of thousands of miles beyond reach. She had never really considered the night sky before. It was there, and had been there every night since she arrived on the ship. It was pretty, sure, but that was all. A nice backdrop that she could simply ignore in lieu of her own activities. Now, Dot didn't think she could look at it the same way again.
The distant stars peeking over the horizon called to her from a world bigger than her screens. A world she had more than likely missed out on for the majority of her life, but now here it was, in front of her and ready to take it all in. Even while motionless in her bed, looking up through bleary eyes, she felt her heart burn with want.
She wanted to see it. She wanted it all, everything she could possibly learn from the world and more. That was the box that Liko and Roy had opened up for her, and Dot didn’t think there was any way for her to go back. She’d probably spend the rest of her life grateful for the push she needed to leave her room that day (even if under dire circumstances).
A yawn broke her out of her thoughts.
It was far too late, and the grey wisps of clouds temporarily blocked out the silver threads of moonlight. Dot sat in the looming darkness blinking away the wetness in her eyes, the only sounds being the gentle hum of the airship engine and Quaxly’s soft snores next to her.
Her mind was getting more and more muddled as sleep caught up to her. It had to be, because underneath all her lethargy, Dot could acknowledge the outlandishness of her thoughts. Something something, never trust how you feel about your life past 9pm, right?
Exploring, adventuring, and crossing the whole wide world? No matter how tantalizing the dream, that just wasn’t something the streamer was good for. Dot was a societal recluse. She was temperamental, winded easily, and most importantly, selfish. She hid behind costumes and screens and doors until the only thing that remained was the space she had carved out for Dot and Dot alone. She wasn’t meant for that kind of life, not like Liko and Roy were.
It was fun, though, whispered a voice that sounded suspiciously like Nidothing. Battling with them. Catching Quaxly. Watching her smile. Helping them again would be the least you could do, right?
Right. Upholding her end of their friendship. Being able to help reach Liko and Roy’s shared goals would require going out more. She’d already failed once, leading the Rising Volt Tacklers on with a false lead planted in Artazon. Going outside, interacting with the crew and her connections in the city had been the only way to save Liko and retrieve her pendant—and despite everything, Dot had enjoyed it.
So, Liko was a little dense when it came to figuring things out. It had taken going above and beyond to drive in the point. Dot had to step out of her comfort zone even more so to find her in Levincia, and to battle alongside her. It was different, and it was new… but maybe it wasn’t bad? It was as if Liko had dragged her by the hand out of her room and headfirst into the world she’d previously watched passively through the web. With anybody else, such a crack in her shell would be impenetrable, unheard of, and flat out ignored.
With Liko, making these exceptions felt dazzling, a sensation with the sun’s rays so bright she had to squint her eyes. It was heart-pounding and unpredictable all the same, but the comforting weight of Liko’s presence made it all worthwhile.
Dot could afford to cross her own boundaries. Perhaps they needed to be reset, anyways. Liko’s infectious smile lit the same spark in her chest as becoming Quaxly’s trainer—the pit of wonder and curiosity that only grew tenfold with each passing hour.
For Liko, she could make a few more exceptions to her comfort zone. She’d let Liko draw her away from the monotony of her room, and into the unknown. To do my part for our friendship, was what she told herself.
That was the last coherent thought she had before fully relinquishing her consciousness to the night, the blanket spread haphazardly. Quaxly’s wings tickled her nose, lying on the same pillow. His feathers were bristly and cool, but not entirely unpleasant. She didn’t have the heart to move him.
And really, Dot didn’t mind it at all.