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Rei was bored.
He had messed his ankle up a few days ago in the Fieldlands. Nothing too bad, but enough that he needed to keep weight off it for the most part. But that meant he had been stuck in Jubilife, mostly his own place, for days.
And he was bored!
So, the day Pesselle finally cleared him for fieldwork, with the caveat of not going overboard, he went over to Laventon’s office to bother him. It was a time honoured tradition between him and Akari at this point to go bug him when they couldn’t decide what to do.
“Hey, Prof!” Rei called, flopping onto the one open space on the couch. “My ankle is officially better and I’m borrrred.”
“Hello to you too, Rei,” Laventon said with a chuckle as he sifted through some papers. He pulled one out and held out to him. “Lucky for you, you’ve come at the right time. A Starly from Iscan of all people just came in not too long ago. He said he saw a strange Pokemon come out of a distortion bubble a few days ago and it’s terrorizing the Water-Types in the area. He wants some help putting a stop to it since it appears to be a strong Electric-Type.”
Rei took the paper and skimmed it over. It said about the same as Laventon had explained. “Then it looks like I’m going to the Coastlands. I’ll have to make sure Gastrodon is up for a battle.”
“As exciting as a new Pokemon is, please do remember to stay safe,” Laventon reminded him.
“Yeah, I know,” Rei laughed, heading out. “I’ll come find you as soon as I can with the Pokemon!”
Finally, something to do.
-----
It took a bit for Rei to actually start looking for this mystery Pokemon.
The morning was spent actually getting down to the Coastlands. Laventon said he was going to the Fieldlands with Akari, so Rei had taken Braviary there. It cut down on the travel time, but going that far always made him a bit motion sick. With needing to ride Basculegion later, he needed a break.
By the time Rei had talked to Iscan about the Pokemon and actually started looking for it, it was late-afternoon. But at least he had a starting place and an idea of what he was looking for.
But as the day when on, there was no sign of it. Everything seemed normal.
He’d have to expand his search tomorrow. It might have moved on to a different place in search of food or something. He just hoped it hadn’t left the bay. As good as Basculegion was, he didn’t want to test their skills on the open ocean. Nor did he want to go out there in general.
Rei would have to call it a day sooner or later. He gave Basculegion a pat. “What do you say, one more lap around then we head in?”
Basculegion gave a rumble. Rei urged them on.
By the time they had circled around the cliffs and little islands again, and run away from an alpha Tentacruel that had not been there earlier, the sun was starting to set. They also still hadn’t seen anything that could be the Pokemon Iscan had described.
“Well, I guess I need to figure out where else it could have gone,” Rei sighed once they came to a stop. “We’ll just have to try again… later.”
He spotted a little cave in the cliffside. One he knew was usually empty.
Maybe the Pokemon holed up there during the night.
Rei nudged Basculegion in the cave’s direction. “Let’s check one more spot. But be quiet.”
Carefully, they swam over to the cave entrance. Rei quietly hopped off Basculegion once he could and crept in.
At first, he thought his guess was wrong. It was dark, but the cave looked empty.
Then there was a low growl and a flash from the back. A Pokemon was curled around itself, yellow light slowly pulsing down its body as an eye glared at him.
Definitely an Electric-Type.
Rei put a hand on Gastrodon’s Pokeball. The Pokemon growled louder, slowly uncurling and getting up.
It was like Iscan had told him, long and serpentine. It rested on its hands and small feet-like fins as it dug its claws into the ground. A charge built up around its teeth.
Rei should throw out Gastrodon. Based on what he had been told, this was a dangerous and powerful Pokemon. It was clearly ready to attack.
And yet, it hadn’t.
It hadn’t really moved from its spot. Its tail flicked a little, but that was it. Its arms had started to tremble slightly. The flash started to dim.
The fins on its tail and back had a few rips.
Slowly, Rei moved his hand away from his hip. The Pokemon’s growl lessened as he put his hands up.
“Hey, it’s okay,” he said gently. “I’m not gonna do anything. I want to help.”
The Pokemon quietened, then slowly lowered itself back to the ground. It still stared at Rei, but the electricity around it had gone down.
Rei took out an Oran berry. He didn’t think he could get close enough to properly apply a potion yet. “Are you hurt? This will help.”
The Pokemon just watched as Rei approached. He managed almost to get into arms’ reach before it buzzed at him to stop. Rei rolled the berry closer.
It came to a stop in front of the Pokemon. It sniffed the berry, then ate it.
“See,” Rei said, digging out another berry and holding it out, “I want to help you.”
The Pokemon looked at him. It then gave a little wiggle and inched closer. It ate the berry from Rei’s hand.
Rei gave it a gentle pet as it chewed. “Alright, there you go. I can help you more if we get out of this cave. If you let me catch you, it’ll be easy.”
The Pokemon growled again.
“It’s not as bad as it sounds,” Rei tried. He took a Pokeball out and showed it to the Pokemon. “You’ll go in this ball and-”
The Pokemon flicked its tail and slapped the ball out of Rei’s hand with a hiss.
He jumped a little. Blinked at the shattered ball. There wasn’t a flash or any indication of the ball trying to catch the Pokemon. If that didn’t work, then…
“Do you already have a partner?”
The Pokemon huffed, laying flat on the ground. It covered its head with its hands and whined.
Rei ran a hand down the Pokemon’s head. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m not from here either. We can stick together until we find a way to get you home. How does that sound?”
The Pokemon didn’t move.
“Come on, now.” Rei stood up and offered a hand to the Pokemon. “Let’s get out of this cave. It’ll be okay. I promise.”
After another minute of hiding, the Pokemon huffed and uncovered its face. It floated a little off the ground, grabbing Rei’s arm to help stabilize itself.
“There we go. Let’s get back to camp. It’s comfier than a cave.”
They made it back to camp with little issue. There was a school of Remoraid that tried to give them grief, but a quick zap from the Pokemon in their direction was enough to scare them off. Even that seemed to take a lot out of the Pokemon as it was barely hovering once they made it back to shore.
It had started walking by the time they reached camp proper. After some assurances to the others there that the Pokemon wasn’t going to do anything, they both crashed in the tent.
The Pokemon curled up in the corner with a soft whine. Rei turned and opened his arms.
“You can come sleep with me,” he whispered. “If you want to, of course.”
The Pokemon looked at him, then slowly inched closer. Rei was soon tangled up in its noodly arms and tail.
“It’s okay,” he said, giving it a pet at its whine. “I’m sure we’ll find you a way home soon. And if we can’t, then we can stick together until I can go home and I’ll take you with me and we can look for your trainer. Okay?”
The Pokemon whined a little more, nuzzling in closer.
“It’ll be okay.”
-----
It took a bit longer for Rei and the Pokemon to get back to Jubilife than it did for him to get to the Coastlands. Seeing as the Pokemon couldn’t go in a Pokeball, Rei decided to stick to Wyrdeer instead of Braviary. That way, the Pokemon could keep up a bit better.
They took a break once they reached the Heights Camp. Jubilife wasn’t too far from there and they could easily walk from here.
Laventon was also at this camp and Rei was so excited to show him the Pokemon.
It had opened up a bit more on the way. It was looking a lot better too. Rei had managed to get it a potion in the morning and the little rips and tears in its fins looked to be healing nicely. It wasn’t using Rei to steady itself anymore too.
“Prof! Hey!” Rei called, running over with the Pokemon tailing him. “I found the Pokemon! Any idea what this guy could be?”
The Pokemon floated around a little, like it was showing off for Laventon. He squinted in thought.
“Are you… Oh, what is it… An Eelektross?” he hummed to himself.
The Pokemon buzzed and spun around, clearly excited.
“I think you’re right,” Rei laughed. The Pokemon, Eelektross, wrapped around him. “You’re an Eelektross, huh? I can’t wait to learn more about you!”
Eelektross buzzed some more. Rei laughed again as his hair starting sticking up from the static.
“I wish I could tell you more, but I never had the chance to study them properly,” Laventon said. “I only saw them at a distance a couple times during my travels.”
“You remembered their name at least. It’s a good start,” Rei said. “Besides, you got me on the case! I’ll be sure to let you know whatever I find out.”
“I’m excited to hear about what you learn, my boy.” Laventon looked around. “What’s you plan now? I’m sure Akari is around here somewhere if you wanted to help her out.”
“I’m heading back to Jubilife actually,” Rei sighed. “I promised to take it easy on my ankle and I want to walk back. Let her know I said hi though.”
“I wi-”
A loud cry interrupted Laventon, followed by Akari shouting, “Watch out!”
An alpha Wormadam came rushing into camp.
Rei was about to send out one of his Pokemon, when Eelektross zipped ahead with a buzz. He darted back and forth playfully.
The Wormadam launched Silver Wind. Eelektross took it, shook it off quickly, then sent his own attack back. Thunder Wave, it looked like when the Wormadam seized up in paralysis as it tried to launch another move.
Electricity built up around Eelektross, but before he could do anything, the Wormadam managed to get a different attack off. Despite it having a plant cloak, it sent off an Earth Power. Now Rei wanted to try and catch it to see what other moves it might know that non-alphas didn’t.
“Watch out, Eelektross!” Rei called, digging out an empty Pokeball. Eelektross buzzed, but didn’t move.
This was going to hurt.
Rei winced as the move landed. Eelektross didn’t.
He looked completely fine.
Eelektross hit it with a Thunderbolt. It looked like a nasty one, but with the resistance, Wormadam stayed up.
Akari managed to slip over as the pair continued battling. “What’s that long Pokemon? You said Eelektross?”
“Yeah, found him in the Coastlands,” Rei said as they ducked out of the way of another Silver Wind. “I think he came from a distortion bubble.”
“He’s probably a Flying-Type since that Earth Power didn’t affect him,” Akari hummed.
“Actually,” Laventon chimed in, “I believe Eelektrosses are only Electric-Type.”
“So why didn’t he take damage from the Ground move?” Rei asked.
Laventon shrugged, eyes bright with excitement. “I suppose that is something we will need to figure out.”
Eelektross hit the Wormadam with anther Thunderbolt. It was starting to slow down, as opposed to Eelektross who seemed to be getting faster.
“I think he’s enjoying himself,” Rei chuckled.
“You should take him to the Training Grounds,” Akari suggested. “Maybe you could get Ingo back for those Paths of Solitude.”
“Oh, I should!” Rei laughed. “I still can’t believe his plan for Magikarp was an entire Electrode.”
“I can’t believe you managed to get through it!”
“Only took a million tries.”
After a few more moves, one being what looked like a Poison move Rei didn’t recognize, the Wormadam looked ready to run off. Rei chucked a Pokeball at it before it could.
It bounced a few times, then was caught with a burst of fireworks.
“Nice!” Akari cheered. “Thanks for that. And sorry. I was trying to catch it before it ran off this way.”
Rei went over and scooped up the ball. “You want it then?”
Akari ran over and snatched the ball from his hand. “You bet I do! Oh, I can’t wait to see what moves it can learn!”
Leaving her to that, Rei said goodbye to the pair and headed off. Eelektross was trilling happily as he followed along.
“You like battling?” Rei asked with a laugh as Eelektross circled around him.
He gave a quick buzz and a playful growl.
“You’re going to like Jubilife then!” Rei gave him a pat as he floated above his head again. “They got a whole battleground and everything!”
Eelektross wiggled with an excited gurgle and flash.
“Yeah! You can battle as much as you like there.” Rei waved to the person on the bridge as they passed. “I won’t be able to stay all the time, ’cause I got survey work to do. But I can see if you can stay there with the two people who work there.”
Rei was almost knocked down as Eelektross ran into his back. He gave him a scratch.
“Are you nervous?” he asked. “You don’t have to be. Zisu is super cool and will love to see that move you got that I don’t know. Plus, the other guy there loves battling and is super good at it. He’s not from here either, so he’ll also understand what you’re going through. His name’s Ingo an-”
This time, Rei was knocked down. He had barely hit the ground before Eelektross was pulling him to his feet again and pushing him down the path.
“Now you’re excited, is that it?” Rei laughed. He managed to shove Eelektross off him and gave his head a light shake. “Man, you really must like battling. You just had a battle and you’re still ready to go! I can’t wait to see the look on Ingo’s face when he realizes Ground moves don’t work on you.”
Eelektross buzzed again and zipped ahead. He paused and looked back with a flash.
Rei sped up with a laugh. “Alright! Alright! I’m coming. I promised not to bother my ankle too much, so you need to be patient.”
He was happy Eelektross was doing better than he had been yesterday. He hoped Ingo and Zisu would let him stay with them and help out at the Training Grounds. That would definitely be good for him.
-----
They reached Jubilife without any more issues. Which was great for Rei since his ankle was starting to get sore. Eelektross was clearly excited to be here, but stuck close to him.
“I hope Ingo’s here today,” Rei hummed as they went down the road. “We can still battle Zisu if he’s not, but I think you’d have more fun with him. He’s a really good battler!”
Eelektross buzzed, pushing forwards a little more. Rei gave him a pat.
They reached the entrance of the Training Grounds. Zisu gave a wave. Ingo was sitting on the ground at his usual spot, looking at a book in thought.
“Nice, there’s Ingo.” Rei ran ahead, Eelektross stopping in place. “Hey! Ingo! I got a new Poke- Eelektross, wait!”
Eelektross suddenly zipped passed Rei with a loud buzz. Ingo jolted and looked up just in time to get knocked on his back as Eelektross rammed into him.
“Ack! Sorry about that!” Rei finally made it over to them. Eelektross had wrapped himself tightly around Ingo. “Eelektross, you got to let go. I haven’t even introduced you yet!”
Rei grabbed Eelektross and tried to pull him off Ingo. Eelektross curled up tighter with a whine and started licking Ingo’s face.
“Hey! Hey, Eelektross!” Ingo laughed, trying to push Eelektross’s face away from his. “No kisses! It’s gross! I missed you… too…”
Ingo’s hands moved to hug Eelektross back.
“I missed you too,” he repeated, voice quiet and a little choked up as his hold tightened. “I- I missed you t-too…”
Rei let go and took a few steps away. He supposed that explained Eelektross’s excitement at Ingo’s name.
“Hey, Rei,” Zisu said once he got over to her, “what’s going on over there? Who’s that Pokemon?”
“Prof says he’s an Eelektross,” Rei answered, “and I think he knows Ingo.”
“Well, that much seems obvious,” Zisu chuckled. “Do you know where he came from?”
“Iscan said he saw him come from a distortion bubble.”
Zisu pursed her lips. “So that means…”
“That Ingo’s like me,” Rei sighed. “He’s really not from here.”
Rei had kind of always assumed as much. But there was a part of him that didn’t want that to be the case. It would be easier if it wasn’t. Time travel made things confusing and, in his opinion, worse.
But they would have to figure that out later. And hope Arceus let Rei take them home with him if he couldn’t figure out a quicker way.
It took another few minutes, but eventually Ingo sat back up. Eelektross was still wrapped around him. Even with the tired, barely there smile, he tried to be discreet when he wiped his face. Rei could see how raw his eyes looked from here.
“I can talk to him later,” Zisu said, giving Rei a light push. “You go talk to him first.”
Rei went over and sat next to them. “Better now?”
“Ah, yes,” Ingo chuckled. He pet Eelektross at his nuzzling.
“So, uh, you know Eelektross?” Rei asked even if the answer was obvious.
“I believe I do,” Ingo sighed. Eelektross hummed with a head tilt. “Sorry, Eelektross, I never explained. I am afraid I do not remember anything before a few years ago.”
Eelektross whined, tucking his head under Ingo’s coat.
“I know that Pokemon you remembered has flames,” Rei said, “but do you think Eelektross is also yours?”
Eelektross huffed. Ingo furrowed his brow. “I do not think so. While I am familiar with him and so happy to see him again, I believe his partner is someone else.”
“The man who looks like you, maybe?” Rei suggested.
Ingo pet Eelektross at his whine as he softly said, “I believe so.”
Eelektross moved to wrap around Ingo a bit more.
“Might I ask for Eelektross to stay with me?” Ingo hugged him back. “I understand most of the Pokemon you bring back from your survey work stay in the pastures while they are here, but perhaps we could make an exception?”
“Yeah, of course! I’ll talk to Kamado about it since Eelektross can’t use a Pokeball.” Rei laughed a little. “To be honest, I don’t think anyone would even be able to keep him there.”
“Probably not,” Ingo chuckled. Eelektross flashed. “You would simply escape, is that right? Just slip away?”
Eelektross buzzed with another flash. He moved around until he settled on Ingo’s lap with a huff.
“Thank you for helping Eelektross, Rei,” Ingo hummed, running a hand down the Pokemon. “As worrying as the thought of the man who looks like having lost someone else, I am glad Eelektross and I could recouple. If we are to be derailed, at least we are together.”
Eelektross whined a little.
“Well,” Rei drawled, hoping to lighten the mood a little, “I happen to know that Eelektross loves to battle.”
Ingo laughed as Eelektross perked up. “Do you now? I should have expected as much.”
“And I’m sure he wants to meet your Pokemon,” Rei added.
Eelektross zipped out of Ingo’s hold, swimming in circles above their heads with an excited buzz.
“You know, you can just ask if you want to battle,” Ingo laughed, standing up. “Whose team do you want to battle on, Eelektross?”
Eelektross squinted, then went over to Rei.
“I see how it is, you little traitor,” Ingo huffed jokingly. “Very well! A battle we shall have!”
“Yes!” Rei scrambled to his feet and over to his side of the Training Grounds. He couldn’t wait to see Ingo’s reaction to Eelektross’s weird Ground immunity.
-----
It was easy to see how much better Eelektross and Ingo were doing now.
The little rips in Eelektross’s fins were healed completely. Rei couldn’t even see where they had been anymore. Not to mention how much more energetic and outgoing he was, either swimming through the air to investigate something or bouncing happily at Ingo’s side whenever Rei saw him.
Ingo was clearly a lot happier too. He was louder, that much was obvious. But other than that, he just seemed generally more cheerful. There was a light in his eyes Rei hadn’t seen before.
It was nice.
It had been a few weeks now. Rei’s ankle wasn’t bothering him anymore and he had thrown himself back into his survey work. It was their way home after all, since Palkia and Dialga couldn’t help without messing up the timeline more. Even if he didn’t take it right then, wanting to say proper goodbyes and everything, Rei wanted to make sure Ingo and Eelektross had a way home for when they wanted it.
Of course, he wouldn’t have to do all that if Arceus would just text him back.
It had contacted him a few times, mostly back when he had been dealing with the frenzies. Their interactions were short, but usually pretty helpful. Or just reminding him where to go next.
Rei just wanted to make sure it would be send Ingo and Eelektross home too. He was pretty close to completing the Pokedex at this point and he wanted to know if he had to go yell at it.
So of course, that was when Arceus texted him something completely unrelated.
I am sending someone to thee. Helpest him.
Arceus, naturally, didn’t respond to Rei’s multiple questioning texts back. Help who? How? Where even was this guy?
Rei got his answer an hour or so later. Not from Arceus, but in the form of a guy flying across the sky. He chased after him, finding him face down in the sand at Prelude Beach.
Well, at least Rei knew how Laventon felt now.
The man had a large white coat on and a matching hat sitting a bit off. They both looked kind of familiar, but Rei couldn’t put his finger on why.
He would figure that out later. The important thing right now was that the man wasn’t moving.
“Uh, sir?” Rei crouched next to the man and poked him lightly. “Are you okay?”
The man groaned a second later, much to Rei’s relief. That relief quickly turned back to worry as the man slowly pulled himself upright, leaving a pool of blood in the sand were his head had been. There as a rock there too, small but clearly big enough to do some damage.
“Huh?” the man hummed. Rei looked back to see him wince as he tried to wipe the blood off his face. “What… Why did it… I’m bleeding?”
“Sir?” Rei tried again. The man looked up at him, eyes not really focusing. “Did Arceus send you?”
The man blinked at him. “I am Emmet. Um… Yes. Yes, it did.”
“Great,” Rei said, grabbing Emmet’s hat for him. “I don’t think Arceus knows another way of sending people he- Ingo’s hat?”
Emmet lurched forwards with a bit of a sway. “Ingo? You know Ingo? I am looking for him. And my partner, Eelektross. Have you seen them?”
Rei guessed Arceus’s message wasn’t completely unrelated.
“I- yeah.” Rei handed Emmet his hat, the man wincing again as he tried put it on before settling on just holding it. “They went back to the Highlands a few days ago, but I can send him a letter to come back.”
Emmet shot to his feet, still swaying. He pointed like Ingo, if mirrored. “Then onward we roll! To the Highlands!”
Rei got to his feet too. “You aren’t going anywhere but the infirmary. You’re actively bleeding.”
Emmet looked like he wanted to argue. He then wiped his eye clear again and looked at his bloodstained gloves. He sighed, “You are right. I will get repairs. But you will tell Ingo to come here?”
“Promise.” Rei started walking back to Jubilife. “This way! We aren’t far.”
Emmet took his gloves off and pressed them to his cut with a hiss and a frown.
Wow. That clicked way too late. Rei blamed the blood.
“You look like Ingo,” he blurted out.
“Yup. We are twins,” Emmet hummed. His brow furrowed. “Didn’t he mention me?”
“Arceus didn’t…” Rei looked back down the path and wrung his hands. “Ingo, uh… He has amnesia. He doesn’t really remember anything before Hisui.”
Emmet stopped behind him. Rei turned turned to see his eyes unfocused and his hands shaking. “He- He doesn’t…”
“He remembers a couple things!” Rei said, hoping to fix this. “Like a man who looks like him. That’s gotta be you! And he remembered a bit about Eelektross when he saw him. Well, Eelektross actually tackled him in his excitement and started licking his face. But still!”
That got a small and wet chuckle out of Emmet. He quickly wiped his eyes and took a breath. “Rrrright. They- They had each other. That is good.”
“Yeah, I don’t think I could have separated them if I tried,” Rei chuckled. He continued walking, Emmet thankfully following along. “I’m going to send them a note to come back with Yanmega, so they should be here within a day or two.”
“That long?” Emmet asked quietly. It was a little shocking how much quieter Emmet was than Ingo. Not to mention his face moved a lot more.
“Well, tomorrow at the latest.” They were nearing the gates by now. Rei grabbed Emmet’s elbow as he started to list to the side. “He’ll probably be here tonight if I tell him about you being his brother. Come on, we’re almost there.”
“Can you? Tell him?” Emmet asked, voice distant as his eyes fluttered. “Please?”
“Yeah. But you gotta stay awake.” Rei managed to wave down a guard to help. He thought it would take a little more explanation to get Emmet through the gate, but then again, he was still pretty bloody.
Emmet managed to stay conscious, thought not entirely present, as they finally got to the infirmary and was patched up. Rei wrote a short note, mostly yelling at Ingo to get his butt back to Jubilife because his brother had fallen from the sky looking for him and Eelektross, and sent Yanmega off.
There was a brief moment of focus from Emmet when Yanmega was released. He gave her some pets while Rei got the note attached to one of her legs and waved when she flew off. Maybe he liked Bug-Types.
When Rei returned, having left to get the door for Yanmega, there was another Pokemon out. It was sitting on Emmet’s lap, chiming quietly as he hugged it.
While they were kept low, the Pokemon had purple flames.
“Ingo mentioned remembering a Pokemon with flames,” Rei said. He reached out a hand. “I assume that’s you?”
The Pokemon chimed again, wrapping a metal arm around his hand and shaking it. Rei laughed.
“I’ve never got a handshake from a Pokemon before! Well, Machamp tried to give me one, but they kinda just yanked me around.”
The Pokemon chimed again, something that sounded a bit like a laugh.
“Chandelure,” Emmet said softly. There was a bit more focus in his eyes now. “She’s a Chandelure. Everyone agreed to stay in their seats. Until I let them out. But she is as stubborn as her partner.”
“Is that Ingo?” Rei asked.
Emmet nodded.
Rei gave her a pet. “I bet you miss him too, huh? And Eelektross.”
Chandelure gave a low chime.
“They’ll be here soon enough,” Rei reassured. “I’m sure they’re racing down the mountain right now.”
Emmet huffed a laugh. Even his small smile was bigger than anything Rei had seen on Ingo. “Verrrry unsafe.”
The rest of the day passed by slowly, but not entirely uneventful. Even if he probably had a concussion or something, Emmet was more than happy to answer Rei’s questions while they waited.
Apparently they ran the Battle Subway in Nimbasa, Unova, which explained why Rei hadn’t heard of them before. He was barely in the battling scene in Sinnoh, much less other regions. He’d gotten better in Hisui, and enjoyed it more, but he much preferred researching. It also explained Ingo’s entire deal around his love of battling.
One question from Rei about the Battle Subway was all it took for Emmet to start rambling on about battling and strategies and trains. Even with the shorter sentences and quieter volume, he could talk as much as Ingo. It was also nice to see him a little less stressed about everything.
That was until his headache got the best of him.
By the end of the day, Emmet was laying down with a pillow pressed to his face to block the light. Pesselle had told him to try not to fall asleep for a few more hours, just to be safe.
Rei had stayed with him the whole time. It didn’t feel right to leave Emmet alone right after meeting him and besides, Arceus told him to help him. He had stepped away a few times to briefly explain Emmet’s situation to Cyllene, Akari, and Laventon when they had seen him there. But he came right back.
But it was starting to get late now and Rei wanted to turn in.
“Emmet, hey,” he whispered, giving the man a light nudge.
Emmet hummed an acknowledgement.
“I’m heading home,” he said. “I’ll be back in the morn-”
SLAM!
Emmet flinched and groaned at the front door slamming open. Rei turned just in time to see Eelektross rushing into the room. He buzzed loudly. Chandelure chimed back, rushing past him and out of the room.
Then Eelektross was on top of Emmet, who was hugging him tight and burying his face into his side. Rei couldn’t make out what he was saying through his sobbing and whining, if he was saying anything in the first place.
There were heavy footsteps and panting at the door to the room. Rei looked back over to see Ingo standing there, holding Chandelure tight enough to shake and staring at Emmet and Eelektross.
There was also a huge red scrape across the side of his face.
“Em-” Ingo’s face twisted as he tried to get his breathing under control. “Em-”
Emmet looked up, squinting against the light. He started crying harder the moment he saw Ingo.
Ingo rushed over, tackling Emmet in a hug. “Emmet!”
“Ingo!” Emmet returned the hug just as tight. Chandelure and Eelektross pressed in as close as they could.
Rei gave them their space as they cried and hugged. He went over to Pesselle, Yanmega finally making herself known and flying over too.
“Hey there. You did a good job.” He gave the bug a pet. Yanmega returned to her ball as Rei joked to Pesselle, “I think you might have to prepare another bed.”
“And treat Ingo’s face,” she sighed. “They’re lucky no one else is here tonight.”
It took a long time for Ingo and Emmet to finally separate, even then they were still holding each others’ hands tightly as Ingo took the chair Rei had been using. It was obvious they were identical now.
Rei went over as Pesselle went to the medicine cabinet. “How are you two doing after all that?”
Ingo huffed a laugh as Emmet laid back down with a groan, putting the pillow over his head again. Eelektross curled up on the bed as Chandelure settled on Ingo’s lap.
“Well, I think that made Emmet’s headache worse,” Ingo sighed, “and we are both exhausted after that. But we are much better than we have been in a while, I think.”
Emmet gave a thumbs up.
“That’s good,” Rei chuckled. “But, uh… What happened to you, Ingo?”
Ingo’s face twitched. “Ah. That. I might have tripped on my way here and scraped myself up a bit. I assure you, it is superficial damage as worse.”
“Let me be the judge of that,” Pesselle cut in, shooing Rei off to the side. “Where else are you hurt?”
Once Ingo was also properly patched up and Emmet was given a check over and told he could go to sleep, Pesselle went to set a bed up for Ingo to stay in overnight. There was no way Ingo and Emmet were going to separate again so soon, even if it was just for a night.
“I think I’m going to head to bed myself,” Rei said, leaning on the foot of Emmet’s bed.
“A good plan if I’ve ever heard one,” Ingo yawned. “I am about to fall asleep and I believe Emmet is nearly there himself.”
Emmet didn’t respond, a response in and of itself.
“Good night, Rei,” Ingo said with a small smile. “I speak for all of us when I say thank you so much for everything.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” Rei said, heading to the door, “I haven’t even got us home yet.”
“Please, feel free to take your time. I want to show Emmet around once he is fully operational again.” He looked back at his brother and their Pokemon, a small smile on his face as he gave Emmet’s hand a squeeze. “Besides, I’ve got home right here with me now.”