Chapter Text
I was going to thoroughly kill them. I help them with the Rogue Megas and I help them with random requests around the city, I bail them out of debt and I help them track down not so missing people, and what do I get? I get sucked into yet another task of if theirs that really seems like an experiment that Mabel should be a part of.
“Relax,” Emma had said as she eased me down into one of the sofas at Hotel Z. “We’ll be with you the whole time and we won’t let any harm come to you. Malamar won’t hurt you.”
I had groaned but my heart was beating a mile a minute and my hands would have been shaking if they weren’t clutched so tightly around the armrests. Around me, Naveen and Lida had argued against the detective and our leader, but I had already made the mistake of agreeing before I knew what I was agreeing to.
“And what exactly did I agree to?” I had asked the minute I saw Urbain’s grin and Emma’s excitement.
Mind control. For some reason, I had agreed to be under the mind control of Malamar- who was getting his commands from none other than Emma. I was doomed. I had no idea what they were going to make me say or do, I knew it wasn’t going to be good.
“Remind me why we’re doing this again?” Lida’s voice complained as if she was the one about to be hypnotized.
“I want to see how effective brainwashing and mind control are when used by Malamar so I can use it during my investigations and interrogations. Nothing harmful. I just want to ask a few questions, then we’ll break the control and see if she remembers anything, then we’ll put her back under, ask a few more questions and see if we can wipe her memory of the previous minutes.” The detective had explained it so matter of factly that it truly did seem like it would be harmless, but the glint in her eye and the subtle smirk on her lips told a different story. She was up to something and I had no idea what. “Whenever you’re ready,” she finished, her eyes connecting with mine.
With a deep breath and one more look around the room- my eyes catching on the worried expressions of Lida, Naveen, and Floette, and the smirk of Urbain- I nodded and looked back at Emma.
I watched as, with a smile, she called her Malamar out and told him the simple command. Then I watched as the Pokemon shot gentle pink waves in my direction. Then another deep breath drew into my lungs as they enveloped me, then everything started to feel off. Voices became muffled as the inning started in my ears, and my body started to tingle, but I couldn’t move. My eyes slowly started to become hazy until a pink fog had completely trapped my control. Still, though my senses felt out of my control, I felt calm.
One breath, then two, then three, and my head seemed to slowly move to zero in on the detective. Her words sounded muffled as she talked, but I felt myself answering one question after the other.
“How old are you?”
“20, turning 21 in a few weeks.”
“Where did you grow up?”
“Circhester City in the Galar region.”
“What’s your favorite color?”
“Royal purple, but it used to be powder blue, almost white like the snow.”
“What was your first Pokemon?”
“Eevee.”
“Where is she?”
“With my Aunt and Uncle, but they’re sending her to me shortly.”
“Why did you come to Kalos?”
“My parents had died and my brother had left for his own journey, and I needed time to figure out where I belonged.”
“Did you find what you were looking for?”
“Yes, a family here in Lumiose.”
One after the other, the questions were asked and- with little to no hesitation- I answered. Part of me wondered what would happen if they asked me a question that I didn’t want to answer. The other part of me didn’t want to know. Still, after a few more questions, I watched as Emma nodded to her Pokemon and I slowly felt my senses come back. The fog in my eyes cleared with each breath I took in, and the ringing slowly faded into the silence of the room. The tingling in my body eased after a few moments and- when I was finally able to move, my limbs stretched as a deep breath drew back into my lungs.
“So, how did it feel?” Urbain’s all too cheery voice was the first to speak as Lida handed me a glass of water.
“Lovely,” I sent a small glare to the strawberry streaked blonde, “you should really try it next.”
“No thank you,” he snorted with a shake of his head, holding his hands up in surrender.
My eyes rolled, but they drew to Emma as she knelt in front of me, checking my pulse. “Seems normal,” she commented. “How did it feel when you were under?”
“Odd,” I answered before describing each moment. “It was like I wasn’t in control at all, but at the same time, the questions you asked were very say ones that I would answer whether I was under the influence or not.”
“So I need to ask harder questions that push you more,” she noted out loud, nodding as her finger came up to her chin. “Good to know. And you remember everything?” I nodded. “Okay, so we’ll try harder questions and try to wipe your memory next. Are you ready or do you want to wait a few more minutes?”
“I’m ready when you are,” I hesitantly answered with a soft sigh, slinking back into the chair.
Once again, I watched as Emma gave the command to Malamar, and once again, the tingling, ringing and foggy haze fell over my senses. But just as they started to fall, they had risen, and I felt in control of my body.
At first, there was silence as my brain tried to think of what happened. Did it not work? If it didn’t, then why did Urbain look torn between being hurt and amused, and why did Lida look like she was about to combust with excitement and laughter? Why was Naveen blushing while still trying to look concerned, and why did Emma look too pleased with herself. My brows furrowed as I looked at each of my friends, confusion rolling over me.
“What happened?” That was all it took for chaos to erupt. Laughter and squeals combined with the usher questions and comments, none registering in my mind. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, what the hell happened? What are you guys talking about?”
“You don’t remember anything?” Lida gawked before I noticed her rotor phone hovering in the air.
“Malamar wiped her memory,” Emma’s voice came out softly. “It worked,” she spoke a bit louder.
“Can someone please tell me why the hell everyone looks like they have 59 different emotions running through them? What did I do- or say?”
“So you really don’t remember anything?” Urbain spoke, “You don’t remember saying you hate my food?”
A bolt of shock ran through me as my jaw dropped. “I don’t-“ I began to argue, but stopped when I saw Emma slap his arm and glare at him.
“She did not say that,” the dark haired woman chastised. “Don’t make her feel bad about things that aren’t true.”
“Well it’s close enough,” he whined.
“I don’t-“ I spoke again, but stopped with a shake of my head. “What the hell did you ask me and what did I say?”
“Oh I love this,” Lida jumped up and down in glee. “Here, let me show you,” she spoke again before moving to my side, her rotom phone moving with her and stopping in front of me.
With worry and confusion, my eyes drew away from the others and stuck on the video that had started to play. There, clear as day, I watched as Malamar had used hypnosis on me and my body began to both relax and straighten at the same time. I watched as my lips parted ever so slightly with a relaxed jaw, and my eyes began to shimmer with an opalescent pink. Then, after another few beats, it began.
“Okay so we need harder questions, right?” Urbain’s voice came almost deviously over the speaker.
“Urbain don’t,” Naveen spoke up.
“What? It’s for research, right?”
“Unfortunately, Urbain is right,” Emma sighed, but I could see the way she hid a smile behind her hand. “We need to see if she can push back against any questions. Ones that she really doesn’t want to answer.”
“Like if she actually likes his cooking,” Naveen snorted with a grin, looking at our leader.
“Hey, she likes it,” the blonde argued.
“Well, let’s ask her, shall we?” Emma stepped up and I could see my eyes shift to where she stood. “Harmony, do you really like Urbain’s Croissant curry?”
There was barely a beat before my own voice came through, almost sounding alien. “It’s okay. It reminds me of home, but with a twist of this city.”
I watched as Urbain’s arms fell to his sides and a complaint of ‘no way’ fell from his lips. Then I watched as Lida grinned and giggled, leaning over to whisper something to Emma after the words left my lips. Uh oh, I knew that face.
With a sweet grin, Emma nodded and looked back at me. “Harmony, you once told Lida that you wished you could cook more, is that true?”
“Yes, I miss cooking curry and I’ve wanted to share my mothers recipe with everyone, as well as some of my favorites.” The words came out easily and I felt myself relax slightly. That wasn’t as bad as I thought she was going to ask. Or I may have spoken too soon. Fear shot through my gut as I saw Lida whisper into Emma’s ear again, causing the detective to grin more.
“Harmony, You told us that your favorite color used to be a powder blue, but now it’s a royal purple. What changed?”
The question made my heart skip, and my stomach to plummet. I could clearly see the hesitation- as if my brain was trying to keep the words down. Yet they still came up. “I met Corbeau and now I can stop thinking about him.” I felt my face flush as Lida fist bumped the air in victory.
“I have been trying to get her to say it out loud for the longest time,” the dancer gleefully said. If I hadn’t been mortified by the shock and betrayal or Urbain’s face and the defeat or Naveen’s.
“I mean, wasn’t it obvious?” Obvious? How the hell would it be-
“No it was not obvious, I mean what the hell? He lured us into debt and had us work off-“ the blonde tried to argue, but Lida snapped.
“You got us into debt,” she poked his chest, “not him. And you didn’t have to work off anything. It was all Harmony. All you had to do was make sure the room was spotless and that he was taken care of for one night- which is customer service by the way. And he tipped you the full amount of what you owed in the first place.” I had to stop myself from laughing as the dancer went on. “And on top of all of that, he and the Rust Syndicate started to help with the Rogue Megas that Harmony was running herself into the ground to help us with. She and I ran into Phillipe with the Starmie situation, and he was the one that gave me the water stone. Corbeau cares more about the city than most people. And yeah, he’s intimidating, but have you seen him around Harmony? They like each other. I mean he even helped with the Rift research with Ansha when he absolutely did not have to, and I’m pretty sure it’s because he wanted to see her more.”
When Lida had finally calmed, making Urbain completely speechless, I heard Emma hum. “Well, I feel like that just shows that he cares for her. Shall we confirm her feelings?”
“Emma, she already said-“ Naveen spoke, but she merely shook her head.
“She only said her favorite color changed. It could still be an admiration or mentor- mentee type of feeling.” Mentorship? When no one objected, she turned to me. “So, Harmony, tell us. How do you really feel about Corbeau?” I was going to kill her.
“I think I’m in love with him,” my voice came from the speaker- plain and simple. “At first, I thought he was extremely attractive with his dark hair and piercing yellow eyes. Then he was a bit intimidating when we started talking and the contract points were negotiated. But once I started working for him, and he kept showing up to check on me, I could see how much he cared about everything. He took into consideration how I had never worked for an organization, and sent me on jobs that benefitted the city as much as the work Emma had me do was. When I was battling him, I felt like I had to push myself more than I had with anyone else,”
“Hey, I resent that,” Urbain spoke up, but I didn’t stop.
“Fighting beside him against the rioter was a rush that made me see him in a new light. Then fighting beside him against Gardevoir and Gallade made me realize that I had more than a small crush on him. He’s strong and intelligent, a hard worker that demands respect from his people as much as he respects them. He leads by example and his people trust him because of it. He’s also funny, easy to talk to and a complete gentleman that makes my heart stutter each time I see him.”
The more I heard myself speak of the poison leader, the more my cheeks began to burn. None of it was wrong, yet it all felt so wrong to hear myself say in a more monotone voice. My heart had begun to beat wildly and my stomach turned with each word I heard myself speak, realizing just how deep my feelings truly were. Our friendship had started off rocky due to the circumstances, but it had soon morphed into something I had only dreamed of.
When I had finally stopped my answer, the others had looked at me in silence. One beat ticked by, then two, then three. “I had no idea,” Urbain’s voice was soft as he stared at me.
“That’s because you’re as blind as a bat,” I heard Naveen mumble, but The blonde didn’t retort.
“Okay, um, that was a lot of information,” Emma broke the silence again. “Should we continue?” No, they should not have continued.
“Hell yeah,” Lida’s voice spoke. “We need to know everything.” My eyes flicked up to the dancer in front of me while she cringed and took a step back.
When my eyes drew back down to the Rotom phone, I saw Emma move toward me. “Okay, how about this one. Harmony, I saw you talking to someone at a cafe recently and there were papers all over the table. What was all of that?”
“He’s was an old friend from Galar that was helping me with marketing for the hotel and a transfer of pokemon project that my Grams and Cousin Sonia wanted to start with Mabel.”
“Marketing?” Urbain questioned.
“Can you explain more?” Emma added the question that was more of a command.
“My Gran and cousin are professors in Galar and are working with a few other regional professors on an Academic Pokemon Exchange Program where they would introduce different species from one region into another. I was meeting my old friend Gareth to discuss what ones to start off with here in Lumiose and if there were any that I could introduce as partners to strong trainers. He also has some friends and colleagues that want to visit Lumiose but want a more relaxed experience instead of the ritz and glam of Hotel Richissime. I offered Hotel Z as an appropriate place that’s close to the train station, cafes, shopping and everything else.” My voice came out calmly even though I was freaking out inside. I hadn’t wanted them to know any of that before I finalized everything. I wanted it to be a surprise.
I found myself groaning as I looked up at my friends- pausing the video momentarily. “Please tell me that you didn’t make me spill more.” All I received was pitiful looks and simple nods before I continued the video.
“What did you mean by partners to strong trainers?” Emma’s voice spoke through the speakers again.
“I was planning on giving each of you, as well as the top trainers like Canari, Corbeau, Jacinthe, and the others regional Pokemon that aren’t found in Lumiose or Kalos. I have a list but I haven’t given it to him yet.”
“Oh, new Pokemon. So sweet,” Lida cooed. “I wonder what she was thinking for us.”
“We’re not going to ask her,” Emma quickly shot down the idea that we both knew that dancer had.
“Aw come on,” she complained.
“No, we’ve already made her say too much, and she obviously wanted to surprise us with them. Let’s not ruin that for her.”
“Fine,” Urbain pouted beside the detective.
“Guys I think we’re good on the hypnosis part,” Naveen spoke. “Why don’t we just try and wipe her memory like agreed in and let her go?”
“Oh please, just one more question,” Lida asked, making me look up at her and glare slightly.
“Fine, one more,” Emma agreed.
“Oh and I have the perfect question to finish it on,” our blonde leader snapped his fingers before whispering into Emma’s ears.
I watched as she sighed and shook her head, but she didn’t argue. “Harmony, tell us how you really feel about being in Lumiose. Would you ever want to leave or go back home?”
“Yes,” the word came from my lips, shocking me before I heard my voice continue. “I would always want to visit Galar because I grew up there and I have my family there. I miss the curry and being able to travel to the Crown Tundra or Isle of Armor on weekends. I miss my Gran and my cousin and brother, but I’ve come to see Lumiose as my new home, and the people in it my new friends and family. Lida, Naveen and Urbain are like the siblings I never had, and Emma is my best friend. Mabel, Lebanne and Jacinthe are like my crazy Aunts, and Phillipe is like a caring uncle. Tarragon is the sweet grandfather and Ivor is the over excited older brother. Gwyn and Canari are the friends who we’re waiting to get together. Ansha is like my little sister and Korrina is a friend that I’m trying to set up with Ivor because I know he likes her. And Corbeau- Corbeau is one of the main reasons I will always come back to Lumiose.”
The room, both in the video and currently we’re silent as I watched the video. Then chaos erupted in the video once more.
“Did she say she would go back to Galar?”
“She also said she would always come back.”
“Aw, she thinks I’m like her sister.”
“I’m her best friend?!”
“I think she’s in trouble if you’re her best friend.” Smack! “Ow, hey, I was joking”
“Wait, did she say Canari and Gwyn, and Ivor and Korrina?”
“Oh my god Jacinthe is totally like a crazy posh aunt.”
“How come I’m not one of the ones to keep her here.”
“Probably because of your curry.”
“Maybe we should help her cook the curry that she wants since she misses it so much.”
“Has to be better than Urbain’s.”
“Hey, not fair.”
Their voices spoke over one another, almost too quick to catch. One comment after the other made my heart race. How much more would they pull from me? Would this truly be the last question under this type of questioning?
I didn’t have to wait very long before Emma’s voice spoke clearly over the others. “Malamar, release.” I watched as they all froze and turned to face me.
One moment, then two, then three passed as I watched the pink in my eyes shift back to my natural light blue. I could see my body relax and my chest start to rise and fall in my normal rhythm, then my eyes blinked as I clearly took in the appearance of each person.
“What happened?” My voice was clear before the recording ended.
I was frozen, my eyes staring down at the spot there the Rotom used to be. So many questions, so many secrets, and now they were all out in the open. What was I going to do? Could I get mad at them for prying? Could I say that it was all a lie? But which ones and how could I explain everything?
“I-“ the words stuck in my throat as I looked around the room- to my friends, the Pokemon, to the floor and wall- anything that could give me an answer of what to do. Nothing did. “I don’t know what to say.”
“I think you said enough when you were under hypnosis,” Urbain snorted with a small smirk.
“You guys are horrible,” I groaned. “Why did you make me say all those things?”
“To be fair,” Emma started, “I only asked basic questions. You decided to go into all of the explanations.”
“It’s not like I could have stopped myself,” I whined.
“In hindsight, we should have seen this coming,” Naveen rubbed the back of his head. “You do tend to overshare when you drink too much.”
“I do not,” My eyes dropped as my eyes widened.
“Last time you drank too much, you said that Ivor was like a cuddly Bewear and that he just needed to get laid and let Gwyn do her own thing because he was also like a helicopter Blissey- and fell asleep against your Ampharos,” Urbain snorted with a smirk.
“That’s not over sharing, that’s me saying what we were all thinking,” I pouted, remembering the night at the club where Ivor had never left his sister’s side.
“And being mind controlled by Malamar isn’t,” he laughed.
Back and forth we argued with counter points paired with sighs, pouts and chuckles. Emma and Naveen had input their own points, either ganging up on me or pointing out truths that neither Urbain nor I would have said. But it all stopped with one frightful gasp from Lida. All of our eyes snapped to see her looking down at her phone with scared eyes and a tight grip.
“Oh no,” Lida’s voice trembled- eyes still stuck on her screen.”Oh no, no, no, no. What did I do?”
“Lida,” I softly called her name, my heart starting to pound against my chest as fear zipped through my veins. “Lida, what happened?”
“I-” her voice cracked again as her eyes slowly raised to meet mine, panic striking at both of us. “I didn't mean to. I am so sorry- I- I wish I could-”
“Lida, what happened?” Naveen spoke up right before all of our Rotom Phones pinged at the same time, flying up in our sights.
My stomach twisted as my messages opened, showing the large group chat titled ‘Saviors of Lumiose’. Message after message poured in from our friends who- somehow had already seen the 12 and a half minute video. Some wrote questions, others laughed, smiled or sent sweet messages- but each one acted as a spike, nailing in the reality that my confessions were now out in the open for all to see.
“You posted it?!” Emma’s shout made my body tense.
“I am so sorry, I though I was attaching a funny video I took of my pokemon today, but I accidentally pressed-”
“The video that can ruin my life?” My soft voice hid the complete sense of fear I had trickling over my body. My anxiety felt worse than when we were going against Ange.
“I am so sorry,” Lida grabbed my hand, stepping forward as her eyes tried to grab into mine.
I had to force a lump down in my throat and slowly nod, my stomach twisting and turning. When one more text popped up, my body froze. The chime of my phone was soft and sweet, but the name that popped up threatened to end my whole life.
“Fuck,” the word pushed from my lips in a soft pout.
Beau ❤️☠️: Saw the video.
Beau ❤️☠️: If you’re not at my office within the next 15 minutes, I will come and get you myself.