Chapter Text
Ult walked slowly down the alleyway, picking up trash, following Sableye.
He did not let himself think about things other then the garbage he's picking up, because he knows that needs to wait until he's done for the day. Which could be any point in time, really.
He picks up a light blue soda can that looks like it was stomped on a lot, and tosses it into his trash container. There's a very loud noise, louder then normal when he tosses cans in there. Maybe it broke apart when it hit the bottom of the container, out of sight.
Sableye makes a happy noise from up ahead, making Ult look up for a bit to see Sableye holding an old, thick bracelet that shines a deep blue color, like the sky at night, and it looks back at him with a smile, showing it to him excitedly.
Ult returns the smile, a small thing, and slightly nods at it before they return to their respective tasks.
They turn a corner, and Ult picks up a red soda can, almost intact, except for a few dents, and a hole straight through it. He tosses it in with the other can, the pieces of tin rattling around.
Sableye looks through a small pile of trash up ahead, and pulls out a shiny red rock that looks like a sunset, repeating it's previous actions.
Ult huffs out a quiet laugh before they go on their way again, Ult picking up a light purple soda can that's dented in such a way you might not know it used to be a soda can, but not broken. He adds it to the container.
Sableye finds what looks like a dusty necklace with a light purple gem as the center piece, like when the sun rises and him and Sableye can actually manage to catch the colors changing. It also reminds Ult of Sableye, so it's just as much a treasure to him as Sableye.
Ult picks up a white soda can, that's just barely holding itself together, like it could snap in half at any moment. He picks up an orange one, that he's pretty breaks into multiple pieces as soon as it hits the others. He picks up a pink one, which is still in one piece, and dented. He picks up a teal one, that's mostly intact, except for a part of it peeling off into another direction, making it dangerous to be on the ground. He picks up a gray one, that's heavily dented with a hole in it.
Sableye finds a pale, white rock that gleams like a jewel in the sun. It finds an old, orange colored piece of glass that makes the sunlight shining through it look like it's shining through part of a stained glass window. It finds a small, pink marble, that tries to roll away from it and lands in the sun, shining brightly. It finds a chipped, teal glass figurine that looks like some kind of Pokemon that might be from another region, and the light it reflects is like the ocean. It finds a small, gray, misshapen piece of metal that vaguely resembles the shape of a frying pan, glinting like a treasure in the sunlight.
Ult picks up a green soda can from the very back of an alley that other people probably wouldn't be able to find, perfectly intact except for a thick coat of dirt and dust that he could barely see through.
Sableye finds a green rock, vaguely heart shaped, and excitedly shows it off to Ult before hopping up to him and offering it out to him with a happy noise. "Uh?" He responds, and Sableye just stands there, staring at him, until he reaches out and takes the rock from Sableye, who makes a content and happy sound as he stares at the rock in the palm of his hand, confused. "Okay." He says, putting it in his pocket.
Then they head off again, collecting more trash until the sun started setting. Then, Ult went to empty the container.
When he did, he found he was correct about the light blue can breaking, the red one seemed to have gotten more dented, there was a tear in the light purple one, the white can stayed in one piece, the orange one was in a few separate pieces, could maybe be fixed up by someone if it hadn't wound up here, the pink one bent but not enough to break, the teal one still exactly the same, and the gray one partially broke in half.
The green one fell and shattered into a million pieces after everything else was emptied out of the container, and Sableye helps Ult pick it all back up and put it back where it's supposed to be, while Ult cursed under his breath, almost scratching his fingers on some of the bits of tin.
He got six dollars for all of that, he could probably get a small sandwich to split with Sableye with that for tonight.
He does just that, and him and Sableye start walking back to their alley, Ult holding that sandwich with an iron grip, trying to hide it from view in order to avoid possible thieves. Once they're sitting down on the couch, Ult breaks the sandwich in half and gives Sableye the bigger half, and then they eat.
Sableye rests it's head on Ult's leg and falls asleep, leaving Ult alone with his thoughts. He reaches into his pocket and takes out the green, heart shaped rock, and stares at it. Did Sableye give this one to him? Normally, when Sableye found something it wanted to keep, it would make noises at Ult until he took it to put in his pocket. But it didn't do that this time, it held it out to him in silence until he took it. It doesn't even shine as brightly as everything else that Sableye picks up, it barely shines at all.
He sighs through his nose and looks up, only seeing the walls surrounding his alley, before putting the rock back in his pocket, and taking the Dusk Ball out, staring down at it.
He's tried to get it to open countless times by now, but he's had no luck. He doesn't even remember what Pokemon is in it anymore, and every time he thinks about that, his heart drops.
"…What do I need to do..? What do I need to do to get your approval..?" He mutters out to it, feeling hopeless and confused. He doesn't remember that anymore, either.
And just like every other time he talks to it, there's no answer. He stares at it for a bit longer before putting it back in his pocket, and looking up again.
The sky is dark. That's all he can tell. He leans back against the couch, and closes his eyes, taking a deep breath, ignoring the smell.
He doesn't know how long he's been doing this for now.
Waking up, spending all day from sunrise to sunset collecting trash off of the streets, turning it in somewhere to get barely enough money to get by, and then sitting down on this exact couch, looking back at anything and everything he's ever done that possibly could've landed him here until he gets too tired to stay awake, and repeat the next day.
He still hasn't figured out anything else, always too focused on surviving to spend much time thinking of anything else.
Sableye makes a sleepy noise from on his knee, and he looks down at it. It's eyes are dimly glowing, and it still slightly unnerves him.
He breathes in deep, and sighs. He pets Sableye's back a couple of times, before he changes position so he's laying down. Then, he closes his eyes, and allows his thoughts to wander until he falls asleep.