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waywardstation · 2 years

Text

Behind (Sleep) Schedule

Ingo has been having trouble sleeping at night, ever since he had to adjust to the (too) quiet night atmosphere of Hisui. But he couldn’t let this get in the way of a fun day with Akari at the Ginkgo Guild’s modern appliance exhibition, held at Jubilife Village!

This was a mess of a fic haha. I started it like a month ago after seeing a post talking about how Ingo might have issues sleeping in quiet Hisui, after being used to the nighttime ambience of busy Nimbasa city for so long. But I can’t find the post now to credit it. If anyone knows the post, I’d love to have it so I could properly credit it! Thanks!

This was supposed to be a short fic, but it grew really big and was rewritten several times. I hope you enjoy the scenario I ended up going with! What didn’t work in this fic will probably end up showing up in a later fic!

OR, read it here on AO3!

Enjoy!

————

Ingo found it hard to fall asleep at night.

One would think sleeping in the rocky, uneven wilderness of the Coronet Highlands could be a little difficult. That was understandable. But there was not much of an excuse for it to be hard to sleep in a soft, warm bed, tucked away in a comfy living space within the Pearl Clan’s village.

Ingo had slept in both places many times, and actually found it harder to sleep in his own bed at the quiet Icelands settlement than in the Highlands.

It wasn’t that he was uncomfortable in his own bed, and it’s not like the Highlands were too disruptive, what with the mountainous range being alive with various ambience.

On the contrary, Ingo quite appreciated the multiple soft layers and thick, insulating blankets of his bed within the Pearl Clan settlement. And the highland’s usually-disruptive ambience didn’t disturb him in the least.

In fact, the Highlands were too quiet.

Even quieter than the settlement, where the silent snowfall muted every smaller sound along with it.

It was why Ingo opted to sleep out in the rocky highlands, as opposed to his comfortable bed at the settlement. He dreaded the absolute silence.

Ingo felt like he was missing something.

He could not recall what it was that he was missing, however. The rips, tears, and holes that littered his mind had shot right though these recollections.

( ) ( ) ( ) (Holes) (everywhere) ( ) ( ) ( )

But what Ingo’s mind could not remember, his body was expecting, like he needed it to get to sleep.

How could he possibly fall asleep without the atmosphere that he had grown so used to, so dependent on?

It had been part of an expected routine, before Hisui.

The sounds of (busses) and (cars) in the (bustling) streets, their (horns honking) and (beeping).

The muffled (billboards) and (advertisements), dulled through closed windows of (his) and (Emmet’s)(apartment), but mixing together with the sounds of the (city).

The drone of (commuters) and (challengers) blending together amongst the various cries of Pokémon, all together on the (sidewalks), just like in the (Battle Subway).

The (electronic) jumble.

( ) ( ) ( ) (But) (the) (holes) ( ) ( ) ( )

The sounds of streets, muffled and dulled behind windows and mixed with the droning, blending amongst the various cries of Pokémon all together. Just like...

…a jumble.

It was difficult for Ingo to piece together what he was missing at nights that made it so hard to relax, but he knew it was hard for his body to get to sleep without it.

The warden turned onto his other side within a thick bundle of blankets, as if shifting would help him sleep easier.

Currently in the highlands, Ingo lay stationary as he stared up at the night sky, just outside Lady Sneasler’s cave. Having just had her kits, the noble expressed it would like to keep Ingo close when he could manage it, in case anything went wrong. But the kits were at the age where they would climb, scratch, and bite at anything they could reach, and that usually ended up being Ingo.

So for now, he opted to sleep outside - the night sky was nice anyways, and Ingo didn’t need to add a pile of bitey baby sneaslets to the list of reasons why he couldn’t sleep.

Though he was sure with enough sleep deprivation and time to get used to them, he could sleep through even that.

Ingo turned back onto his other side again. From within the bundle, his ears automatically picked up on any sound he heard, whether he liked it or not.

The sturdy trees peppered around the terrain rustled in the night breeze, as gentle winds weaves through them.

In the distance, a zubat’s wings flapped. It was too high in the air for echolocation to be of any use, and bounce off of anything.

A sudden flutter and a stifled screech followed by silence told Ingo a gligar had just snatched it up as a meal.

Loose rocks moved somewhere down the hill below him. Something was climbing quietly at its own pace.

The thrum of yanmas’ wings buzzed every once in a while, more to straighten out the appendages and communicate to other yanma, than to fly.

It was too much for Ingo, and at the same time not enough.

In an effort for his body to hear the steady, constant volume of sounds that it was used to, it was hyper-aware in the silence, waiting - and as soon as anything sounded off, his attention snapped right to it.

While it wasn’t nearly as bad as several months ago, night after night it was like this.

It still made it very hard to sleep, and often he found himself dozing off during the day.

————

Ingo must have finally fallen asleep at some point (though it felt more like passing out, rather than actually sleeping), as the next time he opened his eyes, the purple sky could be seen with the beginnings of an orange edge, signaling the sun would be rising soon.

Ingo rose from his warm resting place amongst his layers of fabric, shivering slightly in the sudden cold atmosphere as he stretched his back.

Slipping his tattered coat on, which had been neatly folded beside him, and straightening his hat upon his head, some of the warmth returned to him.

“Goodbye, Lady Sneasler…” Ingo yawned into the cave, not too loud in case she was still asleep with her kits, as he rolled up his bundle of blankets and set it just inside the entrance to the cave, before turning to leave.

Ingo had the day off today, but he would not be spending it with Lady Sneasler or her kits, like he usually would.

He had a busy schedule today, and needed to be up and awake for it.

Starting his trek down the mountain, Ingo thought about the long day ahead of him. The Ginkgo guild were traveling to Jubilife today for an exposition of sorts, to show off several “amazing and wondrous mechanisms you certainly couldn’t miss!”

…the guild’s words, not his.

They had all been scavenged from the remains of space time distortions, left behind in the aftermath, and Akari was very much interested in seeing what the guild had to present, and auction off - as one of the two people in Hisui who would probably even recognize these items, the intrigue was understandable. And the guild had been advertising the upcoming event for the last couple weeks…she had to go!

And of course, she asked Ingo to come along with her to the event.

In fact, the exposition was the whole reason why Ingo had the day off, and why Akari knew he’d be available. The Ginkgo guild had asked to use the battlegrounds as a place to set up all of their strange appliances for a showing; in fact, Ingo and Zisu had spent the day before cleaning out the dojo so that the guild could store these appliances there for the auction.

No battles today if there was no open battlefield. So both Zisu and himself had been relieved of work for the day.

Ingo made his way down to one of the Highland’s rivers, kneeling down to quickly splash his face; both to freshen up, and wake himself up. A rush of cold water to the face usually helped with that.

A tired sigh left his mouth as the water dripped down his neck. Ingo held his hands against his face for a moment, before rubbing at his heavy eyes.

Of course, when Akari asked him to go with her, he accepted her request! He was more than happy to go with her. But the catalyst to accept that had come when she let it slip that Volo would be there, and was the one who had even informed her about the event in the first place, as if hoping he would persuade her to come.

Ingo tipped his cap back, running his fingers through his scruffy hair, before shaking his hands free of any lingering river water. All freshened up and awake, the warden stood back up and straightened out his coat, readying himself for departure. The sun had just started to rise above the mountains, and Ingo headed for Jubilife Village to meet up with Akari.

After what had happened in the Ancient Quarry, Ingo wasn’t quite sure how he felt about Volo.

The man had approached Ingo and Akari from behind as they travelled through the quarry, with Ingo leading Akari to Lady Sneasler. Somehow, he had known where Akari was, all alone out in the wilderness.

He seemed surprised, however, to see Ingo there, almost as if he expected Akari to be alone for him to talk with.

Like Ingo wouldn’t have been so hands-on with guiding Akari through such a dangerous place, to his noble. Like he would just point in the general direction of Lady Sneasler, and be on his way.

Volo had made small talk with the warden in a friendly gesture, asking about his amnesia and if they seemed to connect to the rift, but when Ingo couldn’t provide any answers the man seemed to be looking for, he dropped interest, wished the best with his amnesia, and turned his attention to Akari instead.

Ingo approached Wayward Cave, and stepped inside with no hesitation. Having gone back and forth so many times, he held no fear for what was inside.

As long as the torches were lit, that is.

Ingo yawned as the darkness enveloped him briefly, before he reached the torches’ lights, illuminating the cavern.

Ingo felt Volo was far too interested in Akari’s origins, and seemed keen to connect her to the rift. And those gifts he was always giving her, apparently free from the guild…

It had won Akari over, but as an outsider evaluating the situation, Ingo was wary.

Volo had done nothing wrong, explicitly. He seemed very animated, and certainly friendly. But this friendliness had so much energy behind it. It was not like the friendliness Zisu extended to him, or even Akari’s.

He just seemed very…interested and eager to connect Akari to the mystery of the rift, and in turn, connect himself to her as a companion.

Ingo didn’t know if he should chalk it up to being someone who just wanted to have something more interesting going on in their life at the moment, or if it was something of actual concern, hinting towards more concerning tendencies.

But Akari held no such reservations, and always brightened up when Volo was around. She knew Volo much better than he did.

But she was just a kid.

…but Ingo was always cautious, sometimes to a fault. He knew that. Perhaps he was performing too many safety checks.

So for now, for Akari’s sake, Ingo simply observed Volo with the benefit of the doubt.

Like he would be doing today, at the exhibition with Akari.

The cavern filled with bright light, harsher than the torches’ own as Ingo turned a corner and reached the exit. He stepped out of Wayward Cave, and continued on towards the Fieldlands.

————

“Ingo! I’m over here!”

As Ingo neared Jubilife Village, he was so surprised to see all of the bright decorations and festive sounds through the gates, that he didn’t notice Akari waving to him off to the side of the entrance at first.

Jubilife seemed to be a bit more excited for this exhibition than he initially thought.

Ingo managed to get out one last yawn before Akari reached him, running over to meet him halfway, so they could enter the Jubilife together.

“Good morning, Miss Akari,” Ingo pulled a smile for her as she fell into step beside him. The contrast between their energy levels was immediately apparent; Ingo dragged his feet slightly, while Akari was practically skipping. “I hope I am not running too far behind schedule.”

“Good morning, Ingo; Not at all!” Akari said, pointing into the gates of Jubilife. “They’re still setting up right now!”

When Ingo came to man his station at the training grounds in the mornings, he often saw one Ginkgo Guild wagon set up across the village, right outside the Galaxy Team Headquarters. Two kind people, who Ingo had come to learn were named Ginter and Tuli, were always stationed by the wagon, selling goods their guild had collected from around the region.

But as Ingo looked to where Akari was pointing, he could see an entire string of wagons had been set up, lining the crowded street through Jubilife’s shops. Colorful white, blue, and yellow decorations, such as ribbons and flags, hung from anywhere they could be put up. Storefronts had special decorations out as well for support, and it seemed various stands selling crafts, materials, and foods had been set up. All of it was advertising something about the Gingko guild, whether that be special sales, or simply showing off the guild’s emblem.

And, more Ginkgo members than just Ginter and Tuli were here this time! In the busy street, Various guild members were out and about, conversing with the people of Jubilife and exchanging various items, their Pokémon by their sides.

Ingo had never seen this many guild members in Jubilife before, only Ginter and Tuli….and Volo too. He had begun to wonder if they were the three sole members of the guild.

“This is…certainly a crowded station.” Ingo observed as Akari and himself stepped back for a group of children running by, playing with a bidoof. Thankfully, his naturally loud speaking voice carried well enough over the sounds of the festive street.

“This showing was all the Ginkgo guild would tell their customers about for the last few weeks,” Akari told Ingo, her speaking voice not quite as loud as him; she had to raise it considerably to compensate. “I thought there would be more people here!”

More? It seemed like most of Hisui was packed into this village!

Ingo felt a hand grasp at his frayed coat sleeve and lightly tug on it, pulling him towards a few stands that had been set up.

“Oh wait! Beni told me to come by the Wallflower before the guild starts the event!” Akari moved through the loud crowd of ginkgo members, villagers, and decorations, Ingo following behind. “He’s been trying something new out!”

Akari approached a festive stand that had been set up right next to The Wallflower. A small crowd had already gathered around it, and Ingo noted the skewers of colorful food in the hands of every person who turned to leave.

“Akari! I was wondering if you’d come by,” Beni, who was running the stand, called to the girl as she made her way to the front. “I gave this new recipe a go just for the event. It’s similar to mochi, except-“

From behind Akari, Ingo stayed silent and eyed the stands’ products as she made a quick transaction. Lots of skewers, the same he had seen other people holding. They included what seemed to be three doughy dumplings - of course, colored with white, yellow, and blue syrup for the occasion.

“Ingo!”

The warden’s attention turned back to Akari. She grasped two of the skewers in her hands, and was holding one out to him.

“Here! I got one for you; Beni says it’s called dango! He said it’s sort of like his mochi!”

“Oh, Miss Akari, you didn’t have to…” Ingo objected, but still took the skewer from her outstretched arm, observing the dumplings on the stick. “…but thank you.”

“Same time!” Akari held her own skewer up. “Let’s try it together!”

The girl held the skewer up to her mouth, waiting for Ingo to do the same. Ingo followed, taking a bite of his dango after a moment, and Akari quickly copied him (though she was a lot less composed about it, getting bits of it on her face) so they would both be trying it at the same time.

It was sweet! Quite a contrast to Beni’s mochi.

“It’s so good!” Akari vocalized Ingo’s thoughts, looking at the dango in awe. “Good job Beni!”

She quickly shot a thumbs up to the man through the crowd at the stand, who returned her approval with his own brief thumbs up and smile. He was very busy trying to keep up with the demands of a growing crowd.

With their dango, Ingo and Akari pulled away from the stand to let others replace their space in the crowd, going around the corner of the Wallflower and stopping on the bridge that led back to the village housing and farms.

From behind the stores, the sounds of the event were not so loud, and there were less villagers and guild members, giving them more space, and quiet to talk at a reasonable volume.

“So…what do you think the big reveal will be at the show?” Akari asked Ingo, already stuffing one of the dumplings into her mouth as she leaned against the bridge’s railing. “For the special appliance?”

“Special appliance?” Ingo questioned as he swallowed another bite of the dango, giving her a quizzical look. He had been aware of no such thing, which surprised him slightly. He knew the guild had urged everyone to stay until the end of the show, but had heard nothing about a special appliance.

“Yeah!” Akari went on. “Volo said that at the end of the auction, they’re going to show a really cool appliance! He said a lot of people are going to want it.”

“Is that so…” Ingo mused, his voice flat. It sounded like Volo was giving Akari details about something the guild was otherwise wanting to keep a surprise.

He really wanted her at this event.

“Yeah!” Akari took another bite of her dango, before wiping the rice dough away from her mouth. “I think it’s going to be an air conditioner, or a microwave…or a washing machine!”

The mention of such modern objects shot a very dull, but sudden pressure through Ingo’s head, and he absentmindedly raised a hand up to rub at a spot under his hat.

He recognized the names of those appliances, more or less, and could vaguely infer what their purpose was based on their names, but didn’t quite understand what they were, not at the level he felt he should.

Maybe it was just the sleep deprivation, but he surely couldn’t picture them in his mind.

“Apologies, Miss Akari, but…I am a bit slow to recall such things.” Ingo expressed, a hint of regret in his voice.

Akari’s expression lost some of its vigor as she remembered Ingo didn’t recognize everything from modern times as clearly as she did…and that extended to modern appliances. However, it didn’t dampen the mood.

“I’m sure you’ll remember once you see them!” She told Ingo, lightly elbowing him in the arm as she finished off the last dango dumpling on her skewer.

“These are so good!” Akari acknowledged the treat again as she finished it off, holding the empty skewer up. “We should pester Beni to keep making these!”

“That would mean the guild would have to keep bringing Beni the ingredients he doesn’t have!”

Ingo and Akari turned to acknowledge the voice that had spoken up behind them.

“I helped import them for him, just for the event today, you know!”

There was Volo in his Ginkgo Guild uniform, a big, genuinely friendly grin on his face, looking proud enough for one to think he hand-made the dango all by himself.

“Volo!” Akari exclaimed, a certain happiness present in her voice that Ingo did not exactly share. She moved around Ingo to better talk with the merchant. “I didn’t know if I was going to see you before the show today!”

“How could I not come say hello to my best customer?” Volo told her, keeping up that smile, before his eyes focused on Ingo, who had not moved from his position.

“And I see you brought along the highlands warden! How goes it, warden Ingo? Fancy the dango?”

Ingo was caught a little off guard by such a sudden, direct confrontation. However, he merely readjusted his cap.

“It is good, as am I,” Ingo returned, simply and politely. He refrained from eating during the conversation, and held the skewer awkwardly in his hand - if it wasn’t for his words of affirmation, his manners would make it appear as if he disliked the dango entirely.

“Two in-person reviews already, and both are glowing!” Volo’s grin still held on his expression. “I’ll have to make negotiations with Beni about regular shipments for those ingredients later, then. It’d be good for business; both for The Wallflower, and for me!”

There he went again with that overly-animated friendliness. Was he always like that? Putting out that amount of energy seemed exhausting to Ingo.

“Speaking of business,” Volo paused a moment to reach back into his backpack. “I have something for you! I’ve been looking for you so I could give it to you before the show; I didn’t know you would be hiding all the way back here!”

Volo pulled out a handful of hyper potions, the glass bottles of rose-colored viscous liquid clinking together.

“On the house, just for my favorite customer!”

“Wow!” Akari’s eyes lit up at the sight, she had needed more potions! And hyper potions? Those were some of the best wares…and Volo was giving away three of them to her for free?

While Akari saw it as a very genuine friendly gesture, Ingo was concerned about how much money Volo probably took out of his own income, in order to give such expensive items from Ginter’s stock away for free…that is, if Ginter knew about it.

Why?

“Thanks Volo!” Akari pocketed the potions carefully in her satchel. “I’ll put these to good use!”

“Anything for my most loyal customer!” Volo’s smile, ever present and still genuine, seemed a bit strained now, as if he was getting tired of holding the expression.

“Now, the show’s starting soon! I should go help set up…might I suggest getting there a bit early? There are a lot of people here, and we could only set up so much seating at the training grounds. Some people will have to be standing, and your friend seems like he’d fair better sitting down.”

Akari turned back to see Ingo, mid-yawn as he leaned against the bridge’s railing. At having the attention turn back to him, he abruptly finished the yawn and straightened up. He held a now-empty dango skewer in his hand, having at some point felt the conversation didn’t include him anymore, and found it appropriate to continue eating again.

Ingo couldn’t tell if the merchant was trying to take a stab at his age (he wasn’t as old as everyone took him for!), or if he simply noticed how tired he was.

Either way, the comment wasn’t much appreciated, as it felt like a thinly-veiled dig.

Volo should really mind his business.

“See you two over there!” Volo abruptly turned to leave and blend back into Jubilife’s crowded street leading to the dojo - He always seemed to leave as quickly as he’d appear - leaving Akari to wonder about the implications of Volo’s suggestion.

“Are you tired, Ingo?” The girl questioned as she approached the warden. Now that Volo had pointed it out, she could see a hazy tiredness in his eyes. “I’m sorry, I know you had to get up early, and technically this is supposed to be your day off, and you don’t sleep in often-“

“It is ok, miss Akari,” Ingo stopped her from slipping into a paragraph of empathy and pity. “I did not want to miss today with you! I am quite excited to attend. My engine is just a little overworked and under-managed, is all.”

“Did you get a lot of sleep last night?” Akari asked as the two left the bridge, heading back into the crowded street. If Volo was right, and they wanted to sit down, they should probably start heading over now. “I know you were up late with Zisu, helping prepare the dojo for the show.”

“My sleep schedule has been…a little off track,” Ingo admitted, pushing back into the crowd of people and loud sounds of the street. Akari’s hand grasped at his coat as he passed between the villagers and guild members, so as not to get separated. “But with time, it should regulate. I just need to adjust to the quiet atmosphere of my station at the highlands.”

Ingo normally would not be so upfront about such things. But he had played this game with Akari enough times to know that she would pester the information out of him otherwise. It came from a good place, though, as she was always one who wanted to help.

While Ingo gave it no more thought, moving past people to entering the training grounds, Akari got hung up on his words regarding his sleeping problems.

How long had this been going on? A few days? A few weeks? A few months?

The tiredness on Ingo’s face certainly didn’t seem like it was the result of one bad night of sleep, now that she considered it.

And quiet?

The highlands weren’t quiet!

————

“Welcome everyone, thank you for coming out today!” Tuli announced to the large crowd, standing beside Ginter on the training grounds’ battlefield platform. Volo stood to the side a ways back, his arms crossed. He still wore a smile, but it wasn’t as genuine as it had been earlier with Akari and Ingo, resembling more of a courteous customer service smile.

Volo had been right, a lot of people had shown up, and seating had filled up quickly!

Benches had been set up over the battlefield, facing the platform the guild now stood on as they addressed the crowd. Ingo and Akari had managed to snag two spots on the end of one of the benches a few rows back. From their seats, Ingo could see inside the dojo through its open door, taking a glance at all of the appliances the guild would be showing.

Looking at them brought sensations of familiarity back, like he knew at some point or another, he had used some of these himself. But so far, no explicit memories…yet.

“We are glad to have such a big turnout!” Ginter spoke up, taking over for Tuli as she motioned to Volo, before the two of them walked off of the platform, towards the dojo. “As you all know, these space-time distortions that Hisui has been experiencing as of late tend to leave behind some interesting things sometimes! We have quite an array of strange items from the distortions to show you today…we hope you find them and their uses all as serviceable and beneficial as we do! Stick around after the show, as every appliance shown today will be for sale!”

A quiet murmur started in the audience as Tuli, Volo, and Volo’s Gabite (it had evolved since Akari saw it last…good for them!) reappeared from the dojo, bringing out the first appliance together - it was quite bulky!

The smooth metal finish, the two doors, the cord trailing behind… Akari immediately recognized it to be a fridge. A fridge! How did they find an entire, intact fridge in the aftermath of a distortion?

“Ingo!” Akari whispered to the warden as he stared at the appliance intently, like he was trying to remind himself of what it was. “Do you recognize that?”

“The memory has not quite pulled into the station just yet,” Ingo replied back after a moment more of thinking. “But it regulates…something. Am I correct?”

“Uh,” Akari took a moment to decipher Ingo’s words. “-Yeah! It’s a fridge! It keeps food and drinks cold!”

At the explicit reminder, a gentle look of realization and remembrance lit up Ingo’s eyes.

“Of course! A fridge…” Ingo mouthed the last word slower, as if processing it twice, to keep himself from possibly forgetting it again. “Thank you, Miss Akari.”

“Now this here,” Ginter gestured to the fridge as Volo, his gabite, and Tuli lugged it onto the platform. “Is a mechanical cabinet!”

The words ‘mechanical’ and ‘cabinet’ seemed like a very foreign -and therefore very exciting - combination of words for the audience, because immediately the soft whispers between the crowd picked up a little.

“Let’s see what they say about it,” Akari snickered to Ingo. She wanted to see if they could correctly guess what it’s purpose was.

“On our travels, we’ve learned that electric type pokemon can interact with and activate this appliance…same as most other appliances we’ve brought today.” Ginter gestured to the large fridge. “Now, Rotom, if you might…”

He clapped his hands once, and a sharp static trail whizzed out from his pack, to reveal itself as a rotom to the audience.

The Pokémon buzzed and sparked happily, before it rushed into the cord of the fridge, coiled on the ground. A blue glow shot up the cord before disappearing into the fridge, and after a moment, a soft, mechanical whirring could be heard emanating from it.

It had turned on!

“Now, as for what it does,” Ginter grasped one of the door handles. He pulled it open to show everyone the inside, revealing a smooth white interior, and many shelves and drawers. “It generates cold air!”

The volume of the audience’s whispers spiked for a few moments, obviously enthralled. A strange device that generates cold air? Unheard of!

“It can be used to keep things cold of course!” Tuli took over. “You can store food and beverages in here…no more spoiled berries or lukewarm preserves! You can keep ice from melting in here too, in this top, colder compartment-“

Akari had to admit, their guesses for what the box was meant for were pretty good.

“And on hot days, you could consider sitting yourself or your little ones in it to cool down!”

-alright, she spoke too soon. Don’t put your kids in a fridge.

The presentation went on for a bit longer than Akari or Ingo would have liked, Ginter and Tuli explaining every bit of the fridge’s functions that they were aware of, with Volo and his Gabite standing off to the side.

Of course, the audience weren’t as familiar with a fridge as Akari and Ingo, and were absolutely hooked the entire time.

“Alight, that’s a mechanical cabinet!” Ginter finally wrapped up the presentation. “We have two available for sale after the show, this being one of them…stock is low, so be sure to attend the auction as soon as the event ends, if you’re interested! Now, onto the next appliance!”

Ginter’s rotom buzzed out of the fridge’s cord as Tuli, Volo, and his gabite picked it up, hauling it offstage to retrieve the next appliance.

The audience was talking amongst themselves at quite a loud volume, all of their conversations blending together. This was a good sign for the guild!

And so, the too-long, too-in-depth process of over-explaining an appliance and all of its possibilities started over when Volo brought a ‘mechanical lantern’ onto the platform, something Akari immediately recognized as a desk lamp.

For a while, Ingo sat beside Akari on the bench, arms crossed and focused gaze fixed on Volo and Tuli as they stood on the platform with Ginter, presenting appliance after appliance.

But as time went on, Ingo began to realize how pleasantly warm it was outside. The temperature was actually very comfortable. Having sat down for so long, not having to get up and move had begun to relax him as well.

And the words of Ginter and Volo started to blend in with the drone of the whispers and conversations amongst the crowd, discussing the appliances. The sounds from the Ginkgo wagon line, and the storefronts outside of the training grounds mixed together.

It was a lot like the crowds of (people) (standing)(around) and talking as they waited for the (crosswalk) to (switch) to walking. Or for the (subway)(doors) to open. Or for the (barista) to (hand) them their (orders) over the (counter).

The (city) ambience.

…Comforting.

It dulled Ingo’s sleep-deprived consciousness, relaxing it. This was the steady, constant atmosphere his body was used to, but his mind couldn’t recall.

Combined with the comfortable weather keeping Ingo warm, and his stationary position on the bench, the words of the guild members and the people crowded around him melted together. Ingo felt his consciousness slip into a state of relaxation and familiarity that he had been looking for for many nights. And he didn’t really fight it.

The warden’s eyes grew heavy as the auction continued, the crowd’s clapping dying down as Tuli entered again with Volo onto the platform, handing something new to Ginter, and taking away what he previously had.

Ginter held up and discussed said item, a handheld appliance that looked like an electric tabletop grill.

“A Mechanical campfire!” The guild leader presented the item to the audience, holding it up for them to see. “You simply press this button, turn this dial, and…”

The appliance must have dropped into Hisui with charged batteries, because a light on the handheld grill turned on, and it made a dinging sound. The crowd was, once again, impressed with the tiniest display of function.

“With this, you no longer need a flame to heat stuff up; you can keep food warm, boil water, perhaps even dry wet clothes…”

As Volo took the grill and continued showing it to the crowd while Ginter kept going on about (mostly incorrect) uses for it, Ingo’s initially-stiff posture softened, and his head dipped downwards in his crossed arms.

Ingo fell asleep sitting next to Akari, the crowded atmosphere and many sounds of the event easing him into it.

————

Akari didn’t even notice Ingo had fallen asleep next to her at first, she was so enthralled with each appliance the Ginkgo guild was presenting.

She knew what that appliance was! A flashlight!

And she knew that one too! It was a steaming ironer!

And wow, she recognized that item immediately, it was a television! …though that would be useless here, with no stations to even connect to.

“How do you think they’re gonna be able to explain the use of this one?” Akari leaned against Ingo to side whisper to him.

No response.

“Ingo?”

A light snore.

Akari glanced over at Ingo, taking her eyes off the guild members presenting the television on the platform. The warden was slouched forward, arms crossed and chin resting on his chest with a look of relaxation on his face.

At the sight, Akari’s heart ached a little, but she also felt a little relief that he was resting. She wasn’t upset at all that Ingo had fallen asleep during his time with her. He had said he was tired, and struggling with sleep problems.

And he mentioned that these issues stemmed from the highlands being too quiet. What did he mean by that?

Akari realized it was rather loud where they were, in the training grounds. There was a steady volume of conversation going on around her, and even more sounds were coming from the line of shops, still carrying on with other parts of the event.

It reminded Akari a lot of the ambience of the modern towns and cities she was used to before Hisui, where this was expected and constant. It was never quiet.

Had Ingo come from a city?

“And now, folks,” Volo’s voice cut through the sea of voices in the audience. “Here’s where sticking around pays off! We’re down to our last appliance, and it’s a special one!”

Akari was hoping they would lug out a toilet. It would be so entertaining to see them try to explain the use of that one without the knowledge of modern day plumbing.

————

Ingo woke with a start, blinking several times as the grip of sleep loosened around him.

Had he fallen asleep?

The warden looked up as he rubbed the drowsiness from his eyes, painfully aware of his stiff neck; he never should have fallen asleep sitting up.

The sky was now a gradient of purple and orange with the lowering sun, quite a contrast to the bright blue sky he had last seen.

How long had he slept?

He was still sitting amongst the benches set up on the battlefield, but the area was now mostly empty, the benches and platform vacant except for a few lingering villagers, absorbed in their own small conversations. The drone of people talking was still heard, but now it was quieter and distant, as opposed to loud, constant, and all around him.

“Miss Akari..?” Ingo yawned as he looked around, rubbing his neck to get the stiffness out of his muscles.

No answer.

“Miss Akari?” Ingo called out again, louder this time, straightening his crooked cap as he attempted to stand up. His back was incredibly stiff as well.

Ingo’s attention turned to the dojo as a muffled “sold! To the girl in the survey corps outfit!” rang out, followed by a cheering.

So that was where the distant talking was coming from…

Ingo made his way over to the dojo to see if that was Akari the voice was talking about.

She wouldn’t leave him here, surely?

Reaching the dojo’s doors, Ingo made his way through it to the edge of the crowd of people gathered inside, realizing it was a bit of a tight squeeze.

It was hot and stuffy inside, but people seemed too caught up in excitement for it to bother them. Still, the dojo was not meant for this many people…

“…I’d say take good care of it, Akari, but I know you will!”

That was Volo’s voice, amongst the countless other conversations; did she purchase something?

Ingo looked over the crowd of people in the direction of Volo’s voice, to see Akari on the other side of the room, grabbing something small from Volo’s hands. Rei was next to Akari, his pikachu on his shoulder; he must have come to the event and found Akari at some point, while Ingo was out.

Ingo didn’t see what Akari had bought, but he saw her handing Volo a few star pieces in return.

Star pieces! Akari always held onto those for something important…what had she bought that was so expensive?

“Miss Akari!” Ingo called over the crowd. Both Volo, Rei, and Akari turned at the call, and Ingo could see Akari’s eyes light up at the sight of seeing him finally awake.

It was a reaction that tugged at Ingo’s heart, reminding him that no, she wouldn’t have left him.

“Ingo!” Akari called over the crowd, now trying to make her way over to him. Rei trailed after, keeping close behind her as best he could. Meanwhile, Volo cleared his throat and stepped back, while Ginter took over, clearly about to say something big.

Ingo saw what was going on, and motioned for the kids to follow him outside quickly, before Ginter made the announcement, and everyone else started leaving.

“Alright everyone, that was the last item! The Ginkgo Guild wants to thank you all for coming out to this event today! It was quite a successful day…please do join us again for any future events like this! Your support of the guild is much appreciated!”

With the signal that the event was now entirely over, people started trying to filter out of the over-crowded dojo all at once, back outside into the cooler air. The small door bottlenecked the process however, and made it harder for everyone to leave.

Finally, Ingo squeezed out of the door as the rest of the crowd spilled out. Akari trailed behind with one hand grasping onto his coat, the other holding the item she had bought. Likewise, Rei was also holding onto Akari’s scarf with one hand, an assortment of items in his own possession.

“You woke up!” Were the first words that left Akari’s mouth as soon as they pulled to the side of the dojo, away from the steady stream of people leaving. “I didn’t know how long you’d be asleep on that bench, and I didn’t want to wake you up! You looked very relaxed!”

“You were knocked out like an Ursaluna in winter, Mr. Ingo!” Rei added, which made Akari laugh, and Ingo’s face flush slightly.

“I apologize, I must have been more tired than I thought…” Ingo admitted, mostly just wanting to move onto a different subject after a comparison like that. He hoped too many people hadn’t seen him like that. “What was that that just ended? Was that the after-show auction?”

“Oh yeah!” Both kids piped up, before holding out what they bought to show Ingo. “They had a lot of stuff there!”

The Ginkgo guild must have been selling their usual wares alongside the presented appliances, because he recognized some of their more common items amongst a few, more modern-looking things.

Rei had stocked up on various potions and revives, but he noticed a metallic tube of sorts amongst the items.

“I got one of the… uh, ‘flashlights’ they were selling,” Rei picked the object out of his pile. “That’s what they’re called, right Akari?”

Rei’s Pikachu reached from over his shoulder to hold the flashlight and flicker it on and off.

“She told me all about them, and how they work! I figured with Pikachu here, I could recharge it whenever I need!”

Pikachu let out a sound of agreement, still fiddling with the flashlight.

“I see! Good choice, young man.” Ingo responded, noting Rei’s good thinking. The idea of what a flashlight was came back to him quickly, at Pikachu’s informal demonstration. “And Miss Akari?”

Ingo observed one thing in her hands, and it was a small black box of sorts, with a mesh covering on one side.

“Oh! I wasn’t actually going to get anything…Volo gave me pretty much everything I needed earlier with the hyper potions, but when they brought this out, I changed my mind!”

Akari handed the small box to Ingo, for him to inspect himself. Peculiar…

“It was the special item they saved until the end of the show!” Rei added after a moment of letting him turn it over in his hands.

“This was the special appliance?” The surprise was clear as day in Ingo’s voice. But it was so small! He was a little disappointed in himself for falling asleep, he would have liked to have heard an explanation for what this actually was! He didn’t recognize it.

And Akari was the one to get it! Now he understood why it cost a handful of star pieces to buy, any less amount for the “special appliance”, and it probably would have gone to someone else!

But why did she want it so bad?

Before he could say anything else, Professor Laventon stumbled out of the dojo, among the group of people last to leave.

“Ah! There you are, my boy!” Laventon came over, putting a hand on the shoulder Rei’s Pikachu was not situated on. “I saw you managed to get ahold of one of those handheld versions of the mechanical lanterns….excellent! If you’re not too busy here, would you and Pikachu mind demonstrating to me how it works? I’d love to document how exactly an electric type can influence it!”

Rei laughed at the Professor’s enthusiasm; he was always looking for more to discover.

“Of course, Professor, I was just catching up with Akari and Mr. Ingo,” the boy told the professor. “Pikachu and I would be happy to show you how it works! Right Pikachu?”

Rei’s Pikachu, still fiddling with the flashlight, gave a cry of agreement as it switched the device on yet again, this time shining it right in Rei’s eyes.

“Ah!! Pikachu! That’s bright-!” The boy scrambled to cover his eyes with one hand, grabbing the flashlight away with the other.

The yellow Pokémon made a noise akin to laughing as Rei switched the flashlight off, rubbing at his eyes.

“Oww…anyways, we might need to do a safety demonstration too,” Rei groaned, turning to leave with the professor, and go back to the Galaxy Team Headquarters to test the device. “Goodbye Akari, goodbye Mr. Ingo!”

“Goodbye!” Akari waved back to the two as they existed the training grounds. Ingo simply waved them off with one hand, the other still holding onto the box.

“Let’s hope his eyesight returns quickly,” Ingo half-joked, before he turned his attention back to the small box in his hands.

“However, I am afraid I still do not entirely recognize this appliance.”

“Oh! Well…” Akari started, as if trying to figure out how she should explain everything she wanted to. “…It’s a soundscape player!”

Akari reached out and turned the box over, revealing a small board of buttons. She pressed one of them, and a sound started to emit from the mesh covering side of the device.

To Ingo’s surprise, it started playing sounds resembling ocean waves.

Amazing!

Ingo didn’t think he knew what these were even before Hisui, as this felt entirely foreign to him, unlike all of the other appliances he had seen.

Ingo was caught slightly off guard by the sudden sounds. Akari pressed another button, and the noises changed to something like a forest.

“It plays sounds of different places!” Akari explained to him. “Your Magnezone might need to recharge it after the batteries run out, but-“

“-Miss Akari,” Ingo stopped her in her tracks. “It’s ok. You have plenty of Pokémon who can attend to this for you, Magnezone always appreciates feeling helpful, but you don’t need them to recharge it.”

“Well,” Akari looked away for a moment, as if hesitant to admit it. “I actually got it for you!”

If Ingo hadn’t looked surprised before, he certainly looked like it now.

“For me? …But-“

“-Ingo, I just…you were sleeping through a really loud event. You said that you’ve had problems sleeping…and you told me the highlands were too quiet!”

Akari fiddled with her scarf as she continued with her explanation. “When they brought that up onto the stage, and started talking about how it could play sounds from all different places without you having to go there yourself, well… I just figured it could help you sleep. It could make things more like where you came from before.”

Ingo had trouble finding the right words to express himself, but he knew what he felt.

Mostly immense appreciation that she was thinking of him and trying to help him. But also, a little bit of embarrassment over the fact that it had gotten to the point where someone had to extend help to him in the first place.

“Miss Akari, I-“ Ingo was about to start a speech about appreciation, and how he couldn’t accept such an expensive gift, things Ingo always said any time someone got him something (which, outside of Akari, was not very often at all), but when he went to press a button to turn the sounds off, instead it switched to a different soundscape.

Distant beeping, and (vehicles), and a general bustle.

A (city) soundscape.

Ingo listened to it for a moment, having stopped his speech in its tracks. This was what he had been missing.

Ingo still didn’t know what exactly all of these different sounds belonged to. Unlike the appliances he could have looked at for himself, Ingo couldn’t see the cars, or the crosswalks, or the tall, electric buildings. He couldn’t recall what these noises belonged to, but by the way the sounds tugged on his brain, and jerked at his heart, he knew this was what he was missing.

This was exactly what his mind had been waiting for, every single night since he woke up here in Hisui.

“…Thank you, Miss Akari,” Ingo rubbed at his tired eyes, sniffing as he turned the soundscape player off.

Akari hugged him, sinking slightly into his soft tunic and thick coat as warm arms wrapped back around her.

Ingo had always been there for her, the way a child lost in a strange world had needed. But Akari was always there for Ingo too, somehow knowing just what he needed as well.

The sounds of the event, still coming from down the hill around the storefronts and Ginkgo wagon line wound down as the sun began to set.

That night, Ingo was able to sleep in his big comfortable bed back at the Pearl Clan settlement.

With the help of the soundscape player next to his bed, playing sounds of a familiar life he had yet to remember, Ingo drifted off into the most peaceful sleep he’d had in months.

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