Tumgik
#listen i'm super bad at backgrounds so i traced those backgrounds you see in the beginning
sylviareviar · 2 years
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Professor Laventon had taken the boy he'd found straight to Jubilife Village, where he knew the Galaxy Expedition Team had the resources to help the boy. Although Rowlet had flown off ahead of time, its presence was still startling to the members of the Galaxy Expedition Team, who couldn't quite get used to having a Pokémon present in the building that wasn't as well-behaved as Captain Cyllene's Abra.
As a result, many of the Security Corps guards flinched away from Rowlet, who had been screeching and hollering at the top of its mighty little lungs until someone did something. It finally took, ironically enough, Captain Cyllene's Abra to calm the Grass-type Pokémon down enough to give out orders.
"Professor Laventon found a weak young boy collapsed on Prelude Beach and is now trying to save him from choking on seawater and sand."
Upon hearing these words, Pesselle immediately began gathering a stretcher and emergency supplies, but Captain Cyllene stopped her.
"There's no time," she had said, a stern frown on her face. "Abra will use Teleport to bring him straight here. I will watch you prepare a bed for him. Abra can use me as a beacon."
It still felt strange, in all honesty. Pesselle was never really for or against Pokémon. At least, that's what she'd always thought. But seeing the Survey Corps Captain use her partner Pokémon's abilities without even a second thought, just like that... Of course it was useful, but... it was strange. She wasn't used to it. Dazed, and a little bit uneasy, she prepared the last bed she had available for the boy. The small cot in the corner, reserved for visitors of Jubilife Village, such as members of the Diamond or Pearl Clans or the Ginkgo Guild.
Her mind wandered as she'd prepared the cot for the boy. The acceptance of Pokémon was a rather modern concept, after all, and not everyone would be so... accepting or understanding as the Professor seemed to be. She could tell, after Captain Cyllene had requested to move from Security Corps to create the Survey Corps upon Professor Laventon's arrival, that Commander Kamado wasn't thrilled about the idea of living alongside Pokémon, and was only convinced because of Cyllene's impeccable skill in arguing her point. Truly, Cyllene was another breed of human, one whom Pesselle admired deeply.
That people and Pokémon could live in harmony... It had always been brushed off as idealistic or even brutish until now. Along comes Rei, a boy and his stubborn little Pikachu who doesn't always listen to what he has to say. Rei was the only one in the entire town brave enough to join the Survey Corps to help the Professor, but even with his assistance progress is slow. So far, the Professor only had about five entries in the Pokédex he was beginning to compile: that of the three Pokémon he himself gathered and brought to Hisui: Cyndaquil, Oshawott, and Rowlet; Rei's Pikachu; and Cyllene's Abra. Even then, the information given on them was limited.
Cyndaquil's back can erupt in flames when surprised or irate. Seems shy but can be surprisingly demanding. Humble but strong. Takes care of others.
Only four known moves, and its basic "typing," a categorical system pioneered by the Professor himself, was classified as "Fire." Fair enough. It does have flames on its back--sometimes. How strange that the circular markings on its fur can spontaneously combust the way they do. Dangerous, too. Is it really okay to have a Fire-type Pokémon inside a building? Professor Laventon had argued it'd be fine in the Galaxy Hall, because the building was made of bricks.
Regardless, her doubts about Pokémon hadn't subsided. Even as Cyllene's Abra successfully Teleported the boy and--to Pesselle's surprise, Cyndaquil, who was in his arms, emanating heat and dangerously on the verge of sparking some flames on its back--she had gotten to work right away, finishing off the clumsy work the Professor had attempted to do to keep the boy from choking on his own spit and the water in his lungs. A Heimlich Maneuver and the Professor's entire sprint back to the village later, Pesselle had managed to grab some measurements and write down some information about the boy.
Looks to be about sixteen or seventeen years old, approximately 172cm--or, in the Professor's units of measurement, 5'8"--and since he wasn't conscious, she wasn't able to write down a weight for him yet. In appearance, he was rather fair-skinned, freckles dotting his face, elbows, wrists, and calves, and he had snowy white hair stuck in clumps with dried sea salt and eyes as blue and clear as the sky had been earlier that day. He was... very oddly dressed. His shirt was not folded in any way, and was far too thin to be a proper kimono. His trousers were strange, in that they had pockets, but she could not tell if they were shorts or pants, because they stopped at his knees. And of course, he was entirely barefoot, with rocks digging into his feet. She had to clean and bandage the small wounds on them, and it would be a little painful to walk for a day or two, but he should be fine after that.
Pesselle had Rei urgently call Lady Anthe over to assess his clothes and provide him with new ones, as these were utterly soaked through and would only serve to harm him if he continued to wear them. She provided him with one of her everyday kimonos, but even as she took the clothing away, she said she hadn't recognized them in the slightest. They were not Galarian, nor were they from the neighboring regions, and Kalos didn't have anything quite like that.
"It's odd," she mused, "but I don't recognize any of these clothes at all. I'll be sure to take good care of them until the boy wakes--he may be able to shed some light on where he comes from by the time he comes to collect them."
"Please do," Pesselle had requested with an earnest bow. "I'm sure Commander Kamado would like to know as well."
With a nod, Anthe left and Pesselle was on her own with the boy.
Well, on her own with a rogue Fire-type Pokémon who hadn't once left his side unguarded even for a moment. Although Pesselle had finished her examinations, she tried to remove Cyndaquil from his grasp--after all, waking to a Pokémon in his arms wouldn't be good for him, if he was anything like the rest of the villagers here. But Cyndaquil didn't listen. As soon as Pesselle's hand came close, the flames on her back sprang to life, forcing her to jolt away before she was burned. And, just as quickly as they had appeared, the flames died down, before they had a chance to burn the sheets that Cyndaquil was now burrowing into.
It was like this for a while. Pesselle would allow Cyndaquil "just twenty more minutes" to warm the boy up, but when it came time to pull them apart, Cyndaquil stubbornly refused. By nightfall, Pesselle gave up and simply sat there, watching helplessly as the little Pokémon occasionally glanced up, sniffed at his chin, folded itself in different ways, and rested, and as the boy stirred in his sleep, unconscious and confused, his hands holding on to the warmth of the uncanny creature in his grasp.
"Where did you say this boy came from again?"
"Well, I only saw him as the three Pokémon ran after him, you understand, but... Well, I'm sure you saw it too, did you not? Those three shooting stars from atop Mt. Coronet? I'm certain this boy was one of them!"
"Professor, you're suggesting this boy fell from the sky. From the space-time rift! Are you mad?"
"Madame Pesselle, please, you know I only concern myself with facts! Think about it! This strange device that was in the boy's hand... His clothing, his convenient location! One of those shooting stars went past Lake Verity, I'm certain of it! And what lies beyond Lake Verity? The ocean! The ocean currents must have brought him ashore to Prelude Beach!"
"Professor, it's likely he's been frigid for several hours now. If he fell from the sky, I've no clue if he will even survive!"
"Madame Pesselle, please!--"
"I'm not saying I will not help him, but if what you say is true then I fear we may be too late. If there are other human beings on the other ends of those shooting stars across Hisui, we can only pray for their safety now."
When the boy had first come in, she'd pried the strange item from his cold, stiff hands. It lay awkwardly on the chair at his side, eerie and odd-looking. Just as odd as the rest of him.
It hadn't taken her as long as she thought it would have to stabilize the boy. Begrudgingly, she had to admit that Cyndaquil's presence really did help somewhat. Now the boy was safely stirring in his sleep, likely disturbed by dreams of some kind. He moved, breathed, shifted... All it would take now was rest to complete his recovery.
"Professor, if we want the boy to recover, I need to ask that you remove Cyndaquil from his person."
"I can't do that."
"Why not?"
"Cyndaquil is worried, and all she is doing is using her natural body heat to warm him up. Surely that can't be harmful?"
"Well, no, but... if he wakes to a Pokémon in his arms and panics--"
"I don't think he will, Madame."
"What makes you so sure?"
"Why, it's simple!" he had beamed. "Pokémon are very good judges of character, I think. Or, perhaps, it's just my three. Still, I think it's worth noting. My Pokémon don't often listen to me because I fail to live up to their expectations. In truth, I am not the valuable partner that they need me to be. And, of course, I've seen how my little ones avoid the rest of the villagers. It's quite clear that they understand when they aren't wanted. And yet, I find it quite intriguing, that Cyndaquil in particular is so drawn to this young boy. This young man, alien in many ways, who seems to have fallen from the heavens themselves. Do you not find it fascinating?"
Pesselle had sighed deeply. "Professor, please do not make my patient your next science experiment..."
"Oh, no, of course not! I wouldn't dream of it! Not without his consent, of course. And it isn't an experiment, Madame, it is a research project. I'm not that kind of scientist, you know!"
"Mm-hm. Right."
When Pesselle had mentioned to him about how Cyndaquil wouldn't leave, she requested a copy of Cyndaquil's entry in the Pokédex, so that she could watch the creature overnight.
Now she sat, tapping her brush idly as she read over the little information she had on her desk about it, sighing to herself as the moon passed overhead outside, stewing in her thoughts.
Union between people and Pokémon, huh...?
After everything she'd been through today, and as she watched the strange white-haired boy groan under his breath, tormented by something behind his closed eyelids that only he could see, slowly calm down when Cyndaquil pushed her snout into his neck and began pulsing short, small flames from her back in a steady, comforting rhythm, something in her heart fluttered with nervous excitement.
Maybe, she thought, looking at the two of them, a small creature of dangerous elements comforting a small, frail, near-sick human being.
Maybe the Professor had a point.
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