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waywardstation · 2 years

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Until Then, Don’t Worry

While Akari is gone on an expedition into the Icelands, Zisu does her best to keep Ingo from worrying about her, and bets that she can get him to smile. It is a process of trial and error.

HUGE FIC! I mashed together four prompt requests for this; slice of life, Zisu interacting with Ingo, Ingo Babysitting Lady Sneasler’s kits, and ticklish Ingo/ Ingo smiling/laughing. And huge thanks to CW Anon for the huge list of Pokémon puns you sent, I used a ton of them! Thank you!

I struggled with writing this, it’s so big and I feel like it’s hard to read at points (and I worry about some points of characterization) but I do hope it’s still engaging!

OR read it on AO3 here!

Enjoy!

————

“Bravo! Excellent!” Ingo signaled the end of the battle as he congratulated the victor. As the dust cleared from the sunset-tinted battlefield, Ingo brushed off some of the kicked-up dirt off of his coat. His roughed-up Gliscor settling on the ground as it indicated it was still conscious, but could no longer fight.

The air cleared to show Akari on the other side of the battlefield, who had run over to hug her overgrown Purugly.

“Great job, Missy!” Akari hugged the large Pokémon around their neck, who was purring happily despite her scuffs and scrapes.

“You are becoming quite strong, Miss Akari!” Ingo called out from across the battlefield as he tended to his Gliscor, handing them an oran berry and a reassuring head pat. He then walked over to talk to Akari within speaking distance, as opposed to shouting distance. Gliscor stayed behind, munching on the berry happily, despite the many scrapes it’s carapace had sustained.

“Even your newly caught Pokémon are proving to be exemplary opponents, very in sync with your battles!”

Missy noticed Ingo approach, and moved to brush up against one of his legs in an expected cat-like fashion. She purred as Ingo reached down to pet her head, not minding the fur she was getting all over his pant leg.

One of Akari’s newer Pokémon she had caught, the young survey corps member had brought her to Ingo, to train her up with a few one-on-one battles. As a strong Alpha (which explained its considerable size), Akari was eager to integrate the large cat into her team.

“She was already super strong when I found her!” Akari told the warden as she stood up, brushing some of the dust off of her knees. “But training with you has made her even stronger! She’s going to be a big help in tomorrow’s expedition!”

The overgrown cat let out a meow of agreement as Akari pulled a homemade potion out of her satchel. With a flick of her tail, Missy promptly returned to Akari, and she began to apply the potion to the large Pokémon’s scrapes.

“I am glad to be of service and help with training!” Ingo beamed, and he meant it. “Anything that will help better prepare you for tomorrow’s trip.”

Both he and Akari knew full well that she could have just taken Missy into the wilderness outside of Jubilife, and worked up training against wild Pokémon. But Akari enjoyed spending time with Ingo much more, and Ingo enjoyed battling with Akari more than anyone else. (no one else could battle quite like here…yet. With time, hopefully the rest of Jubilife village could become more accustomed to proper battles.)

So, Ingo was usually Akari’s go-to for training when she caught a new Pokémon, and he was more than happy to help.

“Thanks for doing this all day by the way, I know it was a little last minute,” Akari put the now-empty potion bottle back in her satchel as she glanced at the orange sky, the setting sun dipping below Jubilife’s mountain-line. “They didn’t tell me Rei got sick and had to drop out from Professor’s survey trip until this morning, so I’ve been rushing trying to get ready to take his place.”

“It is not a problem!” Ingo replied, a smile still on his face, being on the topic of battling. “I enjoy our battles. Though I know your expedition work is important, your presence here at the training grounds will be missed. How long will this trip last?”

“Well, we’re going to be stationed out there for a few days. Professor told me it should take around four days, five or six if the weather gets bad…which he says we should count on. But we’re going to do our best to avoid it!”

Ingo’s gaze flickered behind Akari momentarily, to focus on the distant mountains of Hisui. He could see what Laventon was talking about…dark clouds could be seen rolling in from across the ocean. It was still a considerable ways off, but it was coming, and seemed like it would indeed hit most of Hisui within the coming days.

Why did they have to do this trip now of all times?

Akari scratched Missy behind her ears one last time before recalling the large feline back into its pokeball. “He said the Zorua we’re going to observe are hiding away in the Iceland’s caves by the time we get there. They come together like that right before storms, and they have to be approached very carefully. It could take some time!”

“Well, I do hope you arrive at your destination safely and on schedule, and I hope your friend Rei recovers quickly.” Ingo readjusted his cap, trying to get the thoughts of the approaching storm out of his head.

“I do too! He was upset he couldn’t go, he told me to enjoy it for him,” Akari recalled as she readjusted her satchel, Missy’s pokeball now inside, and glanced out at the sky again. It was now a more purplish-pink color, as opposed to the orange.

“I should get going, I need to get up early for tomorrow,” Akari told Ingo as she turned her attention back towards the warden, before holding her arms open.

“So…hug?”

Ingo mirrored her and held his arms open at her request, and Akari wrapped her arms around his torso in a hug. She squeezed him rather tightly, enough for Ingo to swear she finally cracked a bothersome crick in his back. But regardless, he smiled and returned her hug.

“I’m going to miss you, but I’ll hurry back soon so we can do more battles!” Akari told him, voice muffled against Ingo’s thick tunic.

“The days will fly by on their own, but I will be here awaiting your arrival. The Icelands are dangerous, and safety is important! The weather can turn very fast this time of year, so proceed with speed, but not haste! Follow your safety checks!” Ingo reminded her as she let go of him.

“I will! And I’ll bring you back something too!” She told him as she headed for the training grounds exit, waving to him. “Goodbye!”

“Goodbye, Miss Akari!” Ingo waved back at her, a smile still on his face, keeping the worry hidden behind it.

That was, until a booming “Goodbye!” joined in, purposely loud to make sure it was heard, sounding from behind him. Startled, Ingo turned back to see Zisu exiting the dojo with haste to also bid Akari goodbye in time, waving her off with one hand. She had two brooms in the other. “Have fun on your trip!”

The young girl returned the wave with a smile and a “I will! Goodbye Zisu!” As she went down the hill towards her unit.

And with that, Akari was out of sight, not to be seen again for the better half of a week.

“Ah, Miss Zisu…I didn’t know you were still present! You have usually departed by this time,” Ingo admitted as he adjusted his coat, turning to address the captain once Akari was out of sight. Zisu got a glance at his rare smile before his usual frown replaced it, but warmth still carried in his voice. “I was just about to sweep up.”

Ingo had thought several times before that perhaps a more solid ground to battle on than packed dirt would be better in the long run. A layer of dust always settled on everything from all the dirt that battles always kicked up, meaning at the end of every day, Zisu or himself were left to sweep up. And today was Ingo’s day to sweep.

“I figured,” Zisu grinned at him, a contrast to his neutral expression, holding the brooms up. “But I thought I’d stay later and help you with that. Things are always a bit more messy once Akari’s done here. That girl knows how to battle! About as good as you!”

The captain took one of the brooms she was holding and tossed it to Ingo with no warning, not even letting him process her compliment. With an “oof!”, the warden barely clutched it against his chest, caught off guard by the sudden throw. He readjusted the broom in his hands to see Zisu was already sweeping dust out of the dojo’s entrance.

“Plus, the work will get done faster if I help. So it won’t be too dark when you have to walk all the way back home.”

Zisu’s selfless hospitality tugged on Ingo’s heart. While she tended to joke around with him a lot, and he often found himself on the receiving end of many of her antics, she was always so friendly with him - even from the first day he had begun hosting battles at the training grounds at Kamado’s request. He was technically taking over her space, but she never expressed irritation with him. In fact, she had been quite excited to have someone else stationed there with her!

Apparently it got lonely, which Ingo understood - before he was requested to be stationed at the dojo alongside her, it was just her there, all day every day. And barely anyone even used the dojo before Ingo came, besides the lone survey corps member Kamado would send her way for required training from time to time.

While clan relations had been getting better lately, maybe Ingo had gotten a little too used to seeing the Diamond and Pearl clans subtly clashing and talking against each other. He did not behave this way himself of course, instead showing members of the Diamond Clan (as well as anyone else) his best hospitality and respect, but had grown not to expect the same treatment from everyone in return.

However, having Zisu initiate such kindness, especially unprompted, in many of their exchanges was a nice change of pace. Ingo had welcomed it, quickly opening up and returning friendly gestures to her.

Just as much as Ingo had welcomed Zisu’s casual kindness and friendly demeanor, Zisu had taken quite a liking to Ingo’s agreeable nature and unique lingo, even if she didn’t fully know what he was referencing most of the time.

In short, Ingo had a friend, and Zisu had a workplace buddy who put up with her jokes.

“…your help is much appreciated, Miss Zisu!” Ingo replied after taking a moment to ponder accepting her help or not. Ingo knew she was going to help either way. “I am most grateful!”

“Don’t mention it,” the tall woman returned, sweeping the last of the dust out of the doorway. “…also I’ve told you before, just Zisu is fine! No “miss” is needed!”

“Apologies. I will work to keep that in mind…Zisu,” Ingo told her as he began sweeping the dust off of the battleground’s wooden platform.

Zisu knew the shortened title still wouldn’t stick just yet though. When the two had first met, it had taken a lot of reminding for Zisu to get Ingo to refer to her as “Miss Zisu”, instead of strictly “Captain”. But it was progress, and Zisu was currently trying to shorten it even more from “Miss Zisu” to simply “Zisu”.

It felt more casual to her, and solidified that their relations were also one of friendship, not one of just strictly a workplace business.

It wasn’t that Ingo didn’t want to, or deliberately didn’t retain the requests, but it was very clear that the warden valued formalities and politeness, and it was hard to let go of something that came so natural sometimes.

Zisu didn’t entirely mind that though, she thought.

With a smile, she returned to her work, moving on to brushing off the dust that had accumulated on the walls of the dojo.

Ingo was quiet as he swept, keeping his head down so the brim of his cap could protect his eyes from the glare of the setting sun.

He opted to listen to Zisu as she began to hum a tune to help her along with her work. It was vaguely familiar to him, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

The warden’s thoughts started to drift, wondering where he had heard it before. Getting so caught up in his mind, he didn’t notice Zisu had stopped humming.

“Smiles from you are rare, aren’t they?”

“Pardon?” Ingo stopped sweeping momentarily, still standing on the battlefield’s platform. He squinted in the sunset’s glare as he looked up to face the captain.

“It’s just not often I see you with big grins like that!” The captain referee to his earlier exchange with Akari as she halted her sweeping, one hand in her hips, the other gripping her broom as she met the warden’s gaze with a grin.

“Oh,” was all Ingo said after a moment, looking down to break the gaze as he rubbed at the back of his neck sheepishly. “I apologize, Miss Zisu, if I often appear cold. On the contrary, I-“

“-no Ingo, not at all!” Zisu hastily corrected herself in an attempt to rephrase what she was getting at. Did she offend him? Maybe she had been a bit too straightforward with this, she wondered. “Everyone who knows you knows how friendly you are! It’s just that you…hmm… nothing seems to get you to smile more than that sweet kid that just left, or tough battles, it seems.”

“Ah,” Ingo understood what she was getting at despite the rocky correction, and now a bit more relaxed, he turned back to finish sweeping the last of the dust off of the platform. “They both remind me of my previous station, before my arrival to Hisui. The memories may be slow to arrive, but they give me feelings of…familiarity.”

Ingo paused his speech a second, as if hesitant to be so vulnerable to a coworker. But this wasn’t just a coworker! This was Zisu, a friend. And Zisu would show empathy, not pity, he concluded.

“…And it is comforting to know my mind has not forgotten the sense of familiarities, despite the loss of remembrance.”

Zisu had known a bit about Ingo’s memory loss situation, with it being brought up when Kamado first introduced him to the dojo, but she never really asked about it much. However, she understood how important anything that connected him to his past was to him.

“…I suppose it does evoke a lot of smiles,” Ingo pondered further over Zisu’s initial comment as he swept the last of the dust off of the platform, a small smile tugging at his mouth again as he reflected.

Looking over his work to make sure everything had been cleaned to his standards, Ingo brought the broom back into the dojo and put it away. Poking his head out of the dojo’s doorway, he extended an arm out to take Zisu’s broom as well. Zisu handed it to him, and Ingo disappeared back inside for a moment, before reappearing to close and lock the dojo doors.

“Thank you for assisting me with maintaining the training grounds, Miss Zisu!” Ingo thanked the captain again, nodding his head in acknowledgement. “Tomorrow I will return the favor!”

“I’ll be counting on that!” Zisu half-joked with the warden, clapping him on the back.

With the sun having fully set, the two headed home for the night.

Zisu considered Ingo and reflected on what he had said. Smiles looked good on him! But with Akari gone, there wouldn’t be much of that for the next few days, would there?

Ingo’s mind drifted towards Akari as he looked at the distant storm clouds, a small seed of worry beginning to plant itself in his thoughts.

————

“Good morning, Miss Zisu!”

The captain looked up across the training grounds to see Ingo entering through the gates, one hand behind his back with the other extended up in a wave of greetings; his loud voice had carried quite far. Behind him, the early morning glowed a cool purple, the warm sun just beginning to climb over Hisui’s mountain line. The distant storm clouds were ever-present behind the mountains, still crawling closer.

“Good morning Ingo!” Zisu waved back to him, having been in the middle of arranging satchels of grit dust to grit rocks. “How goes it today?”

“As usual,” Ingo hid a yawn behind a fist as he approached, automatically going to help Zisu pack away the various grits she had assorted. “The engine is slow to startup.”

Unlike Zisu, Ingo was not a morning person, and it hadn’t gotten any easier for him as time went on. But day after day, morning after morning, he always arrived on schedule to his post at the training grounds.

A moment of silence as the two assorted and packed away the grits for the day, before Ingo broke this silence with another yawn.

“It could be a slower day today,” Zisu spoke up, putting the last of the grit away and dusting her hands off. “What with Akari being on that trip.”

“That seems most likely,” Ingo agreed, taking his position at the side of the dojo, seeing that Zisu’s chore was done. “I do hope she reaches her destination safely.”

Zisu could hear the slight disappointment in his voice. No Akari today, and that meant none of those breakneck battles that he loved so much. They both knew that this was just the first day of several like this.

But concern also accompanied the disappointment, and Zisu noticed Ingo glance at the distant storm clouds.

As someone who tended to always emphasize the importance of safety checks, it came as no surprise to Zisu that Ingo was thinking of Akari’s safety. The Alabaster Icelands were dangerous, and while she was with the professor and a travel party, she was still just a kid.

“Aw, she’ll be back before you know it!” Zisu attempted to console the warden, patting him on the shoulder. “You prepared her and that big ol’ Purugly pretty well for the Icelands.”

That seemed to quell Ingo’s worries for a bit. His frown softened as he straightened his cap that Zisu had knocked crooked.

“I suppose…you’re right. Thank you, Miss Zisu.”

The two stood in their respective positions for half an hour before anyone had come to the training grounds.

The visitor was a single village boy, asking Ingo if they could battle for a few rounds to help toughen up his buizel; his father had suggested coming to Ingo for pointers before going out into the Fieldlands surrounding Jubilife.

Ingo obliged, and went a couple rounds with his Tangrowth, all the while giving tips to the boy about type advantages and disadvantages, and the pros and cons to agile and strong style moves.

Zisu watched the whole time. She could see just how much Ingo was holding back, for the sake of teaching the kid the very basics of battling. The rounds dragged horribly, with Ingo having to stop every time and explain something. His smile was not there throughout the whole battle, nor did it make an appearance when the training finished.

“Bravo! Excellent!” Ingo congratulated the boy and his buizel after the pair had managed to successfully initiate both an agile and strong style move. Ingo’s Tangrowth clapped alongside him in encouragement as well, before returning to its ball.

“Thank you for the training Mr. Ingo!” The boy hugged his buizel. “Now Dewey and I can go into the Fieldlands!”

“Indeed! Though, might I suggest departing for Miss Zisu first? Consider purchasing some grit dust for Dewey; it will make him even stronger.”

“Really? Thanks Mr. Ingo!” The boy cried again, his buizel barking happily alongside him, before the two ran over to Zisu to exchange some of the boy’s meager allowance for grit dust.

Zisu handed the boy a few pouches of the stuff, and as he ran for the training grounds’ exit, his buizel zipping after him, Zisu glanced back at Ingo.

The whole time, he had not smiled; neither in the conventional way, or his own way. Hospitality and kindness had been there, present on Ingo’s face the entire time he had been training with the boy - Ingo was always pleased to help others when he could- but that was not the same as enjoyment.

And for the rest of the day, nothing much had happened to change Ingo’s disposition.

The sun had risen higher in the sky as early morning crawled closer towards midday, before it began to dip lower. Very few people had come to the training grounds during this stretch of time. Ingo was always there to assist with training and tips, much at the same level as the village boy and his buizel from earlier. And Zisu had gotten a few requests to teach a new attack to a Pokémon, or exchange grit. But that was it.

All the while, the distant storm clouds rolled closer.

Come sunset, it was all quiet, and had been for the last hour and a half. Zisu had taken to re-wrapping the bandages around her wrists, tightening them, as she had nothing much else to do. Ingo had started to doze off, his head tipping down as he stood against the dojo in his stationed position.

Today was a very slow day indeed.

As Zisu finished tightening the wraps around her left arm, she glanced back up at Ingo. Leaned against the wall of the dojo with his arms crossed, the brim of his cap protected his closed eyes from the setting sun, and his neutral frown was set deep in his features. Even, heavy breaths indicated he had drifted off.

That frown…Zisu had noticed the warden had been largely dismal today. With how many times she had caught Ingo glancing in the direction of the Icelands, calculating the distance of the storm clouds, it was clear as day that he was still fretting over Akari.

She couldn’t let him do this to himself for the better half of a week! He needed something else on his mind, and the slow days at the dojo weren’t doing him any favors.

He needed something that could bring him the smiles that Akari could usually give him so easily.

“Ingo!” Zisu came up beside the warden and dropped a heavy arm over his shoulder, waking him up with a start.

“Miss Zisu!” Ingo reflexively replied, quickly rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he slightly slumped under the weight of her arm. “Is something wrong? Did I miss a challenger? Apologies, I-“

“No, no-“ Zisu assured him, halting his worries as she patted his shoulder reassuringly. “You didn’t miss anybody, don’t worry; but you’re right, something is wrong!”

Ingo gave her a quizzical look; her playful tone indicated it wasn’t something serious, and it left Ingo more curious on what she was up to than anything else.

“Which is..?” Ingo initiated.

“I haven’t seen you smile once yet today!” Zisu finished.

Ingo’s look of curiosity quickly gave way to an unamused expression, but it wasn’t entirely one of annoyance.

“They’re quite rare, I hear,” Ingo sarcastically told her, relaying her own words from the day before.

“Hey! Let’s make a bet! I bet…I can get one of those big smiles out of you before Akari comes back!”

Zisu had been mindful to infer that Akari would indeed be coming back fine, to subconsciously smooth Ingo’s worries.

“There doesn’t have to be any ‘bet’,” Ingo reassured Zisu, putting his hands up to halt her train of thought. “I can present a smile for you right now. See?”

Ingo gave Zisu the best smile he could, but it was tragically stiff and scripted, not at all authentic and warm like they always were with Akari.

Zisu crossed her arms at the sight of the gesture, but her features were lighthearted; she was entertained at her peer’s attempt.

“That’s not the smile I see when you’re battling with Akari!” She retorted, laughing as Ingo’s scripted smile wavered slightly. “I’ll get you a real smile; after all, a smile a day keeps…the, uh…frown lines away!”

Ingo shook his head at the cheesy impromptu saying with the beginnings of a laugh.

“What do you get if you win this…’bet’?” Ingo questioned, hypothetically. He felt like no matter what, Zisu would following through with this whole ‘bet’ idea.

All Zisu really wanted was to cheer Ingo up, and help him do something else other than worry over these next several days. That would be reward enough for her.

“Just a big smile from you!” the captain told him, before flashing a playful grin. “They’re rare you know!”

Zisu’s bad saying may have started up a laugh for Ingo, but her good-natured ribbing continued it.

“I’m not sure that’s how bets work,” Ingo commented after a quiet huff of amusement. “It seems a bit one-sided-“

He was cut off by Zisu; He wasn’t outright rejecting this, and that was enough for her.

“-Now, It’s been a bit quiet around here for a bit too long. What do you say you and I have a battle? One of those with Akari always gets a big smile from you!”

Ingo’s eyes brightened at the proposition.

————

On the second day of Akari’s absence, Ingo entered the training grounds, right on schedule as usual, to see Zisu.

The captain was currently sitting down on a bench next to the dojo, with a box in her hands.

Yesterday’s battle with Ingo had been exhilarating…for Zisu at least. She knew Ingo was quite literally one of the best battlers in Hisui, but she never fully understood to what extent until she had a battle with him herself.

Zisu had much more experience battling than almost every other person in Jubilife, and that shown through well - she lasted quite a bit longer in a battle with Ingo than most other people would, and used lots of techniques.

Agile and strong moves were relied upon heavily, seeing as Zisu had worked hard to perfect these styles to teach others, and she got a few successful dodges in; she did her best to stay on top of typing matchups as well. Zisu had managed to last about seven rounds with Ingo before her last Pokémon crumpled on the field (which wasn’t bad, considering she only had four Pokémon!).

Of course, Ingo had followed it up with the most genuine and excited “Bravo, excellent!” She had heard from him all day. The amount of encouragement and entertainment in his voice, along with his clapping, had made Zisu almost feel like she was the victor instead of the loser!

Did Ingo do that on purpose to lessen the blow of defeat for every challenger he battled, it was he just that supportive of others?

Zisu guessed the latter, as she saw the pride and joy for her efforts apparent in his features from across the battlefield.

But what she didn’t see was a smile.

It was clear Ingo had thoroughly enjoyed the battle, as it had required more strategic thinking than he was used to here at the Jubilife training grounds, but it wasn’t enough to bring out that Akari smile.

Though, the point of the battle wasn’t to win, it was to make Ingo happy. And that was a start.

She would keep trying.

“Good morning, Miss Zisu!” Ingo broke Zisu from her thoughts, greeting her as always with a predictable wave. His other hand held onto his cap by the brim as a cold wind stirred, blowing through the training grounds. A darkening sky accompanied the brisk breeze today. “May I ask what is in the box?”

“Good Morning Ingo!” Zisu returned the warden’s greeting, before shifting the box in her hands. “I brought some potato mochi for us to share today!”

Zisu opened the box to present crisp, hot potato mochi to Ingo. The wind that was kicking up did nothing to diminish the scent of the mochi.

Ingo pressed a hand against his stomach to suppress a grumble; he always had breakfast in the mornings (it’s important to keep your engine running!), but the trip over to Jubilife always burned through a lot of the calories.

“Fresh from Beni’s kitchen!” Zisu plucked out a mochi for herself, before holding the box out to Ingo to let him take one. “I figured, with slower workdays ahead of us, we could take some time to enjoy some mochi together!”

“I am most grateful, Miss Zisu! Thank you!” Ingo pulled a mochi out of the box and bit into it. The subtle look of worry on Ingo’s face lessened as he sat down on the bench with the captain, finishing the mochi in a second bite. Zisu put the box between the two of them, for them both to enjoy as they pleased.

From the expression Ingo wore as he entered the training grounds, it had been clear on the trip over that he had been thinking about Akari’s safety again. Zisu was glad she had picked up some mochi that morning; she knew Ingo greatly enjoyed it, and had hoped that at least for a little while, it would distract him from his worries.

Plus, she still had a bet to win.

The potato mochi was finished quickly between the two of them, and Ingo sighed with contentment as he finished his last piece.

Zisu stole a side glance at him to see how she did. The look of satisfaction on his features couldn’t have been more apparent, but still, there was no Akari smile there.

“Not even Beni’s famous potato mochi wins an Akari smile, huh?” Zisu joked. She wasn’t disappointed; it just meant she would keep trying!

Ingo turned to her with a look of confusion, before it dawned on him what she was talking about. The bet!

“Miss Zisu, is that what this potato mochi was for? Thank you, but I have already satisfied the bet!” Ingo reasoned. He pulled another one of his scripted smiles to prove a point.

“Nice try,” Zisu elbowed him in the arm lightly, “but that’s not the smile I’m looking for!”

Zisu found it amusing that Ingo was actively trying to help her win this bet ‘against’ him, but it was even more amusing that it wasn’t really working.

“And you’re welcome, I know you enjoy Beni’s mochi.” Zisu smiled as she stood up, dusting her hands off on her clothes as she took the empty mochi box.

“I will repay you for the mochi! Tomorrow, I will bring a box for us when I arrive.” Ingo offered in a hurry, standing up and mirroring Zisu as he brushed his own hands off on his coat.

“Ingo, you don’t have to!” Zisu argued against it. “That was just a nice gesture from me!”

but Ingo was always keen on repaying others for their kindness.

————

On the third day since Akari had left, Zisu and Ingo started their morning with again finishing off a box of mochi that Ingo had brought this time (despite Zisu’s protests).

The day before had been tragically empty of visitors, even more so than the last. Only one or two people had come by the training grounds.

Perhaps it was due to the worsening weather.

Yesterday had been cold and windy, but today was rather dreary. The sky was dark and foreboding, threatening rain (but so far, this was an empty threat). A chill seeped into the bones of anyone that wasn’t wearing enough layers for the weather, and thunder rumbled in the distant sky every once in a while.

The hot mochi that Ingo had brought for Zisu and himself was thankfully keeping them both warm enough for the time being as they sat on the bench.

Yesterday Ingo had seemed a little worried. But more or less he had been in relatively good spirits. Today, however, he couldn’t seem to take his eyes off of the foreboding clouds hovering above the Icelands, behind the mountains in the distance. In his stress, he had seemed to forget his sense of manners, and was absentmindedly cramming a whole mochi into his mouth at a time.

Zisu sat in silence, staring at the half eaten mochi in her hands as she let Ingo take piece after piece from the box.

What could she do to cheer him up? Nothing she had done yet had brought a smile to his face…

“Hey Ingo?” Zisu spoke up. The warden turned to her, mouth full of mochi. In a moment, he remembered his manners and quickly wiped his mouth.

“Hm?”

“…how about a joke?”

The question caught Ingo a little off guard, and he swallowed his mochi in surprise.

“I’ve been practicing,” Zisu added, a bit more of a playful tone seeping into her voice. And indeed, she had been practicing.

If deeds weren’t successful in getting Ingo to smile, perhaps something a bit more direct would work.

“Alright then, what’ve you got?” Ingo turned slightly to better face Zisu on the bench. Once again, a look of worry was overshadowed by intrigue. This was a good start, Zisu thought.

“Alright! How did it go…Ah, what did the Pokémon say when it sneezed?” Zisu started, trying to remember one of the many jokes she had prepared for today.

This was a simple one! Surely he could get this.

“Hmm, a sneeze…” Ingo thought for a moment, scratching his head under his cap. “Sneasler’s kits make sounds akin to sneezing a lot…hmm…’Sneeze-el’?”

That was not the answer Zisu was looking for at all, but it still worked in its own way, she supposed!

“No, but that is a good guess!” Zisu corrected him. “But what I had in mind was ‘Pik-achoo’-“

“-bless you.” Ingo cut her off, a look of amusement in his eyes as he huffed a small laugh, satisfied that the captain had fallen into his trap.

It took Zisu a moment to see what Ingo had done. He had known the answer! He was just messing around with her, playing his own joke!

“Hey!” Zisu drowned out Ingo’s quiet chuckle with a much louder bark of laughter. “That’s not how that was supposed to go!”

“Well, you have a lot of chances to tell more today,” Ingo dusted off his hands, having polished off the mochi as he stood up and stretched his back. A lighthearted disposition was heard in his voice, despite the ever-present frown.

Well, Zisu took every chance she got, and with no one at the training grounds, she had a lot of chances. Every time she could manage to cram in a joke, one-liner, or pun, she did.

Ingo would ask her to do a task?

“Miss Zisu, could you please hand me the broom? The dojo’s entrance is a little dusty today, and I don’t want rain to mix with it and make things muddy.”

“I’m On-ix!”

“…while I do that, could you bring those boxes inside?

“Abra-lutely!”

Ingo would tell her he was going to skip his lunch break?

“You’re going to dew-wott??”

“Miss Zisu, I had a lot of potato mochi this morning!”

Ingo was caught with a little too much time on his hands, glancing at the Icelands for a little too long?

“Hey Ingo! Which Pokémon makes you sigh every time you mention it? Scyther!”

sigh!

“Don’t get so Hera-cross with me, I’m only trying to Cherrim you up!”

“Miss Zisu!”

And if Ingo tried to appease her bet with yet another smile, still as forced as ever…

“That’s not the smile I’m looking for Ingo, but don’t worry, the day’s not sn-over yet!”

Zisu personally thought they were great, but a lot of them were pretty terrible; the cheaper they were, the louder Ingo groaned as he shook his head. But it was good-natured, and Zisu could tell it was keeping him occupied; she caught him laughing quietly to himself several times as he would walk away.

But still, there was no big Akari smile.

As the day wound down, and the sun had made its way lower to meet the mountainline, Ingo and Zisu had decided to close up the training grounds early. No one had come by for the last three hours, and a light drizzle was starting to fall; the dark heavy clouds had finally followed through with their threat.

Zisu shut the doors to the dojo, keeping her back to the gust of wind and rainfall. Everything was dark, save for a single lantern hanging near the dojo’s door, illuminating the two. A flock of starly flew in the distance, silhouetted by the dark clouds as they made their way back to the safety of their nests in the Fieldlands.

“It looks like the weather’s gonna get worse before it gets better. I don’t think anyone will be coming up here for training anytime soon…you won’t be coming in tomorrow, will you?” Zisu asked.

“I must maintain my duties at this station, even if there are no passengers waiting to board,” ingo secured his cap on his head against the wind, the other holding his coat closed to keep the rain from soaking his tunic. “I will arrive tomorrow on schedule.”

Zisu would have questioned this decision otherwise, but she knew why Ingo wanted to come in to the training grounds tomorrow.

He wanted to be here when Akari’s expedition returned, and he probably didn’t want to be without company right now, left to his own thoughts of worry.

Zisu knew that Ingo had Sneasler and the kits, who he had been returning to every night in the highlands to check up on, but she liked to think that perhaps her efforts to keep him happy and distracted were helping, and he was seeking out more of her company.

“Roger that! You’ll see me here tomorrow as well then!” Zisu announced, pulling on the dojo doors once to make sure she locked them.

In the darkness and the drizzle, Ingo’s cap was pulled down over his eyes, his pose stiff and tight against the cold rainfall, but his eyes softened, as did his frown.

————

On the fourth day since Akari had left, Zisu was already at the training grounds, inside the dojo and doing her morning stretches by the time Ingo arrived, walking through the gates to the training grounds. The sky was dark as ever, rain coming down hard and steady.

“Good morning, Miss Zisu!” Ingo waved a greeting to her as he approached the dojo at a brisk pace, instead of stationing himself where he always did outside of the building. While outwardly expressed a frown, soaking wet as he wrung water from his coat just outside the door, Zisu could still spot the warmth of the greeting in his eyes (Amongst the morning tiredness, at least).

Satisfied with how much water he was able to wring out of his clothes, Ingo finally stepped through the entryway of the dojo, a crack of thunder rumbling loudly as he closed the doors behind him.

“I promise, it’s really fine if you just use Zisu!” The captain quipped lightheartedly as she finished her stretching, getting one last crack out of her shoulder. “But, good morning to you too…I hope you’re ready to smile today!”

And with that, the lingering warmth in Ingo’s eyes were quickly replaced with something akin to ‘I should have expected this’.

“Jokes yesterday, potato mochi the day before, and a battle the day before that…What should I be expecting today?” The warden rhetorically asked as he shook the water off of his hat, already mentally preparing himself.

“Hey, I haven’t gotten you to do your smile yet!” Zisu told him. “And Akari is coming back within a day or two!”

Ingo followed this up with yet another half-hearted stiff smile, like he did every time, in an attempt to appease her…as if this time would somehow be any different, and she’d finally let go of this bet.

“That’s not it!” Zisu lightly elbowed him in the arm, finding each attempt as endearing as the last…he was trying at least, and she found it amusing.

Zisu turned her attention to the inside of the dojo, getting a good look at the room as she gestured to it.

“Anyways, seems we’re stuck inside for today…and the dojo is in need of a good interior reorganizing.”

Ingo glanced around the inside of the building. Zisu was exactly right, a good reorganizing was in order. Boxes of grit and mastery seeds were stacked in a disorderly fashion, and various items Zisu used to help teach new attacks to Pokémon were haphazardly strewn about in piles.

The room was an absolute mess, to put it bluntly.

“A disorganized station is a station bound for accidents,” Ingo mused as he browsed through one of the boxes. “Seeing as nothing else is on today’s schedule, we will take care of this post haste!”

A squeak near Ingo got Zisu’s attention, and her eyes drifted to behind him. However, nothing was there.

“What was..?”

“Ah, you have yet to meet my passenger for today,” Ingo changed tracks, and pulled his coat back for Zisu to see.

A tiny sneaslet had secured itself to Ingo’s side, pressed tightly against his tunic, and chirping happily at its reveal to the woman, waving a little claw out towards her. From under Ingo’s coat, it had managed to stay perfectly dry.

“We have arrived at our destination, little lady! You can now let go.” Ingo instructed the little Pokémon.

With another chirp, the tiny sneaslet dropped out of his coat and onto the dojo flooring, but still stuck close to the shoes of the warden as opposed to exploring. Even for her age, she seemed a bit small, and in turn seemed more cautious of the new settings of a building interior, quite different from the mountainous terrain of the highlands, or her cozy cave.

“She’s so cute!” Zisu exclaimed at the sight of the baby. “Is this the late hatcher you and Akari took care of?”

“She is,” Ingo confirmed, thinking back to that time a few weeks back. He had been lucky Akari had been there to help him with the egg. “Lady Sneasler is starting to teach her kits to hunt for themselves. The last few times made it apparent this one isn’t ready however. Her siblings are prone to take advantage of her smaller nature, and it has…not been good for her developmental skills, or her confidence. Especially with such weather conditions, I have decided to bring her with me today while her siblings hunt, and watch her myself.”

A very small quirk of a smile, a genuine one, tugged at the edges of his mouth. “…Akari opted to name her Powder.”

“Such a perfect name!” Zisu doted over the name as she bent down to be more level with the sneaslet, still hiding Behind Ingo’s legs. “Little Pow-Pow!”

Zisu exaggerated the nickname with two little playful punches, as if the name was an onomatopoeia for punching, and to her surprise, Powder half-mimicked the action, half-heartedly punching the air with one little claw and a tiny chirp.

“So cute!” Zisu exclaimed, before Ingo fished something out of his pocket and held his hand out to her.

“Powder is quite bold when she’s comfortable, but she leans a bit on the shy side. She is partial to these; you can give her one, if you would like. It will help her warm up to you.”

Ingo kept his hand held out patiently, and when Zisu cupped her hands under his to receive it, Ingo dropped a plump bean pod into them.

“I have quite a bit of these today,” Ingo told Zisu as a hand went back over his coat, presumably over the pocket where the beans were held. “I intend to use these to help her practice hunting today.”

Zisu inspected the bean pod momentarily, before holding it out to Powder. The sneaslet was still obscured behind Ingo’s leg, but at the sight of the bean pod, her eyes lit up and she took a step out from her hiding place, making her way towards the captain.

Tiny claws grasped at the bean pod, and carefully lifted it from Zisu’s hand to begin peeling back the pod layers, and get to the beans inside. However, powder ran back to the safety of Ingo before she actually began to nibble on the treat, tiny teeth munching on the beans as wide eyes stared at Zisu in admiration.

“Powder is such a sweet thing,” Zisu professed, affection apparent on her face as she brushed her hands off on her clothing. “It’s a shame her siblings are leaving her out.”

“Indeed,” Ingo tipped his cap as Powder finished her treat and tossed the empty pod aside. “Siblings should be there to help one another, not set them back.”

Ingo reached into his coat pocket again, and pulled out another handful of beans. Powder’s eyes lit up at the sight.

“Which is why we will assist Powder in improving her hunting skills! If her siblings won’t help her reach the intended station of improvement, we will!”

————

The morning had gone incredibly well.

With yet another day of barely any activity at the training grounds, Ingo and Zisu quickly cleaned up the inside of the dojo, the rain pouring down outside the entire time. With that done, they spent the rest of morning with Powder, helping her hone her hunting skills.

Zisu hadn’t known the extent of her stunted skills until Ingo had started taking out bean pods and hiding them around the inside of the dojo. Ingo’s Tangrowth, meanwhile was distracting the sneaslet and playing with her just outside of the building, still dry and safe from the rain under the dojo’s extended roof.

“Won’t Powder be hunting things that are, you know…moving?” Zisu questioned, curious as Ingo tucked a bean pod into one of the many boxes against a wall, full of mastery seeds.

“Her siblings have severely stunted her,” Ingo explained. “Developing hunting skills with sneasel always starts with sniffing out stationary food, such as plump beans. However, Powder’s siblings would always reach such food before Powder could ever sniff any out. We have to build up this skill first before moving onto prey.”

Ingo tucked another bean away into a currently-unused lantern. While these were certainly not places Powder would find beans in the wild terrain of the highlands, it was the best he could do, within the confines of the dojo.

“While this isn’t the ideal place for hunting, it’s a good place to start, as Powder will have to differentiate the scent of food among the scent of the other people and Pokémon that have traversed here.”

Ingo sure knew a lot about Pokémon development, Zisu concluded as she followed him back to his Tangrowth, who was still busy distracting Powder just outside the door, the pittering of rain coming down stronger now.

“Alright, little lady!” Ingo addressed the sneaslet as Tangrowth detangled one of its limbs from her and placed her in Ingo’s arms, before taking a step into the rain to bask in the drizzle; Powder had taken to using the vines as a swing of sorts. “Are you ready?”

The sneaslet chirped in Ingo’s arms quietly. Ingo could see she was not confident in her hunting skills at all, and nervous about how well she would do. Ingo knew however that it was because all she had ever known was failure, due to her siblings stunting her efforts…this time would be different.

Thunder sounded off in the distance, and lighting lit up the sky over the Icelands momentarily. Powder gave a quiet, uncertain chirp and snuggled deep into Ingo’s tunic as he looked back at where the lightning struck, holding the tiny Pokémon reassuringly; Powder would much rather just be held, and Ingo wished he was holding a certain person safe in his arms right now.

Akari was already on her way back by now, far away from that place, surely…

“You can do it,” Ingo encouraged her as he scratched behind her ear, before setting her on the ground. “Find the beans!”

Powder let out another chirp as she hesitantly started sniffing the air. She turned her head in one direction, towards the dojo’s entrance; cautiously she entered, still sniffing for a stronger scent, and turned to face a table with some cloth on it. After a moment though, she shook her head and changed direction to approach a box in the corner, full of mastery seeds.

“Good job Powder!” Zisu whispered quietly next to Ingo, not too loud as to give away Powder’s success before she would find the beans herself.

The sheer joy that glowed off of Powder’s scrunched muzzle as she dug around in the box for a moment, before pulling out a single bean pod between her claws was infectious enough to spread to Ingo and Zisu.

“Bravo Powder!” Ingo clapped loudly, the pride visible in his eyes despite his ever-present frown. “Excellent!”

“Good job!!” Zisu reiterated to the tiny Pokémon with a thumbs up, as the sneaslet peeled back the pod layers and scarfed down the beans. With a slightly more confident chirp, Powder once again sniffed the air and headed for one of the unused lanterns, quicker and more sure of herself this time.

It had taken about an hour for Powder to find all of the hidden bean pods, but as she plucked the last pod from its hiding place and held it up triumphantly, Ingo counted it as the 15th one he had hidden, which meant she had found all of them!

“Bravo Powder!” Ingo once again congratulated the tiny Pokémon as she popped the beans into her mouth, discarding the pod with a squeak of happiness. “You found all of them, excellent work! I was certain you could do it!”

With a yelp of joy, the tiny Pokémon ran for Ingo and leapt into his arms, snuggling into his chest as he caught her and picked her up. Thankfully, his thick coat and tunic protected him from her small (but potent) claws that latched onto him.

“Oof! -perhaps, no more beans for you, though!” Ingo commented quietly as Powder continued to nuzzle into him, responding to his encouragement. The beans themselves were not too heavy, but with all of that now packed into a tiny body such as Powder’s, she was quite a bit heavier than before.

“She did really well!” Zisu commented, coming closer. She wanted to give Powder an encouraging head pat, but refrained from doing so, in case the little Pokémon wasn’t used to her yet.

“I knew she would, she just needed a fair chance.” Ingo placed Powder back down on the ground, and she chirped happily, but stuck close to his feet - most likely in hopes she would get more beans. “If we keep practicing, her skills will rival her siblings’ in no time, if not surpass them entirely!”

A louder peal of thunder split through the sky outside, deep enough to grab the attention of everyone inside the dojo. Powder gave a small mewl and gripped Ingo’s pant leg, as Zisu and himself glanced at the dojo’s doors.

Reminded of the condition of the weather outside, Zisu could see all the worries that had crawled to the back of Ingo’s mind return in an instant.

He moved to slide open one of the dojo’s doors and gaze out to the Icelands, as if looking to see if the weather out there had at least mellowed out. The colder atmosphere from outside chilled the inside of the dojo.

“She’s going to be ok,” Zisu tried to reassure Ingo, coming up next to him. “I’m sure she’s on her way back right now; she said she’d be back in four to six days, right?”

“Correct.” Ingo verified, rubbing at the back of his neck. “It’s just…I know how severe the weather can get up there.”

Ingo’s gaze did not leave the distant Icelands.

“I’ve been up there when it gets rough, and I don’t want her to be caught up in that.”

Ingo thought back to when the Pearl Clan had found him. He remembered nothing much of anything before the incident, apparently having been caught in a raging snowstorm and found in a snowbank amongst the aftermath. But he remembered how he felt coming out of it; an aching body and numerous severe injuries he felt for weeks after, all while staving off a bad case of initial frostbite.

It was one of the first things he remembered in terms of his time here in Hisui. He did not want Akari to have to go through that, especially for some expedition trip she wasn’t even supposed to go on.

Akari had a travel party and a strong team of Pokémon to protect her, yes, but she was just a kid, and there were certain situations where simply having a strong team would not have been enough.

Flash blizzard, avalanche, getting snowed in…

“But you are right.” Ingo concluded, trying to self-assure himself. “I am sure Miss Akari is on her way back right now.”

Ingo was interrupted to feel a sudden weight tugging on one side of his coat, and he glanced down just in time to see Powder let go of his coat pocket, several beans in her tiny claws.

How could she possibly want more?

Having been caught red-handed, the sneaslet promptly ran off to hide in one of the boxes in the room to quickly peel and scarf down the beans, as if Ingo would take them away.

Instead, he just shook his head at the sight, standing within the open doorway of the dojo.

“Oh, smart little lady! It seems I can no longer keep them in my coat pockets.” Ingo considered. When Powder was not watching, still invested in her stolen treats within the box, Ingo tipped his cap back and tucked the rest of the plump beans away under it.

Surely she could not reach them all the way up there, he thought as he readjusted the cap.

“She loves her beans,” Zisu commented as she watched Powder poke her head out of the box, trying to steer the subject away from the ongoing storm, onto something less heavy.

“A bit too much, it seems,” Ingo added as the tiny sneaslet made her way out of the box, sneaking over back to Ingo’s shoes in an attempt to try and get more beans. “Perhaps I should not have brought so many extra beans aside from what was needed strictly for hunting practice today.”

“I would agree, that seemed like a bit of an…Overquil.” After some hesitation, Zisu attempted another pun in an effort to lighten the mood even more. Plus, she found Ingo’s groaning over her bad puns to be entertaining.

However, she was pleasantly surprised to notice Ingo flinch with a snicker, a small smile on his face. It wasn’t what she was trying to get out of him, but it was the most authentic smile she’d seen from him in days.

Could this lead to what she was pushing for? Perhaps she was finally on to something!

“First time I’ve seen you smile like that at my jokes before!” Zisu shot Ingo a side glance, a look of amusement on her face. “It wasn’t even one of my good ones, I used all of those yesterday! …are you one of those fellows who enjoy really bad jokes? Should I tell more?”

“Ahem- apologies! It was not the joke, Powder is the- ah, cause of that.” Ingo jolted again slightly, breaking up his speech, and reached across himself, pulling his coat back to grab at something under it.

With his coat pulled back, Zisu could see Powder was no longer at Ingo’s shoes, but now climbing up his side. Having already investigated the inside pockets of his coat and finding them empty, she had started looking elsewhere. Each time the tiny sneaslet readjusted her little claws for a new grip, or nuzzled her face into the thick fabric of his tunic, sniffing in search of something, Ingo winced.

Zisu would have thought the claws were actually hurting him, if not for the fact the warden seemed to stifle a laugh every time he flinched.

When Ingo reached to pull Powder off of him, she made a little squeak, quickly moving out of reach and behind his back.

“She is searching for the beans; Miss Zisu, would you be so kind as to assist me and retrieve Powder? I cannot reach her,” he requested as he extended an arm back to grasp for Powder unsuccessfully.

“You wanted her to go hunting for them, didn’t you?” Zisu joked as she simply crossed her arms at the sight, not answering Ingo’s question or moving to help. She found the situation entertaining.

“I would have hoped she didn’t go looking for them so uRGEntly!“ Ingo’s voice wavered as a tiny claw gripped around at his other side. Powder’s face popped out of his coat with a squeak as she tried to climb her way up and across Ingo’s chest, nearing her goal, but the warden took the chance to finally grab her up and pry her off of him. Powder was chirping excitedly and trying to wiggle out of Ingo’s grip, reaching in vain for his cap.

“It seems she has figured out where they are, though. And her claws are rather ticklish,” Ingo stated matter of factly, traces of a smile still on his face despite his voice regaining its composure. He gently closed his hand around her outstretched poisonous claws, moving them further away from his face before she could accidentally scratch any bare skin, and he placed her back down at his feet.

Powder immediately dashed away a distance to hide in a box of grit dust, stewing in her thoughts as she waited for another chance to climb for the beans.

“You’re ticklish?” Zisu questioned the warden. The thought amused the captain; while he was certainly kind and friendly to anyone he interacted with, Ingo outwardly gave off a rather stoic appearance. The thought of him being ticklish never crossed her mind, and it seemed like quite a contrast against that persona.

The simple inquiry made Ingo turn his head at her a bit too quickly. It seemed he knew what she was considering.

Zisu’s grin only widened when he cleared his throat, adjusting the brim of his cap in a nervous manner as he looked back away from her.

A very dry, not at all confident “I suspect most everyone probably is, to some degree. Now, I think-” was all he vaguely answered with, before quickly trying to derail Zisu’s train of thought. However, he was unsuccessful at this.

“Ingo, I think I know how to win that bet!”Zisu interrupted the warden, keeping the current train of thought going. The way she raised her hands up drained Ingo’s face of color.

“I can assure you Miss Zisu, there is no bet! There never had to be a bet!” Ingo tried to reason as he started to pull back from the tall woman, but it was no use. He pulled another smile in a final attempt to appease her, but this time it was nervous and pleading. “See? …Miss Zisu? Please do nOT-!” Ingo’s voice jumped as he felt a finger jab into his side, right under his ribs.

Despite half-expecting it, the sensation made the warden practically leap out of his skin with a sound of surprise, and he reflexively moved away, But Zisu followed him as she continued to playfully poke at his torso. The uncharacteristic sounds Ingo made were humorous, especially when she got a particularly good jab at his stomach or his ribs, which caused him to snort.

“GAHah! Z-Zisu!” was all Ingo could choke out through his clenched teeth, finally disregarding the formal ‘miss’ title he always added in his desperation to push her hands away from any ticklish areas. But with Zisu being the taller and more fit one between the two of them, it was futile - each time he moved his hands to protect one spot, Zisu simply jumped to a spot he left open. With not much room to move in the crowded dojo, Ingo started to crumple in a fit of poorly-contained laughter, but Zisu kept him upright, holding him up by his coat.

“ZIsu! GaH!! NoT thERE!!”

“Come on, I’m not stopping until you give a big smile!” Zisu warned him. One hand held his coat secure while the other continued to tickle at his stomach, causing stutters of laughter to spill from Ingo’s mouth.

Even with his eyes shut tight and the brim of his hat obscuring his expression as he faced downwards, Zisu could still see a wide grin tugging on the corners of Ingo’s mouth, laughter spilling through clenched teeth. Even if it wasn’t exactly voluntary, it was an authentic smile!

“There it is!” Zisu announced heartily, barely heard over Ingo’s loud, awkward bouts of laughter.

As the warden was in shambles, Powder saw her chance and zipped out of her stewing spot to Ingo. Grasping at his pant leg, she began to climb up the warden again in pursuit of the reward under his cap.

“Yeah! Go for it Pow-Pow!” Zisu encouraged the sneaslet as it chirped excitedly, spurred on by the encouragement. She had already grasped onto the edge of Ingo’s tunic, and was making rapid progress towards his hat.

“P-Powder!” Ingo urged the Pokémon to stop in a miserable attempt to dissuade her. He put an arm up to hold onto his hat, but quickly snapped it back down against his side when Zisu tickled into his underarm, taking advantage of the opening. “Z-Zisu! Do nOT encourage this beHAVior!”

“Oh let her have them!” Zisu laughed instead, beaming as the tiny Pokémon finally clambered onto Ingo’s shoulder with a yelp of happiness, and slipped her claws under his cap, grasping at the beans.

Quick as a flash, the little lady had snatched the reward up in her paws, and pounced off the warden, dashing out through the dojo’s open door and into the rain, under the training ground’s platform to enjoy her prize in relative peace.

Ingo’s Tangrowth, who had still been outside soaking up the rain into their roots, shot a quizzical expression towards Powder, then Ingo and Zisu, wondering what had happened.

As soon as Powder had her treats, Zisu let go of Ingo, and he he slumped forward protectively, using his hands to rub the lingering sensations out of where Zisu had tickled him.

He was out of breath, and wearily readjusting his cap and coat between wiping a few stray tears from his eyes, but some soft laughter still lingered, and Zisu could see a smile left behind on his face. It was small, but it was authentic and it was there.

“…p-please refrain from doing that again, Miss Zisu!” Ingo wheezed as he picked himself up and leaned against the dojo’s doorway, still getting his breath back. He pulled his coat closed as if to protect himself from further attacks. “I find the sensation…unbearable!”

“Well then, don’t smile so big when you’re tickled!” The captain laughed at the display, putting a hand on his shoulder again as she always did, but this time to steady him.

“It is…not exactly voluntary!” With a flushed face, Ingo glanced out to Powder through the rain, still nice and dry under the protection of the training ground’s platform. She was happily using her claws to peel back the treats’ outer layers, eager to get to the beans inside and scarf them down. A small pile of empty bean pods already laid strewn about next to her.

With a mischievous glint in her eyes, Powder chirped with delight as she made eye contact with Ingo, knowing full well that she had outmaneuvered him, despite his best efforts.

“I can only hope now that Powder does not get sick eating so many. Let us hope she does not relay this to her siblings either, lest they expect this kind of behavior to be acceptable as well! Lady Sneasler would not be pleased with me, encouraging such habits with her kits,” The warden brushed himself off a final time, straightening out his coat.

A hand went up to straighten his cap, but grasped at air. After a moment, Ingo felt Zisu situate the previously-missing cap, which had been knocked off, back onto his scruffy hair.

“Oh lighten up Ingo, she’ll be fine!“ She reassured him. “And I won our bet! I got to see that authentic Ingo smile!”

“We didn’t have a bet,” Ingo insisted once again with the same amount of patience in his voice, as if he was reminding her of this for the first time, not the twentieth, “I had smiled for you several times!”

“None of them were the smiles that Akari can get out of you so easily though, and I made sure you had a good time instead of worrying while she was away!” Zisu laughed. “And speaking of that wonderful girl, looks like I won the bet right on time!”

Ingo had no time to process that indeed, Zisu had kept him from excessively worrying, and he had actually had a good time overall (even if he still didn’t understand the bet…he had voluntarily smiled for her several times!). He would have thanked her, but Zisu pointed across the training grounds, and Ingo’s gaze followed to see Akari was standing there at the entrance, in the rain.

She clearly had just gotten back from her expedition, and from the looks of it, had managed to avoid the storm in the Icelands! Ingo was flooded with relief to see this!

In her hands was a container of sorts, full of materials from the Icelands (most likely things she brought back to give to Ingo as presents), and pokeballs (probably containing Pokémon she had caught on the trip that she wanted to show Ingo). Her clothes were scuffed up and muddied, and she looked a little worse for wear herself. A rufflet, one of her own Pokémon she had presumably caught on her expedition, was perched upon her head with extended wings in an effort to keep her dry. But behind the weary exterior, her ever-present energy and friendliness still shown through.

Though her current most prominent feature was the obvious look of awe on her face.

How much of what just happened with Zisu had she seen?

“Miss Akari!” Ingo called out, his voice strained with several emotions. He was absolutely overjoyed to see that Akari was back, safe and sound! Relief visibly snuffed out the worry that had accumulated in him over these last few days. But…how long had she been there, watching them? “You’ve arrived back at the earliest scheduled date! Er, welcome back to the station! I am glad to see you have arrived back safely! …How was your trip?”

A moment of agonizing silence.

“You’re ticklish?!” Akari yelled back to him across the training grounds as she dropped her box of trinkets, loud enough for anyone in the general area to hear, much to Ingo’s dismay.

The devious look in her eyes as she took a step closer told Ingo all he needed to know.

Zisu’s laughing off to his side, and Powder’s snickering under the platform didn’t help the situation. Ingo didn’t even want to look at his Tangrowth at this moment, given the circumstances.

Of all things for Ingo to expect from Akari when she got back…it was something akin to a tight hug, or an hour of blurting out the details of her trip! Not this!

“Miss Akari, please no!”

363 notes · View notes

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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