Chapter Text
Chapter 32 - The Great Pretender
Lena's legs burned as she pushed to keep pace with Charon. The ethereal glow of his collar provided the group visibility, but she still had to duck under a stray tree branch so it didn’t hit her in the face.
Lena glanced back, both to make sure the branch didn’t hit anyone behind her, but also to ensure that William didn’t stumble over the rather steep terrain. Apparently, the old ghost ‘knew’ of a path that would keep them away from other Trainers if they were already en route. Given how he had been sneaking away somewhere to train the past couple of days and Arthur’s reassurance he was telling the truth, everyone let him lead the way.
She was not expecting him to lead them on what was essentially a marathon pace of a trek through the Route’s mountainous edges, made worse by its untraveled and unmaintained pathways.
‘Arthur, please remind me to put in that Route maintenance Mission later. Honestly, it’s not fair that Charon has this much energy for his age! We’ve been practically jogging for miles!’ Lena groused across their link.
Arthur looked no worse for wear and gave an estimating glance back at the path. ‘I believe we’ve actually gone three miles since we crossed the bridge, actually.’
Lena’s legs felt more of a burn at that fact. ‘Lovely. This is just Ranger School training all over again. Thanks for the reminder.’
Turning back, the Ranger could see Ronin and Viridi had popped out of their balls to run alongside William at some point. Meanwhile, Rina was lingering behind the group, as William himself was trailing behind, red in the face and huffing with raspy breaths.
“Hey, Charon—” Lena started, making Charon glance towards her, but otherwise stopping. Lena withheld her grimace as she pushed herself forward to jog next to him. “Let’s stop for now. We’re already far off the main path, so Trainers won’t be able to see us if we—”
“Phlo. Tylolo. (No. We haven’t reached it yet.)
Lena reined herself in and moved to stand in front of Charon, forcing the behemoth to stop and look at her. “It’s getting close to night, and we’ve been hiking for more than a couple hours now. If you really think we need to go further, it would be best to rest for tonight and continue after tomorrow morning.” She stated, her tone firm.
Charon’s eyes narrowed, and a flicker of frustration appeared on his muzzle. “Typhlolo. Sionlo. Sion. Tytyph—” (We're still close enough to the main path that it’s not impossible that any busybodies could find us, especially with sunlight still being visible. It would be better—) Charon paused and glanced at William, who barely caught up and still desperately tried to fuel his lungs with air.
It reminded Lena of the sprint they did on Route 2, but Route 20 was much steeper and had more rugged pathways. She could see him swaying ever so slightly, not saying a word, clearly halfway to passing out with his sweatshirt tied around his waist, and his head drenched in sweat.
Charon stared, his expression breaking with a deep breath before it shifted back to a somewhat grumpiness. “Tyty.” (Alright, we’ll rest for tonight.)
“If it makes you feel any better, Arthur or I could take late night watch in case any Trainers try and bother us.” Lena capitulated, trying to ease her assumed worry of Charon wanting to go so far to keep his ‘grandson’ safe.
Charon ignored her and stomped over to William, carefully grabbing his backpack by the handle and sliding it off his back to dig inside. “Typh. Tyy.” (Go sit on that stump over there. I’ll set up the tent.)
William let out a raspy noise and gave a weak half-thumbs up before slumping into exhaustion on the makeshift seat, still trying to catch his breath. Lena walked over and handed him her water bottle. He greedily accepted it and drank it down, gasping for air as water spilled onto his shirt before he handed it back to Lena and leaned forward. “HGgga. Aah… my body was… not built for physical activity. This is… why I like computers.”
“You wouldn’t survive Ranger School fitness training and exams then. Arceus, this reminded me of that,” Lena replied, glancing down at Viridi and Ronin who joined their Trainer with resting at the base of the log, breathing heavily from the sudden marathon, but not nearly as much as him. “Hm, you know, if you stay around the same height, you might be able to ride Viridi and Ronin when they fully evolve.”
William winced, shooting a glance down at the two Pokémon. “Well… I’m going to get really tall when I get older. A lot taller.”
“Run in the family?” Lena asked, to which William gave a half-shrug.
“Something like that.”
“Vvenni. Pedepede.” (Viridi carry Hive Leader still. Viridi not care how big Hive Leader is.)
Viridi paused, turning to face William and staring at him with big, yellow, beady eyes.
“...Nipede vven.” (...Viridi might have problem if Hive Leader big like Scolipede.)
“Shaa! Wott!” (Well, I’ll get strong enough to carry our Trainer even if he is big like a Scolipede!)
“Vennipeede. Pede. Peede.” (Ronin need to get very strong. Old Hive Leader heavier than big tree. Rounder than tree too.)
“Wott wott sha-wott!” (And I will. I’ll get so strong that I’ll be able to carry you!)
“Nipede pede! VVenni!” (Ronin not allowed to carry Comfrey Bugg! Only Hive Leader carry!)
William sighed and pulled the two of them off the ground and into an awkward hug. He then leaned forward, holding the two in place with his chest and legs in a full body hug. “Okay, okay…” He started, his voice quiet and exhausted from the sprint, but no less warm. “No fighting… we’ll train tomorrow, you two. I’ll make sure you both are strong, don’t worry…”
Rina let out a ‘d’aaaw’ behind her, and Lena smiled as she opened her own Silph bag. “I’ll get started on dinner… just take five. We’ll get some rest for tonight if we’re gonna hang out in the wild for a bit.”
Lena started to walk to get the campfire setup, but paused when William didn’t move or respond. Turning back, she saw him still holding Viridi and Ronin while breathing softly, his eyes closed as the two Pokémon looked confused about what to do with their now passed out Trainer squeezing them.
Lena snapped a picture with her Styler with a grin, tilting her head to Rina to watch them before heading back to set up camp. ‘I’ll wake him up for dinner, but yeah, going to let him sleep in tomorrow,’ Narrowing her eyes, she refocused on Charon who looked almost done with setting up William’s tent. ‘Maybe I should make Rina give Charon a piece of her mind as well, pushing everyone like that, honestly…’
The sizzling of breakfast in the pan, and the scent of coffee reheating, gave Lena pause about how hungry she still felt from yesterday, even though she had dinner less than 12 hours ago. Given they had traveled several miles, and everything with Alder, she supposed she just burned more energy than usual.
Despite it barely being past sunrise, Rina and Arthur already started their usual morning routine to train today, with Rina doing her stretches and Arthur meditating with his Aura tassels floating in the open air.
‘Surprises me that Arthur is still so awake, given that he took the night watch. Maybe he’s onto something about Rina and I depending on Coffee and Chesto Berries…’ Lena stirred the pan while thinking about their location in the Route and the map on her Styler she reviewed last night. ‘Okay, so I know we’re along the edge of the main path of Route 20. Traveling down away from the path isn't impossible, but I don’t know how William would feel about riding Rina down the waterfall to avoid more people…’
Lena paused that thought as she sprinkled some ‘Boom! Kapow!’, not MSG, into the meal. ‘I’ll ask him first, given that he indicated he wanted to train a bit while on the Route, I have a bit of time before we cross that bridge… er, waterfall.’
The sound of a tent flap unzipping showed the other human in the party had finally woken up. Turning around, Lena could see the physical exhaustion from the sluggish movements and expression alone as he yawned and stumbled forward to the campfire. “Good marnin—” A yawn interrupted his voice, and it squeaked a little as he blinked out tears from his eyes. “—orry for sleeping in…”
“No need to be sorry, Charon put us through an unprompted marathon yesterday and you looked like you needed your rest.” Lena said, looking around for the offending, makeshift exercise instructor, not having seen him this morning.
Figuring he would appear like the Ghost Type he was eventually, she turned back to William. “Breakfast is almost ready by the way.”
William nodded and smiled. “I would have been happy to help if you woke me up,” His face froze, the Porygon in his brain booting up. “Actually, why didn't you wake me up? Aren't you supposed to be teaching me how to cook anyway?”
Rina chortled behind her, and Lena felt Arthur’s amusement through Aura alone.
Lena smothered her own and pointed the cooking spoon in mock threat at William. “Shush you sassy Sneasel. Come eat breakfast before I decide to teach you how to make tachigui!”
The rest of breakfast was a rather relaxed affair, even with Charon scaring the Yamask out of her. Ronin was talking to Arthur about a way to use his Scalchop, while Lena and William ate and started to discuss their plans for the Route.
“I know you mentioned wanting to train last night, but when we start moving forward, Route 20's gonna be a bit of a hike since we’re away from the main path. Around two or three days to get through, I'd estimate.”
“Riighfff,” William replied on reflex, before placing a hand on his chest and swallowing, “Sorry, right, that makes sense. Isn't there a waterfall on this Route?”
Lena nodded and glanced back down at her Styler’s map. “Yeah, that's around the halfway mark, but we'll still need to deal with steeper pathways since we’re taking a side path.”
“Got it. Just… egh.” William eyebrows furrowed, and Lena could see the thoughtful expression he would make when frustrated and trying to work something out..
“What’s wrong?”
“Just…I don't know if we can do this forever. Avoiding Trainers or others on Routes, I mean.” He grimaced and put his empty plate aside and looked towards Ronin and Viridi, talking quieter. “I need to get more practical experience battling, and I know the best place to do that is just by battling random Trainers, but it's hard to tell who wants to battle me just because of Charon, or just… battle to battle.”
It didn’t take a Psychic Type to see that William still held a disconnect towards battling, and then throwing everything to do with what people were saying on LeagueNet and online was just a Rock Slide on top of that.
Charon interrupted before she could speak her thoughts, though. “Sssionphlo.” (Well, for now there’s a good spot to the south for training.) He tilted his head in the direction where, even through the trees, Lena could spot the terrain get steeper and more mountainous. She looked at her Styler’s map as he continued, frowning.
“Typh. Phhloo.” (That’s where I wanted to travel towards yesterday before we stopped. It’s where I went to train by myself these past couple days.)
“I don’t think that’s a smart idea,” Lena countered, tapping the map on her screen to zoom out to a wide aerial view that showed how far away from the main path they were already. “If we go south we’ll be outside of the Route’s boundaries for Trainers, and I know you have a lot of experience doing so,” She narrowed her eyes at Charon before continuing. “But this Route isn’t as old as Route 2 or even 10 in Unova, so a lot of the area is still considered untamed.”
“Phlo, Ty-Phlosion. Phlo, Typhlosion.” (You know, most Pokémon don’t really care about your human laws or boundaries. Back in Hisui, everyone would just roam wherever they pleased, humans and Pokémon.) Charon grumbled with a scoff and roll of his eyes.
“You know it's more about balance than restriction for Pokémon, right? Heck, it’s more restricting for humans in all honesty.” Lena took a bit of her food and looked at Charon with a pointed look. “They established the whole Route system to designate areas that Trainers could safely traverse on foot, while not encroaching on wild Pokémon’s habitat too much.”
William perked up at the tidbit and focused on Lena, prompting her to continue. “It’s possible for a Wild Pokémon to go their entire life without encountering a human if they live in the far wilderness. The world still has vast areas where there just aren’t any humans for Pokémon to meet. Those Pokémon generally treat the humans they encounter just like they’re another Pokémon invading their territory…”
“When was the whole Route system established?”
“Sometime after… the Indigo Civil War?” Lena struggled to remember her history classes. “Yeah, around that time, so its gotta be, I dunno... at least 50-something years.”
“Anyway, they design Routes to acclimate Wild Pokémon who aren’t used to humans and also ‘recommend’ how far a Trainer was supposed to go away from civilization, and allow for easier and safer navigation. Though, I think that was more the whole League system started encouraging the idea of a Journey round that time…”
The memory of the many ‘Trainer Preparation Presentations’ back in High School by the League to prepare people for their Journey instead of letting people explore other options prompted a sour expression to cross her face. “Egh, I have my opinions on the League's history with it, but studies have shown that implementing it has decreased injuries and fatalities. The Routes around this part of Unova were only made in the last couple years, so what I’m trying to say is that some Pokémon outside the bounds aren’t as used to humans or ‘outsider’ Pokémon presence.”
Charon crossed his arms at Lena’s explanation, but she could see some sort of… relief from him strangely. “Phlo. Sionsion.” (Fine, fine. Best to train here then. Humans and their silly ‘boundaries’...) He grumbled under his breath before turning to William.
William froze and faced Charon with confusion. Lena looked between the two awkwardly, not privy to their silent conversation. William suddenly stood and glanced at Lena. “Excuse us, one second…”
She didn’t miss his pressed expression as he walked off with Charon for… somehow more privacy. Lena turned to Rina and shared a confused expression and shrugs, but she noted Arthur stared to where they left, but held the same confusion Lena did via their link.
Minutes of nothing passed, and there was no sign of either coming back. Lena felt tempted to ask Arthur to check if they were okay, but the sound of footsteps finally drew her attention towards William, alone.
His expression held an anxiety she’d… never seen on him before. His hands squeezed his hoodie sleeve, and eyes darted nervously towards the distance.
“What’s wrong? Where's Charon?"
“Gone,” He said with a blunt tone, before shaking his head and taking a breath. “He had to do personal business. He said he would be back late tonight.”
Lena’s words tripped over her lips, confusion etching her tone. “What do you mean, he had personal business? What could he have to do out here?”
William squeezed his sleeve tighter and glanced back to the distance, looking for the answer to be whispered from the trees and branches.
No answer came, but he didn’t look back towards Lena. “It’s… personal spirit business. I… can’t say more.” He grunt and shook his head, moving down to grab his leftover breakfast plate, and Viridi and Ronin's empty bowls. “I didn’t know he was going now either. He just told me.”
Lena could see him squeezing the dishes tighter than normal, the slight bite of his lip, how his shoulders were tensing up, how he said ‘was going now’...
William clearly knows more about what Charon’s doing. But seeing how frazzled he looked, Lena felt Charon completely blindsided him with it.
She started to think there was a different reason the Alpha Pokémon dragged them all the way out here.
“William…” Lena kept her tone gentle, placating. “Considering the fact that Charon was insistent on dragging us nearly off the entire Route and had us go miles worth of travel away from the main path, I think we have a right to know what Charon’s doing.”
The young Trainer still flinched, nearly dropping the plate while cleaning it. “I-It’s nothing bad. Just… personal to him.” A deep breath left him while he smiled towards Lena. It looked more fake than the first photo she had seen him with. “It’ll be fine. He said he’s coming back tonight, we don’t need to worry about it.”
“Why do you sound like you’re trying to convince yourself more than me?”
The smile cracked a smidge. William refused to look at Lena. “It’s more — just—I-I… shouldn’t say. Without his permission.”
It felt so… alien to see William floundering like a Feebas out of water. So… scattered from whatever Charon told him, or is doing. He couldn’t even defect like she knew he would do. He was just shutting down and retreating into himself.
Lena opened her mouth to press more, her Ranger experience screaming that something wasn’t right. Arthur’s paw on her shoulder stopped her cold, and Lena turned towards him to see his own muzzle wearing a concerned, if hesitant, expression.
‘Lena. This would be best to leave as is for now. Especially if it’s related to… spirit business, as William said.’
‘What do you mean? It’s clearly something more than that! Look at how William is reacting!’ Lena blanched, glancing back at William but only seeing the yellow of his sweatshirt as he busied himself with the dishes with Rina’s help. Rina similarly looked like she wanted to press the matter, but was glancing at Arthur with similar confusion and surprise.
Arthur didn’t budge, his ruby eyes carrying a careful energy in them as he glanced towards the treeline. ‘And Charon takes his spirit related responsibilities seriously,’ He returned his gaze towards Lena, the echo of responsibility weighing down on her. ‘If something is as pressing to him as to leave the human he considers his ward in our care, the only thing we can do for now is wait.’
“Come on Ronin, Viridi,” William said suddenly, having finished the dishes and grabbing his backpack next to the seat. His eyes met Lena’s for a moment, but he quickly refocused on his team, and motioned in a direction. “I’m… we’re just gonna get started training today, I’ll just — we’ll be over there.”
“W-Wait — William… and… he’s gone.” Lena trailed off as William and his team quickly moved over to the aforementioned section. The Ranger sighed and rubbed her head in defeat. “All… alright. Great…”
“I will watch him, don’t worry. Just… let’s wait until Charon gets back before we press anyone for information.” Arthur stated before walking off towards William’s location.
Lena could only watch him go before turning to Rina with a similarly lost expression on what to do.
Low thrust, upward strike, spin, and then—
The air cracked as his staff struck nothing. Arthur’s paws moved automatically and pulled it back, returning him to a neutral pose. He observed the open air in front of him, waiting for the invisible foe to get back up.
Sadly, his own thoughts couldn’t be so easily defeated. Arthur closed his eyes, the noises of Viridi and Ronin training behind him serving as a constant reminder.
Arthur knew that jumping to William’s defense would prompt questions from Lena and Rina later, but…
‘Well, I can’t say I don’t know a thing or two about topics that are uncomfortable to talk about.’
Still, William’s desperate attempt to distract himself were all a mask to hide how out of his element he was. The signs were easy to pick up, and Arthur didn’t need Aura to see that.
“Sha-WOTT!”
Arthur opened his eyes at the almost feral-like cry and turned to the younger trainees. Ronin’s Scalchop with budding Water Type energy impacted a now rippling green hexagonal barrier from the air above. Viridi’s antennae twitch rapidly in concentration to maintain the smaller, localized barrier of Protect between her and Ronin’s attack.
The little Bug Poison Type couldn’t maintain Protect as long as Ronin could keep his still developing Razor Shell going, but only just. Both moves fading out with a fizzling crack, and a wet splash of Water Type energy.
William sat off to the side, making notes on a notebook and his Pokédex, watching the display carefully with furrowed eyes and a bouncing leg.
‘It’s almost frightening how similar Lena and William are, desperately trying to distract themselves to ignore something bothering them.’ Arthur mused, before remembering that Lena was still hiding something about what happened at the Floccesy Ranger Base. The concern and smothered frustration deep within his core forced him to refocus and turn his attention to an actual physical target he could use to let it lose.
Low thrust, upward strike, spin, and then—
The dead tree rippled back and forth, with the combo leaving a huge Boldore-sized indent at the end without him applying any Type Energy into his strike. It still didn’t shake his thoughts out of his mind, however. ‘It just makes little sense, however, that Charon would have to do something that would cause William to become this anxious…’
The only other time Arthur recalled William being this nervous was when he inadvertently revealed he knew about Virizion’s domain and location. But the only location that Arthur recalled nearby was… Pledge Grove. And he only knew that after the debriefing they received after Victory Road.
‘It is rather odd that neither William nor Charon mentioned that… perhaps that was on purpose?’ The Lucario glanced at William as he let his body go through a different rhythm of strikes, one he knew from muscle memory so he could observe the training the Trainer was putting his team under.
Ronin tore through moves quicker than Arthur had seen him do before, while Viridi was trying to defend against all from specific directions while staying in place. Water Gun into Aqua Jet, into a Type Energy charged scalchop. A non-stop volley of attacks that even impressed Arthur.
The heavy, wet sensation of a lot of Water Type Energy filled the air. Arthur quickly noticed Ronin was using it to push moves out quicker, similar to the ‘Agile’ moves that Charon used. A deep thrill emanated from the Oshawott in the assault, excitement at having finally gotten the hang of his using Water Type Energy to this extent. Deeper though, Arthur could sense a… bit of satisfaction from showing Viridi how he could react quickly between moves.
‘Well… I can’t hold that against him. Rina would call me a hypocrite with how I use Detect sometimes.’ Arthur noted, refocusing on the target of the attacks.
The Centipede Pokémon summoned protective bubbles smaller than before, and Arthur reasoned it was some attempt to use it multiple times. Finally, it barely absorbed the impact of one more weak Razor Shell before fading away, Viridi’s antennae twitching rapidly in desperation to regenerate the shield as her body slumped into the earth.
A flustered chittering rose from her, and Arthur could sense a similar frustration usually reserved for Ronin within her Aura. Meanwhile, Ronin was sweating and huffing, but the smile on his face showed he was happy to break through Viridi's defenses.
William snapped his fingers, and both Pokémon instantly turned to him. “Alright, that’s good, you two. Take a break for a couple minutes and we’ll start up again, but with Ronin’s turn this time. Need to, uh…” He trailed off and blinked before shaking his head. “Just — need to get my thoughts in order.”
William stared at his notes, but didn’t focus on them. Arthur glanced back at the dead tree and winced, realizing he had split it in two without realizing, now practically beating splitters.
‘Well, now is as good as any for a brief break…’ Arthur closed his eyes, and let the Aura of everything wash over him. The drizzle of Ronin’s energy bursting around him and the sizzling of Viridi earthy presence as she recovered from the intensive move that Protect is.
And then the emptiness of William’s presence, only filled by the faint sense of ghostly energy that linked him and Charon that barely covered his body, and the deep, dark, swirling mass of nothingness.
‘Wait, no… it used to cover his entire being, now something’s… different.’ Arthur stilled as he observed William. The surrounding film had shrunk inwards. The black and blues of his sight now covered by the film of Foresight as he tried to scrutinize it better... the swirling mass almost… faded.
But he didn't have time to do so.
William froze, his expression anxious, with surprise flashing across his vestige and posture as his notebook and Pokédex slipped from his hands and lap. He regained himself and barely caught them, but the sudden noise instantly caused Viridi to crawl over with nervous chittering, and Ronin to run over as well with equally anxious energy.
A sharp breath left William as he gripped his head lightly. “Oh. That's… one… one second.”
Ronin and Viridi glanced at each other, with Ronin placing a flipper on William’s leg. “William? A…Are you okay?”
“Yep!” His voice squeaked and his face clearly forced expression broke instantly as he blinked and shook his head. “Y-Yeah, sorry, Charon’s getting further away. Making it hard to focus, but he’s still… Just give—”
He took a deep breath, eyebrows pinched while rubbing his face, disorientation in his tone. “Okay… where was I—? Right, Viridi. Um… do you think using Protect over smaller areas uses less energy? Or more energy than if you'd just held it?”
“Small Protect use lots of energy. Same energy every time. But first time strong. And Fast. Comfrey Bugg want to keep trying to make Big Protect stronger.”
A flicker of… confusion and hesitation crossed William’s face. “Uh. Okay, uh. Shoot. Let me…” He sighed and squeezed his sleeve, eyes blinking and trying to refocus on Viridi. “Can… Can you repeat that? I’m sorry…”
‘Viridi was quite succinct, especially given her speech pattern. ‘Did he not… understand her?’ Arthur’s concern for the young Trainer grew, and he dispelled his Aura staff and approached softly as Viridi repeated her statement.
“Small Protect use lots of energy. Same energy every time. But first time strong. And Fast. Comfrey Bugg want to keep trying to make Big Protect stronger.”
William focused and hung off every word Viridi said, but still winced after another moment of silence to process it. “Okay… so, using smaller Protect… uses about the same energy as just one big shield because of the starting energy… but you want to practice the beginning of Protect by using the smaller ones?”
Viridi nodded, making William sigh with relief. “Okay, okay got it. I’ll — I’ll keep that in mind. Maybe there are other ways to use Protect like how Rina showed…?” Shooting Viridi an apologetic expression, he rubbed the side of his neck and looked away in shame. “I’m sorry it took me a minute to, uh. Understand you.”
“Viridi not understand,” She tilted her head, a baffled Aura radiating from her. “Hive Leader have nothing to be sorry for?”
William didn’t respond while he wrote something into his notebook and underlined it before shifting to rummaging in his bag. “For now… let's… flip roles for now,” He pulled a Pecha Berry from the sleeve before glancing at Ronin. “Uh — Ronin, would you be able to use Aqua Jet with part of a Pecha Berry in your mouth?”
“I… should be able to.” The Oshawott replied, nodding with deep determination to do what William asked swirling out from his core.
“Alright, okay. I'll cut a small slice, and here’s what I want to try and do...“
William explained the next part of their training, while Arthur refocused and closed his eyes, using Foresight from the start now.
There was no mistaking it. The film around William had diminished, the swirling core at this center still visible… but getting fainter over time, becoming less compressed, fading into the rest of the space his body occupied.
Arthur stayed silent as he observed, becoming so fixated by the slow metamorphosis of William’s being that he didn’t notice Ronin and Viridi start the new exercise, this time with Ronin as the target.
Poison Stings from Viridi tail impacted a dead tree Ronin coiled around using Aqua Jet as quickly as he could to avoid them, but also maintaining his arc around the tree. Arthur instantly picked up it to train Ronin’s control and evasion with Aqua Jet, but also Viridi’s reaction and focus.
William watched carefully, tapping his pencil on the paper in a rhythm that only he could hear. This continued for a time before he paused and looked away to the distance, his eyes distant and looking through the trees.
Arthur saw his throat bob with a heavy swallow before he nodded in response to something. His hand squeezed his sleeve for a moment, and after another moment, a shuddering breath reverberated through him while he wobbled in his seat. Arthur could barely hear him mutter under his breath. “Oh. That's… I don’t… fuck.”
Arthur could feel Ronin’s Aura shift to concern as he noticed the change in his Trainer. The distraction allowed for a stray Poison Sting to hit his side, but the Water Type continued to maintain Aqua Jet despite it as Viridi continued her attacks
‘Alright, it’s time to let Lena know…’ Arthur gently focused on his connection with Lena, taking a deep breath and ignoring all of his other senses to reach her.
From their link her current emotions sprung forward, of concern and confusion towards William lingered, a frustration and bafflement at Charon’s attitude as of late, and… shock towards a message from Malory?
Well, he could press that later, for now he gently tugged, their signal for her to come to him. Not urgently, but enough to get her attention.
It didn’t stop her from hurrying over with Rina in less than a minute, concern bubbling from their Auras. Lena took in the scene, glancing at Arthur with furrowed eyebrows. “What’s up?”
Arthur deliberated how to phrase it without causing alarm. “William’s Aura… I think Charon had a bigger impact on William’s Aura than we thought.”
He didn’t phrase it well enough, as Lena, despite knowing he wasn’t in danger, had panic spike from her core. “What do you mean? Is he—”
“He’s—” Arthur scrounged for a word. “Managing. He’s not in danger. It’s just… getting fainter ever since Charon left, and it’s affecting him somehow.”
Lena’s eyes darted to William, and Rina let a nervous rumble from her throat. Arthur could feel the shared, deeply uncomfortable feeling between the three of them.
It felt wrong to see and feel the core of what William was getting fainter, especially given how faint it already was.
They couldn’t ruminate on it more, as Viridi finally landed a solid Poison Sting at Ronin’s chest, drawing their attention away from William to the Pokémon. The definitive shot forced Aqua Jet to bubble away as he rolled on the ground and pushed himself up with his flippers. Arthur could spot the thin, glowing stringer seep poisonous Type Energy into his body before it broke apart and fell away from Ronin.
Ronin grunted and bit down, a faint line of Pecha Berry juice leaking from his lips that he wiped with his flipper as he stood up. The second he swallowed, the Pecha Berry instantly started taking effect, and the raw toxic spot on his side faded away. William moved to stand up, but Arthur spotted his leg having to catch himself from falling as he move to heal Ronin with a Potion and an Antidote.
As he carefully sprayed Ronin down with the Potion, Viridi also approached while William sat down on the ground and stared between his two team members with… nervousness. “Okay. One second… I need—” A deep breath left him, and he shook his head while squeezing his sleeve.
“William? Are you okay?” Lena stepped forward carefully, overwhelming concern running wild from her tone and Aura.
William didn’t even register Lena approaching, or her question, focusing on Ronin now. “So… okay, right. Do you feel poisoned after that half-slice?” William already reached for the Antidote, but Ronin quickly shook his head, making William sigh in relief. “Alright, good to know that a half-a-slice work for things like this… good to know. Er… was it… easy to tell when you were poisoned? What about using Aqua Jet with a Berry in your mouth?
Ronin stayed quiet, thoughtful before looking back up at his Trainer. “It was easy to tell when I got poisoned… but I dunno if I'd be able to use Water Gun with the Berry in my mouth…”
William’s expression faltered, nervousness rising through him, and his voice becoming more hesitant. “O-Okay… so, yes for the first one but… no? For… the second?”
Ronin looked equally hesitant, masked it with a determined look. “I-I can try if you'd like?”
William's face scrunched up in concentration before his expression turned crestfallen. “I… fuck, I'm sorry, Ronin,” He squeezed his elbows with each hand, pulling into himself slightly. “I… don't know what you’re trying to say…”
A painful silence fell over the field, and Lena finally, gently, placed a hand on William’s shoulder to get his attention.
This was a mistake. His back straightened and he let out a surprised curse before whipping around in surprise. His sharp exclamation was enough to make even Lena jump back in surprise. “A-Agh! F-Fuck… s-sorry, I didn’t mean—I just —” William forced a deep breath to settle back down. However, Arthur coughed slightly as Viridi stared daggers at Lena for scaring her Hive Leader. He would need to apologize to the protective Bug Poison Type later. “I — sorry, didn’t expect… uh, when did you get here?”
Lena stayed silent, even as Arthur could feel her own heart hammer in surprise. “Just for a couple minutes… Arthur let me know something was going on, that you weren’t feeling well.” She glanced up and down at him, her voice gentle, careful, and worried all wrapped into one. “How are you feeling? Or… what specifically are you feeling?”
“...I’m.. fine.” William deflected, rubbing his face again and shaking his head. “It’s mostly just… brain stuff. Senses. Charon… Charon disconnected. Fully. Adjusting to it.”
“‘Disconnected’ how?” Lena pressed.
“Spirit business,” He weakly said, before wincing and thinking for a moment on how best to explain without actually explaining anything. “With how confusion and the poison impacted me, and where he’s going, he thought, well — just did it to be safer.”
Lena’s hand moved to her Styler. “Do you need me to call Doctor Eirin —”
“N-No.” William refuted with a worried tone, shaking his head. “No. I’ll be fine, I just… need to adjust. Never… really adapted without him.” William demurred, looking… small.
“Hold on… he looks pale like one of the possession cases, doesn't he?” Rina started, Arthur somewhat seeing what she meant. He looked a tad more pale than usual. “And he said he linked up with Charon a couple minutes after meeting him…”
Arthur turned to Rina sharply in surprise, and Lena mirrored him at that tidbit. They exchanged a glance at the slow realization they shared.
‘You don’t think he’s been…?’ Lena started at Arthur, before turning to William, “Hey… how long have you been linked to Charon?” Concern and nervousness etched deeply with her tone.
“Huh? Why?” Genuine confusion spread across William’s face. “How long have you and Arthur been linked via Aura?”
“I mean…” She turned to Arthur and thought for a moment, which he quickly gave confirmation, prompting her to refocus on William. “Just under eight hours today? Since we've woken up? But we usually reconnect in the morning when we wake up.”
William blinked. “...And the longest?”
A deep awkwardness rose between Lena and Arthur. Memories of… the ‘incident’ springing to mind that tried to dispel.
He couldn’t, and he coughed and turned away, leaving Lena to answer William. “Er… almost a week. Once. Around when we first learned how to do it. Things got… weird. We learned not to go that long again.”
“I could taste your poffins for a week.” Arthur quietly grumbled, Lena blushing at the memory and glaring back.
“Well, how do you think I felt?! I was trying to scratch my ears off the top of my head instead of the sides.” She hissed, still blushing. Rina snickered, while Lena let out a defeated sigh and refocused on William. “What about you and Charon?”
“Oh, uh. Um. Well…” An awkward silence followed, but not the kind where someone didn’t want to answer a question.
This was the awkward silence of someone doing the math.
Arthur glanced at William, already remembering the symptoms of what the Pokémon Center doctor had said when he and Lena linked up that long. Awkwardness with movement, phantom sensations, thoughts that weren’t their own… it would explain why William felt unfocused if they were that synced up.
‘Well… even if he’s not connected to WIlliam’s Aura, it has to be similar enough in idea, right? I could see more than a month causing something like this, but—’
“Three-ish? Years? Ever since we met?” William didn’t notice the horrified silence after he spoke, his eyes narrowing from his own thoughts. “Well, I don't… know if he fully disconnected when I was at the hospital, though. Or just… dulled it. So, um, yeah. Three-ish is the safest bet I can say. Maybe.”
Arthur stared in shock, feeling Lena and Rina mirror his confusion, bafflement, and concern.
Quickly, Arthur focused on William’s Aura now… trying to find the compressed mass within him…
Only there was nothing. A blank, dead mass of nothingness replacing the compressed mass of his being. The ghostly film that connected William with the old Typhlosion, gone.
And yet, he lives. Like a contradiction of life in front of them.
Viridi noticed her Trainer's uncomfortable emotions from the silence and stares. She instantly moved to jump into his lap and vibrated with a soothing purr. William silently pulled her closer, her Aura gently covering his front like a protective blanket.
Lena swallowed her surprise, refocusing on the critical part here. ”And… How do you feel? Any…chills? Shivers?”
William closed his eyes and breathed through his nose. “One part… feels like having a sense you can’t describe removed suddenly.” His hand petted Viridi as the words slipped from his mouth. “It's like when someone goes deaf after having the ability to hear, it’s just… your brain doesn’t really know how to register it, or process, or… I don’t, I don’t know. I can't understand them as well anymore…”
“You mean… Pokémon?” Lena asked.
William let out a noise from his throat and nodded. “I can't infer what they're saying… it's just—” Frustration crossed his face before he rubbed it away with a free hand, defeated exhaustion overtaking it now. “They have facial expressions and body language. I can read their emotions from that, but not their intent. I just… I can't infer what they’re saying as I thought I'd be able to — without Charon, I mean…”
Arthur could feel Lena’s heart going out for how defeated William sounded. A determined strength rose within as she racked her brain for something. Quickly, Arthur helped her discard the sensations that would distract her. Just as fast, an old study from a sociology class she had to take back in High School sprang to mind, the faint echo of memories of some study about babies and interacting with Pokémon at a young age and Lena quickly connected the fact that William didn't have any Pokémon at home…
“I mean… it's not your fault.” Lena sat down next to William at his level to not be standing above him. “You didn't have any Pokémon at home from what you tell me, so your mind didn't develop any of the unconscious social skills that other kids would have while young that would help them understand Pokémon.”
William simply grumbled, looking irritated… not at Lena, but up at his own forehead? His brain? “Well, it's a bit late for that,” Arthur couldn’t even begin to break down what that meant, and neither could Lena, judging from her Aura.
William sighed and resumed petting Viridi, thoughtful now. “It's probably an Aura thing too.”
“Huh?”
“I mean… there's so many Pokémon, right? Different body language, different postures and facial structures… some don’t… have faces, or, er, they do but—you know what I mean. It wouldn't make sense even with people who have early exposure to understand every Pokémon more naturally, right?”
Arthur knew that the topic of Pokémon communication was one heatedly debated, but communication between Pokémon was just… second nature for them. Words carry a lot more intent for Pokémon than humans do, and he could sense that Lena was following William’s line of thinking.
“Well… when you put it like that…” The emotions of Lena and Rina’s first meeting rose to the surface, when Lena slipped into the pond on Route 205N before knowing how to properly swim… and Rina as a Buizel had to help her to safety.
The gratitude that erupted from Lena toward the Floatzel made Arthur feel an echo of fuzziness inside, but Lena refocused on William. “That is a good point. I could understand Rina pretty quickly after we met, even if I didn’t understand her words, her intent was… clear, at least.”
‘Lena, refocus. William can’t understand his team at the moment, not like you can.’ Arthur gently reminded, so she remembered to not make him feel envious.
‘Shoot, thank you,’ Lena quickly refocused on William, concern washing over her face. “Okay, so you can’t understand Pokémon as well as you used to without Charon. But… that’s not all, right?”
William squeezed Viridi a bit tighter, and Arthur worried he was going to deflect, but he just nodded in a defeated way. “It’s just… soul and brain stuff. That’s all. Nothing important.”
If William was simply ‘deflecting’ before, then he had told a lie to rival a politician, a sentiment Lena shared. Still, he just shrugged. “I’ll be fine. Just have… to wait for Charon to get back.”
The answer was as defeating for himself as it was for Lena, that there wasn’t anything they could do. “Okay… and how does it feel? Are you sure you don’t need a doctor?”
“No, not… not now, at least. Nothing they can do about my soul anyway.” William struggled with his words. Ronin walked up and gently hugged William’s leg with his flippers, a protective warm summer shower swirling within his Aura. His Trainer pet the Oshawott with a smile before looking away. “Well… I don’t think… I’m gonna be much help… if you want to end training for to—”
Both Ronin and Viridi suddenly jolted, and instantly let out exclamations of protest. William’s eyes went wide and he froze, glancing between the two. Arthur could tell he had a confused, but slightly… hopeful expression on his face.
“Well, I guess they gave you their answer… I’m going to do dinner prep… do you need space?” Lena asked. William, still recovering from the outburst of his own team, barely took a moment to give Lena a distracted nod as he focused on Ronin and Viridi and looked through his own notebook.
Lena’s smile flickered onto her face, but her Aura link pulsed between Arthur. ‘Keep an eye on him, I’ll get dinner for all of us ready… and hopefully, Charon finishes what he needs and gets back here.’
‘I will let you know if anything changes.’ Arthur stated, slowly re-summoning his Aura staff and glancing at Rina, giving her a nod towards Lena to keep an eye on her. His partner nodded and followed the Ranger closely as they gave William the space he needed again as his team resumed the drills they did before.
Still… Arthur couldn’t help but take another look. His vision covered in the darkness and energy of Aura that filled this world.
The words of his pack rang in his head, despite the desperate years he had spent trying to banish them into the depths of the Distortion World.
Aura. The defining thing that connected all living beings together. The idea of someone not having Aura…akin to blasphemy.
The idea of a human not having Aura proved that they were right. Humans don’t need it, or care for it.
Arthur's staff glowed brightly, his paws twisting it in his grasp while a deep breath left him as he focused on the core of William’s before… no longer any visible compressed mass… just hollow emptiness.
He didn’t feel like anything except… a body that Aura around him outlined and didn't fill or burst out from within like others did. Arthur couldn’t feel what he felt because of the absence of it…
Arthur opened his eyes, letting the colors of the world fill his vision again. Instead of the void of William’s being, and the colorful aura of Ronin and Viridi existing on the outside, Arthur could see the caring expression on William’s face as he gently sprayed a Potion on Ronin’s side from the previous Poison Sting, even though Ronin only had a slight red spot that would heal in less than a day. He could see his hand gently petting Viridi as he did so, and Viridi’s blissful expression.
William didn’t need Aura for Arthur to know how much he cared for Pokémon and people. His actions with Viridi and Ronin speak volumes more than any Aura could.
And that was more proof then Arthur needed to know that his pack was wrong.