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“And I don't want the world to see me, 'cause I don't think that they'd understand.
When everything's made to be broken, I just want you to know who I am.
And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming, or the moment of truth in your lies.
When everything feels like the movies, you bleed just to know you're alive.”
( Iris, The Goo Goo Dolls)
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i. still
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7 April, 2022
Alain can’t fathom this as anything other than a bad dream. A gut-wrenching nightmare, where the pressure builds and builds until he’s convinced it’s shattering his very bones—his ribs cave in, crush his chest, his lungs fail and then his heart does too.
It isn’t a clean cut, a knife or a bullet, but a slow death of ever-increasing pain and pain and pain . It’s slow and it’s gradual and he knows it’s what he deserves. Anything else would be too merciful.
If by any chance he is, somehow, still alive come morning, he thinks he’ll awaken to realize it was all a nightmare. It never happened. He can’t possibly understand, wrap his head around, believe what the past day has brought. Maybe he’s too smart for this and maybe he should know better, but he clings to hope like the last shreds of his sanity, like the rapidly sinking planks of a rotting wooden lifeboat. He clings and he clings and he clings.
And yet the water rises, his throat closes up, the air stops coming—
Alain Viard tells himself this isn’t real.
But his knuckles are bruised and bloody, there’s an empty spot on his belt where Lancelot’s Pokeball used to be, and he can taste the bile in his throat. It burns. He vomits out the window of Professor Sycamore’s car.
His chest and mouth and face are burning, tears leak down his cheeks, and nobody says a word. They swerve around rubble and caved-in cars, and it takes them three times as long to get to the Lab.
When they arrive, Alain’s childhood bedroom is exactly how he left it six years ago. He crumples to the ground, sobbing, because he was just a fucking kid. How did he, so easily, turn into a monster?
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23 April, 2022
The world keeps turning. Alain doesn’t quite understand how, not when his own all came crashing down in a matter of a few short hours that he fights and fights to forget. But forgetting is one fight he cannot win, no matter how hard he tries; it's another stinging reminder of his own shortcomings, and the strength that wasn’t ever enough in the end, despite everything he did and everything he sacrificed.
And yet, Alain’s world may be burnt to the ground, but the spherical one he’s trapped on just turns and turns and turns.
So Alain goes through the motions. He sleeps like dead through the first night because he’s so exhausted he can feel it in his bones, and then he barely sleeps again for a week. He wakes up screaming, drenched in sweat, or both, so many times each night that eventually he just stops trying. But he gets up every day. He helps build new bookshelves, signs off on the Lab’s window repairs and package deliveries. He measures out medications for their rehab Pokemon, and relearns how to run an IV line.
There’s a suit, on his bed one day, that he’s never seen before. In Augustine’s cursive scrawl, a post-it reads, For the court appearance. And maybe Alain clenches his fists, almost throws up, wants to scream and swear and cry—but he tries it on for his own sake and it fits perfectly, and he can’t help but think that he wouldn’t look half bad if it weren’t for the dark circles of his eyes and pallor of his face. He wouldn’t look half bad if he wasn’t a walking ghost.
So he drags himself up, tightens his navy blue tie, and goes to court. He testifies against Lysandre and for himself—and with Augustine, Diantha, and Steven Stone on his side, the charges against Alain himself are dropped. Alain doesn’t think he deserves it but Augustine tells him he has to fight for his future, and so he does. Fight might be a strong word, survive is more like it, but Alain stands up there with hands clasped and head held high as he tells them the damn truth. And when he leaves the courtroom, he presses his Mega Ring and Kuro’s Charizardite into the hands of the authorities and says, with a voice stronger and more sure than he’s felt in weeks, that he won’t be needing them anymore. If it breaks his heart a little when he does, because he hates them and everything that they stand for but who is he without it—
Well, that’s between him and his Charizard. Nobody else has to know.
Turn, Alain muses, the world does.
So he sits in the greenhouse, under the stars, trying his hardest not to rub his bare wrist raw, and dares to believe that if he just keeps moving one day at a time, eventually this will all be over.
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ii. we’re fucked, it’s fine
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29 May, 2022
One day, Alain realizes that everything truly has kept moving, from his friends to his family and everybody in between—and decides that it’s best that he keeps moving, too. He starts moving faster and faster, really, because if he’s good at one thing it’s overworking himself. Sure, he may have lost sight of his biggest dream and he doesn’t quite know who he is anymore, but he can still work himself to the ground if he so chooses—he’s a shitty friend and a shitty brother and a shitty person, but he’s a damn good researcher and he’ll make it count until it kills him. It seems easy enough.
Alain thinks that if he’s just busy enough, suffocatingly busy, the guilt will try and fail to keep up with him. He’ll be exhausted enough to sleep at night, and maybe soon enough the broken pieces will be far enough in the past that he’ll have forgotten how they ever broke in the first place. He knows he doesn’t deserve to patch up the gaping hole in his chest. Regardless, he hopes that maybe he can forget about what made it hurt so bad in the first place.
And Alain isn’t stupid—he knows that this isn’t right, it isn’t healing. He can pray and pray that magically, his body will stitch itself back together in the background of his work and the lab’s forward progress. But there’s no filling the silence at the dining room table or when he’s making the bed in the morning; he’s pipetting in the lab and it’s too mindless so he starts to think. No level of busyness can erase that.
But hell, he tries. Augustine tells him he’s proud of him. And at night, Alain leans out the window of his childhood bedroom and stares at the glowing, golden Prism Tower in the distance and thinks if the city can rebuild, so can I. I have to.
Because the world keeps turning, does it not?
So he sits stiffly in the passenger seat when Augustine drives him to therapy once a week, and he drifts, drifts, and drifts. When Augustine suggests he take a couple standardized exams and a university class over the summer, Alain throws himself headfirst into studying and reviews the acids and bases he left behind when he finished high school at sixteen—he studies, studies, and studies as if the academic potential is the only reason the Professor thinks it’s worth keeping him around, as if it’s the only thing keeping him alive. Living isn’t this, he knows, he feels like a ghost—the world exists around him but he’s never felt further apart from it. But he is, at his core, alive. His heart beats in his chest, frantic and broken more often than not but it does still beat—and so Alain keeps moving.
And the guilt is the worst part, it always has been, in the background of it’s not your fault and you didn’t mean it and I forgive you. But Alain doesn’t forgive himself, not for being so stupid. He got off scot-free because he was legally a kid when it first started, but he knows it isn’t a valid excuse. He’s twenty two, now, and of the six years in Lysandre’s employment he was only a minor for two—for the other four, he was just fucking stupid. Naive and stupid.
But then he’s sitting, one evening, on a bench in a park next to Champion Steven Stone, thinking that he shouldn’t have responded when the Champion had texted with a finally back in Lumiose, hope you're doing well, let’s catch up, because he should have known from the start what this was supposed to be about. It’s the same thing they all want from him, some sort of dishonest promise that he’s forgiven himself and that he’s moving on and that he knows it wasn’t his fault. He lied to Mairin, he lied to Xavier and he lied to Diantha. He hates that he’ll have to lie to Steven next, too.
They aren’t friends, not really. Alain owes him his life, he knows, both for what happened with Zygarde and what happened back in Hoenn—his Metagross is named Hero for a reason—but friends is a stretch. He knows Steven is only checking in on him because he feels obligated to, the same way he did in the weeks after the accident. He’d walked him through the legal proceedings, vouched for him in court and accompanied him to the ruins of Lysandre Labs—is he not just seeing the job finished? Tying up any loose ends that remain, six weeks after the fact?
So Alain just stares at the ground, then at a Fletchling pecking at the roots of a tree, thinking I shouldn’t be here.
“If it’s your fault, then it’s just as much mine.”
But then Alain freezes. When he dares to glance up, Steven isn’t looking at him.
“Sorry?” But it’s pointless; Alain knows what he heard.
“You helped him, I helped him. Both my fault and yours.”
So Alain opens his mouth to argue. “You barely— ”
“What do you know about what I did or did not do?” Steven asks. He does glance at Alain, now, eyes almost angry, and Alain looks away. “I helped him with the Megalith. I ran numbers on it, and I gave him my very best guess on exactly what he was working with and I was right . We fed him energy, sent him our best scientists, believed every fucking word he said about helping achieve world peace—we fell for it like fucking fools. So what does that say about you and I, Alain?”
And for not the first time, Alain thinks we’re painfully alike.
“I—” Steven starts. He takes a deep breath. “Sorry. That was out of line, wasn't it?” But oh, did Steven lie? Alain knows he didn’t.
Because ever since they’d first met, Alain had thought Steven was untouchable. And every time they talk, Alain comes to realize that that’s further and further from the reality. He’d once seen Steven’s strength as the end-all-be-all, as if only he was as powerful as the Champion he would finally be enough. But he knows now that that isn’t true.
His dreams have long gone to shit, anyways, and it all started at the top of Prism Tower on a scarlet night in April. Alain finds it doesn't hurt as much as it used to, seeing that his idols are just as painfully human as he is.
“I needed it,” Alain replies quietly. Honestly. He watches as the little Fletching takes flight. He follows it with his eyes, all the way up into the sky. “It isn’t your fault.”
Steven glances at him, and smiles in a way that Alain doesn’t quite know how he still has the strength to after everything they’ve gone through. He says, “It isn’t yours, either. Promise me that we’ll try to forgive ourselves?”
Alain doesn’t have the heart to tell him no. He can’t promise, he knows he can’t promise because promises are half bullshit and if he’s learned nothing else he’s certainly learned that—but he says, anyways, “We’ll try.” For both of them, he thinks, they have to. Because the world keeps turning, he almost says. “An agreement, though,” he adds instead to clarify, “not a promise. I can’t promise.”
Steven just nods and smiles at him, and then squeezes his shoulder. “An agreement, then, will do. You’re allowed to feel guilty, Alain, but don’t throw away your future.”
The Professor had said something similar. Alain tilts his head to the sky, and the dying rays of the sun at golden hour are warm and fleeting on his skin. The sun creeps closer to the horizon, because the world keeps turning.
He doesn’t know what the future will bring, but he supposes it might at least be worth seeing.
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iii. somebody loves you
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28 September, 2022
Alain isn’t thinking about much on the day that it happens, not really. It’s one of the good days—he slept okay, his workload is just enough to keep him busy and not enough to tire him out, and Mairin and him have made movie night plans for the evening. She's woefully uneducated on classic science fiction. As for the afternoon, he’s unpacking boxes of new research equipment, and there’s supposed to be more on the way over the next hour. The sorting is easy, and the entryway is quiet save for the rustle of plastic packaging and the sound of the gentle autumn rainstorm outside.
He hears the approach of footsteps, then, even though the brand new front door doesn’t creak open like it used to before it nearly got split in half. So Alain gestures off to the side of the room, where the next delivery should probably go if he wants to keep this organized. “If you could drop it over there,” he says politely, “that would be lovely. Thank you.”
There’s a pause. Alain pulls out another package of petri dishes.
“Not a delivery,” the voice says. “Sorry.”
And Alain’s entire body goes cold. Cold, cold, cold, because he knows that voice but she was never supposed to—
Slowly, he looks over his shoulder. He can’t help it.
Rin stands there, long black coat with an umbrella in hand and she smiles as if nothing was ever, ever wrong.
And then they’re across a battlefield or two, in the dim light of a bar he barely remembers anymore, in her hotel room and then in his with snow falling just outside the window. Suddenly she is the only thing in the world.
“Hi,” she says. Soft and gentle as if nothing was ever fucking wrong.
As if he never—
“Rin.” Her name slips out, barely a breath. Alain pulls himself to his feet. His hands are shaking. And he looks at her, kind and beautiful and brilliant, and wonders why she steps closer with the most gentle smile he’s ever seen from her when he’s the one who did her so wrong.
She reaches out and touches his arm. He can’t stop fucking shaking.
He had dreamed that maybe one day he’d see her again and tell her he's sorry, but not like this, he’s still too fucking broken , and so he gasps out, “You shouldn’t—”
But then her arms are around him and oh, suddenly he’s so warm again.
The first thing Alain thinks is she can’t possibly forgive me. But then he’s crying, she’s rubbing his back, and he’s realizing fucking hell, she’s really forgiving me, and then he’s just sobbing into her shoulder and there’s nothing he can do except repeatedly tell her, I’m so sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.
I'm so sorry, he thinks, I love you. But he has just enough resolve left to bury those three words deep, deep in his gut because it’s been a long few months since he allowed himself to think about loving her. He knows he doesn’t deserve to.
Rin, somehow, repeats time and time again that it’s okay. It’s okay that he left her for dead at Lysandre’s beck and call, it’s okay that he could have killed her along with their city, it’s okay that he’s a useless piece of shit who just cries and cries and cries when he promised he would be stronger, always stronger. How could Rin want him if he’s not stronger? Is that not everything that they are built upon?
“Seems like I should have come here sooner,” Rin says lightly.
Alain stiffens. “You shouldn’t be here at all,” he responds. Dead and empty but so fucking honest. He can’t pretend with her, not anymore, maybe not ever when she’s always seen right through him.
“I want to be here,” she replies. “I’m sorry I wasn’t sooner.”
And it’s just so fucking honest, the same way that he was. Alain does not understand. But what he does understand, what he does know, is that this is Rin and once upon a time he’d have done anything to beg for her forgiveness, beg for her back, tell her the truth and tell her that he’s sorry. He’d nearly cried himself to sleep before, praying and praying but knowing he’d simply never get the chance and he would have to move on. Because what Lysandre ordered was law and what Lysandre ordered was right.
But now, he knows that isn’t true. Nothing Lysandre said was worth believing in.
And so, he steps back, grips her hand, and he fucking begs. He knows he may never have this chance again. “The block wasn’t me,” he blurts first.
“Who’s Rin?”
Silence.
“Alain.”
And he didn’t know how to respond, there was no right way to respond, he couldn’t—
“He told me he had eyes everywhere. He threatened you because he thought you were making me soft.”
“Viard. You have five seconds to answer the question or get out of my fucking office and don’t come back.”
Alain flinches, Alain stumbles, and in his head Alain trips and falls and tumbles off the edge of the fucking cliff and never gets back up—
“I give you everything. All I want is one answer in return.”
“Please, Rin.”
Alain raises his chin, looks Lysandre in the eyes, opens his mouth to say something—
But Alain can never do anything but fuck up, so the one thing that comes out is the only thing that isn’t true. “Nobody important.”
“I didn’t mean it.”
The lie tastes awful and bitter on his tongue. Because he knows, with deeper clarity than he ever has since the day they met, that Rin could be anything but she could never be unimportant. Not to him.
When it came down to it, he was a liar. And it didn't even save them—he couldn’t even protect her.
Now he swears, with his full heart and full chest and knuckles going white as he grips her hand like it’s a fucking lifeline—“I didn’t mean it, I never did.”
And Rin, Rin who was always so deathly honest and biting and unapologetically real—she says, as if it’s as easy as breathing, “I believe you.”
She makes it sound so easy. Alain realizes, as he stares at her, at the elegant lines of her face and gentle curve of the teal eyes that he knows are a form of armor because if he knows nothing he knows armor like it’s hammered into his very bones—he finds that suddenly, he’s forced to believe himself. He can’t blame himself for what Lysandre did, not anymore, at least not in this context if he’s convinced Rin of his own innocence.
The world is turning, Alain knows. The world is turning and it’s just one thing, one little thing in the grand scheme of everything he’s done-but Alain wants to forgive. Alain wants to believe.
So he makes one last ditch attempt, one more attempt at condemning himself to the guilt he’s been so convinced he deserves—but it was Lysandre who threatened her safety, Lysandre who called her a distraction with thinly veiled threats that weren’t really veiled at all. Lysandre who isolated him, first from the Professor and then from Rin. Twelve year old Mairin was no support system, no wonder he was so fucking miserable. And he wants to believe so badly, he really does, but he has to know—“You shouldn’t want me.”
Rin says, as she squeezes his hand, “Oh, Alain. But what if I do?”
And he tries his hardest not to, but Alain breaks into tears again. Rin just holds him tight. Outside, the rain is pouring, it patters on the pavement and the roof and it says hey, Alain, this world is real. Here you are. It feels, Alain finds, just a little bit like healing.
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iv. orchid
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Rin Yukino
Wednesday, 23:07
Alain: Thank you, Rin. I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but I’ll make it up to you someday. I’ll see you tomorrow.
Rin Yukino: there’s nothing to forgive when it was never your fault. see you tmrw <3
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“And we will never go back
To that bloodshed, crimson clover, the worst was over
My hand was the one you reached for, all throughout the Great War”
( The Great War, Taylor Swift)
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4 October, 2022
They were rivals first, before they were anything else. And Alain’s been putting it off for months, but he knows he has to try—so one day, on a day that feels like a good day as he’s flipping through the most recent publication of his favorite scientific journal, he decides to ask. He says, as nonchalantly as he can, “Would you battle me?”
“What?”
Alain looks over at Rin. She’s staring at him, gaze careful, with her arms and phone resting on the lab counter.
Alain swallows and glances down. “Battle me. Please?” But it comes out quiet, because the racing in his chest and tightness in his throat betrays him time and time again. He wants this to be easy. He knows this is not going to be easy.
“When was the last time you battled?” she asks carefully.
Alain sets his pen down. Alain knows it’s a valid question. But Alain hates that when he answers, he does so truthfully and says, “Before.” She’ll know what he means. And it feels fucking embarrassing—Alain doesn’t know what he does with himself, who he even is if not a Pokemon Trainer. It was six long, long years of his life in pursuit of an unobtainable goal. He lost his teenage years, but also so much more along the way.
But if Alain wants to go back, he has to try. And better it be Rin than anybody else, who knows him at his best and now at his worst. Rin will make him love it again, if anybody even can.
To her credit, Rin doesn’t question him, or even ask him if he’s really sure. She responds with a simple, “We can battle if you want.” An open door.
So battle they do. That afternoon, Alain releases Kuro and Rin has Diva, her Gardevoir. Kuro flares his orange wings and roars, and Alain waits and waits to feel something but his chest grows tighter and tighter. He opens his mouth to order the first move but nothing comes out. He finds he doesn’t even know what to ask for.
Flamethrower, he thinks. Flamethrower is safe and easy. But nothing happens.
Rin waits and watches him. Alain tells himself he’s just playing defensive, that’s all. Easing himself back into it. It isn’t hesitation, it isn’t that he can’t— he just, without Mega Evolution, has the defensive type advantage. He’s being strategic.
“Diva, use Psychic!”
Alain expects to feel something, at the very least, when Gardevoir launches a powerful Psychic. But nothing comes. It hits Kuro, head-on, and he feels nothing at all.
He feels cold. He feels cold, because the wind at the top of Prism Tower is gusting and the sun is long gone and the whole sky is red. He feels cold and he’s watching his world crumble to pieces. He feels cold because the steel under his hands and knees is fucking cold like a blade that runs straight through his chest. He’s bleeding and there’s scarlet liquid on his hands; it stains the tower beneath him.
“Kuro, use Flamethrower,” he forces himself to say. And his tone is flat and even and it’s fine, he’s just out of practice, he’s just—
But his stomach is rolling, he thinks he’s growing to throw up. Alain had always said that this is who he is, what is he if not a trainer, but was he ever a trainer before he met Lysandre and was told to be?
And—and, well, Alain’s not afraid to say that Lysandre ruined his life. Lysandre said get stronger , Alain said of course, Lysandre said capture Zygarde, Alain said right away, Lysandre said be the strongest and Alain said at any fucking cost—
Kuro roars. Kuro lets out a stream of crimson fire.
Fucking hell, what has Alain done? The most powerful trainer was Lysandre’s mold for him. That was never who Alain was meant to be.
He cannot be doing this all over again.
“Alain?”
He realizes too late that Kuro is staring at him in concern, his hands are shaking, and there are tears leaking down his face. He glances up and across the battlefield at Rin. She’s returning Diva to her Pokeball.
And Alain thinks shit, shit, shit. This is when she realizes I’m not who I used to be, and then she walks away. I’ve fucked this up too. Because if I’m not a trainer and I can’t battle then I’m not even fucking worth anything to her—
“I’m so sorry,” he chokes out. “Sorry sorry sorry. I can’t—”
And in his head, Rin turns her back and walks out. In reality, she walks to him, takes his hand, and pulls him into a hug. “It’s going to take time,” she promises. Just let the world keep turning.
Alain just cries, and asks himself how time could possibly fix this.
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voice call: Rin Yukino, Alain
Wednesday, 1:51
“I just—well, if I can’t battle you, what’s the point? We wouldn’t even know each other if it wasn’t for the battling.”
“A, haven’t we learned that it’s never been just about the battling?”
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from: [email protected]
date: 30 November, 2022, 8:30
subject: Exam Results Released
Dear Student,
We would like to notify you that your exam results are ready to view.
To access, please click the following:
https://dashboard.student.internationalplacement.org
Recall that you receive one free score recipient. On your Dashboard, please submit the name of any university or college you consider yourself likely to attend between now and 15 May, 2023. After that deadline, you may make any changes or adjustments to your recipient at no additional cost through 31 June, 2023.
Should you have any further questions or concerns, please contact [email protected]. We wish you the best of luck in your further academic endeavors.
------
from: [email protected]
date: 3 December, 2022, 10:28
subject: Spreadsheet and Lumiose Times visit
Alain,
Can you send me the sample tracking spreadsheet that you have going? We’re trying to write up a nice press release that will drop towards the end of the month and I could use your notes. I definitely want to credit the people who let us take samples from their Pokemon and I know you have that all written down in one of those columns of yours.
Also, as we chatted about earlier today, the Lumiose Times are going to swing by December 14 to do the interview. If you’re willing, I would love to have you help show them around so they can take pictures. It’s your research as much as it is mine, and you’ve done incredible work. They’re happy to chat about keeping your name out of the article if you want, but your context and insight is important. Plus, you and I both know that I don’t really have the time to talk them through all the details.
Let me know. I know it’s a lot but you should certainly consider it.
Love you.
- Augustine
Dr. Augustine Sycamore
Sycamore Research Institute
Lumiose City, Kalos
www.sycamorelab.org
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v. lakehouse
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5 December, 2022
Over the weeks, as Rin is in the Lab more and more, Alain learns a multitude of things. One, Rin is undoubtedly a good person. She says she blames herself for sitting on the rooftop of her old apartment building the night the world nearly burned down, doing nothing to help, but Alain promises she has nothing to blame herself for. It was not her battle to fight, and the fact that she’s come for him now means a hundred times more. Two, after the first three days that Mairin spends hating Rin out of what Alain presumes is an abundance of caution, they start to get along a little too well and he hardly gets to muster a single complaint about his weekly therapy session before he’s being shoved out the door and into Augustine’s car. It nearly terrifies him, how efficient they are together, but Mairin is standing in the doorway giggling and Rin is smiling at her and Alain thinks maybe everything is going to be okay, after all.
Third, Alain comes to know that he loved her then and he loves her now. Back then, he had always told himself he didn’t love her, he couldn’t—they were just two rivals who happened to sleep together, and maybe text a little too often. But a little too often is a lie, and he knows that she was his lifeline then. They talked and talked and talked, late into the night and early in the morning. He didn’t have Augustine and he didn’t have Mairin, either, not with Chespie fresh in his coma and Lysandre between them—so it was just him, Kuro, and Rin.
Now, Alain thinks, it was always fucking obvious that he loved her. He’d been in denial back then, for reasons he thinks were fully valid at the time but not so much now, not after everything that’s happened. The world almost ended and there’s no point sitting around and pretending anymore.
Rin gets him, in a way that Augustine and Mairin don’t. Once upon a time, they had met across a battlefield, Keystones alight. Her black Mega Gardevoir was terrifying in all of its splendor and power, but Kuro was—as always—just a little bit stronger. But then there was the rematch, and the one after that, and Rin’s promise that she would beat him one day—stubborn, brutal, a perfectionist to the end. An awful lot like he was.
Alain’s pursuit for strength was for the sake of protecting, he constantly tells himself. Something instilled in him by Lysandre, but he had pure intentions at heart. And maybe Rin’s is a little different, because one day they’re labelling samples in the lab and she admits, her journey was never quite as noble as his was, she just felt the need to prove something to herself—to do something with her life beyond her family’s expectations—but Alain sees, in her, somebody who walked down so much of the exact same path that he did. His trip wasn’t worth it, he’s convinced, not after everything he’s lost, but Rin has her eyes on the Pokemon League and Arceus, he really does want it for her. He knows how much it means to her and she deserves it.
Once upon a time, he wanted it just as bad as she did. That’s not who he is anymore, and it hurts but he’s slowly coming to terms with it, six months after the fact. They never did battle again after that disastrous first attempt, back in October.
But Alain looks at her now and the world feels lighter, the world feels like something tangible for the first time since the crisis. He’s curled up on the sofa with her and Mairin, and Rin’s head is on his shoulder as they marathon his favorite science fiction movies. He’s in the lab teaching her how to run a PCR, and she’s complaining that she’s a math person and that she isn’t cut out for this but Alain knows she’s plenty smart enough, she always has been. Then he’s watching her challenge the Kalos League and lose just barely in the Champion title match. Then she’s home and promises him that being the Champion isn’t what she wants anymore, not when he taught her the price of ultimate strength. She’s learning there’s more to life than that.
It feels like they’re learning together. It feels like confirmation that the planet keeps turning, Alain thinks again and again, that the world doesn’t end if they aren’t the strongest. He’s starting to be okay with that.
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15 December, 2022
When Rin decides to fill out her last team slot, she shows up with an Alolan Sandslash and says, as if she’s asking permission, “I wanted to name him Galahad.”
Alain finds he’s okay with that, too. Fantasy was never his cup of tea, but he was fond of stories as a child—he knows that Galahad was Lancelot’s son.
“After Lance?” he has to clarify.
Missing Lancelot is like missing Mizumi. The ache never disappears, not really, but he just grows and grows and grows until it doesn’t hurt quite as bad anymore.
Rin just smiles and says, “If you’re all right with that.”
Alain says, as he glances at the Sandslash and then at her, “I think it fits.” It feels honest and right.
And when two days later, an abandoned and crying Deino shows up on their doorstep, Alain says—“I’ll take him.” It’s impulsive, maybe, he really doesn’t need a sixth Pokemon in Lance’s place. He’s done with battling now. But it doesn’t hurt quite so bad anymore, and he thinks that a decade ago, he had shown up on the lab’s front steps looking the same exact way.
During the Deino’s admit exam, Augustine says that he’s quite a high level, and that his trainer had clearly gotten frustrated that he still wasn’t powerful enough to evolve. This one, Augustine admits, was worked nearly to death trying to reach its next stage.
Alain thinks he might know a thing or two about pushing too hard for the sake of further strength. Alain thinks he understands the costs. So Alain looks at the Deino and says, “You never have to battle again, not if you don’t want to. I promise. I’ve got you.”
And as the snow falls softly outside and the seasons begin to change, Alain has six Pokemon again and makes a promise he knows he can keep.
------
from: [email protected]
date: 19 December, 2022, 8:00
subject: Job Opportunity
Dear Alain Viard,
We hope this email finds you well during this holiday season. We are inquiring to see if you are interested in a job opening we currently have at the Kalos Pokemon League. While our openings are not typically filled through reaching out to specific individuals, the lack of qualified applicants over the past several months has begun to force our hand. We apologize for any inconvenience this email may cause you should you not be interested, but your potential cannot be ignored.
At recommendation and direct invitation of our current League Champion, Xavier Rigaud Oshiro, we would like to formally extend an invitation to you to join the Kalos Pokemon League Elite Four. Details, such as payment, media revenue, and type speciality are subject to further discussion, but please be reassured that we will offer plenty of compensation and flexibility. This offer comes as a direct result of our Champion’s high praises of both your battling capabilities and individual character, and we have no doubt that you would be a fantastic asset to the League’s team.
We would be honored to have you join us, and hope you will consider. Please respond to this email by 1 January, 2023, if you would like to schedule an interview.
Please contact [email protected] if you have any questions. Happy holidays.
Sincerely,
Kalos Pokemon League, Office of Internal Affairs
https://pokemon.league.kal
------
Xavier (X) Rigaud Oshiro
Friday, 9:07
Xavier (X) Rigaud Oshiro: hey man
Xavier (X) Rigaud Oshiro: have you, by any chance, checked your email inbox today
Xavier (X) Rigaud Oshiro: crazy suggestion BUT i think you should check it. maybe like right now or smth.
Xavier (X) Rigaud Oshiro: and probably also respond to me here first bc the office ppl are annoying so i’ll hear it faster if you send it to me directly
Xavier (X) Rigaud Oshiro: and you can send them the professional business email after
------
Xavier (X) Rigaud Oshiro
Friday, 9:19
Xavier (X) Rigaud Oshiro: dude are you awake :(
Alain Viard: Sorry, yes, I am awake. I’m not working today, so I haven’t checked my email yet. I’ll do that now.
Xavier (X) Rigaud Oshiro: k cool sry for bothering you on ur day off
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19 December, 2022
The day Alain gets the email, he was planning on forcing himself to take a day off and relax. Technically, he gets a couple days off each week, but he has a habit of working straight through them—this week, though, he had sworn, would be the one. Not a single ounce of work for an entire Friday.
He checks his email, though, at Champion X’s strange request. Then his heart nearly stops.
He reads it, three times over just to be sure. X is his friend. X knows that he’s not battling anymore, certainly not competitively like that.
Alain finds himself strangely cold and numb at what once would have been the opportunity of a lifetime. He thinks he’s starting to feel sick. He calls X, immediately, and tells him no.
------
vi. good for her
------
20 December, 2022
“Name something positive, just one thing, that you got out of your journey. Doesn’t need to be a big thing.”
But the weird thing is, after spending an hour biting back tears while Alain explained, explained, explained to his therapist why he couldn’t go back when X asked—he realizes he’s out of negatives to say. He’s unpacked the working-himself-to-near-death, the run-ins with gods and monsters of all kinds. The losing—Augustine, Rin, Mairin and nearly Chespie. Lance and Mizumi. Himself, because he was a husk, a ghost, a machine, a weapon. How his oh-so-noble quest was a means to destruction and hate and awful, awful pain, how he can’t go back when all it did was ruin him.
But he’s spent months talking about those things.
Something positive, he realizes, when the tank of awful things is drained empty and dry— something positive is easier than he had once believed.
Alain finds himself, suddenly, with too many things to say.
“Kuro,” he settles on. It could’ve been Mairin, easily, or even Rin—but Kuro. “My best friend. Always has been, but it wouldn’t be the same if we hadn’t gone through all of that together.”
It’s an understatement, he knows. He would trust Kuro with his life. He has, countless times before.
The world keeps turning. The sun rises.
“That’s a lovely answer.”
Alain looks up. Alain smiles.
------
Professor Augustine Sycamore announces discovery of “megafactor” gene key to Pokemon Mega Evolution
Connor Trevino
31 December, 2022
The holiday season has brought us the most significant breakthrough in Mega Evolution research of the past half decade. Professor Augustine Sycamore, and his team of researchers, recently announced what they believe to be the genetic key to Mega Evolution. Dubbed the “megafactor” gene, it's expressed specifically during the process of Mega Evolution, and only in the presence of the energy released by a Keystone and Mega Stone.
“We are proud to confirm the presence of a unique gene, found so far only in Pokemon confirmed capable of Mega Evolution, that we have dubbed the ‘megafactor’ gene,” Sycamore said, in an interview this morning with the Lumiose Times. “While further research is required—and certainly already undergoing—on the precise details of its expression process, we are confident that we have taken a huge leap forward in understanding this incredible phenomenon. We are forever grateful for the support and patience of the public in our endeavors so far.”
In a recent visit to the Sycamore Research Institute, we were greeted by…
You have used 3/3 free articles this month. Please sign in to continue reading.
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31 December, 2022
So maybe battling isn’t all he is, not anymore. He refuses to let his strength define his self worth any longer. But his journey wasn’t a waste of six years, either. And Alain doesn’t know how long it will take, but he will continue looking for what, exactly, he wants for his future.
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rinyukino__ •2h
♡ ⌯⌲
Liked by alain_sviard and others
rinyukino__ lights that never go out
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stars around my scars ⭐ @shaunak____ •2h
HOLY SHIT HARD LAUNCH???
pearl @blueflamezuha •1h
alain defense squad i fear our time has come. rin stans we have your back!!
pearl @blueflamezuha •1h
if anybody wants receipts you can look up diantha charbonnier’s statement about him btw <3 you CANNOT be blaming him for what lysandre did when he was obviously in the dark about it!
pearl @blueflamezuha •1h
ms rin yukino you are absolutely gorgeous and a total badass. and congrats to alain, did not know you had game like that LOL
Champion Xavier Rigaud Oshiro @kaloschampionofficial •2 m
lmao you guys cannot stop reaching
| Josh @tra1ner2002__ •1h
rin yukino should lose any fans she might have after her post with alain viard - a thread
Champion Xavier Rigaud Oshiro @kaloschampionofficial •2 m
like @rinyukino_official are you seeing this shit lol
| Josh @tra1ner2002__ •1h
perhaps rin isn’t convinced that alain is a good person (i sure hope she isn’t! at least then she’s not turning a blind eye to genocide). in that case, then what? she’s using him as a ploy for social media clicks? i mean, whatever gets you sponsorships, i guess. (8/?)
Champion Xavier Rigaud Oshiro @kalosleaguechampionofficial •1 m
Also, this is your casual reminder that Alain Viard deserves both your respect and understanding - he was put in an impossible situation that I would never wish on anybody, and he is also one of my best friends.
Congratulations to Rin and Alain. You guys are the best.
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vii. not ur friend
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“Maybe the pain is God pouring water into my veins, so I can grow stronger
And maybe the lows are given as context,
So we can appreciate the view from the mountain”
( When You Were Mine , Hayd)
------
7 January, 2023
It takes longer than he had expected, really. January puts them nine months past the crisis, and it’s nine months of resting and thinking, of construction and therapy sessions and science fiction novels, of lab work and literature review—nine months of wandering. Drifting.
Alain’s been looking for direction, he swears he has. He finds some sense of direction with his research. He thinks about what he wants for the future and he knows that even if given another year, X’s offer would not be one he accepts. He also knows that when he first set off on his journey, it was in pursuit of answers—answers to Mega Evolution. He’s not all too different, not now and not then, from the curious little boy he was even before his birth family fell apart. Researching Pokemon—it sounds like a childhood dream come true, doesn’t it?
But he can’t pretend he’s the same now, in every way, as he was a decade ago. He knows that his journey changed his life. It was always going to, Lysandre or otherwise. He doesn’t think there’s a universe in which he doesn’t end up with a Keystone on his left wrist.
Sometimes he looks down at his empty wrist, now, and something in his chest hurts a little. He thinks about it, even if he doesn’t have an answer yet.
Without Lysandre, perhaps it would have taken years longer—but Alain feels, deep in his heart, that Mega Evolution was always his destiny. Perhaps he hates what it took from him, but he’s learning that some of the lessons he gained were invaluable, and the guilt of what he did for Lysandre can’t change that. Lysandre doesn’t change the fact that he learned hard work, dedication, love for his teammates like he has never known.
He regrets a lot of things. But Alain does not regret finding himself in the process.
“Battle me,” he tells Rin again. He hasn’t asked since that one time in October.
She looks at him, eyes knowing and calm and patient. She knows him. She has long known him like nobody else quite ever has. Because at night, Alain lays in bed and stares up at the ceiling and just talks, talks, and talks, tells her that he doesn’t know what he’s doing, that he’s afraid, that he has no direction— Rin tells him that that isn’t true. Rin tells him he’ll be okay, regardless of what he chooses. Rin suggests he should try. Rin says he shouldn’t give up on himself.
Alain promises he won’t.
Alain leans towards her. He hovers with his lips just a few centimeters from hers, and adds, lips curving into a smile, “Please?”
And Rin laughs, short and breathy. She ducks away, places a firm hand on his chest, and says, “A, all you had to do was ask.”
Alain grins.
Within two minutes, they’re on the battlefield, Kuro and Diva again. But it doesn’t feel like last time. There’s no dread creeping up Alain’s throat, he looks up at the sky and the clouds are a soft blue-gray, there is dirt and not steel under his feet. The road runs on the other side of the fence, not three hundred meters down.
Lysandre made Alain into the worst version of himself, a weapon forged and molded to fit an agenda he never wanted. He took a strength and enhanced it to the extreme, until it threatened to burn Alain alive.
But just because Lysandre used Alain’s power and manipulated it for himself doesn’t make it inherently wrong. There is nothing inherently wrong with what Alain loves.
It’s been nine months. And Alain is careful, borderline hesitant when he opens with a Flamethrower—but he’s learning. He’s grinning when he feels that rush in his chest, a sort of aliveness he didn’t even realize he was missing. Diva swerves to the side and fires back a Hyper Voice. Rin is laughing. Hyper Voice is Rin’s guilty pleasure move like Blast Burn was always his and that means Rin is having so much fun—Alain realizes he is, too.
The Hyper Voice hits, because Alain is rusty. He realizes, with zero sense of resentment at all, that Rin has got to be stronger than him now.
Even if he knows it isn’t a smart move, Alain yells, smiling to the point where his cheeks hurt, “Kuro, use Blast Burn!”
Because maybe Alain will never be a Champion, not an Elite Four Member or the strongest Mega Evolution trainer in the world. But perhaps he never had to be. Perhaps that was never the point.
This, he thinks, as Focus Blast and Blast Burn meet in the middle, is the point. Always has been. He can’t be the same person he was before the crisis and he never will be, but that doesn’t mean he has to try and forget that once upon a time, he truly did love this. He will learn to love it again.
As Kuro roars and flares his amber wings, flames swirling from head to tail, Alain promises, Together, buddy. Always.
------
“On my way to distant shores”
( not ur friend, Jeremy Zucker)
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viii. full stop
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14 January, 2023
Alain stares at his exam results, knowing that numbers like these mean he could go anywhere. He’s never had more options than he does now and it’s equal parts thrilling and terrifying. The world turns, always, and that world is infinitely vast with possibility.
In the month and a half since they arrived in his email inbox, Alain had tried so hard not to think about the implications, the opportunity, what Augustine would say if he told him— all the requirements, he would say. A letter of recommendation from the Professor you took chemistry with over the summer. You’d be a fantastic applicant. But Alain has spent even longer than that, in the background of all the research and the return to training, thinking about all of those possibilities. Augustine had planted the seed in his head back in May, Augustine knew what he was doing.
Alain knows the deadline is coming up. And Alain thinks about what he wants from his future, and he knows it isn’t the Pokemon League, not anymore—so he walks down the hall and knocks on Augustine’s office door, his laptop tucked under his arm, and then slowly opens the door.
Augustine glances up from his work and smiles. “Alain. Hi. Did you need something?”
Alain steps into the office, closes the door behind him, and puts his laptop down on the desk. “Are you busy right now?”
The Professor shakes his head, and gestures for Alain to go ahead. “Nothing particularly important. What’s up?”
Alain opens his laptop, and takes in a shaky breath. “We never talked about the, uh. Exam results. I know it’s late but I thought maybe we should.” A month and a half late, he starts to scold himself. But he bites his tongue, pulls up the webpage, and turns his laptop around to show the Professor. He tells himself better late than never. “I—” He stops. Shrugs. Holds his breath.
He watches as Augustine’s eyes dart across the screen, left to right. He watches as his smile grows.
“I know you told me to take it just because I could, just to keep me busy and just to have the option, but…” Alain’s voice drifts off. Alain finds that even though he’d practiced this five times over in the mirror, it’s not any easier. His words fail so he just waits, and every second that passes feels like ten.
“Alain,” Augustine says. “Congratulations. It doesn’t get much better than this.”
Alain cracks a smile. “I know.”
And Augustine laughs and pushes Alain’s laptop back towards him. “You studied hard for these. You earned it.”
It’s shockingly easy, then, for Alain to believe him. He did earn it. Entirely on his own, with hours upon hours at his desk with prep books and review videos. The content wasn’t all too hard—chemistry, biology, and calculus that he’d gone over once already during his last year of online school before he had met Lysandre. But it’s still validating to see the work pay off. And it’s nice to have something that’s his. Nobody made him study for these, Augustine suggested it but it was Alain’s idea to learn everything over again from scratch so that he could score his best. It paid off and Alain wonders if it’s a sign about his future.
It scares him, Alain knows. It fucking terrifies him because he thinks that approaching a year out, he’s finally happy with where he is in his life. He has reasons to stay, things and people he loves. He doesn’t even know if he deserves a second chance.
But Alain has never been stagnant, never could be—he’s never been capable of sitting around and sitting still, not when there’s a goal or a dream or a destination. The faster he moves the more he thrives. He’s happy and he’s healing but he knows that now, it’s time for something more.
“I’ve been thinking”—he starts, as if it was just a little thing and not hours upon hours of research and debating and reading every, every detail—“about applying, then. For university.”
Applying, though, because he knows the numbers don’t guarantee they’ll even want him—certainly not with his past and narrowly avoided criminal record. But he thinks it might eat him alive if they turn him down because of everything he’s done. It’s only been a few months, but Alain is increasingly certain that he wants this.
“In Galar, maybe, like you always said I could,” Alain says softly. “And I know I’m a little late, but I want this. I really do.”
And Augustine is grinning, just like Alain knew he would be. Maybe it’s a few years later than they had once expected, but once upon a time, Alain had been sixteen and they were dreaming together about where he could go, what he could accomplish. So Alain looks up at the one person in the world who has ever, truly, treated him like a son, and says, “You know how I am. Just like you, you could say.”
The next thing he knows, Augustine is climbing to his feet and wrapping him into a hug. His eyes are teary and he repeats, over and over, I’m so proud of you.
Alain starts crying then, too, but he knows he’s doing the right thing. It feels like the start of the rest of his life.
------
16 January, 2023
He tells Rin two days later. It’s a two hour train, A, she had reassured him with a smile. We’ll be fine.
It’s easy, he finds, to think about how much he wants this. It’s harder to decide what he deserves. But Rin tells him that of course he deserves a second chance, the chance to do what he wants, a future. Always about the future.
So Alain chooses a set of universities to apply to, and writes as if he has nothing to lose. And on a rare sunny winter day, he finds the sky is wide and blue and limitless.
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from: [email protected]
date: 30 Jan, 2023, 18:31
subject: Alain, thank you for your application
Dear Alain,
UCAS ID: 1815498344
We are delighted to have received your application to study Biochemistry (BSc 3YFT) at Imperial College Wyndon!
Imperial is consistently rated amongst the world’s very best universities. Imperial typically receives a severe excess of undergraduate applications each year and as such, admission is highly competitive. We are fortunate to receive a very large number of applications from excellent candidates and we are delighted that you have chosen to apply to us!
Now that we have received your application, admissions will make an initial assessment of your application and will then send this to your department for their consideration. Should we require further information from you, we will contact you directly via email. Therefore, it is important that you add @ imperial.ac.glr and @ ugadm.imperial.ac.glr to your list of approved email senders and that you check your inbox on a regular basis. If you change your email address, postal address or telephone number, please update this information immediately on UCAS.
All applications submitted by the relevant deadline receive fair and equal consideration. Imperial will release outcomes to all undergraduate applicants by the end of March. You should track your application status using your UCAS Hub account.
Whilst the formal decision on your application will be communicated to you via UCAS, if you are made an offer a decision letter will also be made available to you – this will normally be made available from early April onwards and we will send you details on how to access this.
Kind regards,
Imperial College Wyndon - Admissions Team | Wyndon SW7 2AZ
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[file: Viard,Alain_UCAS_Personal_Statement.pdf]
Uploaded 30 January 2023, 17:04
Simply put, Mega Evolution changed my life. From age eleven, at which point I met Professor Augustine Sycamore and became directly involved with the work of the Sycamore Research Institute, I viewed Mega Evolution as an elusive mystery. Something magical, and quite certainly out of reach. But at fifteen, I began conducting field work—and, suddenly, a chance encounter meant Mega Evolution became a powerful reality.
Mega Evolution became a tool, for me, in my quest for power. For six years, I dedicated myself entirely to the pursuit of strength, and my Mega Charizard met me every step of the way. The process of working towards a seemingly impossible dream—after every battle, I would tell my opponent that my goal was to defeat every Mega Evolution trainer in the world—taught me resilience unlike anything I have ever known.
But when I said Mega Evolution changed my life, I did not specify in which direction, positive or negative. I find I can’t quite decide myself. Mega Evolution was a tool for me, yes, but simultaneously a tool for my employer as a means of control and manipulation. At sixteen, I was flawed, susceptible to praise and any form of parental support. Lysandre knew this as well. He attached my employment, my access to Mega Evolution, and my self worth, grounded in strength, to one another in a way that meant I relied on him entirely. When I spent years of my life traveling the world, collecting the energy released by Mega Evolution, I believed it was in the pursuit of Pokemon veterinary advancement. That’s what he told me.
In the aftermath of the Kalos Crisis, I have returned to my original position at the Sycamore Research Institute. While I no longer utilize the phenomena of Mega Evolution myself, despite all of its power and grandeur, I find that the science behind its workings will always fascinate me. Despite six years as a Pokemon trainer, with a blinding ambition to be the strongest, I never quite lost my curiosity for the world around me, or the true mechanisms behind the power I suddenly found at my fingertips.
Most recently, the Sycamore Research Institute announced the discovery of the “megafactor” gene. This unique gene is found only in species capable of Mega Evolving, with significantly increased expression during the process of Mega Evolution itself. I would like to consider myself a key contributor to this project—and I have no doubt that my life goals lie now in research, for the betterment of both people and Pokemon, in projects such as this one.
Mega Evolution is far from the only incredible, yet little understood, process that involves Pokemon and people. Galar has Dynamax, Alola has Z-Moves, Paldea has Terastallization—I believe the world humans and Pokemon inhabit is infinitely vast, and therefore filled with infinite possibility. For all of the harm caused by my own personal use of Mega Evolution in the past, I cannot deny the role it has played in the person I am today: I know these phenomena can and will continue to shape lives, journeys, and generations. I believe the world will be a better, safer, and more balanced place should we truly understand where this power comes from.
I, as an individual, scientist, and academic, have far to go. While my time as a research assistant has taught me fundamental analysis skills, lab techniques, and encouraged my critical thinking, I am not currently in the position to discover important biological processes, such as those associated with Mega Evolution, on my own. There are hundreds of concepts that I cannot yet hope to understand on the level of their genetic expression, protein synthesis, or other chemical pathway. For this reason, I hope to pursue a focus in biochemistry, with the ultimate goal of connecting people and Pokemon. I hope that your university can be the next step towards my future, and I thank you for your consideration.
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ix. julia
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4 February, 2023
“I think,” Alain says quietly, as he holds her hand while they stand at a street corner, “that you’re one of the best things to ever happen to me.”
Rin, with snowflakes dusting her hair and coat, smiles softly at him. “I think you are, too,” comes her response.
Alain wonders if she’ll ever understand just how much she has done for him. In picking up the pieces after the end of the world, when he thought he had lost all meaning and all direction because he had lost himself, she’d grabbed his hand and told him she loved him. Alain thinks he loved her long before he loved himself. Alain thinks she’s one of the few reasons he didn’t let the guilt and the grief tear him to pieces.
And Alain has long loved too hard, too much. He loves with his whole chest and the fallout, time and time again, threatens to burn him alive. But Rin teaches him how to take in love in return, that he deserves what he gives to others in equal capacity. And he’s still learning, he still has a way to go—but as the snow falls in soft flurries and the city lights pulse a steady, warm gold, Alain finds that with her, it all feels right and possible.
------
“Did we use to fear the dark days?
'Cause now I'm dancing in the moonlight, above the city lights
Where all the shooting stars eventually die
We're burned into the sky a million times”
( julia, Jeremy Zucker)
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10 February, 2023
Alain thinks about how, back in May, he had told Steven he would at least try to forgive himself. He wonders if, by now, he truly has begun to. So when the Champion says he's visiting Kalos for League business, Alain asks if he’d like to meet for coffee at some point. A week later, he finds himself in a cafe not too far from the Lab.
Steven says, “You look like you’re doing well.”
Alain just smiles and replies, “I am.” Then, he adds, “I’m forgiving myself, a little bit at a time. I hope you are as well.”
Steven smiles too, almost sadly. “I’ve had to, for the Lysandre thing. There have been too many other things to worry about in the meantime.”
Alain takes a sip of coffee and nods. “Care to elaborate? Fine if not.”
Carefully, Hoenn’s Champion replies, “I think, now, that what I did for Lysandre is far from the worst of my crimes.” He tilts his coffee cup. The liquid swirls. “I'll spare you the details, but if you look into the Infinity Energy that Devon produces, I think you’ll understand.” He says, with a sigh, “I was complacent at best towards something that was awfully wrong. I’m sure you’re familiar with the feeling.”
Alain winces. “Painfully so.” He stares down at the table and swallows hard, because he has questions he wants to ask and he can feel his heartrate rising in his throat. “And you’re still Champion, too. On top of everything.”
Steven nods. “Being Champion has been the easy part, I’m afraid. The company—that’s not something I’m really involved with, right now. Research, still, is important to me, but it’s hard to find the hours to commit when it’s not truly my job. But the battling I don’t mind, I’ll be Champion as long as I can. I don’t doubt that it’s the right choice for me.”
And Alain wants to say I doubt, I doubt all the damn time. I don’t know what’s right and what’s wrong. It’s a fork in the road and I just don’t fucking know.
And maybe he can’t say it quite like that, but he has to have faith—Steven knows, Steven would know better than most. Better than anybody he knows.
Alain takes a deep breath. “Do you think I’m wasting my potential?” he asks.
Steven stares at him as if he didn’t quite hear him right. “Sorry, what?”
Alain grips his coffee cup and says, “I was a good trainer. But I don’t battle anymore and I wonder if that’s a mistake, if I’m losing the one thing that made me who I am—fuck, I beat X every time we fought, I could be Champion right now if I just got up and tried. It feels like I owe it to myself after everything I went through for the sake of this. You know how it is, strength at any cost. But I had it, I fought for it, and now I’ve just let it go.”
Steven hesitates. Then, he says like it’s the most natural conclusion in the world, “If you go back, it has to be because you want it. Not out of obligation. Don’t waste any more of your life on something you don’t love.”
Did Alain love it? He has spent months picking it apart, really, how much of battling was for Lysandre and how much of it was for him. But he thinks he can tell, now, when he trains with Rin—he could never stop battling entirely. It’s a part of him, it’s in his blood and Lysandre was just the catalyst. “I know a lot of it was for Lysandre,” he admits, “but there were parts of it I did love. I don’t think I would have made it so far otherwise.”
“If you wanted to do it, then,” Steven starts, “it should not be because you’re afraid of wasting your potential. You can’t think about it like that.” He takes a deep breath and then says, “Alain, do you want to be Champion?”
And Alain thinks of X, of Steven himself . Is that what he wants, the nonstop training and never quite being enough? Never being truly undefeatable no matter how hard you try?
He loves battling, he’s stopped trying to deny that. But that isn’t the future he wants for himself anymore.
“Honestly, I don’t think I do.” He smiles. “No offense to you.”
Steven shrugs. “None taken. The choice is yours, and we’re different people.”
Alain has long thought of Steven as just like him, and that’s why he sits in with him in a cafe and asks for his advice. It’s the pursuit of strength at any cost, a dream to protect and the guilt of being complacent in the same crime.
But maybe they’re not the same after all.
Steven chose between his research and Pokemon, Alain has to as well. Nobody ever said they had to pick the same side.
Alain hesitates, then says, “I’m trying to go to university in Galar, next autumn. Biochemistry and genetics. I’m going to figure out how Mega Evolution works.”
And perhaps Steven’s guilt is associated with the science, with his family’s company and whatever it is that they’ve done. But Alain’s guilt lies with what Lysandre wanted from him, the pursuit of power and the people he pushed aside as a result. Perhaps it’s only natural that when given the same choice, they fall to two different sides of the coin.
Steven grins and replies, “There you go. You’ll be just fine.”
Alain finds he believes him. “Thank you.” For not the first time, he finds himself incredibly grateful that he and the Champion ever met.
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from: [email protected]
date: 27 Feb, 2023, 17:02
subject: Alain, a decision has been made for your application
Dear Alain,
UCAS ID: 1815498344
Thank you for your application to study Biochemistry (BSc 3YFT) at Imperial College Wyndon.
A decision has now been made on your application which you can view on your UCAS Hub.
If you have any questions regarding your decision please contact the relevant admissions team, details of which can be found on our admissions pages .
Kind regards,
Imperial College Wyndon - Admissions Team | Wyndon SW7 2AZ
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Rin Yukino
Monday, 17:03
Alain: Rin
Alain: Imperial sent me a decision
Alain: I can’t do this
Missed call from Alain
Missed call from Alain
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27 February, 2023
The moment Imperial’s decision arrives in his inbox, Alain’s hands are shaking. He wants this. He wants this so bad. And he has safety schools, backup options—but he wants this one. It’s focused on science and technology, in the heart of Wyndon, and is one of the best in the world that promises something ambitious and challenging and new. If Alain doesn’t get in, it isn’t the end of the world. The planet will continue to turn and he has faith he could be happy somewhere else, too. But Arceus, is it really so wrong to want sometimes?
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from: [email protected]
date: 27 Feb, 17:04
subject: APP000149138 Offer Letter
Dear Alain,
Please find attached a copy of your offer letter.
Kind regards,
Imperial College Wyndon - Admissions Team | Wyndon SW7 2AZ
[attachment: APP000149138OfferLetter.pdf]
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[file: APP000149138OfferLetter.pdf]
Admissions
Imperial College Wyndon
Level 4 Sherfield Building
South Kensington
Wyndon SW7 2AZ
Email: [email protected]
www.imperial.ac.glr/
27/02/2023
Dear Alain Viard,
Congratulations! We are thrilled to report that you have been accepted to Imperial College Wyndon! Imperial is a global top ten university with a world-class reputation in science, engineering, business and medicine, and we think you have a unique contribution to make to our community. You’ve done exceptionally well to receive an offer and we’re thrilled at the prospect of welcoming you to join our diverse community of undergraduates who can inspire and challenge each other – as well as us.
If you would like to accept your offer, you must do this by logging into UCAS Hub. The deadline for replying to your offer will be set by UCAS and you can check UCAS Hub to find out what it is – your deadline will be available after your last decision is received from all the universities you have applied to.
Congratulations again and I hope we will be welcoming you to the College soon.
Signed on behalf of Imperial College Wyndon,
Mr Anthony M Wong
Head of Admissions
Imperial College Wyndon
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Rin Yukino
Monday, 17:06
Alain: Holy shit I’m actually shaking
Alain: I got in
Missed call from Alain
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February 27, 2023
It all feels worth it when Alain gets in. The studying for the exams, the eight drafts over two weeks for a single application essay—but everything he’s learned, too, from his time in the lab and out on his journey. The world, he muses, really did keep on turning. It all gets better.
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Rin Yukino to join Kalos League Elite Four for upcoming season
Connor Trevino
16 March, 2023
Over the past four months, Rin Yukino has become a household name within the competitive Pokemon scene. Her December League Challenge was met with critical acclaim, due to her expert piloting of her five-Pokemon team led by a brilliant black Mega Gardevoir. While the most dedicated of fans may have followed her throughout her entire Gym Challenge, her close battle with Champion Xavier Rigaud Oshiro certainly caught the attention of even the general public.
Since then, despite her lack of any competitive battling appearances, Yukino’s popularity has steadily grown—her social media following is substantial. In addition, at the turn of the New Year, she announced her relationship with Alain Viard, another accomplished Pokemon trainer in his own right. While controversial due to Viard’s history with Lysandre Laboratories, Yukino has certainly put her name firmly on the map.
For months, the Kalos Pokemon League has not had a consistent fourth Elite Four member. Ever since Malva’s arrest on charges related to domestic terrorism due to her direct work with Lysandre in his attack on Lumiose City, no single trainer has managed to hold the job for more than a few months at a time.
With Rin Yukino, the League clearly hopes to change that. While not yet…
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16 March, 2023
He’s sitting in his office with Rin, trying to convince her to pick up an Arctozolt for her Elite Four ice-type team. Their future, he finds, is right there—they’re practically in it.
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“But you were just a kid when they told you
You'd been born to bleed, little soldier, with your garden heart and sentimental boulder
Oh, it pulled you down
Look at you, you made it out”
( Isimo, Bleachers)
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15 April, 2023
The ice caverns near Dendemille Town, even as the weather turns to spring, are frigid and unforgiving. Alain has to admit that they’re far from his favorite place he’s travelled to for field work. But Mairin is grinning and says it’s just been so long since they went on an adventure together, so Alain hardly has it in him to complain. They’re camping in what feels like a frozen wasteland for a week straight, but he finds himself having fun.
And Mairin is growing up, he notices. He’s not blind. Bebe has long been a Floette, now, and the most recent additions to the team are an Emolga and Mawile. Mairin grows stronger and more confident every day. When she sets up their tent all by herself, it’s perfect as if she’s been doing it for ages. It’s almost bittersweet.
But she’s not the only one who’s changed over the past year—on the sixth day, Alain finds what Sycamore sent them looking for. He chips a small stone off of the pedestal of Charizardite X in the cave’s center. He stares at the stone of spiraling black and cerulean blue, and it’s glowing, pulsing, alive. It feels an awful lot like moving on, like forgiveness. Like the promise of a planet that spins on its axis, endlessly, as the sun sets and rises and the seasons continue to change.
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x. hell or flying
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13 June, 2023
They always come back to the battling, in the end. How could they not? Alain regrets a lot of things from his journey, but what he gained with Kuro and his team was never one of them. And he knows he fought battles that were never his to win—Rayquaza, the Primals, Zygarde—but there were those that he’s infinitely grateful for, all the same. Siebold, Rin, and X, to name a few examples. He didn’t approach any of them with the right mindset but he’d do them over again, if given the chance. He thinks he could. He thinks maybe he will.
It’s only natural that Rin is the first. He stands across from her on the Lab’s battlefield and for the briefest moment, it looks an awful lot like a day in Snowbelle City eighteen months ago. Opposite ends of a court, with matching iridescent stones and black Mega Rings. A burst of power and an explosion of black and blue.
Only now the stones are his, theirs, earned in the right way. Alain isn’t afraid anymore. Alain wants this back.
The world is turning. The world is turning, summer is coming, and the sun is warm on his skin. And Kuro roars and spreads his inky black wings, and Alain can feel as their hearts beat in perfect sync. There’s no rush like Mega Evolution, there never has been.
“You’re sure about this?” Rin asks, just for good measure.
It’s his first Mega Evolution in a year. Alain had forgotten just how much he loves this.
He says, with full confidence and a wild grin on his face, “I have never been more sure.”
Because nothing else makes him feel so powerful, so infinite.
“Diva, use Hyper Voice!” Rin commands with a grin.
It’s brilliant pink, Rin doesn’t hold back and Alain would never want her to—“Use Blast Burn!” he yells. The earth quakes.
And as it erupts blue and gold, Alain can’t help but think that it feels like coming home.
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xi. always, i’ll care
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alain_sviard •5h
♡💬 ⌯⌲
Liked by rinyukino__ and others
alain_sviard A new start.
mairin._.a galar so pretty!!
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20 September, 2023
Alain’s train arrives the moment the departures board says it will. From Wyndon’s Central Station, he just has to ride ten minutes on the line towards the university neighborhood. He glances at Rin, who has a two hour train to Stow-on-Side to get herself an Arctozolt.
He’d cried at least a little bit, that morning, when Mairin and Augustine had left to go back to Kalos. But he puts on a brave face now because he wants this, this isn’t scary, he knows he can do this—as he grabs Rin’s hand. The train’s doors screech open. Passengers flood out, brushing past them on both the left and right sides.
He looks at Rin and promises, “I’ll visit.” They’ve talked about it already, of course he will.
“I know,” Rin says with a smile. “I will too.” Of course she will, they agreed there’s still more sightseeing to do.
“I love you,” Alain vows.
“I know. I love you too,” Rin returns. And Rin isn’t an emotional person, not in the slightest, so there are no tears in her eyes, but only quiet determination. Confidence that they’re doing the right thing. But her voice wavers anyways, ever so slightly, as she says, “Call me anytime, A.”
Alain nods. He’ll call her all the time. Then he says, firmly, for both his sake and hers, “I’m going to be just fine.”
Rin squeezes his hand. Then she replies, just as sure, “Of course you will. This is your future.”
Alain smiles. It’s always been about the future, with her. He leans down to kiss her, quickly and softly. He turns and walks to the train, ignoring the tightness in his chest and the tears welling in the very back of his eyes.
He stands just in the doorway, and turns to face her. He clutches his bag on one shoulder, six Pokeballs on his waist, and runs a hand back through his hair. Then he raises it to wave one last time. As the doors start to close, he says, “For what it’s worth, Rin—I think you’re my future too.” He finds that he means it entirely.
He sees Rin smile. Then the doors shut, and the train pulls away from the station. Alain sways as the ground beneath him rocks side to side, like a boat on an ocean—but he’s never been so sure of his destination.
------
alain_sviard •3h
♡💬 ⌯⌲
Liked by rinyukino__ and others
alain_sviard It rains so much here.
mairin._.a miss u :(
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xii. brooks
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4 October, 2023
Besides Imperial’s top-level program, Alain had a couple of alternative motives for choosing to go to Galar. First, perhaps he’s begun to forgive himself but he won’t blame half of Kalos if they chose not to—going somewhere else, even for a bit, was the best way to truly start over. Galar is close enough to home that he can visit, but different enough that it feels new. Second, he’d once dreamed of training in Galar. He’d always assumed he would. Because Galar’s League is the strongest in the world, and he might be good at home and good in Hoenn but, especially without Mega Evolution, would he even dare to stack up here? He had long thought Galar’s League would be his ultimate test.
Alain knows he isn’t the same trainer he was before, and he’s okay with that. But being in Galar does, still, feel a little bit like a longtime dream come true. He trains on one of the campus battlefields on only his second night there, and he finds that strange grass surface aside, it feels just right.
So it’s a no-brainer, then, that he shows up to the info session for the university’s competitive battling team. A team isn’t something they have at most Kalosian universities, either, but schools in Galar have all kinds of sports leagues and the battling one is easily one of the most prestigious. Everybody is at university for the academics, sure, but it’s Galar. He has no doubts he’ll find relatively strong trainers this way, too.
He has to try out for the team, but he isn’t worried. If it’s meant to be, it’ll be. And maybe Alain’s not a Galar Champion, but he has to stack up at least okay, doesn’t he? He’s sitting in the meeting room, hands folded on the table in front of him as they breeze through the info slides, and his Keystone is glistening under the bright white lights. Perhaps he hasn’t fought anyone except Rin and Mairin since the crisis, but he finds he’s more than willing to try again.
When they’re instructed to go around the table and introduce themselves, Alain waits his turn patiently. He bites his lip and contemplates what to say, as people read off their programs and years and how many Gym Badges they got in what region, if any. He’s far from the only one not from Galar in the room.
It gets to his turn. He settles for the simple answer as he lifts his gaze up from the table. “My name is Alain, and I’m a biochem first year. I completed my Gym Challenge in Kalos. Eight badges.”
One of the team leaders says, “You look familiar, Alain.”
For a moment, Alain stiffens. He feels his jaw go slack when he tries to speak, and nothing comes out. All he’d wanted was to start over.
“You’re the one who speedran the whole Gym Challenge with just a Charizard, aren’t you? Definitely held the record for at least a bit there.”
And then Alain exhales, as he feels all of the tension in his body just evaporate. He doesn’t mind being known for that. “Pretty sure I still do,” he says as he cracks a smile.
The other trainer laughs, and Alain tells himself, See? It’s all okay.
“Did you bring the Charizard with you?” the team member asks.
Alain leans back in his chair with a grin as he answers, “Kuro? Of course. Always.”
“Oh, perfect. Great.” The team member waves a hand. “Congratulations, you’re on the team!”
And Alain laughs. It’s real and light and he thinks yeah, this is exactly where I’m meant to be. Everything feels just right.
------
------
24 November, 2023
Alain’s first term blurs by, a mix of organic chemistry and biology courses and team practices. They have their first few meets, and the battles leave him breathless and grinning. He doesn’t lose, doesn’t slip and doesn’t falter—and with his team cheering for him on the sidelines, it feels like something new entirely. Gone are the days when he battled for himself only, gone are the days of isolation, of turning quite literally everyone away in the name of progress and strength and the ability to protect. They drag him out for drinks the night after they win their zone’s autumn term championship, clap him on the back and say they’re so glad to have him along, but that he has to leave some of the glory for the rest of them. Alain laughs, and Alain promises he’ll lose a couple times next term just to humor them. The thought of losing, the idea of not being enough—it doesn’t sicken him like it used to. It feels like a natural part of growing.
Alain can lose, he knows, but the world will keep turning. The burden to protect is no longer his burden alone.
When winter break comes around, Augustine and Mairin and Rin take the train to pick him up. They spend a couple days doing more Galar sightseeing, complete with a trip to Wyndon’s Stadium to watch an exhibition match. Alain watches Leon’s Charizard let loose a G-Max Wildfire with his eyes wide. He believes in Mega Evolution’s power, but can’t help but wonder how he and Kuro would stack up against something like that. Mairin nudges him in the arm and says, “You should battle Leon.”
Alain laughs it off. “In your wildest dreams, Mairin,” he says. He thinks he wants to finish his degree before he even considers doing Galar’s Gym Challenge, when Leon sits at the peak.
Alain spends three weeks back in Kalos, after that. He helps Mairin train—she’s on her own Gym Challenge now, and her team is nearly filled out between Chespie, Bebe, Mawile, Emolga, and the newest addition of an Espeon. He glances at Kira, the Mawile, with a knowing look in his eyes of what’s to come.
In the meantime, he runs a full five-on-five against Rin—the best he can do, considering his Deino doesn’t battle much. She uses her Elite Four team. It’s structured brilliantly, it capitalizes on the strengths of Snow but is far from purely weather reliant. It does a remarkable job of covering Ice’s many weaknesses. It’s the best battle they’ve had in years, the closest to a full six-on-six they’re ever gotten. In the end, her Arctozolt goes down to Kuro’s Flamethrower and Rin looks at him carefully, but then she’s grinning. “You’re doing better,” she says knowingly.
I am. “That obvious?”
“You never stopped being strong, A—but it’s good to have you back.”
It’s good to be back, he finds himself thinking. He would never admit just how much of himself was out there, lost and wandering, during the months he wasn’t battling. He’s worked hard to define himself outside of being a trainer, but he’ll always be a trainer. His team at university has taught him that.
It’s been a year and a half, at least. He thinks of a boy, sobbing out the window of his father’s Jeep on the ride home, bile in his throat and blood on his knuckles and the betrayal a blade through his heart. He thinks of months and months of picking up the pieces, growing up, forcing himself to get up every morning for a chance to try again. Waiting as the world continued to turn, praying one day it would grab him tight and drag him along with it—if he could just turn, too, perhaps he could move on. Perhaps things would change.
The world, Alain finds, has turned and turned and turned. Things did change.
Never, in a million years, would the Alain Viard from the night of the Kalos Crisis have expected to one day be here. Alain knows he fought for it, tooth and nail—they all told him to fight for his future. He finds he did.
------
xiii. oh, mexico
------
7 April, 2024
On the two year anniversary of the Kalos Crisis and of Lancelot’s death, Alain goes to lecture like it’s any other day. His notes are far from his best, sure, but he’s here—he’s showing up. He’s doing all right. When the evening rolls around, he walks to the training field with the rest of his team and takes a seat in the bleachers. His team captain, the same one who let him on the team all the months ago, asks him if everything’s all right. Alain just smiles, gives a wave, and says he isn’t feeling super well so he’ll just watch for today.
He knows he isn’t perfect, not everything is fixed. He sits with his Deino and thinks about how he wants to call Rin later, because she’ll know what to say. But he shows up, time and time again. He’s there. And if he needs a day off to honor his losses, he knows it’s the least he—and Lance—deserve. So he sits and watches his team train under the golden sunset light, and finds that really, truly, everything did turn out okay. He turned out okay. And that doesn’t erase what happened or what he lost, but it means he keeps moving forward. Always.
“You up for just one match, Alain?” As practice is wrapping up, their captain makes his way over the bleachers and holds out a hand. “The… Tyranitar, let’s say, against my Inteleon. Nothing too serious.”
And Alain sighs, but then his face loosens into a smile. He grabs his hand. “Sure. Let’s do it.” Why not, he realizes—because he has nothing to lose.
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Imperial Pokemon Team @ICW_Pokemon •4h
Congratulations to all on our team’s best season ever! We finished things out strong with an overall fourth place at the Galar University and College Sports Final. Special shoutout to Alain Viard ( @alain_sv_icw ) on his first Galar Regional title in the Championship division! The whole team will be back even stronger next year, bet 💪🎖️
So ready for the offseason with @BattleTower_Wyndon 😎
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alain_sviard and icw_pokemon •3h
♡💬 ⌯⌲
Liked by mairin._.a and others
alain_sviard Thank you for the best first season @icw_pokemon . Very proud to have won my first Galar Regional title alongside Kuro, Gojira, and Hero. We are looking forward to some off-season training with the Battle Tower, and for future tournaments to come!
rinyukino__ congratulations alain <3
icw_pokemon @rinyukino__ omg kalos elite four rin yukino in our comments??
mairin._.a @rinyukino__ @icw_pokemon that’s alain’s girlfriend LMAOOOO
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20 June, 2023
In the month between the end of the competitive battling season and the end of the school year, Alain finds himself dragged—on more than one occasion—to Wyndon’s newly established Battle Tower. Off-season practice, his teammates agree. A break from studying for term finals.
It’s a valid excuse, he has to say. He finds himself holed up in the library for ten hours straight, alongside a couple of other biochem students on the team, on more than one occasion. He has to study for nearly a month for his finals, and the Battle Tower is a nice change of pace.
There, Alain finds himself climbing steadily up the ranks. It’s different, really, from what he was used to in the Kalos Gym Challenge. Just like with the university team, there are rules—item and species clauses, only three Pokemon to each match. No Mega Evolution, only Dynamax. It’s a new kind of challenge, but a format he’s certainly come to grasp over the past nine months or else he wouldn’t have won the Galar University Regional Championship. That’s a title that feels a little bit different from the ones he was once chasing, or from the record he holds for the Kalos Gym Challenge—no less meaningful, he finds, not for him. It’s an accomplishment nowhere near as recognized on the broader competitive scene, but Alain is proud that he’s found himself again. He’s equal parts an academic and a trainer. That’ll never stop being true.
And to balance it all out, he’s laser focused going into final exams. He studies harder than he ever has in his life. Kuro gets restless when they take a full week off from training but it is what it is, they both understand how important this is. Then the week passes, and exams go well enough. Alain finds himself excited to dive head-first into Lab work again, once he’s back at Sycamore’s. The Mega Evolution projects have progressed by leaps and bounds, and Alain is looking forward to catching up. All of a sudden, he’s packing his things into boxes as his first year of university comes to an end.
Just a few days before he’s set to take a train back home, Alain ends up at the Battle Tower again. He turns to Kuro and says, “Let’s see what we can do if we don’t hold back.”
His Charizard roars, and Alain grins. Together, with the rest of his Pokemon team, they spend two days flying up the tiers. He’d nearly forgotten what it felt like, once upon a time, to feel so unstoppable.
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“Life's uncertain and sometimes it's strange, but one thing I've learned is it won't stay the same
Even in the darkness, I'll be okay
The sun will come up, the seasons will change”
( The Sun Will Come Up, The Seasons Will Change, Nina Nesbitt)
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30 June, 2023
“I have a proposition for you,” Alain says.
From the other side of sliding glass doors emerges former Champion Leon, Galar’s longtime strongest. The Battle Tower’s king. And with a twinkle in his eyes, he replies, “Yes?”
Alain has never met Leon. At the same time, Alain can’t help but think that he knows Leon. In what universe, if any, does Leon turn down the opportunity for a better battle?
So Alain brandishes Akuto’s Pokeball and says, “Six on six. But I can’t Dynamax, so you let me use Mega Evolution.”
Leon stares at him. Then, he says, “I’m pretty sure you only have five registered Pokemon.”
“Five on six, then,” Alain corrects with a nod. Leon knows his team. He adds, boldly, “In your favor.”
“Are you insane?” Leon laughs. But he’s already pulling a Pokeball off of his trainer’s belt.
And Alain just shrugs, his Keystone catches under the white lights of the Tower’s highest floor— “Maybe a bit,” he says. “But I’ve been here nearly a year, and I’ve been waiting for an opportunity like this—I grew up thinking Galar’s League was the strongest in the world. Now, I have to find out.”
Leon says, plainly and with what Alain knows is zero disrespect—“I thought you were just a university student. I’ve seen you with Imperial’s team.”
Alain grins. “University student, research assistant back at home, sure—and the fastest to ever complete the Kalos Gym Challenge, former rival to Kalos’ current Champion. I’m a lot of things, Leon.” Proud of all of them. “So are you in”—he tosses Akuto’s Pokeball up—“or no?”
And Leon laughs, says, “You really are insane, that’s what you are. But I love it.” Then he nods. “I’m so in.”
And Alain wonders, standing across the battlefield from a supposedly unbeatable Champion, if in a different universe, he’s Leon’s equal. But he thinks of X, of Rin, of Steven—and he finds he never truly wanted to be. He’s quite all right, just right here. Challenger suits him and his endless, uphill climb.
He leads with Akuto. When Leon sends out Dragapult, he immediately commands his Weavile to use Beat Up. It hits like a fucking truck and when Leon’s taken aback, Alain finds himself grinning before he has Akuto use it again.
It’s the best battle he’s had in years. He loves Rin, loves her with his whole heart but they’ve never had a full out battle like this—Leon’s skill, the finality of a match at the literal top of the Battle Tower, and the numerical Pokemon disadvantage make it one of the toughest battles he’s ever fought on good terms. There’s zero doubt that Leon is the strongest and most talented Trainer he’s ever fought, stronger than X or even Steven Stone, too.
Alain remembers losing to Siebold. Alain commands Hero to use Meteor Mash and knocks out Leon’s Rillaboom, and Alain realizes just how far he’s come.
Battling Leon is everything he had once wished for. He’s on the back foot and then on the offensive, they trade knockouts back and forth as they fight for stronger footing. He has Leon down to his last Pokemon, and Alain had tried to save Gojira for the Charizard but Hurricane hits hard —
Behind Leon, the Galar skyline is vast and infinite. They’re hundreds of meters up.
Gojira goes down, and Alain grips Kuro’s Pokeball tight. Alain looks out on the view and remembers the last time he was somewhere just like this. The most challenging battle of his life, the highest he’s ever been, with silver steel under his feet and his heart racing in his chest. A night he will never forget no matter how hard he tries.
But everything has changed.
Somewhere along the line, Alain stopped trying to forget at all. Because who is he if not an amalgamation, a product of everything he’s gone through before? He isn’t him without the scars.
Leon’s Charizard roars. Its flame coats the sky brilliant, crimson red.
And Alain feels his breath shake, Alain feels his hands quiver. The world spins, violent and twisting like an April storm. If he closes his eyes the clouds are blood-red, the wind is whipping in his ear from where he stands above a city he had long called home, and the pain of the betrayal and grief and heartbreak is burning him from the inside out. He’s combusting, a brilliant but gut-wrenching supernova, an Icarus who was too fucking close to the sun— burning alive like it was his very destiny from page one.
But Alain opens his eyes. And on the top of a spiraling tower in Galar, the wind is deathly still. Waiting. It asks him— dares him— what do you do now, Alain Viard? What will you do as the world is turning underneath your feet?
And Alain grips Kuro’s Pokeball tighter. Turn the world does. Always will. Then he says, swears, promises— I suppose I’ll simply turn with it.
And Alain releases Kuro. In return, Leon’s Charizard grows to incredible size, a skyscraper of a beast. It’s all inferno and shadow and infinite power, a pair of flaming phoenix wings that rise and rise and rise.
Alain raises his left wrist. “Keystone, respond to my heart—”
He looks out over the Wyndon skyline. Lumiose may be home, but he wonders if he can one day dare to call this city, for all that it means for his future, the same.
“Beyond evolution!”
And outside of the fragile glass windows are an unfathomable distance, an infinite length to fall. Nowhere to go but down.
“Mega Evolve!” But what is the pinnacle of strength, of power, of teamwork, of love —if not this?
The light explodes into that brilliant, electric blue that Alain has always loved. He feels the heat in his blood, the beating of his heart—and Kuro’s. Together, twin soldiers. Twin monsters.
And if it’s monsters that they are, it’s beautiful monsters they will be.
With inky black wings, cerulean flames, and a draconic roar, Mega Charizard takes to the skies.
“Kuro, use Blast Burn!”
Kuro slams a claw into the ground. It erupts, golden.
Alain knows that he’s, suddenly yet intentionally, exactly where he’s meant to be. And the future stretches up and onwards as far as his love and the stars—or in other words, all the way towards infinity.
------
“Anywhere could feel like home”
( oh, mexico, Jeremy Zucker)