Obstinea Mountains Apiary Terraces

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

"I'm sorry it came to that for you," said Steven, eyes downcast. "I can't begin to imagine what that's like."

"But..." Steven paused. A strange surge of tension washed over him.

Hammering rain. Lightning rips through the sky. An unearthly cry rattles the heavens. The weight of cold stone and a heavy heart. A desperate plea in an ancient tongue.

Steven's stare seemed to be aimed at something that wasn't Lyle; something distant. But beyond the apiary's grounds was nothing more than the misty air of the mountain valley. Suddenly, he blinked himself back to the present and found Lyle with his gaze like his lapse had never happened. "No matter how insignificant we feel, in the face of adversity, we have to try."

His claws balled into fists as he regarded the Cyndaquil. "I don't mean to be harsh, but it's not reality's fault to give up without trying."

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Steven's stare seemed to be aimed at something that wasn't Lyle; something distant. But beyond the apiary's grounds was nothing more than the misty air of the mountain valley. Suddenly, he blinked himself back to the present and found Lyle with his gaze like his lapse had never happened. "No matter how insignificant we feel, in the face of adversity, we have to try."

His claws balled into fists as he regarded the Cyndaquil. "I don't mean to be harsh, but it's not reality's fault to give up without trying."

Lyle paused briefly, before giving his head a puzzled tilt.

"Do you have personal experience with this or something?" he asked. "In my life, I've had to size up odds in order to survive, and I'm just not sure how to reconcile this idea of trying something where you know the odds are that you'll fail to do anything."

He looked down at his paper and gave a mirthful chuckle.

"Gods, no wonder I had such a hard time coming up with an ideal for my truth. I can't say that sizing up odds mixes well with idealistic types in general."

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Steven watched Lyle with curiosity. Did wanting to defy the odds make one an idealist? If he'd listened to odds he'd probably be in a Devon boardroom right now. Steven hummed thoughtfully; he never really considered himself an idealist, and yet...

"Sometimes... sometimes the odds don't matter. You have to try. Because the alternative is watching everything you know and love disappear."

He wasn't sure how, exactly, but Kyogre had been stopped. Surely it had to do with the ancient tablet, but his memory was so fuzzy... Doubtless, what mattered was that despite all odds, he and the Elites hadn't given up when Hoenn needed them most.

Steven closed his eyes and gave a solemn nod. When he opened them again, his stare was deadly serious.

"Tell me, Lyle. Have you ever met a Legendary pokemon?"

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

Steven closed his eyes and gave a solemn nod. When he opened them again, his stare was deadly serious.

"Tell me, Lyle. Have you ever met a Legendary pokemon?"

"... I might have. I'm not fully sure, but if I did it wasn't in a way that most others would understand a Legendary Pokémon. Why? Where are you going with this?"

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

"You asked if I had experience with this sort of thing," Steven said matter-of-factly. "I do. And in my experience, if you'd come face to face with a Legendary pokemon, you would remember it."

A heavy, metallic sigh emanated from the Metang. "In my world, a Legendary almost wiped our entire region off the map. Kyogre, god of the seas. It rained destruction down upon the region, the likes of which we would not have survived had it not been stopped. To Kyogre, we were nothing. If I had listened to the odds, and not even tried to end its rampage, everything would have been swallowed by the waves."

At this point, he voice was barely a whisper. "I still don't know how we survived, but we did. All we knew was that we couldn't give up."

The breeze filled the small silence, before Steven turned a gentle smile towards Lyle. "Maybe you're not facing down a god, or saving an entire realm from an unknown peril," he tipped an open claw towards the mountain scape beyond, indicating he'd meant their presence here in Forlas, "but surely you can appreciate defying the odds in surviving despite all of the challenges you've faced in your life."

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

"You asked if I had experience with this sort of thing," Steven said matter-of-factly. "I do. And in my experience, if you'd come face to face with a Legendary pokemon, you would remember it."

A heavy, metallic sigh emanated from the Metang. "In my world, a Legendary almost wiped our entire region off the map. Kyogre, god of the seas. It rained destruction down upon the region, the likes of which we would not have survived had it not been stopped. To Kyogre, we were nothing. If I had listened to the odds, and not even tried to end its rampage, everything would have been swallowed by the waves."

At this point, he voice was barely a whisper. "I still don't know how we survived, but we did. All we knew was that we couldn't give up."

The breeze filled the small silence, before Steven turned a gentle smile towards Lyle. "Maybe you're not facing down a god, or saving an entire realm from an unknown peril," he tipped an open claw towards the mountain scape beyond, indicating he'd meant their presence here in Forlas, "but surely you can appreciate defying the odds in surviving despite all of the challenges you've faced in your life."

Lyle stared back at Steven blankly for a moment. He just couldn't understand the 'mon. Why, the situation he'd described sounded downright hopeless. How on earth was he able to motivate himself to keep going even when everything seemed lost?

He caught himself and realized that he might already know the answer: because he'd held out onto hope. That no matter how bad things looked, that something would work out and tomorrow could be better.

... Wasn't that what had motivated him to take that job to go to the Divine Roost back home anyways? Because as remote as the chances for succeeding were, that it was still a better hope than just waiting for the inevitable? Wasn't that the reason why they were working with Betel after being brought here to Forlas in the first place?

Lyle still didn't know how any of this would work out, whether here or back home. But he thought that he could understand where Steven was coming from.

"... Heh, when you put it that way, you make it sound like you can accomplish just about anything just by refusing to give up."

He turned aside and pawed at his shoulder briefly before speaking up.

"I... don't know if I believe that or not," he said. "But I suppose I can't say that being stubborn hasn't worked out for me a couple times in the past, so maybe you're onto something there."

He put his belongings aside, and then turned back to the Metang.

"Though you mentioned wanting to practice Radiance, right?" he said. "I... can't promise that it'll amount to anything, but why don't we try and give things a shot. It can't possibly be any harder than staring down a god, huh?"

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

"I guess it does sound a little ridiculous," Steven admitted with a sheepish look, "saying you can get through anything with sheer determination. There's certainly more to problem solving than that, but on the other hand, a little bit of determination does seem to go a long way."

Steven gave a thoughtful hum before he offered Lyle a warm smile. "Maybe determination is one of those things that's both a truth and an ideal."

He certainly hadn't expected to change Lyle's whole outlook on life with one conversation, and the Cyndaquil's hesitance was still present, but he couldn't help feel that their chance meeting had done some good.

"Though you mentioned wanting to practice Radiance, right?" he said. "I... can't promise that it'll amount to anything, but why don't we try and give things a shot. It can't possibly be any harder than staring down a god, huh?"

At this, Steven let out a genuine laugh. "No, I can't imagine it would be. Sure, let's do it. No promises here either, but in the end at least we can say we tried, right?"

 

[Spiteful Murkrow]

"Yeah, let's do it," Lyle said. "From what Shira and the other monks told me, using Radiance requires clearing your head to start with..."

Lyle focused as faint flickers of that warmth from Radiance came over his body.

He didn't know how it'd work out, but Steven had given him a newfound resolution to try and work things out.

And... maybe he'd have something to finish that truth and ideal from the caverns sometime later, too.

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