Ranger HQ Ranger Union HQ

[Jackie Cat]

Sinopa blinked back into the room, and briefly washed her ears with the back of a paw.

"Leona will be along shortly," she said, brightly, as the pueblos outside shifted position with a grinding sound.

She glanced at Koa. "Saintly Relics are not well-understood... but I should think they're best not treated as a device or resource. They are... sacred. Numinous. The remains of past divinities, entrusted to whomsover can retrieve them from the dungeons that protect them."

She eyed Sybil, her expression mischievous.

"Not that I'm one to complain about earnest study. It is truly fascinating work! And perhaps the Saint whose rift required careful research to access meant their relic to fall into the care of a scholar – rather than, say, a warrior."

At this, the midday Shadow Lycanroc loped into the room, her head down, her tail low.

"I'm here," she said, quietly.

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Steven nodded at Sybil's words before his eyes furrowed in thought. The Relic was invaluable, and Cipher was still out there searching for it. It needed to stay somewhere guarded and safe. Then how could they bring its power to those who needed it most?

He almost spoke up to offer his assistance to Sybil in her research should she want it; he was eager to learn more and to help those in need. But the reminder of what happened when he touched the Relic was enough to override that desire.

Instead he watched silently as Leona padded into the workshop, a small spike of guilt rising in his chest upon seeing her demeanor. Were they really going to ask her to endure what could be another tortuous process after all she'd been through?

"Hello, Leona," he said gently. "I'm not sure how much Sinopa has told you, but there's something here that might be of interest to you."

He swept his gaze from Leona to the workbench where the Relic sat. Perhaps she already knew what the Relic was, what it could do. If she did, then he'd rather she be the one to make the call. Otherwise, he'd let the others do the explaining.

 

[Tetra]

Indecision ate at Koa as he considered what Sinopa said. She was right, the Relic was more than a resource to be used. But they couldn't ignore the shadowed pokemon either. Maybe he could ask Sinopa about it more later, or even Luz...

Koa finally pushed himself to his paws as Leona arrived, blinking away the briefest sense of dizziness. The edge in Leon's voice... Shadows. Anger sparked in him. Cipher.

As Steven spoke he quickly composed himself as best as he could. He remembered he'd been too on edge before the escort set out and too out of it afterwards to speak to her at all.

"Hi." He dipped his head to try and be polite. Although if she was another Lycas maybe she didn't care. "I don't think we properly met... My name is Koamaru. Thank you for coming." Was that too formal?

Maybe he should explain more. "The Relic stone... It might be able to help you with shadows, if you want. It could hurt but it was able to help us too." He nodded to Archie and Mhynt.

 

[Weazel]

To be honest, a lot of this was sailing over his head. From what he gathered, Seth wouldn’t be a good test run for the relic because of his Radiance powers and nature as an only partially corrupted Pokemon, but they had another Lycanroc on hand, who did happen to be fully shadowed, but also still cognizant. Likely one of the Pokemon they’d rescued from Cipher, he supposed, though, of course, Archie hadn’t properly met any of them. Still, just because he wasn’t the best test subject didn’t mean Seth didn’t deserve to be cured, the man was suffering!

“If everything goes well with this other Lycanroc, I’ll go find Seth and tell him the good news,” the Dewott said, pulling himself back to his feet. He didn’t want to come across as callous, this Shadow corrupted Lycanroc surely deserved the help too, but at the same time, part of him was glad she would be testing it instead of Seth. He didn’t want to get the red Lycanroc’s hopes up only to dash them if, for whatever reason, the relic didn’t work.

… On the other hand, maybe he shouldn’t be so quick to rush off. The clattering noise of stone hitting wood brought him back to the current moment in time to see Steven suddenly looking very flustered. Had something happened with the Metang? Archie briefly considered asking him about it when they next had a private moment, but… Honestly, their last private interaction had gone rather poorly. Who could say if round two would go any better? Well, still, the Metang was his friend. He wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if he didn’t at least try.

“Hey, Steven-” he began, but movement out of the corner of his eye stopped him before he could say more. The new Lycanroc – Leona – was here. Getting the Metang to agree to a meeting would have to wait. Instead, Archie gave the new arrival a friendly wave when Koa looked his way. Mhynt still seemed to be… Out of sorts. So it fell to the Dewott to back the Electrike up. The tan Lycanroc was likely already on edge, after all.

“I’m Archie,” he said, “I… Heard you were one of Cipher’s prisoners?”

 

[HelloYellow17]

Wes frowned at Steven’s odd reaction—somehow, touching the stone had left him rattled, but clearly he didn’t want to talk about it, and Wes wasn’t going to pry. Not here, anyway. Still, he hoped it wasn’t some sort of bad omen for the Relic itself…

But it was too late to back out now. Sinopa vanished from the room and reappeared, and Leona nosed her way in shortly afterward. Wes perked up and met her gaze, then gestured to the stone.

“Come on,” he said, trying to keep the nervousness out of his voice. Gods, he hoped this would work.

 

[Jackie Cat]

"Hello, Leona. I'm not sure how much Sinopa has told you, but there's something here that might be of interest to you."

"Hi. I don't think we properly met... My name is Koamaru. Thank you for coming. The Relic stone... It might be able to help you with shadows, if you want. It could hurt but it was able to help us too."

“I’m Archie. I… Heard you were one of Cipher’s prisoners?”

Leona padded slowly forward, glancing at each Wayfarer, and then fixing her gaze on the relic.

"Yeah," she said, without ceremony. "Cipher did this to me. And that thing over there... It's this world's Relic Stone, right? An item blessed by Celebi with the power to restore a pokémon's heart. If they're ready."

She made a sound that ought to have been a chuckle, but came out as a weary gasp. Leona had told the Wayfarers who rescued her something about already purifying countless Shadow 'mon herself in her own world... She might know better than anyone on Forlas how this ought to work.

"Well, I can give it a go... Don't know that my heart's ready to open already – still can hardly think straight."

Sinopa nodded, smiling kindly, and flashed from the desk to the floor, making space.

"I believe it holds a Radiant charge," she said, softly. "You should only need to touch it."

Leona nodded, her gaunt features pessimistic. To open a Shadow pokémon's heart, they needed trust and strong bonds. Leona was practically fresh out of a holding cell...

"Okay."

The Lycanroc stepped forwards, and hesitantly planted a paw on the Saintly stone.

This is a mystical relic.
It seems to be giving off a strange
and fantastic power.

"I... remember this," Leona whispered. "So similar..."

The relic pulsed. Light shimmered on its surface where the wolf's body touched it. Her paw gave off an ashen wisp, as if Shadow were burning away...

Leona flinched, pulling away her paw with a yelp.

"N-no, I'm... I'm not ready," she muttered. "I can't. Aura's still too polluted."

She dragged a paw down her muzzle, looking for all the world like she wanted nothing more than to lay down on the floor and pass out.

But it wasn't despair on her face. It was hope. What she'd just proven was how close she was to being cured.

"Thanks anyway," she said, her voice thick. "I'll, uh. I'll try again when... When it feels like it's time."

​

 

[Namohysip]

Mhynt had finally gained the strength to stand on her own, though she leaned against the wall and nodded.

"This will be a valuable asset. We need... to protect it intensely," she said. "There's no doubt... Cipher will try to steal it."

 

[Inkedust]

Sybil nodded. "It's okay," she said reassuringly to Leona. "I'm sure you'll be ready in no time."

To the rest of the Wayfarers, Sybil was positively beaming. "Such wonderful breakthroughs, I thank you all very much for your help," she said with a polite bow. "Now, I ought to return to my work. Please do spread the news to the rest of your team in the meantime."

And with a small tap of a hoof and a nod to Sinopa, Sybil returned to her work desk as everyone either left or was escorted out leaving the wyrdeer alone with her studies. Her psychic powers grabbed a nearby quill and parchment, hurriedly recounting all that had just happened with the Wayfarers, new theories forming by the second.

This was the most exciting thing that had happened to her yet.

<><><>​

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

The meeting in Sybil's workshop ended successfully enough for Steven's taste. Not a complete success, given the minor setback with Leona, not to mention he was still rather unnerved by his own strange reaction to the Relic. But neither of those were enough to deter him from finally finding Koa to deliver a long, long overdue apology.

With the whirlwind of the last several days, there had hardly been time to speak with the young trainer, let alone privately. But with the small group of Wayfarers dispersing after the meeting, and Koa seemingly still winded after the Relic's handiwork, it was an easy matter to catch up to the Electrike in the halls of the Ranger HQ.

He knew Koa had to be tired and probably wasn't in the mood to have a conversation right now, but Steven couldn't let it linger any longer.

"Koa?" he called, hesitantly. "Do you have a minute? There's something--" a lot of things "--I've been meaning to speak with you about."

 

[Tetra]

Koa felt like he was both walking on air and quicksand all at once as he left Sybil's workshop. His body still felt like he'd sprinted halfway across Sinnoh, but his mind was practically buzzing. Cured. He was cured. And even if their first try with Leona hadn't worked, they at least had a way to help her now. Maybe he'd talk to her later, see how she was feeling... It felt like they finally had possibilities.

The sound of Steven's voice caught him by surprise. He paused and glanced back. Steven? What could the he want? Koa hadn't spoken to him since...

"Yeah, what's up?" he asked curiously, turning to face Steven.

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

"It's about--" Steven froze when Koa turned around. The genuine curiosity and amiable look on Koa's face; gods why couldn't this be an easy conversation. He sighed, motioning with one arm for Koa to follow him. He ushered the two of them to one of the nearby rooftops, somewhere with a bit more privacy than the hallway.

"Sorry," said Steven as he floated out onto the sunbaked rooftop, positioning himself so that he wouldn't be between Koa and the doorway. A sign that if Koa didn't want to hear from him right now, he was free to leave at any point.

There was no use stalling any longer. He took a steadying breath, floating up and then down again. "I had wanted to speak with you about what happened after the training session." Great, really specific. It was a month ago, Stone. A whole month. Steven fidgeted with the notch on one of his claws. "With Ridley."

Before Koa could say anything, Steven closed his eyes and dipped forward into a deep bow.

"I'd like to apologize for my behavior. Leaving like I did that day, and then later with nothing but a note. It wasn't becoming of someone in my position, and for that, I'm sorry."

 

[Tetra]

A prickle of apprehension ran through Koa as he followed Steven up to the rooftop. The walk had given him a moment to think, and he remembered now the note Steven left, and looking for him, only to turn back. Maybe if he'd gone looking for him... the memory also brought a faint ache back. He remembered the pang he'd felt reading the note. Was that what Steven wanted to talk about?

Somehow, the apology caught him off guard. It felt weird for someone to apologize to him. Someone in his position...?

The apology reminded him of Blake, a little. "Uh... It's okay." A rush of awkwardness flooded him. What should he tell him? After everything that happened he didn't want to hold a grudge against him after he was trying to apologize. Koa didn't feel angry but... Steven had run. "I forgive you. It's in the past..." his voice trailed off. He glanced away, trying to assemble his thoughts. An ache still lingered, like an itch he couldn't scratch.

Finally he turned back to look at Steven. His tone was quiet when he spoke. "Why'd you leave?"

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Koa's forgiveness sounded genuine enough, but there was some hesitation in his reply.

Steven winced, knitting his claws together and drawing his arms close to his body. Of course it wouldn't be so easy to climb out of the hole he'd dug for himself.

He held Koa's gaze for a moment before he broke eye contact. The ground was suddenly more palatable to fixate on as he explained.

"I was... disappointed in my capabilities. I felt like I had to reevaluate my expectations of myself."

His claws clenched tighter with a small grating sound.

"I left because I needed space to think. It's something I would do back home when things became too much. I'd spend time away from my duties somewhere quiet, just me and my pokemon. Except they're not here now. So I left by myself."

Was that a good enough reason? Probably not. It may have been the truth, but it didn't excuse what he did.

But the truth was a place to start.

 

[Tetra]

"Oh." Koa could hardly blame Steven, cosidering how many times he'd either wanted space or to be left alone. Steven leaving had awoken a strange feeling in Koa but at least understanding why eased it. Steven hadn't left he'd just wanted time to think. Maybe it was a good thing he hadn't gone looking for him.

"I get it," he said sympathetically. The memory of how terribly lonely he'd felt only a few nights ago without his team was still fresh. If Steven was older than him and had been with his team longer, it had to be even harder. "Not having my team has been... weird. I'm used to doing everything with them. I miss them."

It hadn't been until their trip to the Oasis that he'd seen Steven again... "Wait is that how you evolved?" he asked curiously. "While you were out thinking?" In hindsight, hadn't Leaf evolved around the same time too?

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

'Out thinking.'

Steven almost could have laughed at the innocent way Koa phrased it. Although 'complete meltdown caused by presuming he faced the same monumental expectations he was used to bearing, along with a sense of inadequacy from being stripped of his usual lifelines when he'd reached crisis mode' didn't have the same kind of ring to it.

So he nodded. "Yes, it was. Although, I hadn't expected to." His gaze fell once more, and his next words came out almost as a whisper. "Nor did I think I deserved to."

At the time, he hadn't expected to come back, either...

There was always something dragging him back, back in Hoenn. Usually it was his partners, since he had a nasty habit of turning his PokeNav off whenever he wanted to disappear. Here... He'd been alone. He chose to be alone. Isolating himself, hiding his true self away because that's what he'd always done.

But he wasn't about to admit that first part, not to Koa, anyway. Not when he still couldn't shake the sense that the young trainer was bothered by the whole ordeal more than he was letting on.

 

[Tetra]

For a moment, Koa couldn't help but wonder if that could work for him. Go out somewhere and... well, do something. He wasn't sure what yet, but the fact that it seemed a lot of other's on the team had already evolved still annoyed him. Still he was happy for Steven.

"Congratulations on that by the way. I guess you must have been ready to without realizing it." He glanced around, almost as if expecting to find something to break the awkward tension. What could he say to help Steven? He wished Odette was here... Still it was Steven. They'd trained together before. Steven helped him. Steven was still a friend.

"Maybe you shouldn't be so hard on yourself. Or isolate too much. Like you said before, we're a team and you shouldn't beat yourself up. I mean, we're all in this together, so you don't have to do this alone... And you were a trainer back home, right? So you know what it's like to have a team and work together, in a way." He shifted and frowned. Rambling, he was rambling again. Duties. Someone of his position.

"What kind of duties did you have back home?" Smooth. He'd meant to divert the subject a little cleaner than that.

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

"Ah, thank you," Steven mumbled. It was rote recitation, since he wasn't entirely sure he should accept congratulations for something he hadn't intended to do. But it's not like he could undo it, either. "It's helped to abandon the idea of merit when it comes to evolution, even if it's dictated a good portion of my life, otherwise."

"But you're right. I reached a lot of similar conclusions while I was... away. They're hard trains of thought to break, though. And I'm sorry it took such drastic behavior for it to finally sink in."

Steven's eyes drifted closed for a moment. Like an echo of Koa, Wallace's voice bubbled to the surface of his mind.

"If you even try something so stupid ever again... Just… tell us next time, okay?"

He said he'd try. He promised, and yet--

"I hope you know, Steven Stone, just how impossibly exhausting it is to be your friend."

He opened his eyes again and found himself staring skyward, like he could somehow scowl at Wallace from another reality. Except here was Koa, standing in front of him, trying to help, waiting for a response. But what could he say?

"My duties?" he repeated dumbly.

Stop running. Stop hiding. Start trying.

He didn't bother trying to hide an audible sigh. He knew how this would look in the face of everything, but Koa should know. He deserved to know.

"Koa," he began slowly, "I'm afraid I haven't be completely truthful with you. When we first met, you joked you knew a Champion level trainer of the same name. I told you I'd heard of him as well. That is true. But what I neglected to elaborate upon was how."

Steven paused for a second, in the hope that Koa might finish the thought for him. But no, it had to come from him. He had to be the one to say it. Stop running.

This time, he made sure to meet Koa's gaze. "I've heard of him, because I am him. My surname is Stone. I am from Hoenn. And I currently hold the rank of Champion."

 

[Tetra]

Koa stared at Steven for a long moment, his expression blank. "You're..." His eyes widened. "Oh." His surprise was replaced by confusion as he stared at Steven. "Wait why hide that? That's sick! You're a champion!" There was no way this was his world's Steven Stone, but the notion that another champion had been called here was fascinating.

He tipped his head, to the side, studying Steven curiously. He'd never met his worlds Steven, but he seemed confident and capable, and a good champion for the time he'd been around. Was this Steven ashamed for some reason, or... "Did something happen in your world? Isn't being Champion a good thing?"

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Steven blinked. That was... not the reaction he'd been expecting. Or maybe it had been, originally. Now, though? After everything he'd done, how he'd conducted himself. Koa had every right to call him a poor excuse for a Champion. Yet he didn't.

It managed to shake loose a small chuckle of relief that all too quickly vanished in a look of confusion.

"Something happen? No, I--" Did something happen? Cold rain hammering down. An icy hand around his heart.

He shook his head free of the memory, trying to field Koa's bombardment of questions. "It is a good thing," he stammered, "Sometimes. But--"

How did he explain that it was more complicated than that? That he made it more complicated.

"I hid it because, well, it doesn't amount to much here. In Forlas, the title of Champion is just a word." An uncomplicated truth; a lesson learned the hard way. "I don't have my team, and there is no League. For all intents and purposes, I'm just Steven. And in some ways, I kind of like that," he admitted. "But it's also hard to remind yourself you're not carrying the same responsibility anymore, either."

Suddenly, a somber look of recognition swept over him. "I guess in that regard, something did happen. The ancient god of the seas, Kyogre, was resurrected. It fell upon us, my Elites and I, to stop its rampage. By some miracle we were able, and we sealed it away before it could drown the whole region in its wrath."

A strange look of doubt crossed his expression as he finished. The silence between them held for a moment, broken only by another weak chuckle from Steven. "I'm sorry, not exactly the most uplifting topic of conversation."

He eyed Koa curiously, seemingly weighing what he was about to say next. "Forgive the odd question, but I have to know. Is my counterpart in your world, ah, how do I say this... alive?"

 

[Tetra]

Aqua. Kyogre. Like Laura mentioned. And Steven had helped stop it, same as his world. More humans, more legendaries, always the same story. Always the same ending. And yours will be no different.

"Yeah he is," he replied, relieved to at least have some good news. How bad had the situation been on Steven's world? "But he retired awhile ago from being Champion. I think he still lives in Hoenn, researching mega stones." He only distantly knew of it because he'd been trying to learn about Rayquaza. And because he'd wondered if mega evolution could help him fight a legendary. "But before that you-He helped save Hoenn in my world too."

Steven had done something that mattered. He'd been known as the Champion who saved his region. He was a hero.

Koa gazed at Steven, considering what he'd said. "Just because you don't have your team doesn't mean you're not strong here. You're still Steven Stone, the Champion. I mean, you saved your region! That amounts to something."