Chapter Text
Akari's ears were ringing. That was the first thing she noticed as she woke up, followed by the familiar sensation of grass on the back of her neck and the shadow of a very large Togekiss looming over her.
She grumbled and reached up to scritch her Pokemon in just the right spot, tilting her head to the side to see her surroundings. Not the icelands, clearly, far too warm for that. The fieldlands? Maybe, but she didn't recognize this part of it.
A nudge from her Fairy type drew her attention. Icarus pointed a wing to her other side. Akari squinted in that direction, looking under her alpha Togekiss' fluffy plumage to see…
"Uncle Ingo?" The sound of his name seemed to rouse the man from his slumber, and distantly, she felt a bit bad for it. He rarely ever looked like he got a good amount of sleep most nights.
"Akari?" His loud voice boomed, and the teen chuckled despite knowing Pokemon would certainly be alerted of their location—hopefully they were scared away instead of attracted—at the noise. Her uncle was as loud as ever, even immediately after waking up.
"Over here," she called from the short distance of a few feet away. Icarus chirped a greeting towards the amnesiac man, and Akari gently pushed the fluffball away to give herself room to sit up. She stretched an arm above her head, yawning despite having just woken up. "D'you know where we are?"
Ingo, who had been similarly getting up, shook his head after a cursory glance of the land.
"This is not familiar land to me, I'm afraid." Ah. Bummer.
"Do you have your poke balls?" Akari asked as she checked over her own. Trikix, Violator, Flaie, Hermes, Maiki, and of course Icarus… yeah, that was everyone! Everyone who wanted to come, anyway.
Wait, come? Come where?
"Yes, all my passengers are accounted for!"
The sound of Ingo's voice briefly distracted her, and she hummed in thought as she started patting her alpha Togekiss.
"What should we do now? How did we get here?" They were in unfamiliar territory, alone… Icarus nudged her side, and Akari huffed down at them. "I'm trying to think, goober!" They nudged her again, almost knocking her down, rubbing her with their side. "... oh, yeah, that would make sense."
Ingo had an amused smile on his face, that special brand of smile reminiscent of a Sneasel's. "I take it you have an idea of what to do?"
Akari nodded, sinking her fingers into Icarus' soft feathers. "Let's take to the skies for a survey! I am a part of the survey corps, you know." She shot him a grin. And maybe it would help clear her head, just as the ringing was starting to clear as well.
Ingo nodded, releasing his Gliscor. "A fine idea! Emitt, would you please?" The Flying type chittered before moving into position to pick up her trainer. Akari hopped onto her alpha Pokéemon, giving Ingo a thumbs up before the four took flight.
None of the land was familiar to her. The fields, the caves, the waterfall… she didn't recognize any of it. She did, however, recognize the sound of people, looking down to see a girl in fancy pink clothes fighting off a pair of Starly with a Jigglypuff.
Akari shared a glance with Ingo, and they both nodded in unison. It was a warden's responsibility to help, and even if it wasn't, Ingo certainly would take it as a personal one. Not that Akari was one to speak, as Icarus started to descend onto one of the bird Pokemon below, Emitt following behind.
"Whoo! Icarus, Air Slash!" The Togekiss gave a cry before whipping up blades of wind and firing them at one of the Starly below. The teen could hear Ingo call out an Aerial Ace on the other one, Gliscor coming down and her uncle jumping off and to the side at the last moment.
The moves instantly took down the low-level Pokemon, of course. Akari whooped as her mount touched down before the wide-eyed girl, throwing out a wing with a flourish. Ingo was patting his Gliscor gently on the head.
"Lady Akira?" A startled voice drew Akari's attention back to the girl they had saved, and the teen sent her a slightly puzzled glance. That was close to her name, but… not quite.
"Akari, actually!" The champion of Sinnoh decided to send the stranger an easy grin, hopping off her Pokemon to stick a hand out to shake. "Nice to meetcha!"
The girl looked like she'd seen a ghost, but nodded as she shook Akari's hand. Her grip was gentle, but her hands had a bit of roughness to them. Not much, but enough for Akari to notice.
"You look like you've seen a ghost," the trainer joked after a few seconds of awkward silence. The girl seemed to jolt, blushing slightly as she ducked her head.
"I-it's nothing. Thank you for the help! We were really in a bind, there.”
“My name is Oichi. Who's your...?" The pink-clad girl sent a glance to Ingo, who tipped his hat in response.
"That's my uncle Ingo! Don't let the frown and dark clothes fool you, he's a big softie." She leaned in at the last part, faux-whispering as if it were a secret. Icarus chuffed a laugh behind her, drawing Oichi's attention to it.
"That's a big Togekiss… and strong! You must be a great warrior to bond to such a powerful Pokemon," the girl complimented as her Jigglypuff went up to greet the avian.
"They're an alpha! Very soft, too. Do you wanna pet 'em?" The girl didn't seem as afraid as a lot of others in Hisui, if she had her own partner, at least. If they even were in Hisui. What had they been doing…?
"If that's alright," the girl responded, distracting Akari from her thoughts. She gave Oichi a smile and clicked her tongue a few times to call Icarus over. The Togekiss flutter-hopped the short distance to their trainer, nuzzling into her. She sunk her fingers into the fluff, looking at Oichi and motioning with her head for her to do the same.
Oichi lightly brushed against the jubilee Pokéemon before her eyes widened and she gently pressed further into the plumage. "So soft," Akari saw her mouth.
"I know, right?" The Flying type preened at the praise, sending a glance to the Jigglypuff as it copied its trainer. "So what are you doing out here? … And, uh, where is here?"
Oichi sent her a curious look. "This is the kingdom of Aurora. I was just out training Jigglypuff… we're not very strong yet, and the kingdom is in a bit of disarray." She sighed. "The last warlord died, and he doesn't- well, didn't have an heir." The girl sent a more tentatively excited glance at Akari. "But now that you're back, lady Akir- ah, sorry, lady Akari, you can take over the seat!"
Akari felt the curious look her uncle was giving her, and she sent him a shake of her head, not really knowing what was happening either. "I don't—know where Aurora is. Or what it is. Like, I know what a kingdom is, but I've never heard of this one," she tried explaining after turning back to Oichi, who gave a concerned look in return.
Oichi murmured something under her breath that Akari couldn't hear, but caused Icarus to give the strange girl an equally strange glance. She shook her head before starting to explain.
"Aurora is a kingdom in the southwestern part of Ransei. It's known for its abundance of Normal and Fairy types, and is surrounded by the kingdoms of Ignis, Greenleaf, and Fontaine."
"Never heard of it," Akari shrugged. Oichi hummed, pulling out a map and handing it to the trainer.
As Akari unfurled it, Oichi pointed a finger to where the kingdom was. Akari, however, was a bit preoccupied with staring at the map. It looked like…
"Motherfucker!"
"Language!" Ingo chastised, going to look over her shoulder before falling silent.
Akari looked up the steps that seemed to reach into the heavens themself. Ingo did the same at her side, before clasping a hand on her shoulder. She shook her head in an attempt to clear it, sending Ingo a smile.
"We're about to go home," she whispered.
"Indeed," he responded.
Akari took a deep breath before grabbing his hand and starting to jog up the stairs, Ingo chuckling behind her as he was pulled along before catching up.
Wow, these were a lot of steps.
Were there more steps than last time?
They were pretty high up.
She couldn't see the ground anymore.
In, out. In, out…
It was bright.
Very bright.
Akari?
She could hear blood pumping in her ears.
Akari!
Would she have to fight It again? Could she do that again?
"Akari!"
The teen released a breath she didn't know she'd been holding, Ingo having pulled her into a half-hug. One step left, huh? She hugged her uncle back.
Just a few minutes…
"Akari?" Her uncle sounded concerned. She nodded. No time to waste.
"I'm ready." Maybe. Either way, she grabbed his hand once more before taking the final step into the Hall of Origin.
"You wish to return to your home?"
The champion of Sinnoh met Ingo's gaze before turning her own to the God before them.
"Yes."
"Then so shall it be." And so Arceus reared onto Their hind legs, and They smashed Their front ones forward, and the world shattered like a mirror as Akari fell unconscious.
"-kari? Lady Akari?"
Akari was brought back to the world to the sound of Oichi's voice calling her name and the feeling of Icarus rubbing against her.
"I'm fine," she half-lied. Physically, she was, so yes, it was only half a lie. Three-fourths, really!
"It is alright to not be fine," her uncle reminded her as he put a hand on her shoulder. She shook her head.
"No, really, I'm fine. Just a bit upset at a certain someone." With that last word, she sent a glare to the sky above. The clouds did not dignify her with an answer.
The champion sighed before returning her gaze to the map and trying to ignore how conceited Arceus must be. Not like that was anything new. "That's a lot of kingdoms for one continent." Or maybe not. She wasn't the biggest history buff. She probably would have remembered more about Hisui if she was.
"The kingdoms have always been at war. The legend states that the one who unites all the kingdoms under one army will get to meet the legendary Pokéemon who created the region."
Well. Akari shared a glance with Ingo. They nodded to each other. Akari turned back to Oichi, and asked, "You said I'm next in line for the seat of Aurora?"