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a-land-lacking-sleep · 2 years

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Submas/PLA Fic Chapter 3: Dealing with their Devils

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The next chapter of Electric Trains are the Future is live on AO3! I’m working through on getting more chapters ready ahead of time, and come next Tuesday, I’ll be shifting to weekly updates, as I’ll be heading back to work.

Chapter Summary: Two much needed conversations are had. Ingo learns about who he is, and Akari comes up with a better plan. Chapter Word Count: 4632 Warning: There is a short panic attack that is purposely glossed over and quickly addressed, and an emotional break at the end of the chapter. Neither are in great detail.

Read the chapter below the cut, or read it on AO3! I’ll be cross-posting the rest of the fic, with additional notes on AO3′s side. Reblogs and comments are always appreciated!

Ingo was right, Akari wasn’t going home. She had turned from the bridge in the direction of her little house, but once out of sight began jogging down the rest of the street towards the pastures. The sun was down entirely, and though Marie was much more acclimated to having Pokemon around her, she still didn’t like being there in the dark and had gone home for the day. It was easy for Akari to jump over the gate leading to the first area of the pastures, though he goal was a little further in.

She had made it to the first hill before taking the two Pokeballs she had with her, and letting Palkia and Dialga out. “Thank you two for the help today,” she says quietly as she hugs them each on the leg. “We messed up, but I think that we still did a good thing.”

Dialga makes a non-committal grinding sound, presumably from his teeth, then starts plodding away to find some food before Akari can interrogate it. She instead turns to Palkia, who meets her gaze for several moments. And then promptly does the same as its sibling, albeit in the opposite direction, gurgling uncomfortably.

Great. Her pet gods didn’t think it was a good thing. She’ll prove otherwise!

She starts over the hill, her destination being a cave in the mountains on the edge of the pasture, overlooking Flaoro Gardens in the Fieldlands. By the time she got there, all the way at the edge of the land that Jubilife had claimed, any last remnants of the sun were long gone and the moon hung high in the air, stars twinkling around it. Akari stood in front of the cave for a few moments before speaking up.

“Hey, Giratina? Do you wanna come out and talk? It’s a nice night out, the stars are visible.” She knew Giratina liked keeping their privacy from the other Pokemon, after being isolated from this entire Reality for centuries, if not millenia. But she also knew that they enjoyed her company, because she could hear its heavy little stomps (she likes to call them little cause it makes Giratina flustered) as it exits the cave, looking up into the sky.

“Yes, the stars do look beautiful today, my friend.” Their voice seems to reverberate around the area, even though she knows Giratina is speaking directly into her mind. They bask quietly in the starlight for a moment before their voice comes into her mind again. “I felt the fabric of reality tear earlier. What did you do?”

Oh dear Arceus, she’s gonna be scolded again isn’t she?

“I, uh, may have had Dialga and Palkia help me try and get Ingo’s brother here,” Akari says, trying to sound confident but definitely looking away from the big dragon that still hadn’t looked at her. “It worked out kinda well, we got a friend of his instead!” Hopefully news of some success would help dampen the blow of the news.

For a moment there was silence. Then Giratina reared their head back and let out a loud roar, giving Akari just enough time to cover her ears. It didn’t sound angry, maybe a little frustrated, almost… A warning. And sure enough, Akari saw several small flocks of Starly fly off around them, having settled in around the dragon’s cave.

With an audible huff, Giratina turns to look at Akari. “And why did you think that was a good idea?” The disappointment in their telepathic voice hit Akari like a bucket of water. Yeah, she was going to get scolded again.

Akari sighed and plopped down onto the ground, not caring that the grass was already a little wet with dew. Giratina stepped up next to her and closed their eyes for a moment, before shrinking itself down to the size of a Luxio to sit next to her. Akari remembered that Pokemon could change their size, but she’d honestly forgotten that since Laventon first told her because she only saw Pokemon do it as they faint. Giratina was actually kinda cute at this size.

“I wanted to make Ingo happy, and if we could bring someone here, we could send them back…” Akari sighs and draws her knees up. “I figured since Dialga and Palkia were the source of the distortions and the Rift anyway, they could do it in tandem when they’re able to focus, right?” She reaches out and gently strokes Giratina’s head, causing them to hum softly.

Giratina let the sensation relax them for a moment before speaking back up. “They also created the rift because of the stress I put onto them,” they say softly. “And I facilitated the distortions by linking each to the Distortion World to allow a hopefully smoother travel for the creatures coming through. I was angry with Father, not with others.” There is a small pause before they lean into Akari’s side. “But you know that…”

“I do, Gira,” she says softly, leaning back into them. “I do.”

—

Ingo places the bowl of rice and fried Cheri berry before Elesa. “Here you go, Miss Elesa,” he says respectfully before sitting across from her. “I’m sorry if the berries are a little burned, Cheri are a little quick to fry.” He picks up his chopsticks and starts eating quietly, keeping his eyes on the table. He could hear Elesa pick her chopsticks up and eat, albeit a little slower than him.

After a few moments of silence other than their soft chewing, Ingo puts his chopsticks down and politely clears his throat. “When I awoke, I had no memories. My cab had been cleared of all contents, with only vague recollections of a Man in White, with a smile on his face, who loved victory more than anything else.” Elesa continues to eat, slower as she listens to him. “Is that Emmet? Is that the man who walks in the station of my memories?”

Elesa softly scoffs at the victory comment at first. “He knows if he says that he loves victory most around me, he’s gonna be in the Herdier house for a few nights.” Ingo finds himself laughing at that, before pausing and wondering what a Herdier was. Were they like Growlithe? “But yes, Ingo. Emmet is your brother.”

Brother? No, Emmet is his twin! The second cab in their two car train! It hit Ingo in the chest, and he involuntarily let the air out of his lungs before Elesa could say anything else. He’s 3 hours younger than me, he has an (---), and he is a Subway Boss. He realizes that he hasn’t taken a breath back in, and does so before looking up at Elesa, who was waiting with a somewhat worried look. “No, no, continue. I apologize for the delay.”

Elesa slowly nods before continuing to speak. “You both ran the Unovan Transportation Authority, and you focused on the Unova Rail Transit System, which mostly consisted of handling the Subway.” Rail. Subway. “You both have always been obsessed with trains, and you kept them running better than any of the previous Heads of Transit had, and you made sure they covered routes the buses couldn’t and kept them competitive with planes.” Trains. Trains trains trains. He had heard the word a few times, mostly in the context of battling when talking with Laventon. To think it had multiple meanings in Galarian! Now, what was it in Kantonian… 列車(1), yes.

“You ok there, Ingo?”

“I primarily rode on the Battle A Division, the Singles Line. We had 260 R62s left on the line, with most of the R62As either relegated to Multi or decommissioned in preparations for the new trains coming from Silph Railway, the R262s I believe.” Ingo wasn’t sure where these words or the information were coming from, but they would not stop coming. “The main train of the fleet is the R188, which are far newer than the 62s and also made by Silph. Silph actually made the R62s, but the R62As, despite the similar designations, are actually made by Bombirdier Transportation.”

Ingo’s mind was racing, and for the first time since he arrived in Hisui, he was properly, truly, excited. He had a fascination for transportation, as shown by the time Miss Akari had set him off by having him ride on an Alpha Steelix she caught, which led to some panic from Irida when she found him conducting on its head. Since then, Miss Akari has been careful to set off his mysterious obsession.

But it wasn’t mysterious now! “My favorites are the R36s, which still have a few dozen in service on the fleet,” Ingo continues, not noticing his voice rising in volume, but definitely noticing that Elesa was giving him a soft smile. “They’re also called Redbirds, though some foreigners call them Fletchlings since they sometimes are painted the same shades. What was done to dispose of them was actually quite ingenious, as they had stripped the harmful components from them and dropped them off the coast of the region and let them become artificial reefs!”

It was good for the Pokemon, which Pokemon were it good for? As Ingo thought, his hand balled into a fist and he began gently shaking it, then brought it up to tap against his upper lip to help him focus. Yes! ”They were great for making homes for Corsola and Alomomola! The populations of both had been at risk for several decades, and started making quite the comeback! To whoever thought of it, bravo!”

Ingo continued to remember and regurgitate facts about trains and the subway for quite awhile, while Elesa just quietly eats and listens, smiling.

—

“So, obviously the way that Volo had brought about the rifts was wrong,” Akari says. She and Giratina had now laid down, Giratina tucking their legs under their body and Akari laying on her back, resting her head on their back, both looking up at the sky. “He just tore them open without care.”

“That he did,” Giratina responds, grumbling deep in their chest. “Like myself, Volo was lost in anger, though he did much better to focus that anger and mask it. There was a reason we decided to work together, after all.” They shiver briefly, and nudge Akari with a wing, getting her to lift her head up so they could fold it under her. Giratina’s wings were ethereal; they weren’t hurt by pressure, and were quite cushioned, so they made great pillows.

Akari snuggles slightly into the wing as she thinks. This might be a bad thing to ask, but she felt it was needed. “Do you think that it would be ok to continue making rifts? If we are careful with it? Just to-”

It happened fast, but Giratina moved their way out from under her head, causing Akari to fall back as they flashed with an amber light. In front of Akari now was Giratina, at their full size and in their Origin Forme.

“Did I just hear you correctly, Akari?!” they shouted into her head, anger not just lacing the words, but backing them full force. “You fought against me, to free this land of the rifts that I had instigated, and now you wish to bring more into existence?!”

Akari froze up for a second. She thinks Giratina won’t hurt her, but the last time she’d seen them this angry was when she first fought them after Volo. She tried to breathe, to regain control, and it seemed Giratina noticed because they seemed to sigh, then slowly shrink down to look Akari in the face.

“I apologize, my friend. I will try to not scare you like that again.” Their voice was controlled now, but Akari could still hear their disappointment and anger underneath. But that gave her the opportunity to relax. She breathes in deeply, then breathes out slowly, repeating the action a few times before giving Giratina a small smile and nod.

“Sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up. It was a bad idea.” Akari looks away from Giratina, her voice quiet. She lets out a sigh, and hears Giratina move, though she wasn’t expecting the Legendary to set their head on hers.

“I see why you asked. There is no need to beat yourself up.” They put their weight against Akari’s back, pushing her over a bit. “If Volo and I hadn’t used them to cause harm, then my reaction may have been different.” Now the Legendary decided to dead weight, gently sliding off of her back. Akari swore that the Creation Trio were just teenagers with too much power.

Akari lets out an exaggerated groan as she leans over, letting Giratina flop onto her stomach with a soft whumph. “I know, I just… Feel bad for pulling her here without meaning to…”

“I know how you feel. I truly do.”

—

“And I just remembered why the Redbirds were my favorite!” Ingo shouts, taking Elesa’s bowl and thus shouting directly into her ear, causing her to flinch and playfully swat at him. “I would take the train every few weekends to go visit…” He gets to the counter before pausing. “To go visit… Home?” He puts both bowls onto the counter before turning to Elesa. “Where was home? Nimbasa, right?”

“For me, yeah,” Elesa says, pulling out a Pokeball. “I grew up in Nimbasa, born and raised. You and Emmet moved from Anville Town when we were young, though your parents moved back after you started working at the Subway with Emmet. Also, do you mind if I let Skitters out?”

Ingo shakes his head, quietly thinking. Elesa clicks the button on the ball (ah, that looks very different from our current balls), and out pops a small Pokemon, similar to a Pachirisu, only with black fur and flaps of skin connecting its arms and legs. It looks around at the new surroundings before getting on all fours and spinning in place.

Anville, Rolling Out on the Steel Rails. A sleepy little town with two rail lines, and a railyard that held a lot of decommissioned trains, which were displayed one per day. Some weekends, (---)n railfans would gather to share stories, items, and occasionally battles. There was another part of the town, called “The Village” by locals, that mostly consisted of a small market and some houses, with several small farms. The second rail line ended there, and it connects to the mainline and runs on an alternating schedule with the main Anville stop.

Ingo is pulled from his thoughts as Skitters suddenly lands on his shoulder, nuzzling up to his face and knocking his hat askew. “Young lady, you know to watch for your safety checks!” Lady? Brushing the thought aside, he still indulges the little thing with some scratches between its ears, causing it to squeak in glee.

“You know she won’t learn if you reward her after scolding her,” Elesa says with a smile.

“But she’s a sweetheart of a passenger, and deserves to be rewarded.” Elesa shakes her head, and Ingo assumes she’s heard that argument from him before.

“So, it sounds like you remember the Subway pretty well,” Elesa says, leaning against the counter next to Ingo and gently scritching the back of Skitters’ head, causing the Pokemon to wiggle and gently stomp on Ingo’s shoulder. “Do you remember what you two did?”

Ingo looks up at the ceiling for a moment, the hand coming from Skitters (who he doesn’t notice reaching for it to come back before pouting) and gripping the brim of his hat. “You said that we ran the Authority. I believe we had focused mostly on the Subway, though we still had to work on the bus routes, the ferries from… Somewhere, and the on-the-ground freight lines, yes?” He lowers his gaze now, pulling the hat over his eyes. “We battled on the Subways as well. Mondays and Wednesdays we come in early to work on paper work, then run battle lines concurrent with the civilian lines.”

“That’s the gist of it,” Elesa says, turning to put her back against the counter and look up at the ceiling herself. “Emmy likes to talk about it after work some days. He’ll go on and on about the minutiae of the rail lines, or complain about a bus breaking down and people needing to be shuttled to another bus line or wait for a bus.”

“Ah, sounds like you two were very close.” Ingo says it calmly, not with any intent behind it. But after a moment of silence, he looks over at Elesa. “Miss Elesa, why do you look like that?”

Elesa in fact looked like she was about to break down again. She took a deep breath before looking at the opposite wall. “Do you remember me at all? What we were before you came here?” The question sent a shiver through Ingo’s body, like he had been dumped into an ice bath.

“We were close friends. Since childhood, yes?” The memories hadn’t really come back yet, but he could infer the connection. The deep breath and sharp exhale meant that he was wrong though.

“Well, since I apparently have a dumb type,” Elesa starts, waving her right arm while she wraps her left arm around herself, “I fell for a few people. I ended up with Skyla first, because that girl is a Voltorbshell, if you could remember her.” The name did strike true somewhere, but nothing would stick. Maybe in a bit it could worm its way into permanence. “So even after I married her, I couldn’t stop teasing you and Emmy, so… When you left, you were still my boyfriend, you Beldum-my.” She breathes in deep, her exhale a little ragged as she fights back a bit of tears.

Oh. That explains the slow speed on her tracks.

—

Akari wasn’t sure how it started, but right now she and Giratina were tossing (or in Giratina’s case, batting) the dragon’s Pokeball back and forth as they talked.

“So, what are you planning, my friend?” The pair had spent some time chatting about the stars, about the winter they had just gone through, anything to help calm Akari down after the scare Giratina had given her. “I can tell you’re thinking.” Their back left tendril comes up and swats their Pokeball back towards Akari.

Akari catches it on the side of her foot, bouncing it up and catching it before tossing it back. “Is it even worth it to bring Emmet here, or should we just focus on sending Elesa back?” She catches the Pokeball as Giratina accidentally throws it a little far, and tosses it as she’s landing. “Should Ingo go with her, cause I don’t know if his memories are back yet. It’d be kinda mean to split the two now.”

“I agree, it would be quite cruel to split them if she was so happy to see him,” Giratina says as they bounce the Pokeball between its tendrils, then whips one out to launch it back to Akari. ”I would not recommend bringing someone else here, lest Kamado believe you were actually connected to the Rift.”

Akari flinches a bit as she tosses the Pokeball, causing Giratina to shoot a tendril to its max to catch the wide throw. “Sorry, Gira! Maybe we should stop playing around if we’re gonna talk about this…” Giratina seems to huff before tossing the ball back to Akari. Pocketing it, she breathes deep and lets it out slowly. “Sorry, I’m not able to focus as well on the game as you can while we talk.”

“I suppose that is true.” It seems Giratina caught the true reason why Akari flinched, and decided to not push it.

“So, I don’t think we should send them home until Ingo remembers everything,” Akari says, and sees Giratina nod in agreement. “Just… When we do it, should I have you do it?”

“Only if you want me to trap them in the Distortion World,” Giratina asks sarcastically. “Remember that I have no control over time, Akari.”

“Right.” Akari hadn’t thought about that when she asked, but it was obvious now. Giratina had told her earlier that it simply used the Distortion as a bridge between Space and Time rather than do the work themselves. “So, if you worked alongside Palkia and Dialga, then you could do it easier, right?”

Giratina looks at her impassively for a moment before responding. “Yes, it would work better than just the two of them alone. But even with me, my siblings will not be the most accurate in moving them.” The pair hear a crack of thunder, and turn towards the Fieldlands, where a Space-Time Distortion tears into existence off in the distance. “And the more that we rip open rifts, the longer it takes the fabric of reality to heal.”

“That’s fair,” Akari says, squatting down to rest, her knees up to her chest. “As much as you won’t like it…”

“You may want to ask Father, yes. Have you completed his task?”

Akari reaches into her satchel and pulls out the Pokedex. Arceus, times like this she really wishes she still had her old Pokedex from Rowan, cause this book was tiring to use. “No, I still have some Pokemon to get. I haven’t been able to find a Munchlax, a Cherrim, and I need to evolve my Magnemite twice. Plus, I couldn’t catch a Magby the last time I went to Firespit Island, because an Alpha showed up and managed to chase the family of Magmar off.” Her shoulders sag, looking at the 4 empty spots between Froslass and Swinub. “I also have to guess that these are the fossil Pokemon. I found their fossils in the Highlands, but I’m sure that they’re all going to be in Distortions.”

“Yes, I would believe so,” Giratina muses, coiling down into a comfortable position. “They are ancient Pokemon, from when my siblings and I could be considered young.”

“Yeesh, that’s old.” Akari ignores the tired look Giratina gives her as she puts the Pokedex back in her satchel. “Then I guess I’ll focus on finishing the Pokedex, and go talk to Arceus. See if He can get everyone home.”

—

Elesa didn’t cry for long, especially since Ingo took the hint and gave her a hug, which she returned. Once she was done, she sits down at the table again while Ingo sets up the spare futon for her. After a few moments, she finds her voice. “So, any questions, Ingy?”

Ingo makes sure the three mattresses for the futon are properly stacked before asking his first question. “What year is it at home? How far have these tracks taken me?”

Elesa flicks her braid a few times as Skitters begins to climb up her arm. “You disappeared in 2019,” she says softly. “It’s been 3 years, so it's 2022 now. And from what Akari was saying, this is around 1870. We’ve gone back about 150 years.”

Ingo flinches hearing that. He thought it would be about 10, maybe 15 years of difference. But ten times that? No, that was not at all a thought that had crossed his mind.

“It’s ok, Bounsweet-ie,” Elesa says. “Even though it’s been longer for you, me and Emmet would still be so happy to have you back.”

“It’s only been three years.”

That seemed to shake Elesa, who quickly gets out of her seat and puts both hands on Ingo’s cheeks to turn his head towards her so she can inspect his face. “Ingo, you have wrinkles and your hair is going white at your temples. You’re gonna look like Drayden in a few years. Are you sure you’re only 35?”

Ingo swats at her hand and pulls back, forcing his frown deeper. “If you say I’m 35, then yes, I am sure!” This seemed to throw Elesa for a loop, because she also leans back before laughing out loud. “My memory departed from the station, of course I wouldn’t know my age!” That just caused her to start laughing harder.

After a moment she calmed down though, and wiped some of the tears away from her eyes. “I’m sorry, that was too much. I know it makes sense, but oh my Goodra, Ingo, that’s just so funny.”

Ingo huffs, wishing he could blow smoke like a steam engine in moments like this. “I have another question.” Elesa snaps to attention, giving him a fake salute that almost makes him laugh. Taking a second to collect himself, “I remember a Pokemon that wielded flames with mastery. When Akari evolved her Typhlosion, its purple flames reminded me of something I was missing. Was that one of my partners? Back at our home?”

Elesa takes a moment to answer, seeming to decide what she needs to say. “That is Chandelure. She… She took your disappearance hard.” Hearing that makes Ingo’s stomach fall. “She used to look through the subway tunnels looking for you, and it wasn’t until this last year that Emmet managed to get her to act anything close to normal. He apparently has her help in Gear Station to look out for lost kids. She wears a Depot hat, it’s actually really cute. You’d love it.”

Ingo wasn’t hearing much of the last part, though. His disappearance hurt his partner heavily. If it hurt her like that, what about… “And Emmet?” His voice cracked more than he expected, but he continued. “What about Emmet? Was he ok?”

Elesa pauses before answering. “Emmet didn’t take it well, either.” Ingo feels cold. “You two had always been inseparable, you even bought a small house on the outskirts of Nimbasa together so that you could keep each other on track for work. Big enough for privacy, but small enough for you both to always feel like the other was right in reach.”

‘Until you left’ was unsaid.

“He got really depressed for a while, and he’s in therapy, so don’t worry.” He’s in therapy because Ingo sent him there. “We learned you were likely here, because we had books that referenced you, and images. He accepted it, he realized that holding onto it was going to be worse in the long run. So he-” She pauses, seeing Ingo’s face as she looks back towards him. But he knew what she was about to say. ‘So he mourned for you.’

Ingo could feel the tears on his face, and he reached his arms out and grabbed Elesa, pulling her into a hug as he began to cry. It was soft, quiet, unlike how Ingo usually was. But Elesa knew that he needed comfort, and held him tight. She let him cry, like he had let her cry earlier. This was still her Ingo after all.

After a few minutes, Ingo pulls back, no longer sobbing, but his face is still streaked with tears. “I think we are both falling behind schedule for sleep,” he says in a cracked voice. He stands up, and walks past the table towards his bed. “I will see you in the morning.”

“See you in the morning, Ingo,” Elesa replies softly as Ingo draws the slats over to block his room off.

—

Ingo wasn’t a believer in the Pearl Clan’s belief of Sinnoh, even after Akari caught the God and proved that there was indeed an Almighty Sinnoh. But tonight, Ingo felt a spark of faith in his heart. Before laying down for bed, Ingo hung his cape and coat up, and knelt before his bed, head hung low.

“Nispa-Kamuy Sinnoh, akor ak-Emmet kamuy-nomi, ak-Emmet wano arka atusare, wa uni kunne hom horari.(2)” He kept the prayer short, and hopefully simple. With a deep breath, he lays down and prepares for a rough night of sleep.

Translation Note: (1) Train (Ressha) (2) Almighty Sinnoh, I pray for my younger brother Emmet, for Emmet to be healed from his pain, and to live together as a knot in the wood.

#submas #submas fic #pokemon legends arceus #pokemon legends arceus fic #pokemon elesa #pokemon ingo #pokemon akari #giratina #nimbasabattleshipping #conductorshipping #<- both are implicit rather than explict #my writing #Electric Trains fic #chapter 7 is done and I'm working on chapter 8 #the more I write the more details deviate from my outline #this is becoming very lore-independent on the unova side as I go #I might wanna write that stuff down so I have it somewhere

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