#ingo reveals that he too has a cain instinct

[kelpiemomma]

since i have very kind readers, have some juice. story snippets for the three current WIPs below the cut.

Fire at Will - you’re gonna carry that weight

“We are going home, and we are telling Ingo.” Emmet instructed as he helped Akari back to her feet. She was wobbly and coming down off an adrenaline high again, but Emmet could no longer stand by and watch. He admired her bravery but it was now verging on stupidity and re-traumatizing her.

“No, it’s fine, we don’t need to tell him yet! Not yet!” Despite her physical weakness she still argued with him, but Emmet wasn’t allowing it. Not today.

“Yes, we do. We need to tell him, and we are telling him today. This is not an easy battle for you, but do you think it is easy for me? Do you think I enjoy seeing you hunched over like you’re trying to turn into a Shelmet?” Akari was silent, looking away mulishly. For all her shyness, she could also be incredibly stubborn. Emmet had a rough idea of how she’d been treated in Hisui, could understand where her reluctance to rely on others came from, but he couldn’t entertain her any longer. “You are afraid, and that is okay. But I cannot support you from beside Arceus, and you need support that is not your pokemon battling for you.”

Jumping the Rail

"She's fine." He finally said with a sniff. Elesa laughed in delight and elbowed Akari.

"That means he's proud of you." She said with a wink. Akari grinned at her and then at Emmet. Despite the expression he could see turmoil in her eyes- despite Elesa's acknowledgement, she doubted the words. There was a slight downturn in the corner of her smile, how she looked quickly down at the food in her hands. Emmet sighed. She was doing better, and he had promised to do the same.

“She is improving well. Each battle is better than the last and she’s figuring out how to read her pokemon’s movements quicker. One day she might be an actually proficient battler instead of a survivor.” He rolled his eyes as he spoke, sighing like giving a compliment was like pulling a nail.

He bit his cheek to hide a grin at the way her face lit up.

“Do you think he pulled a muscle saying that?”

Arms Outstretched

“Man, it’s been so long since I got to show anyone around! The last person was Koga from Kanto, sometime last year, and that was with Cynthia hovering over me. Probably for the best, honestly. The dude’s kinda bonkers about his poison types and I absolutely would’ve said something wrong; did you know he makes his own poisons and antidotes? You know what that means, right? It means the dude’s been poisoning himself for years. I can tell, I think it’s done something to his brain. I can’t even say it’s damaged because he’s smart as hell, but like, really. Poisoning yourself? That’s a dedication I don’t think even I could have.” She hopped into the driver’s seat once they were settled, put on her seat belt, and pulled out into traffic while barely looking at who else was on the road. If Ingo weren’t so tired he’d be terrified of her driving and what it might mean for his safety, but at this point death was nothing but eternal sleep and he would welcome it.

She continued talking without waiting for any sort of response from the Unovans. Something about her voice soothed part of Ingo and he quickly found himself drifting off to sleep leaning against the window. There were no strange dreams- there hadn’t been for a few weeks now. The last one… the last one had been when he’d promised he’d help the girl. She had said something, something that even when he’d written it down in his new journal… he couldn’t remember. His hand had felt blocked, like something was preventing him from writing down what she had said. Without being able to write down and see what had happened the memory of it vanished. The lack of dreams felt oddly like a punishment.

NICHE NICHE NICHE FIC you all may never even SEE but i adore this part

“Did you put-”

“Pecha berries in it, yes Miss Akari. I know you are partial to them.” He stirred the stew gently, only glancing up when she made a small noise of upset.

“What are you partial to?” She asked, gaze intent and slightly disapproving.

Oh, Sinnoh. Even though he was cooking he should have realized-

“I have no preference, Miss Akari. I simply enjoy my food as it is.” Ingo responded and hoped that would be the end of it. Naturally, his wish was unfulfilled. He was used to it at this point.

“You can enjoy it as it is but there has to be something you like more than the rest! Is it an oren berry? No, I bet it’s a leppa berry! You enjoy something spicy, don’t you?” She made a face at that, like the idea of him enjoying a spicy berry personally offended her. Ingo struggled to keep a straight face and turned his gaze down to the pot to hide his amusement.

“No. I suppose, if anything, I enjoy a good aspear berry, but I believe that comes from having spent so much time in the Alabaster Icelands. Given that they can heal frost, it is best to learn to enjoy a berry that can save your life.”

Akari grunted, accepting the answer. She didn’t seem thrilled by it. The Warden knew he had to do something.

“I suppose,” Ingo said after a moment, “that I also enjoy… the memory that comes along with an aspear berry. It is nothing concrete but… I remember sitting beside someone and eating something sour. The shape their face made had me in stitches from laughing so hard. They did not enjoy sour things, but sometimes I could fool them into eating or drinking something sour… sometimes they did it knowingly because they knew it would make me laugh.”