#maybe hes on a train. a subway even... hm...

[pokemon--masters]

just a random ass doodle idk what this pose is supposed to. Be

[a-tale-of-legends]

Before I went to bed I was thinking of the fallout Wayne and Hugh had and what Eva would do during/ after that. I don't want her to just be regarded as the mediator so. I think she would scold Hugh. Say that Hugh is their friend and the probably had a good reason - though. Hm. I should think of Eva's opinions of team plasma in general actually hmmmm.

Anyway that thought process resulted in my thinking about Wayne again....and him maybe meeting Elliot? I dunno, I was thinking of him hiding in the battle subway for whatever reason, and Elliot finds him. Wayne recognizes Elliot as the hero girl that stormed the castle and Elliot is like. " Wait....Plasma" and poor Wayne is freaking out bc he thinks she's gonna hurt him. She isn't, but she does give him the chance to speak his truth. He was crying just now. So Wayne explains everything, and the more he talks the less cold Elliot becomes, even sitting down next to him as he explains his emotions. Eventually this explanation leads to self loathing, Wayne questioning why he bothered trying to be a hero when he's " just rotten the core"....which makes Elliot laugh. Not bc she's being mean but bc from her perceptive, half of the shit he's worried about wouldn't be a worry for him if he was " rotten to the core". He has heart, and is clearly trying to do good in the world. She also recognize that he was just a kid, like she was. He....they can't blame themself for things out of their control. They're simply trying their best. ( <- wise advice that she may or may not apply to herself in the future)

Anyway, I think after that pep talk she actually suggests Wayne does the battle train...and that's when Eva shows up, hug tackling Wayne and gently scolding him for running off and making her worried sick. And then she notices Elliot there and kinda fan girls a bit ( I dunno if that'll stay but I thought it was cute). Seeing that there's two of them are there now, she suggests the double train ( Wayne asks if Elliot will be battling against them and Elliot goes " HA! No. I'm way too strong for you rookies" which I think sparks a lil challenge in Eva).

And now we go back to Eva and Wayne! Cause I think this whole train car trip pretty much strengthened their bond together. Eva even points out that Wayne is an incredible battler, far more than he gives himself credit for. I think as things continue, they really start to realize how in sync they are with each other, hyping each other up, covering each other's backs....their friendship and bonds grows tighter!!! They were having so much fun that they didn't even realize they actually reached the subway bosses hgvhvgvgvcg. Do they win?.....No lol. I think it would be funny if they actually lost BUT it didn't hurt. If anything they left the train smiling and giggling like crazy! They're pokemon, who were healed up a bit, were just as gitty. I think this is probably the first time Wayne really battled so seriously? They weren't against plasma grunts. I'm still not sure if Wayne is taking the gym challenge like Eva and Hugh, though I feel like he has the capacity for it. Just not sure if he goes for it right now. Overall, it made Wayne actually warm up to pokemon battling a lot!!! He felt so connected to Eva and his pokemon! Maaaaaybe he tries the league post game, who knows.

Anyway,I didn't think of how it ended bc I'm pretty sure I went to bed lol. But it was really sweet though! I had the urge to post about it earlier, bc God, it made me love Eva and Wayne's friendship.

[newdestination]

☕

"Oh, talk about anything at all...?"

"Well, if you really don't mind, I suppose."

"I'm sure you're familiar with... well. Hm." Maybe not, actually. Best start somewhere else...

"Have you... heard of the UL-1 diesel trains?" Ingo begins somewhat tentatively, voice bent low like a secret shared. It's somewhat jarring to hear him so quiet. "They were primarily produced by GyL Co.— That would be Gyarados Locomotives, if it rings a bell. Backed by the League, actually!" And there goes his volume control. Record time.

"This was all a few decades ago, of course. You certainly won't find any of them still in operation here in Unova as of today— though, a few models were recently bought by Kanto's rail system, so we may be seeing them back in their full glory in the coming years. Personally, I'm a little worried about the reliability of the model— they look quite appealing and modern even to today's standards, but they frequently have issues with the engines on account of an ongoing labor strike and a time crunch to stay competitively viable against the PTL— ah, that's Pikaexpress Transport Logistics—" Is he even stopping to breathe?

"—which is part of the reason why so few are still in existence in a functional state. Unreliability resulted in most of them being scrapped, but the beauty of the design itself has lent quite well to miniature reproductions! I've actually found recently that I own the toy model myself! It even comes with a soundboard— have you ever heard the horn of one? It's quite flat and crisp for the make standards at the time." Needless to say, Ingo's done a lot of brushing up since his return.

"And, this may sound strange coming from myself, but I quite prefer trains without those bold, flat-front faces the more modern varieties of subway and passenger trains most always ubiquitously have. The old steam locomotives have a special sort of charm in their silouhette— oh, the aerodynamic nose of the Johto Maglev has it's own appeal too, I would say. You see quite a good deal of that sort of design in high-speed rails. The UL-1 and UL-2 have quite a nice front, too. It's a bit flat, but the control cab being offset from the rest of the nose gives it some nice interest."

"Oh, and—" Ingo abruptly flips on his heel, leaving the front door wide open. He reemerges only a few minutes later with a relatively new-looking book packed from end to end in stickynote annotations. They peek from between the folds, the fore edge warped from the additions. When Ingo opens the book an entire set of stapled and folded pages tucked near the spine tries to spring free— "Just a moment, if you'll look here—" he neatly presses it back in as he flips to a page near the end.

"Now, the more modern construction of these sorts of engines—"

[tunastime]

Hi tuna! How about 14?

this song has aaaaalways been a pick for some pokemon ocs I have with some friends!! I made him (Apricot, and his bestest Buizel) up when I started playing pokemon arceus last year, and I really like him. so this is him in nimbasa city :3c (425 words)

“So,” Apricot starts, a little under his breath as he leans a fraction closer to Chance. “Why a train? Did they ever say why it was a subway train, and not like… something else?”

Chance shrugs, just one shoulder, as he hands Apricot half of a sandwich. Apricot plucks it from his hand, gives it a tentative sniff, then takes a large bite. 

“There’s already a battle tower,” he starts. “And gyms are typically the same format as well, hallways or traps or obstacles, to make it fun. Maybe it was just something for fun?”

Another shrug. Apricot shrugs too, frowning a little.

“Maybe I should ask them,” he says when he swallows. He wrangles off a piece of bread from the end of the sandwich, offering it to Floatzel sitting on his feet. Chance nudges him with his elbow.

“What?” Apricot startles. “Oh.”

“You don’t need to be feeding him bread, Apricot,” Chance sighs. It’s mostly lost in the rumble of the train against the tracks, slow and methodical. It rocks them together as they sit on the soft-padded, worn blue bench, watching the subway walls dance grey in front of them. They’ll be free to switch cars as soon as the train does its stop to let out the losing passengers. For now, Apricot strategizes out loud and Chance hands him snacks. He’s grateful for that—who knows what Marlow would have said if Apricot had told him he typically wasn’t eating during his Battle Subway runs. 

“Do we have any poke-treats?” Apricot asks, his added, questioning ‘hm?’ implied rather than said outright. Chance grumbles. He fishes around in his bag for a moment before he produces one small bag of slightly crushed cookies.

“We do,” he says triumphantly. “Though they’re a bit sandwich crushed, Float, if that’s okay with you?”

Floatzel sets his head against Chance’s knee, looking up at him with wide, dark eyes. Chance snorts and proceeds to fish out a few of the larger chunks to hold out to him. With small, sharp teeth and paws, Floatzel devours his snack much as Apricot does.

“You think they chose a train?” Chance asks as Apricot takes another large bite of his sandwich. Apricot shrugs. 

“Maybe,” he starts, swallowing hard. “It’s kind of like, their thing, so I figured maybe like you said, it was supposed to be unique, and then they just really played into it.” He shrugs again, spreading his one free hand in a gesture of who’s-to-say. “Are subways even trains?”

“Yeah?” Chance says, snorting. “Why wouldn’t they be?”

[wormhole2anywhere]

It's unexpected but I accidentally somehow managed to unintentionally catch this when it published ajfbsnf

My things for this session are a long list so bear with it as we navigate through it all-

Certainly an unexpected passenger has come on board! Team Galactic's leader Cyrus has somehow boarded the battle subway?! It seems that this strangely colored Giratina with ... Is that subway boss Emmet? is keeping a close eye on some passengers inside of this train...

Oh no! VD!Emmet/Special Costume (Klinklang) Emmet's plush has fallen down! He doesn't seem too happy about it either, or maybe he's just very engrossed about the floor... Wonder what could have caused it to fall

Joining the Zoroark party is a definitely not foreign Zoroark by the name of Ray, pondering if he should really chime into the party itself or if he should just stay watching, as he tends to do...

And happy birthday Chemmet! VD!chemmet and Chatan have come to the party as guests (bringing the color teal randomly to this vastly pink expanse) and brought a cupcake to celebrate the fact that their little peer is now one year old! A birthday full of cuteness (and nondescript flavor cupcake)

"Oh? Hm? Why am I here you ask? Why wouldn't I be in this gathering, mortal? Did you perhaps want my blessing?"

It would seem that the starling of creativity has decided to drop by for no particular reason other than having otherworldly fun! Sporting perhaps a strange growth of hair compared to the last time he crossed into this realm (though that is a debatable topic), Ray welcomes any and all that try to strike a conversation with him for the sake of entertainment, after all, they have knowledge to share with the world

This time, he seems particularly to appreciate the presence of small chemmet to the side (thank you BK for the precious chemmets) for the time being

And of course, he also has an appreciation for the masculine beauty of... Ingöörija, the most cha cha cha man of the Pokémon world, since why shouldn't a starling appreciate a good work of art (yes Ray is speaking to thee Junya-sama, you know who you are and what you have done~)

Speaking of manly beauty here comes the lord of hell himself packing the sheer beauty of few others even among his kin, the monthly Satans, this time modeled after a specific quote that sone may understand the origin of, some may not, but to me it's funny all the same

This one goes specifically to the fellow Satan appreciator who is responsible for this quote (you know who you are) though any Satan enjoyers are free to bask in his glory, he's definitely one of my prettiest... Nay, the prettiest of them all for now

Upon seeing the pastel table and minty owner's (credits to the creators of whatever the hells the combo is supposed to be) I decided to make a little small present for the minty subway boss enjoying the presence of the table, hence my first crack at sketchless and lineless art and rendering with magma's convenient brush update, featuring cupcake that even chemmet seems excited to try out!

Yes, yes, I promise we're almost done...

Initial D featuring butlermas, Emmet is about to drift harder than the Origin Palkia/Dialga theme ever has (is this how Ingo got sent to Hisui?) And it doesn't seem like Ingo is fond of the lack of safe driving his brother seems to be doing... What kind of thrill must Emmet expect from racing with that car?

"Please stop with the embarrassing names!"|"Please stop calling me a lamb!"

"My name is Crick, and you would do well remembering it!"

So spoke a brave sanctum knight with a pure heart that had the misfortune (?) of meeting a particularly teasing Inquisitor, Crick Wellsley makes a(n) (re?) appearance in free doodle magma as some mild expression and position practice as well as for the sake of riding a creative high I had this session (what was I on)

"The truth... lies in the Flame."

Accidental fire effect practice (?) with the Inquisitor Temenos Mistral, also dragged along to the expression practice, completing the two piece enactment of two of my favourite Octopath Traveler II quotes

Lastly, but not leastly! Wilhelm Von Clausewitz Halcyon HISUIMARU in person, staring up at the stars above with what seems to be the knowledge that good things await them in the future... Right?

That's all I had to showcase for the magma! Uh... Yes I drew a lot, thank you for sticking around, if you did!

November Magma "1st Anniversary" results!!

Main event: Anniversary Party!

It's already been a year since I started running these monthly events, would you believe that!! For this special occassion we invited Pokémon characters for a big party in the Battle Subway, and it turned out fantastic!! Check it out!!

There are many cool references to our previous Magma events in these scenes! Can you spot them all? Two of the amazing backgrounds (the train entrance) contributed by @beastkonohaworld and the plushie showcase is by @fishmanfishman3 (on Twitter)! The other half of the event is under the cut!

Mini-event: Zoroark Party!

This lovely forest party venue was made by @wafflecat2!

Mini-event: Chemmet's 1st Birthday Party!

This cute little guy @beastkonohaworld created has appeared in every single doodle session since the very beginning and has been bringing cheer and love for numerous artists and their works!! Likes and comments are always very much appreciated, but it's really something else when someone actually interacts with your art! Chemmet has given so much for us, so now it's his turn to receive all the love!

And finally: November free doodle session results!

So much wonderful art here!! Some folks did something really cool and redrew their earliest Magma pieces here!! To see the improvement so concretely is very exciting and rewarding to see, you've all worked really hard on your art throughout the year!!

I am proud of these results, I'm proud of your hard work, and I'm proud to have been your monthly event host for 13 months straight! It has been quite the personal challenge but it has also been a great pleasure: seeing you all draw, connect, have fun and create amazing things together has very much been worth the effort!! Once again:

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING MY MAGMA EVENTS!!! I hope to see you all in our next event on December 25-30th!

[despair-to-future-arcs]

okay 1. Kotoko let's face it someone was gonna call you that eventually Komaru or Kanon weren't even the only person you've done that to. 2. how do you know about that? Did you have cameras on that train Utsugi?

Wh-What the hell, what gives you the right to say that crap to me! She told me that it wasn't reco-!

Not recorded? Hmph, for someone that was one of Monaca's little followers, you sure are an idiot; we saw what you did and knowing you, you probably wanted this to happen.

You...you weren't suppose to see that, it...it wasn't suppose to happen...

Then probably it's a good thing we did see that, so you better stay the hell away from me and Kanae if you know what's good for you, you molester and thanks to your actions I had adults actually try to kill me, and the fact I had to rely on rapist says a lot...

...I...I was-!

???: Hey...

*standing there was Masashi* Oh...it's you...

Rui, can you stop talking with Kotoko and show the others the weapons, I think given your skills - they might need to learn.

Huh? Masashi, I thought you were gonna teach them...

I was but as say, I do need help so maybe go help them, I'll come later.

Hm yeah, okay then! *Rui walks away as Masashi walks over to Kotoko*

...What do you want?

I heard some shouting and came over, I heard some of it...

I'm... sorry that he say that stuff, Rui and his sister were attack by child hating-adults in the past due to what you and your friends did, he hasn't gotten over it.

Yeah, I can tell... seems everyone has an issue with me, I'm not even sure why; I...I thought what I did 2 chicks wasn't recorded, did... did Monaca record me...?

Wouldn't be surprise as Japanese subways do have cameras in them so she has proof but Rui isn't wrong about seeing the footage, the whole shelter knows about it.

Which... maybe you shouldn't try to confront Kota.

Wh-What...? But why...?

Because I know him well enough he would use that footage against you, if the residents discover that you were there then he'll do everything to make Future Foundation much worse.

Unless you want to make things difficult then I recommend you don't confront him as much as you want to.

...

[cryptidofthekeys]

I TOTALLY FORGOT ABT THE ASK THING WHSHSHSHSHHS-- it's been so long since I've properly interacted on this app. I'll try and remember for next time!

AND YESSS-- I didn't even know where the two was from at first...but when i saw them I knew I needed to find whatever media they were from and BINGE WATCH IT.

THus what started me on my ✨️ Epic Pokemon Journey ✨️

BUT NO I LOVE THEM BOTH SM I WANT TO CONSUME EVERY WAKING MEDIA OF THEM WHSRHDHHR IM OBSESSED IM OBSESSED. And now I have yet another way of rabidly consuming media of them to fill my brain with serotonin (aka, ur silly tumblr blog).

Also...omg...submas...I didn't even know that existed until now- had to Google what it was--. Holy SHIIIT I am going to explode /pos. Are you gonna write anything for submas / have already written something for it???????

Yeye! I get'cha and legit! Imma be honest when I played PLA (Pokemon Legends Arceus) I legit saw Ingo and was like oh, hes kinda cool ...hm hes familiar- and then it hit me- I was like ...THATS THE FUCKING SUBWAY BOSS N OOOO-

ah my beloved Pokemon Black n White ....those games haunt me /hj (i love em fr tho) but the goddamn Subway Bosses just- beat the shit out of me so many times when I was younger playing the games- I don't expect that to change, the one to give me the most hell was Emmet but I guess its fitting

and FGJDKJFHGKD frrrr tho- I will consume every bit of media of these two funky lil guys, they have legit become comfort characters and its so weird to me because, I've loved Pokemon ever since I was a kid, like a YOUNG kid- but I've NEVER??? gotten any sort of attachment to any of the characters? like, its only been the silly creechurs

-----------------------------------------------

So its weird to have actual comfort characters now (...I suppose I DO like N cause that's one of my best fren's faves for one but also N's a funky n weird lil dude) ...And also from PLA, Volo- I do like Volo a lot

----------------------------------------------

Submas, Subway Bosses, etc- they gotta few titles that I know of- the silly lil train lads (btw! I got some plushies of them finally, not, not the official ones oh god NO- they would've emptied my monies, etsy had some alts <3)

and that's... Honestly a good question! As of right now, I don't know, but maybe in the future I'll write with the silly lil train guys both just of themselves and then well I DO have a Pokemon Trainer Sona that I've made and well, Ingo definitely plays a part in his story.

But for now I'm not sure if I'll write for them just yet

[sollucets]

could you maybe write something where akk calls aye his home?

i absolutely can do that, nonny, thank u for asking! have a little bit (1.5k. of course.) of long-distance akkaye :') loosely related to the last prompt but fine to read without it

💜

“Akk, are you sleeping?” 

Aye’s voice is tinny, the noises of a subway station behind him just the right side of too-loud through Akk’s phone speakers to catch his slow-moving attention. His headphones must have slipped out; he doesn’t remember it happening. 

“No,” he answers, like a liar, and pushes himself upright on his dorm bed with some effort.

He’d given up on holding his head up to look at the screen part way through Aye talking about one of the other international students he works with and her hopeless crush on a Thai grad student senior of theirs that Aye is 100% sure is taken, and all of the accompanying drama. “You think P’Win has a partner already.” 

“That’s the last thing you heard?” Aye asks, pouting a little on the tiny screen under his big blue scarf. His cheeks are pink. It’s really, really cute. Someone passes behind him; Akk thinks he hears the edges of a robotic voice making an announcement. “I don’t just think so, I know so, and I was telling you all the evidence.”

“Do you have a conspiracy board for this too, or am I still special?”

Aye says something extremely inappropriate for a public place in response, but he says it in Thai, so he’s probably safe. Akk still opens his mouth to scold him on principle, but he’s caught by a yawn before he can say anything, jaw cracking unpleasantly. 

Aye’s expression melts from put-upon irritation to fondness so quickly it’s impressive. “You don’t have to stay up so late for me,” he says. “Don’t you have class in the morning? At nine, right?” 

“Don’t remind me,” grumbles Akk with a sigh, but he swings his legs over the side of the bed, picks up his phone sans headphones, and heads into the bathroom barefoot. “It’s not really so late. And besides, you’d pout if I went to bed without calling. It’s our day.”

Their day, Thursday specifically, had been the day that worked best with both their busy schedules and the six-hour time difference for most of the first semester of their time apart. They’ve missed only once, during Akk’s midterms, and Aye had texted no less than thirty times that day, all test-taking memes and supportive emojis. Now, though, Aye’s classes combined with his new work in his university's tutoring center run into the London evening; it’s midnight in Chiang Mai. 

Aye says something in response, but whatever it is is drowned out by the noise of a rush of people behind him, all probably getting off of a train. 

“What?” asks Akk, propping his phone against the bathroom mirror and grabbing his toothbrush. 

“If it’s really not that late, then why are you falling asleep while I’m talking, hm? Am I so boring to you?” 

Akk rolls his eyes, squeezing out a little toothpaste, and says, “Maybe I just didn’t want to hear you go on and on about P’Win anymore, hm?” 

As expected, Aye zeroes in on that immediately. “Aww, is my baby jealous?”

Akk sticks his toothbrush in his mouth to avoid answering and weathers the ensuing and expected storm of teasing very bravely, if he does say so himself. He lets the ease of falling into a familiar dynamic soothe the very slight sting, and he listens patiently without showing even a hint of a smile on his face at how pleased Aye looks to have ‘won’ that admission. 

“And he’s almost as handsome as me,” Aye is saying, in his most annoying tone of voice, when suddenly he seems to stutter for a moment, his expression freezing in place on his face. It’s odd enough that Akk makes a questioning noise through his mouthful of toothpaste. 

“Akk…” Aye starts. He looks conflicted now, mouth turning down even as he speaks. “You’re not — really, though, right?”

Akk blinks. Then spits. Then says, “No,” even though it’s not 100% true.

His face must show it, because Aye’s frown droops even further and he says, clearly enunciated, “It’s not like that. You know I’m just—”

“Teasing,” Akk interrupts, having mercy on him. “I know. Aye, no, you’re fine. I don’t actually think you’re serious, or you wouldn't have spent the last half hour explaining why P’Win is absolutely definitely taken anyway.” And you wouldn’t usually worry that I did, Akk thinks, so why?

Usually, if he thinks he’s gone too far, Aye just drapes himself over Akk like a particularly affectionate cat, no matter what he’s doing. He kisses his way back to forgiveness, he brings Akk dinner or looks over his homework or buys him stupid, cute little charms to put on his phone keychain, and Akk always lets him even and especially if he isn’t actually mad, and — he can’t do any of that, six hours and half the world away. Oh. This is that communication thing they’re supposed to be better at by now. 

Aye is still staring at him with giant, horrible pleading eyes, because he doesn’t believe him, and he shouldn’t because Akk is still sort of lying. 

Akk sighs. “I’m jealous of anyone who gets to see you all the time.” He can’t keep looking at Aye, his gaze drifting towards the edge of the bathroom counter. “Just a little. That’s all it is. I’m— glad you have Thai friends, actually. You seemed a bit homesick lately. I think it’s cheering you up.” 

It’s silent for a little too long, and Akk finally looks up to make sure nothing’s happened to the connection and finds Aye with one hand over his mouth, eyes still huge but soft around the edges now. 

“What,” he mumbles. 

“My boyfriend is the sweetest,” Aye says, as he’d feared he would, all earnest and sincere and completely without the teasing edge, which makes it worse. 

Akk jerks his head away again, in a motion he couldn’t control if he wanted to. He puts his toothbrush into the cup with more force than is strictly necessary. “It’s just the truth, isn’t it?” 

“Phi reheated omelets on his break the other day and I thought I was gonna cry for a minute,” Aye tells him, laughing an embarrassed little laugh. “They’re not right here. They’re all undercooked and flavorless.”

“Did you get to have any?” asks Akk, imagining Aye looking (up, statistically) at this mysterious P’Win with his awful begging eyes.

“I wouldn't steal my senior’s lunch.”

Akk can’t help the little satisfied twitch of his mouth at that scandalized tone. Aye steals Akk’s lunch all the time. “Too bad. I get it a little, though. I really miss the way my mom prepares things.” 

Chiang Mai is easily 14 hours of travel from his house, more if you count having to switch trains, and he’s only been back once. He dutifully calls his parents every Sunday, but they don’t really have good enough reception there for regular video calls. 

Aye makes a sympathetic noise, then glances at something up and to the right of the camera. He frowns. “Baby, I have to go soon.” 

“‘Kay,” answers Akk, raising a hand to cover a sudden yawn. 

“Don’t worry about me too much,” Aye says, smiling at the screen all little and v-shaped. “I’m okay. I’ll go to a market and get my own ingredients and make my own omelet, and I’ll text you all the time, and I’ll call my mom twice so she can pretend I’m her favorite over you. Don’t you get too homesick either, okay?”

“Even if—“ Akk starts, hesitates, then forges on. He can say these things; he’s worked to say these things. “Even if I visit,” he tells Aye’s tiny, beloved face, miles and miles away and here in his dorm bathroom, “I’ll still be homesick until you come back. You’re my home.” 

Aye stares at him, mouth open for a minute, then demands, “Pick up your phone.”

“What?”

“Just do it. Pick up your phone.”

Slowly and distrustfully, Akk takes his phone off the counter and holds it closer to his face. “Wha—“

Aye’s screen moves suddenly closer and then goes dark, the sound weird and muffled. “Hug me,” he says, just barely audible. 

Akk laughs a little, breathless and pointlessly fond. What must it look like, to those people in the subway station? Alone in his own room, though, he doesn’t hesitate to pull his phone to his chest, right over his heart. 

After a moment, though, he gives in to the temptation to peek and finds the screen still dark. “Aye.”

The station blurs into view again behind an Aye who looks notably pinker than before, a rush of people just like the last one passing behind again. “You’re so — I love you so much,” Aye tells him, sounding helpless, “and I miss you. It’s stupid that term break is still so far away.”

“Aye,” says Akk again, unable to stop grinning if he’d actively tried. “Don’t be late for your train.”

“They’re always late for me,” grumbles Aye, but he sighs and says, “Go to bed, okay? I’ll talk to you later.”

“Love you too,” Akk tells him, just before hanging up so he doesn’t have to deal with whatever new heart-squeezing thing Aye’s face is going to do at that. 

Just before he actually gets into bed, quiet in the sudden silence of his empty dorm, his phone lights up with a text: "❤���❤️❤️❤️"

And far away, in a subway car in England, Aye barely represses a little noise of delight to receive “❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️” in return. 

[blueskilled]

Cyrano bobbed a sharp nod to Emmet and waved a hand to direct him to the nearest station, "You'll find that the Terrarium has a plethora of Pokemon Centers in bite-sized stations littered about in key locations. Our nearest one is right up this path. It's certainly in a way, but I think you'll be perfect for training it. I know from experience the talent you possess! I have no doubts you'll be able to at least give this little one a comfortable home."

He scaled the path back to the pokemon center and made quick greetings to the students that he passed along the way. While he was certainly handling the situation as carefully as possible, having real and true belief that Emmet was in a position to care for the pokemon, he was still bright and jovial with anyone that passed them by on their way. Now that they had the pokemon in hand, he could relax a bit, knowing that it would be safe after it was cared for.

"It probably doesn't necessarily need to be a battler," he continued as he wound his way over electrically charged rocks, "even if I feel like it could be a good one. Maybe it can help the subway somehow, hm? They can be handy in technological spaces. Believe it or not, they're good for managing high-energy spaces. They can be problematic if you need more power, but they can also be good for ensuring you don't have overload issues."

Directors of any sort are always on top of things going on with what they're working with. More often than not, this is the truth. One wouldn't be the 'Director' if they couldn't direct! Still, the Terrarium was quite the vast space, and Director Cyrano had more on his plate than just the four biomes. For that, the Subway Boss was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Still, this poor thing appeared as if it could barely move! Wouldn't at least one of the Blueberry Academy students point this Joltik as an odd-one-out? That's what Emmet wanted to think, yet him, a mere visitor to the Terrarium, ended up being the one to rescue it. Joltik never once stopped the slight tremble in the palms of his gloved hands…

Emmet always had a smile on his face, because everything would always be okay in some way! Cyrano's seriousness of the situation gave the Subway Boss hope that things would be settled. Really, Emmet couldn't appreciate it more. Cyrano always had some sort of positive goofiness to him; it made him as approachable as he was when Emmet sought him out. Then again, a director had to direct.

Finder's keepers was a funny phrase, which shocked Emmet even more with Cyrano's proposition. "Me? You believe I can train the Joltik?" He looked down at the Pokemon, staring at it for a few moments. Emmet was the absolute last person to turn down something like this, but a thought popped into his head that seemed too important to ignore.

"Now? I believe the Joltik is in a verrry unstable state. I must depart at once with it." Emmet carefully picked up the Joltik and gave Cyrano a determined look. "Could you lead the way to the Pokemon Center, our destination?"

[au-wannabe-the-very-best]

@scribesynnox​

Yeah Ingo’s a little shit with or without his memories. If he wants to avoid answering something, he WILL pawn off the conversation to another unsuspecting victim and then just. Not Warn Them. 

As for the whole “humans evolving” thing I think that’s pretty much canon because otherwise I can’t imagine anyone surviving half the shit that happens. Like, Ash getting electrocuted all the time would have given him heart problems at this point. And maybe brain damage.

But Ingo being born with it is infinitely funnier too so hmmm. Yeah we’ll go with that. Random Normal Train Man is just IMMUNE to every status condition. Gets hit by a confuse ray and just continues on like nothing’s happened. Someone accidentally uses toxic on him during a battle on the subway and they FREAK but Ingo’s like hm? Oh nothing happened. And then continues to wreck their Pokémon without a break.

Akari is similar just like. Picks up a sparking Pichu that’s clearly using thunder wave on her and moves it away from camp. Not even a twitch. Ingo finds nothing wrong with this. 

[harveybwabbit92]

Down the wormhole: Emmet x fem Reader [1/3]

Soulmate au: where a tattoo-like rings with names appear on your fingers when you meet your soulmate(s) the color varies on the type of soulmate. Platonic or familiar show up as purple or blue and appear on your middle or index finger, and romantic soulmates are usually red or pink and appear on your ring finger.

[Summary:  AU: A girl in a world without Pokémon gets warped to Unova and appears in the gear station after hours, where she's found by  Emmet, things do not start out all wishy-washy between them, Emmet is cold towards Y/n's existence and ignores anything she tries to do for him, angst with happy end.]

---------------------------------------------

Y/n sighed as she looked down at the dinner table another day of wasted food.... *I don't why I even bother doing anything for him, he's never gonna thank me...* The y/ht woman thought as she scraped the cold food into the Pokémon's food dish Emmet's Joltiks came crawling out of the woodwork happily squeaking as they devoured the abandoned meal, funny how these little yellow fuzzballs used to scare Y/n when she first arrived in this world three months ago, then again when Y/n first arrived she was scared of everything! Pokémon didn't exist in her world they were just a game series! That was hard thing to explain to the international police agent that was sent to interview her. 

Once Emmet and the Nimbasa PD believed Y/n wasn't a suicidal woman who hadn't tried jump in front of an oncoming train of course. Then she found out she was Emmet's soulmate, and was happy at first thinking. "Hey, alright, I won't be alone, I'll have someone who cares about me and will teach me how this world works!" Y/n thought wrong as soon she was returned to Emmet's custody, he pretty much made it clear he found her presence annoying.

The only time he acknowledged the Y/ht once. (Aside from saving Y/n from the tracks.) was when he asked about the wormhole she fell out of? She knew he was asking in hopes that she could help him find Ingo, but when she couldn't give Emmet the answers he wanted, the subway boss pretty much regarded Y/hc as nothing more then a houseplant that he sometimes remembers to water. E.I leaves out some money for her use, and then stays at the station all day and then lock himself up in his room when he was home.

Y/n was optimistic at first she thought if maybe she did a little things around the house, then maybe Emmet would open up to her? Heck, she even started showing up during his lunch breaks to bring him food, she ignored the snickering from his fans and the sympathetic looks from the staff as Emmet turned her away for the umpteenth time, it seemed nothing she did seem to work, as it always resulted in the same annoyed grimace and cold shoulder from Emmet.

Not today though..."Here." she sighed handing the lunch she made to a random Depot Agent who looked at the y/hc surprised. "Do you want me to hand it off to the boss?" the agent asked bemused wat she wasn't going to his office like she usually does, Y/n just shook her head, she was done. "No, you can have it he'll just throw it away..." Y/n voice waivered as her lips quivered as she held back a sob, and left the station holding back tears. 

Y/n pretty much stayed locked in the guest room for the rest of the day, if she wasn't crying she was sleeping occasionally one of the baby Joltiks would peek in on her and try to get her to play with them, the y/hc woman would look at them sadly and rollover ignoring them, the Pokémon cooed sadly and scuttle away, it was long before Y/n heard the front door unlock, Emmet was home.

She heard him hang up his keys and walk to the kitchen and straight to hi...(silence.) *Hm.. Why'd he stop?* Y/n wondered, as she heard Emmet shuffle around the kitchen like he was looking for something, then she heard the fridge open. *oh, he was just getting a drink.* she thought before hearing his footstep start up down the hall again, Y/n noted the footfalls seemed a bit more brisk then usual before stopping in front of her door, Y/n closed her eyes as she felt Emmet staring at her back "um, y-y/n I...i hrn...." he tried to say something but gave up and just went to his room. 

(Meanwhile, let's have a rewind shall we?)

Emmet was at the Gear station headed to his office for his break, he sighed knowing Y/n was going to be there with that stupid fake smile on her face trying to get him to eat lunch with her, The conductor huffed as he rounded the corned only to furrow his brows when didn't see Y/n sitting on the bench by his office like she usually did, gray eyes surveyed the lobby bemused, as his stomach churned as wondered where the y/ht woman could be? when he heard two of his Depot agents sitting down to lunch. "Hey man that looks bomb, did your mom make that?" The older man asked his younger co-worker pointing at his lunch curiously.

"Um, no. That lady...uh Y/n gave it to me." Emmet's mouth felt dry as he watched the younger depot agent bite into the chili fries Y/n had made. "I can't believe the boss is turnin' these away, it so awesome!" Emmet looked between the warm and colorful sweet potato chili fries and the cold and bland vending machine egg sandwich in his hands frowned. "Hey wanna split the nanab bread? it's got choco-" the were cut off by Emmet's office door slamming shut loudly causing everyone in the lobby to jump.

Cut to Emmet coming home, the conductor felt the same butterfrees churning in his stomach, when he didn't hear Y/n greet him, he ignored it and continued passing by the kitchen and paused not seeing any dinner waiting on the table like you usually did, Emmet did something he hasn't done once since Y/n arrived he panicked, he looked around around the kitchen thinking she put the food away in cased he wanted it later... (he never did, but she still hoped).

He closed the fridge and briskly made his way to the guest room and relaxed a little when she saw Y/n on the bed back facing him, Emmet open and tried to speak "um, y-y/n I...i hrn...." he gave up and went his room, what the hell could he say? He spent months rebuffing her attempts at a relationship, and now suddenly he's acting like a jealous child, because Y/n gave another guy food? Elesa was right he is pathetic...

[later at 2am.]

Y/n woke up her eyes were sore and her mouth felt dry, she got out of bed and went to go to bathroom an get a drink, it was while Y/n was getting bottle of water out of the fridge, Y/n looked around the décor around the livingroom, she noted the gym badges and awards Ingo and Emmet had accumulated over the years, she's seen them all before, but for some reason, they're really standing out to her right now... *Maybe... Maybe I could be trainer, maybe that would get Emmet's attention?* Y/n thought if a bunch of ten year old can do it,  then so can she! Plus, Elesa did take her to the DTR (Department of trainers registration.) to get her license. The y/ht woman marched back into her room and quietly began to pack, Once Y/n was sure she had everything she needed she left a note on the kitchen table a went to put her shoes on when a sound caused her to pause.

Y/n tensed up and looked up and saw Emmet's Eelektross quietly coming towards her. "What are you doing?" she hissed checking down the hall to make sure Emmet wasn't awake. "Wross..." Did he have something in his mouth? Y/n held out her hand and grimaced as Electross deposited a slobber covered Pokéball in her hand, Ew...Wait, this was. "I-is this yours?" Eelektross smiled nodded.

"Elec.."

"You wanna come with me?"

"Tross!~"

"Ok, shh... But if anyone asks? it was your idea."

Eelektross  chirped a Y/n put him back in his ball and the y/th and quietly went out the backdoor and disappeared into the night, the next morning Emmet was woken up by a bunch of Joltiks angry screeching and jumping on his bed, the conductor woke up with a start and was looking at them bemused as he tried tried calming them down. "What's gotten into you guys?" he asked as they just kept screeching, He got Galvantula to eventually calm down her babies, but holy Arc were they mad! Emmet sighed as he looked at the calendar and saw it was his day off...

Great now, he's gotta decide if he'll locked up in here all day or actually try and mend...No, establish a bridge between him and Y/n... speaking of, Emmet sniffed the air and noticed there was no smell of food being cooked nor could he hear Y/n humming moving around the kitchen, which got him unnerved he checked the guest room and found the drawers were emptied, Emmet's stomach dropped as he ran around the house checking every room, He even checked Ingo's room....she's not here.

Emmet  walked into the kitchen to check the basement maybe she was just doing laundry, that why the drawers were empty! However he paused when he noticed the note left on the kitchen table, Emmet's hand was shaking as he read it. "That idiot..." he hissed running to his room got dressed and quickly rushed out the door, only to come back a few seconds later, when he realized he forgot his Pokémon, Emmet was on the phone with Elesa telling her about the situation, Oh, boy did the gym leader have few choice words for Emmet... But agreed to put the word have people keep an eye out for his soulmate, in his rush to get back outside, in his haste Emmet hadn't noticed  Eelektross 's ball was missing.

[Meanwhile: Note I'm using the Black and white two Pokédex.]

Y/n sighed as she collapsed on a rock exhausted feeling like she ran a marathon, she looked her shoulder and saw Nimbasa city a good distance away. "Damn, this place is bigger then it was in game... I must be in the anime." she sighed taking a drink of water from her canteen, while she was thinking about he next move Y/n didn't notice she was being watched, until Electross popped out of his ball growling. "What is it bud?" Y/n looked behind her and saw a Beldum peeking out from the bushes, watching them. "Oh... I see." Okay so this is happening Y/n thought as she reached for a Pokéball and wonder if she should attack first or throw blindly?

She opted for option two since Beldum looked pretty weak... Y/n aimed the Pokéball and threw it hitting Beldum it disappeared in a flash and the y/hc woman and  Eelektross  watched the ball cautiously as it moved around the flashed green. "Holy crap... I caught my first Pokémon!" Y/n cheered hugging  Eelektross  and picking up Beldum's ball only to feel the ground rumbling and something huge burst from the ground an Onix... Y/n looked back at Electross and swallowed hard. "Here go..." She said nervously hoping Eelektross knew a water move.

Cut to Y/n staring down at Onix's ball with a giddy smile, It was good thing Eelektross knew aqua tail otherwise that battle would've gone south real fast! Y/n gave Eelektross Sitrus berry to help it regain some the health it lost in it's battle with Onix, the last thing she wanted was Emmet having another reason to dislike her for. "I should probably heal Onix while I'm at it... Y/n hummed taking out Onix's ball and in a flash the rock snake was in front of her eyeing her warily as she sprayed him with super potion, Onix seemed to lighten up now he was healed up, all in all it was a great first day on the road.

[neon-moon-beam]

Just going to throw this out there...

Ingo probably isn’t old/aged in Legends: Arceus.

This is just what I think, you don’t have to agree.

Please don’t send me your theories or headcanons; I try to keep to what is stated or shown in-game as much as possible, especially because a lot of people seem to want and need reassurance* regarding Ingo (even though this post isn’t exactly about that), and I’m just not too interested in being DM’d about these things from strangers. *I made a post with reassurance here, though it is subject to updating due to the recent content update, and in the case that a DLC comes out. Possible spoilers ahead.

So here’s why I think one half of everyone’s favorite Battle Subway muppets has not turned into an old man before our eyes. Some of this I’m planning on working into future posts about similar topics:

Just in case anyone does not know, Ingo and Emmet naturally have grey hair. This is a series where anyone can have any hair color, even though people do age and turn grey in the series.

Ingo and Emmet have never been given a canon age, but as of BW and B2W2, they’re younger adults, as in they haven’t hit middle age yet.

A goatee can take around a month to grow, depending on the person (I am not someone capable of growing a goatee so I googled this info).

We also see several older men in the game who have defined face lines. Ingo just has eye bags.

The bags under his eyes and his stooped posture are likely from exhaustion. Some people get dark circles/bags from being tired that can clear up once they’ve rested. It’s clear his memory loss bothers him from his dialogue with the player during the Scaling Perilous Heights mission. He barely remembers Chandelure, just that it was a fire type, and even uses the word “lure” when talking about being sure it could have guided them through the unlit cave. He remembers Emmet, but not his name or even that he is his twin, just a man that looks like him and loves winning. He almost remembers HMs, as well as remembers people trained and battled with Pokemon. He probably would spend a lot of time trying to remember more, staying up late or all night (aside from how in game you can go to the Training Grounds any time of day), or even awakening from dreams that seem more like half-memories. Not to mention just finding yourself in a place without knowing much of who or where you are or what happened would take a toll on anyone. And if you’ve ever been exhausted or seen someone who’s been exhausted, then seen yourself/them after getting enough sleep and cleaning up a bit, there’s often a clear visual difference. Ingo can maintain his attitude, but his appearance is subject to his exhaustion.

We also don’t know (yet) how his uniform got so damaged. Considering how Ingo usually is, it’s likely something happened to him. Maybe not his arrival, since he “found himself” standing and the Pearl Clan immediately found him. He might not have been in Hisui much longer than Dawn/Lucas (more on this later), but long enough to be seen as capable and trusted by the Pearl Clan. While the Diamond and Pearl Clans tend to be suspicious of outsiders, we see in-game how quickly they’ll trust someone who proves capable, reliable, and kind. One battle is all it takes for them to realize Dawn/Lucas keeps Pokemon in Pokeballs to keep them closer, not to contain them as tools, and Irida herself trusts the player as soon as Kleavor is quelled by them. Considering what kind of person Ingo is, he probably gained the Pearl Clan’s trust in a day or two. Also if Legends: Arceus takes place between D/P/Pt/BDSP and BW (as evidenced by Caitlin), then Ingo is actually somewhat younger than we originally saw him (and would have to be sent back to Unova at some point). So he might be younger than we’ve seen him before, just exhausted and refusing to give up his tattered uniform. After all, it’s the only tangible thing from his past.

[belltrigger]

Wanted to do something completely unrelated to Ingo being faceplanted into Hisui. So I tried my hand at not being mean to Emmet...

Fluff fluff fluff, with a bit of suggestive, here we go.

Title: Not a Problem Anymore Word count: 1,400

Emmet had a problem.

You see, you see, he'd recently stumbled on the fact that his older brother had a secret! A secret secret that was being kept even from him.

That was the worst kind of secret. He couldn't let it go. It was important to maintain clear communication at all times.

And besides that--! He already knew what the secret was.

About a week ago, he had to stay overtime, and Ingo went home ahead of him. They almost always went home together, but going separately wasn't completely unheard of. He preferred travelling as a two-car train, though! What's Ingo doing by himself at home right now, he always always wondered whenever he was the one still at work.

That day, he decided to surprise Ingo by getting home early! The benefits were two-fold, you see. It would let him find out if Ingo did anything fun, and they'd also get to spend more time together. Maybe he could convince Ingo to go out to that popular restaurant to try their new curry.

It was hard to maintain safe travelling speeds when he got himself so eager, but he did it. It was even harder to enter their home without announcing his presence. It had to be a true surprise.

Even if he did get scolded for startling his older brother.

Coat and hat hung up next to Ingo's, and white shoes set next to black shoes. As always. Pleased, he stepped out of the entryway as quietly as he could, and peeked around.

He couldn't see Ingo's head over the back of the couch, and the tv was off. Continuing down the hallway past the doors to their rooms, marked with cute nameplates they'd kept from childhood, he peeked just slightly into the kitchen.

Hm, nope?

The bathroom door at the end of the hallway was open, light off. He looped back into the kitchen. His older brother wasn't in the dining room either.

All that was left was Ingo's bedroom. He felt a slight pang of disappointment at the idea that Ingo had just been taking naps. Not that he had any particular expectations, but that was a bit mundane wasn't it?

As he went to knock on his older brother's bedroom door, he heard sound from his own room.

Wait, his room?

A little slide towards the right, and he pressed an ear to the door. Not that he needed to, Ingo wasn't the best at speaking quietly. His brother had gotten so used to projecting his voice that it had become second nature to him. He had verrrry strong vocal cords.

But still, why was he in Emmet's room? "I am Emmet." he found himself whispering.

"No... that's still not right," Ingo sighed out within the room. "I have to use the very best words for this."

Ohhhh, was Ingo practicing for their battles? Was he thinking of using new lines? He found himself vibrating with excitement, but also--!! Ingo could have let him join! Just as he decided that this was the perfect time to surprise his brother and was reaching for the handle of the door, Ingo said something that made him pause.

"The words I use must fully express my feelings to Emmet." His face began to heat up. The way Ingo said feelings immediately had his thoughts and heart racing.

Could it be... a confession?

They'd both seen their fair share of confessions when they were in school, and even some once they'd become Subway Masters. He'd always felt a rush of relief whenever Ingo had turned the person down. At first, he'd never given it much thought! They were identical twins; he just didn't want the wrong person taking advantage of his kind, cool older brother.

He was content to leave the thoughts as to why he cared so much as they were. After all, in the end, he got to battle next to Ingo basically every day. They went all kinds of fun and interesting places together. They got to talk about pokémon and trains and figure out strategies together for hours. Ingo didn't do that with anyone but him.

So what if sometimes he got a little flutter in his chest when Ingo said his name, or smiled at him? So what if he'd started daydreaming up little scenarios in his head while he was bored waiting for challengers alone.

Caught in his heated blush, he almost missed the sound of Ingo moving in the room. Flustered, and not wanting to get caught, he all but tripped over himself to make his way to the front door.

Just as he reached the coat rack, hand on his hat as if hitting safe in a tag game, he heard the door open behind him.

"I'm home!" He twirled in place with the biggest smile he could muster, hoping his red cheeks didn't betray him. "Are you excited? I'm back early."

Ingo looked surprised, but simply closed the door of Emmet's room behind him. Probably thought he could play it off like he was returning something to Emmet.

But he didn't say anything about it at the time. They went about the rest of the night same as always. He and Ingo made dinner together. They watched some tv together. They went to bed later than normal, but only because Ingo had a revelation about a move combination they could incorporate. They said goodnight like normal.

Which is why he had a problem now!

You see, Ingo still hadn't said anything about it. It had almost been a week. He was starting to get impatient. Once he'd heard Ingo's not-confession, he'd begun to inspect the thoughts he had in more depth. The daydreams he had on the train waiting for challengers were starting to distract him. He'd alllllmost lost once because he'd been too engrossed in one of them.

He would probably have to make the first move instead.

Tonight, they were having dinner like normal. Well, almost like normal. He was probably staring at Ingo's mouth more often than usual.

Yesterday, he decided that he definitely wanted to kiss Ingo.

"--mmet?"

He blinked, lifting his head where he'd had it propped in his hand. "Huh?" Hastily, he scooped a mouthful of food in his mouth to catch up from the time he'd been staring.

Ingo looked amused, mouth turned up at the corners. "You're usually a lot more talkative about the breed standards of electric types." Wow, he had just completely blanked out the conversation, huh?

"Ahaha, sorry, I guess I'm just thinking about something good." He narrowed his eyes slightly, knowing his brother would catch the mischievous glint. He would give Ingo another chance to make the first move.

"Oh? Something good, hm? Was it something that happened today at the station?" Ingo's so-cute smile stayed, but softened from amused to genuine.

"Hmmm, maybe I should say someone, instead." The corners of Ingo's mouth dropped back down to his neutral expression, but he probably couldn't tell. Come on, he thought, now's your chance!

"Is that right?" was all Ingo said. Hm, okay then.

"Yeah, but I wonder if they know." His smile turned sly. Standing up, he moved around the thin table to just behind Ingo's left side. "They're being unusually shy." He leaned down over Ingo's shoulder, one hand on the back of the chair and the other on the table, making certain his mouth was next to Ingo's ear. "Or maybe afraid of saying the wrong thing?"

Ingo shivered and he could see the red creep up to color his cheeks and tips of his ears. "Emmet, I..." Ingo squeaked out. It was kind of a rush to see his older brother be so cute.

"What do you think, Ingo?"

When Ingo twisted his body to look directly at him, he took the opportunity to duck in and put their lips together.

Problem solved.

[subwaybrothers]

Switching Tracks

—

Summary:

Emmet thought of tasks like conducting a train. Going down the correct track to get to the correct station, and then continuing on.

Ingo thought of tasks like walking through a cave. Or perhaps it was a dirt trail? Ingo couldn’t be sure. But it made sense so long as he didn’t say anything out loud.

It’s very interesting how similar the two of them can think, even when they’re hundreds of years apart.

AO3 LINK

Emmet thought of tasks like conducting a train. Tasks were simple like this, with no chance of going off course.

See, tasks went step by step, supposedly, but it was always the in-betweens that made him stumble - a problem that steps never gave him. (To be fair, directing train cars never made him stumble either, but that wasn’t the point. The point was that if he thought of tasks as conducting a train, he would never forget what he had already done, and found it much easier to continue on in a smooth and efficient manner!)

He remembered telling this to Elesa, who was lounging on the couch as he did something in the kitchen.

“So,” she began. “It all becomes smoother because your subway is a really smooth ride?”

“Incorrect!” Emmet had said, and Elesa huffed, sinking into the cushion.

“Damn.”

“It’s smoother, because every instruction is like a station stop! I would never forget a previous station stop on my way to a new one.” As he said it, he looked down at the food he was putting together and clapped. “And now I can cook!”

“Huh.” Elesa pulled herself up from the very unmodel-like position she had been in, one foot over the back of the couch, her head hanging off the front, arms splayed out and- actually, Emmet considered that modelling positions were verrry strange and she could certainly have made that pose on the cover of a magazine.

That certainly was a change of tracks.

“So thinking of it like a train helps you because you like trains and their functions.”

“And directing them,” Emmet added.

“And directing them,” Elesa amended. “By that logic, do you think I should try conducting mine like eelectross-ity?”

“That was verrrry bad.” A pause. “You should try it.”

“Maybe I will!” She grinned at him, and his smile grew larger in return. “Out of curiosity, do you think of it as letting passengers out at the end of the line, or..?”

“We are aware of our passengers, yes, but it’s not our business when they get on or off,” Emmet said. “ But . If I’m using the trains for food, then when I get the ingredients, they’re boarding, and when I use them, they’re leaving.”

“So it depends?” Elesa asked.

“Yes.”

“Hm. That’s cool.” A moment. “You’re cool, Emmet. I’m glad we’re friends.”

It was interesting how nice that moment had been. After all, that had been the night Ingo didn’t come home.

—————

Ingo thought of tasks like walking through a cave. If he did that, tasks would come easier to him, he was sure.

It was simple, really. He’d count it out as he did things - 1, 2, 3, 4. These numbers corresponded to what he did, so that he never forgot what he had done already.

Or, at least, that was the gist of it. It was strange, though, because it wasn’t just numbers. It was also an image that played in his head, of walking down a cave, and stopping for every number, then continuing on until the next part of the task was complete.

He told this to clan leader Irida, once, after she watched him clean up his small tent.

“Why are you counting?” She’d asked.

Ingo, who enjoyed explaining his thoughts, had said, “I execute tasks similarly to walking through a cave.”

Irida had stared at him, wide eyed, for a couple moments. “I assume you are not implying that you complete tasks as though lost and in the dark?”

“Six,” Ingo had said, pulling out a borrowed bowl for her. Then, after a moment, “I did not mean to imply that, no, but the idea of a cave always comes to mind alongside the numbers. Perhaps I could find a better metaphor?”

“That would be nice,” Irida said.

“Then, perhaps it’s more like a trail, yes? A dirt trail. And you are searching for ingredients, along this trail, and you gather only what you have need for, so you cannot forget what you already have collected,” Ingo explained, splitting the hot soup he had made between the two of them. “So you count the stops you have already made.”

Irida’s brows were furrowed, but she nodded in understanding.

“Eight, nine,” Ingo whispered, both bowls of soup now filled.

“You skipped seven,” Irida noted, stirring her bowl.

“Seven was acquiring the pot.”

“Hm,” Irida said. “So as opposed to telling yourself what you’re doing as you do it, you just count out the steps?”

“Indeed. Numbers stack far neater than long strings of words - it’s easier to continue off one without breaking pace.”

“Interesting. I’ve always gone through tasks by telling myself what I’m doing so I don’t get distracted.” Irida took a sip of the broth, and blinked. “Hey, this is really good!”

“Thank you,” Ingo said. “And I believe I can see where our tracks split.”

Irida took another sip, looking up at him over her bowl. “Um. Elaborate?”

“Well, it seems as though you have trouble with the steps of the task themselves. I derail between each step.”

“Derail,” Irida repeated.

Ingo blinked, thinking through his response. “I… hm. It’s between each step that I… apologies, explaining a metaphor should not be so difficult.”

Irida shrugged. “It’s alright. I assume it’s worse for you than us. You mentioned a headache every time you think too hard about words you don’t understand.”

Ingo rubbed at his forehead. “Hm. Indeed. In any case, I suppose what I was meant to say was that it’s between the steps of the task that I stumble. I have more trouble getting to the next part than I have actually doing it.”

“That sounds difficult.”

“No more than however difficult it’s been for you to focus on your own tasks.”

“Mm,” Irida agreed, finishing her soup and standing up. “Thank you for the food, Warden Ingo. I’m glad to see you have been doing well. I have to leave though, so…“

“Thank you for joining me, clan leader Irida. I’m glad you took time to visit me. Farewell.”

Irida nodded at him, and Ingo nodded back, and she was gone.

Ingo breathed out a large sigh, then brought his own, untouched, bowl to his lips and drank. He did not enjoy eating in the view of others, and as much as he enjoyed having company - human company - it was a bit of a relief to be alone again.

A sound like purring came from outside, and Ingo put his bowl down to open the door. “Hello, Lady Sneasler,” he greeted.

She hissed in a distinctly affectionate manner.

“Thank you,” he said, not entirely sure what he was thanking her for. She pat his head, and licked at his face, the texture of sandpaper making him feel a bit more relaxed, although the wetness was uncomfortable.

“I’m alright, Lady Sneasler. I will be out to roam the mountains with you in a moment. I just need to…” He breathed in. “Switch tracks.”

[browniefox]

re: Detours - Volkner is stuck in a sim adventure where if he could just trigger the right character event, all there questions would be answered, but he doesn't know how to trigger it. if they could get Ingo to mention the words 'i like winning more than anything', that'd be it! but instead he's sitting there vibrating with questions and Palmer glaring holes in his head.

But he has to say the words of his own volition. It's very hard and Volkner is desperately hoping to find anything.

I have to say, it was kind of funny how many people thought the battle between Ingo and Volkner would lead to some sort of evidence of who Ingo was. Like, he is indeed as skilled - more so, even - than he was as the Subway Master, but his battling style is now way far removed from anything that would stick out as being Unova in nature.

As for what would make it distinctive, hm... that's a good question. I mean, of course there'd be that Ingo is used to battling and staying focused inside of a moving and shifting vehicle, but that's not something you can really show. I guess that he's also already used to be close to the action of a battle bc the subway cars aren't all that big - the battle subway cars are bigger than your average train car, but not the same size as your usual arena. Hm, so maybe Unovans don't move around, but their battle fields usually do have at a baseline the trainers closer to the action, and yes this ahas resulted in some injuries to trainers? Idk much to think about.

[thecatchat]

The Thoughts of Judgment

------

"Stand clear of the closing doors please."

As the subway car pulled away from the station, Karl could finally feel Judgment relax their grip on his shoulder. Glancing around the dirty train car, it seemed like they were the only two people in there. It was a bit strange to see it so empty during the busiest time of day. Maybe it was because Judgment was double the height of most people with a wingspan twice as wide. Maybe it was because of the sword and gun they openly flaunted with a marching pace that meant business. Maybe it was because their wings and hair were actively engulfed in flames.

Actually, now that he thought about it, it was probably the fire.

The fire fizzled and died as soon as the station was out of sight, Judgment sinking down to the floor as the exhaustion caught up to them. They leaned against one of the poles, resting their head against it before a slight bump in the tracks informed them why it was a bad idea.

It was the first time Karl had been able to get more than a glance at them since he'd been kidnapped. He'd only seen the spell being cast and an explosion of fire when Sapnap and Quackity got fused together into Judgment. He didn't even realize what had happened until he'd been saved by them. They had burst through a wall and only said a breathless, "Call us Judgment," before they tucked him under their arm and whisked him away from weird wizard cult people.

Quackity's slacks and shirt were peaking out behind Sapnap's chest plate and metal boots. Their sword and gun hung securely on Q's leather belt and Sapnap's beloved bandana held their hair out of-

Their eyes. All four of them. One pair stacked on top of the other, pale white over dark brown. The pairs moved separately from each other, except when they blinked. All four blinked at the same time. He'd never see that before. It was strangely beautiful, being able to see a hint of the thoughts running through their head.

"You're staring," Judgment suddenly said. They easily lifted him into their arms and started checking him over. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine, just getting lost in your eyes," he reached up and brushed the side of their face with his knuckles, "All four of them."

"All- what?" They sat down on the floor with their brows scrunched up in thought. The top two were furrowed just a little to the right and the bottom two were scrunched looser, just like they normally would. They were so easy to read yet they looked so different.

Karl let his hand and eyes travel down their face. Sapnap's nose, broken and mended time and time again to the point where it was always a little crooked. Quackity's lips, scarred and chapped from the times he'd gotten injured from knife fights or fist fights throughout the years. A distinct jawline and a rounded chin. A small bit of scruff and a notch in one ear. One or the other. It was beautiful. They were beautiful. They-

They weren't okay.

Their grip had tightened. All eyes were unfocused. Shallow breaths had the slightest tremor to them, only noticeable by how he was pressed against their chest.

"Hey," he softly knocked on their chest plate, "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

"Hm? Oh, no, not at all. Just... I- We-" their wings stretched out and around to encircle both of them, a wall guarding them from the empty train car. "We were so focused on finding you and getting you to safety. We didn't give ourselves time to stop and... process everything."

"Oh."

He hadn't thought about that. Sapnap and Quackity being so consumed with worry for him that they didn't pause long enough to look in a mirror. He'd assumed they would have at least done a quick once over to make sure they weren't injured or missing anything important when they merged. Nope. Their top concern was his safety and now that they had it, everything else was crashing on top of them at once.

Normally, he'd distract them with something when they started to freak out from dimensional shenanigans. Quackity always calmed down after something exciting and physical. Running from the law, getting into a fight, anything that got his heart pumping with adrenaline seemed to help. Sapnap was a bit more reserved, needing a task to focus on. It could be fighting something, grabbing a needed item, or even just counting to a certain number as long as he had something to do. Now how to combine them? He couldn't put himself in more danger, he couldn't even get out of Judgment's arms. Something exciting to focus on.... oh right, duh.

"Can I kiss you right now?"

Judgment's face flickered through many expressions before settling on politely confused. At least, he assumed it was politely confused. It was hard to tell with the two sets of eyes. He put one of his hands on their shoulder and the other reached around to tilt their head down.

"I just thought that maybe you'd like a bit of a distraction from your thoughts. Plus, I get to kiss both of my lovely boyfriends at once! It's a win-win."

Their face softened immediately into a loving smile with the slightest hint of blush. "That sounds like a good idea," they replied, holding him a little higher so they didn't have to strain their necks. They hovered just above his lips.

Karl waited a moment before moving in to connect. Their chapped lips radiated warmth and dug familiarly into his own. It made him feel safe. He felt like nothing and no one would ever be able to hurt him in these soft feathers of fire. He could have sunk into the feeling and stayed in it if it wasn't for one small fact.

Judgment wasn't moving.

They weren't moving to hold him tighter like Sapnap would or to deepen the kiss like Quackity does, or even move their lips. He stayed pressed together for a few more seconds to test if it was just a delayed response. Nope. It was like trying to kiss a mannequin. He would know what that's like... it was a really weird dentist appointment.

Pulling away, he looked up and saw them frozen in thought. They were aware of him moving but caught up in their own head. When two trains of thought coild head on and neither fall off the track, then nothing goes anywhere. At least, that's what he imagined was happening.

"Hey," he held their face in his hands and gently massaged their cheeks until he was sure he had their full attention, "I think I get it. You're both so different, so wonderfully unique in so many ways, that it's hard to find any middle ground or work out a compromise. Yah?"

They didn't say anything back but the tension flooding out of their face and relief pouring in said more than enough.

"How about we do one at a time?" They seemed confused but not unopposed to the idea so he explained, "Like, following one of your guy's lines of thinking for a minute then following the other person's. What's the words- oh! Taking turns. That's it."

He could see the moment they took his advice. Their shoulders rolled back, the wings folded away and the bottom pair of eyes closed. He adjusted his hold on him into more of a bridal carry and everything started to feel a little warmer.

"This... is a stranger situation than normal," Sapnap started hesitantly, adjusting to being in control of a body that wasn't his own, "but I'm glad you're safe. Both of you are safe. This is certainly a perspective changer. Being able to constantly hear each others thoughts is, for lack of a better term, informative."

Sapnap kissed him gently on the forehead. He hovered there, taking in Karl's comforting weight in his arms. It was nice to be able to hold him close like this. Despite all the strange and distressing changes this whole situation caused, he had to admit there were some benefits as well.

He wasn't quite sure how long he stayed like that but he was brought back to reality by a slight tugging on the back of his mind. "Quackity wants his turn now. I'll talk to you again once I'm back in my own body." He gently put Karl down into his lap, running his fingers through his hair with pure adoration, "Stay safe. Well, as safe as you can manage."

Sapnap's eyes closed. The wings folded out but didn't surround them again. Instead it simply rested against their back like a blanket. Their hold loosened and shifted so he sat up a bit more, now lying back against their shoulder instead of held in a bridal carry. The air started to cool as Quackity's eyes opened.

"Heya doll," he said with an exhausted tinge to his voice, " 'dis'll be one hell of a story for ya ta write down. Glad yer in one piece for it. Sapnap said everythin' that i was gonna say. He did say it in a sweeter way though. So, instead of chinning, 'm just gonna snuggle ya."

And that's what he did. Sitting there with Karl loosely in his arms, he tucked him under his chin and gently rubbed his back. His wings fluttered with joy as he felt Karl burrow further into his chest like they were a couple of snuggle pups. He had so many more things to say to him but they could all wait til later. Right now, he was just happy to see the normally hyperactive man staying in one spot: his arms.

Some indecipherable gibberish played over the speakers. All eyes snapped open and Judgment looked for the source of the voice.

"Ah," Karl said as if he'd heard the voice in perfect clarity, "We're almost at our stop."

"Our stop?"

"Yah, our stop!" He giggled and wiggled out of their grip. He stretched out a hand in offering as he declared, "We've got to go kick that cult leaders honking butt then get you both back to your own bodies now don't we?"

Judgment smiled lovingly like Karl had just told them that they were the most beautiful person on earth and wasn't about to go fist fight a cult leader.

"Right, of course." They hoisted themselves up to stand as tall as they could. Unfortunately, the subway was not designed for ten feet tall demon-avian hybrids to comfortably stand in. It was designed for normal people. Very inconvenient.

As they waited for the train to slow and the doors to open, Karl climbed on top of the chairs, pressed a kiss against their cheek and chirped, "Love you two."

They would do anything to hear him say it again. Funny how love can truly make all rational judgment go out the window.

"We love you too."

The train finally started to slow to a crawl as the same helpful voice from before said, "Stand clear of the doors please."

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HELL YAH!!! I FINISHED IT!!! I actually went back and read this all the way through for errors which I don't usually do so this is some high quality stuff! @inkytrinket-irii one of three!!!