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phantasmaltrain · 5 months

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holy shit i finally finished this fic

felt nice to write something just to. write

not a long chaptered fic or series, just smth to get the brainworms out

or read below if you’d like !

word count — 1,410

summary —

ingo is home.

after all this time, he is home.

and yet, he cannot seem to settle.

( after a week of being back in unova, ingo takes a walk to clear his head. )

“in quantum mechanics, schrödinger's cat is a thought experiment, sometimes described as a paradox, of quantum superposition. in the thought experiment, a hypothetical cat may be considered simultaneously both alive and dead, while it is unobserved in a closed box, as a result of its fate being linked to a random event that may or may not occur.”

nimbasa winters were never too chilly. while snow did coat the ground clean over in powdery sheets of white, the towering buildings were often enough to keep the wind from cutting through everything like a frigid knife. with the evening sun casting soft rays of pinks and peach through the gaps of steel lined skyscrapers, a certain recently returned subway boss found it appropriate timing for a walk.

. . in the last week, being back home, everything felt like an emotional blur, parts of his mind still foggy beyond recognition. a tide, tugging him by the ankles and threatening to knock him over, only to drown him in the wallowing feelings of his own heart.

but he stood resolute, anyway. that’s why he decided he needed some space, just for a little bit.

he had been practically housebound since his return; doctors, historians, worried family and friends. it was overwhelming, to his still recovering head.

ingo almost winced aloud at emmet’s strained expression when he had mentioned his request for some alone time, as if his brother was already paranoid he would disappear once again. and he had full right to be.

but there was too much lying heavy on his chest, things his brother could not fix, no matter how hard he tried, and he needed out.

just for an hour at best, he would be alright. the younger brother’s expression only crinkled further in worry at how quiet and subdued his voice came out, tinges of a sinnohan accent bleeding into each word.

it was his brother, sure, but he just sounded so . . unfamiliar.

time was a funny thing.

to emmet, he had been gone a few months at best.

to ingo?

years had blurred past, in hisui, and emmet hated to recognize his brother was trodding along on a track he could not follow, as much as he wanted to.

and so he sighs, buries down all his fussing, and asks if he would be at least willing to bring eelektross with him. something about him needing a walk.

( emmet did frequently take his pokemon outside on off days, but ingo could tell by his face- that careworn smile, practically etched in, that worry was practically chewing him from the inside out, and that doing this for him would ease his worries even to the smallest amount. )

he says “ no, ” flatly, walking out the door. he doesn’t come back.

he quietly complies, making a soft clicking noise with his tongue to beckon the eel like beast, currently sprawled in it’s seven feet of glory across the sofa, over.

he practically clicks back, sauntering over and curling himself over ingo’s shoulder as if he were a pirate’s chatot.

emmet watches the interaction for a few moments, an eyebrow raised.

“ i was not aware you spoke pokemon. ”

“ not really. . just a bit of an old trick that usually works. ”

hours of listening to the persistent chattering of sneasel kits had certainly let him pick up a few things, but he wouldn’t say he understood it. not fluently, at least. a brief understanding of what growls and warbles meant “food,” and which ones meant “hi,” but that was all.

after a few moments of shared, awkward silence, he reaches for the doorknob, a soft “ bye. ” leaving his mouth before the door shuts behind him.

almost instantly, the ground splits beneath him in yet another wormhole. he feels the fluffy snow against his back. he’s there again.

the soft snow crunches underfoot. chandelure saunters ahead of him with a ghostly chime of enthusiasm, practically beaming with a marbled purple-blue blaze illuminating the snow beneath her. eelektross stays curled around his neck, almost in a guard dog like fashion.

the weight is too heavy. the eel practically crushes his windpipe, and he collapses on his own doorstep.

he wasn’t really sure where he wanted to go. slowly trudging forward with a soft hum, he seemed to study the way he walked; how softly each footstep fell, how he had yet to fully correct that awful posture of his, now.

he felt like parts of him were missing.

chipped away fragments, that had yet to return.

he shatters like a piece of glass, collapsing to the ground with a cry. those missing pieces were vital, after all.

clearing his throat and fixing his posture upright, he begins to walk in an attempt at a confident stride. gradually, he falls into a steady rhythm; right foot, left foot. right foot, left foot.

noisy prey. an alpha zoroark easily takes advantage of the man’s loud footsteps, lunging for the throat.

. . walking like this in the middle of the highlands was a one way ticket to either being mauled, falling off a cliff, or simply being called a fool.

but this wasn’t the highlands.

or the icelands.

or hisui.

he was safe, to trod on as confidently as he liked.

and this felt right, in some way, so he continued to do so as he made his way down the street.

both pokemon in tow seemed to cheer him on; eelektross’ cheerful crackling practically right in his ear, chandelure emitting a chorus of enthusiastic hums and cries, bright flames flickering in the gradually dimming daylight.

despite their encouragement, as if coaxing on a baby to walk for the first time, a sense of nervousness seemed to crawl up his shoulder.

this was home, what he had been yearning for all this time, and yet it felt . .

noisy.

overwhelming.

it had been no more than a few minutes and he already found himself falling still, staring at his shoes and standing like a trembling stantler deerling on the snow laden sidewalk.

he turns around right back home. it’s too much. would emmet be disappointed in him for chickening out?

he allows himself the pause, despite the deep set frustration beginning to stir.

this was what he had been missing all this time! this was what he wanted back!

so why

why in arceus’ name was this so difficult?

as if sensing his brewing irritation, chandelure attempts to worm her way under one arm, as if demanding to be held.

( she personally could care less at this moment. it was more about distracting the silver haired man from whatever was plaguing him, that of which turned his soul so bitter. )

surprised, at first, ingo stifles a snort under his breath.

shifting his arms ever so slightly, he finds a more comfortable posture; eelektross still half curled around his shoulders, and chandelure now gently nestled in his grasp. swirls of purple and blue spectral flames curl around his arms as if to comfort, slowly burning their ways through flesh and bone the tension and worry bubbling beneath his skin.

temporarily, for now, but it was the best she could do.

and with that, he continued to walk.

a horrible idea. had hisui taught him nothing?

tentatively; cautiously, even, but slowly gaining back his stride.

( when ingo later returned home and accounted his little journey, which he considered quite eventful, emmet suggested chandelure receive some support training if the bustling city had begun to make him anxious since his return. )

( he responded that he’d put it on the backburner of his head. )

( while emmet usually groaned and swatted at him for adopting elesa’s awful puns, he just grinned. )

( he was just happy ingo was home. )

( he never made it home. what are you talking about? )

( of course he did. )

( the theory of schrödinger’s cat only lasted as long as the box was closed. )

but this box was open.

and ingo treyne is missing

dead

gone

never to return home

trapped in the distortion world

not real at all

now a zorua

in alola enjoying a nice vacation

to be executed at noon

you

really feeling like he could go for an ice cream right now, actually

to be contained at once

a threat to the fabric of time and space

a loser

a god

nothing

everything

alive.

he is alive.

and when he comes home, he does not mind being met with a tight embrace in the doorway from his brother.

#pokemon #pokemon fanfic #pokemon fanfiction #submas #subway boss ingo #subway boss nobori #subway boss emmet #subway boss kudari #fanfic #fanfiction #pokemon black and white #pokemon legends arceus #the style is inspired by the SCP-3999 article #hence the confusion narration !#interpret it as you please :]#fuzz moment

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