Love of mine, someday you will die, but I'll be close behind

[feistytrader]

Please join us in the greenhouse should you feel able or need company. There will be food and comfort. None of us should be alone right now.

-Hanyuu, Jasper, and Silver

[That's the note that gets slid under everyone's doors after such a somber and saddening trial; it's not like it's going to be a big ordeal anymore given how few of them there are, but that doesn't mean that they should spend it alone.

The location of their setup is the greenhouse! ...The greenhouse has had a new addition; there is a massive blanket fort set up using an absurd amount of rope, blankets, and duct tape. The blankets span across three trees to make a considerable amount of space roughly shaped like a triangle for them to hang out under. Under the fort is a small pile of scissors taken from the sewing and art rooms. Next to them are a couple of flower crowns. They're relatively simple and don't involve many different flowers, but they're good examples of what the pile of scissors are there for.

There's also food, of course; a blanket is laid out on the floor with a large set of plates, a massive amount of eggs and rice, some of Elda's spicy fries, and... Sandwiches. Jasper's made everyone sandwiches, and the sandwiches are absolutely absurd in size due to how many cold cuts she's stacked into them. But don't worry! They aren't all meat. There's a lot of mustard, too. Luckily, they're still of a reasonably edible size.]

Comments

[foundfate]

[What if Watanuki just grabs onto Silver and tries to roll them so he's on top and able to beat the shit out of him with a pillow? What then? Because even if it's not successful, that's what he's trying to do.]

[feistytrader]

[Silver will just let him, really; he'll fight back with his own pillow, but for the most part he seems perfectly content to get the shit beaten out of him and, uh... laugh like a madman, mostly.]

[foundfate]

[It's the laughter that gets him to stop, actually.]

What is wrong with you? We're fighting here, why are you laughing?!

[feistytrader]

Because you've been distant and terrifying all week, and now we're fighting.

[...He should probably explain that-]

I connect with people best by fighting them, you know.

[Maybe he's overthinking it, but for the first time this week, he finally feels like he connected with Watanuki again.]

[foundfate]

...

[He should lie about it, he should say he hasn't been distant, that he's the same as he always was-]

I'm changing, Silver. The memories I got last Sunday, they changed everything. And the ones I'll get this week, they're going to change me more. Fighting isn't going to stop it.

[It's actually kind of terrifying, now that he's actually thinking about it. He's only got part of the puzzle, but as far as he can tell, he willingly chose to become distant and aloof. To become like Yuuko, in a way. Who knows what this Sunday will bring too.]

[feistytrader]

So change back. Anyone can change. There's no such thing as too far gone or too old. Just look at Elda.

[Elda's practically a different person from who she used to be.]

...Have I ever told you about Pryce?

[foundfate]

[As if changing back would be that easy.

But Watanuki is going to move to sit next to Silver, and set the pillow down.]

No, you haven't. Who is he?

[feistytrader]

He's the guy that kidnapped me.

[...Well, this is off to a great start. Silver sits up and hugs his pillow.]

He lost a pair of Pokémon that were very important to him. It would be like me losing Weavile. I don't know exactly what happened after that, but he ended up isolating himself for years. He became obsessed with bringing his dead Pokémon back, and decided to seek out a Pokémon called Celebi. That's why he kidnapped us. Me, big sis, and four others. It's also why me and big sis managed to escape; he didn't know how to travel through time, so every few months, when Celebi appeared, he'd get grievously wounded. We slipped out while he was resting.

...He's different, now. I thought he was dead, but he managed to live in the timestream for... Who knows how long, because his time's long since stopped. He ended up saving us from the destruction of the universe. That's why Celebi kept him alive.

[But this is getting well past the point.]

You're kind. I don't think you'd have it in you to hurt people. And I know you can make your own choices. But I'm scared, too. I'm scared that you're gonna get a hundred years of memories and I won't be able to connect to you anymore. I'm worried about how much those hundred years are going to hurt you.

[He's also worried that Watanuki won't want to connect with him anymore- or anyone, for that matter- but he's not sure if that needs to be said.]

[foundfate]

[That is actually a very valid worry, and it's one Watanuki himself has. Part of him wants to push everyone away out of the sheer fear that he'll be an entirely different person and do something unforgivable.

He wraps his arms around his legs and rests his chin on his knees.]

Well, if a guy like that can go from 'kidnapper' to 'saving the world', I'm sure I can't fare much worse. Even with a hundred years of memories to come, I'm still me.

[feistytrader]

Good, because I'm not gonna stop trying to connect with you, even if you end up acting like a huge jerk.

[...]

I might try to beat you up, though. Just a heads up. If I'm beating you up, it's because I care.

[foundfate]

I'm still not used to the 'beating up' part.

[He's clearly going to have to get used to that.]

...I'll leave the rest up to you. If I change too much for you, and you don't want to be friends anymore, I'll understand. Or if you want to keep trying, I'll keep trying too.

[feistytrader]

[He's putting his pillow in his face.]

I'm not going to just stop caring about you, you idiot. If nothing else, I'll piss you off for the next... I don't know, thirty years.

[foundfate]

Probably less than that, it won't take Gold that long to reincarnate and grow up. You can focus on pissing him off instead then.

[Yeah he's pretty sure Silver is going to go back to his world and visit a lot less frequently when Gold is back.]

You'll live longer than 30 more years too, I think.

[feistytrader]

...I'll be surprised if I last more than ten more years.

[...]

Then again, if my dad didn't die... Anyway, I'm not forgetting about you when Gold comes back.

[In fact...]

I still get to have a wish, right? I want to come hang out with you whenever I want. That's my wish.

[foundfate]

You're going to last more than that. You're strong, you'll be fine. And you have to help Gold grow up into a great person, when he's born again. So you can't die anytime soon.

And I'll have to think of what the price would be for that kind of a wish. I'm not so great at that part yet.

[feistytrader]

I'm not planning on it anytime soon. At the same time, I have to consider the possibility.

[As for a price, well, Watanuki can tell him soon enough.]

Is it possible for me to see Lusamine, Elda, and Hanyuu, too, or am I getting too greedy?

[foundfate]

Isn't Lusamine from your world? And I could probably manage it, but there would be other costs involved.

[feistytrader]

She's from the future. ...A future without transparent Pokéballs.

[foundfate]

So...the future of a world very similar to yours, but possibly still a different one?

[feistytrader]

...You mean a different timeline?

[...]

That could be it.

[foundfate]

Phi mentioned it once, about how she jumped from timeline to timeline. And no two worlds are exactly the same, so the difference between yours and hers must not be a big one.

[feistytrader]

Yeah. That's what the timestream's all about.

[Although man, that's a pretty big difference.]

Lusamine mentioned that Pokédexes are given to all trainers and aren't that big of a deal. I guess that's why.

[foundfate]

Why is it a big deal in your world?

[feistytrader]

Only ten of them exist right now. Four in Kanto, three in Johto, and three in Hoenn. Every one of the Pokédex Holders are exceptional trainers and have a field of expertise. We've all been given titles by Professor Oak, and he has us on call to help save the world. There have been at least seven disastrous incidents that we've helped prevent so far.

[...So basically they're a cool super hero team or something.]

They started out being rare research tools made by Professor Oak to help us understand Pokémon better. I'm sure more of them will be made and distributed eventually, but it's not something I can really understand every trainer having, either. Maybe in a few decades. They take a while to make, and need to be updated every now and then.

[foundfate]

[Oh wow Silver's a superhero! He should have suspected it when Silver mentioned punching a poke-god.]

Maybe Lusamine is from that far in the future? 30 years, or even more.