Now normally, Lars wouldn’t trust barely-passable directions, but with age came wisdom, and there were times his ass was saved by the old locals whenever he was delivering packages to the more isolated communities scattered around Western Hoenn.

Maybe it was a good thing he left the Indian parked in Lilycove and flew out here on the back of his Metagross. He was making the trek alone, and the signs—wow, okay, how the hell was he even going to approach this?

Unwelcoming much? He thought to himself as he idled at the border. What in the ever-loving fuck.

“So it’s forbidden to come by for visits or courier deliveries since it’s considered to be trespassing?” he mused to himself, pulling out his vape and taking a breath for a few moments, letting the vanilla-scented vapor permeate before releasing a cloud.

“Huh. Is that her,” he pondered, squinting in the distance and hoping that whoever was riding the strange-colored Rapidash would see that he was there, idling, uncertain on crossing the border like, holy shit.

“Actually, got a few questions—” he said, pointing out to the sign. Well, that was part of it anyway.

“One thing—how can courier deliveries drop off packages around these parts, we have to wait out here for you to arrive? Asking for my courier workmates, for starters,” he began, tilting his head at the signage. If it wasn’t any more obvious they’d either be hauled in for questioning if they went past the border.

“I know there’re some isolated communities that live beyond this stretch of forest and they send out orders to the other guys so… yeah. That’s one of them,” he said with a shrug as he pocketed the little metal object, releasing some more vanilla-scented vapor fumes as he breathed out.

“Another one of my questions, and forgive me for being so brash about it, is—” he continued, looking around to make sure they weren’t going to be overheard.

“…I know you’re one of those who’s been at this shit for a while. You. Legendary,” he continued, making a few connecting gestures. “Is it alright if we talk about this somewhere a little more… ah, secluded? Can’t risk having ears listening in all the time. They’re everywhere. And I know you don’t trust them on the most part.”

By ‘them’ he meant the League.

“I work with them because that’s how it is. However, I don’t trust them either,” he says shortly, letting out a snort.

“The way they besmirch the Rangers in almost every way, shape or form doesn’t sit well with me. I mean, who wouldn’t be upset because of that shit after working so hard, and for what.”

Never keep all your eggs in one basket, as his mother had told him years before.

Another snort before he continued speaking.

“They can fight all they want—I just want to keep the family as far away from politics as possible which is why I shoulder that burden, having to face all of them in the same room and just letting them insult us. I’m biding my time, though. One day.”

Eventually. Soon. When, though? he thought to himself. That, however, was for another day.

Before he could let his anger get the better of him, he took a deep breath. Stay calm, Lars. Stay calm.

“Anyway, my real question is—and I swear, since I never got a straight answer from him when I asked about it because he treats his own Legendary like some arbitrary creature, is—” he continued, wondering if she knew—of course she knew who he was referring to.

“Does your own—your Legendary communicate to you? More openly?”

Lars was right to seek her out, after all—

“I hope you don’t mind if I take my own ride so I can keep up with you,” he remarked, and out flashed his Metagross, burnished silver body seemingly glowing from the red beam of light. The moment Ro had appeared, he already knew what to do—folded in his legs to let Lars get on his back.

“Keep up with her,” he said as he knocked exactly once to match her Rapidash’s trotting pace and not get left behind.

At the question of being religious, though—

“I know… quite a number of variations on the Weather Trio stories. Like how they mentioned that Kyogre sleeps deep underneath the crater lake of my home city, and how they used to bring down chaos and destruction unchecked which caused the sea levels to rise,” he began, crossing his arms and thinking.

“The other stories I heard is that there’s something, by the Sky Pillar, who only lands there every once in a long while when it gets tired of flying endlessly in the sky. Of how there are some people who pray to this deity up in the heavens to protect Hoenn from calamity befalling it from outer space. Of how it could stop the infighting between Kyogre and the other, Groudon.”

To him, though? They had mostly been fairy tales and stories passed down from the elder generations; at least until he’d seen Legendary Pokémon appearing more and more often.

“I know enough about them, at least the ones that call Hoenn home. As for religion itself? I know it’s there, and I respect that it’s there, as something that people hold onto when their faith is shaken.”

They’d taken the scenic route—thankfully, Ro managed navigating through the space and kept up with the Rapidash, leaving him to his thoughts.

He’d answered correctly about religion; while not being an outright skeptic about its existence, he knew that in those isolated communities he would drop off packages while not working to quell rabid or crazy Pokémon sightings he would have a chat with some of the elderly people who lived there about the topic in question—which was good, to say the least.

They would eventually arrive at a clearing with a cabin as its central landmark; once there he followed by hoisting himself off the shiny Metagross’s back and giving one of Ro’s legs a good pat before recalling the massive beast to rest as he followed her inside the residence.

“Thank you for having me over,” he replied quietly as he looked around—making sure to scuff out his boots so he didn’t track in dirt or mud all over the place. A very distinctly earthy aroma tickled his nose as he caught sight of a blur of movement—and was he counting this right?

Six?

“Six? Only six?” he inquired, the barest hint of a chuckle threatening to cross his features for a brief moment. While he wasn’t sure if she had more, the fact that there were six Leafeon right there, at that very second made the corners of his lips turn up before getting to the subject at hand.

“Mostly the former. I don’t know how or if the others do it, but I’ve talked with Fernando and he—he only speaks with his own when he absolutely needs to. However, I’d rather not treat the one I call—well, I’m not sure if I can permanently call the one I serve ‘mine’, since Senri was the last known person who had them—“ he explained.

Or rather, tried to explain. He was pretty sure he was rambling.

“Much as I would want to ask other people about this, you did mention that you’ve been with Celebi for two years—longer than anyone else I know of and am aware of being tied to a Legendary. I don’t want to treat them at arm’s length like Fernando does. I want to learn more about them, how to understand how this works.”

Was it so wrong to want to understand more of what he could do, what he was capable of?

“Well, if I find one out there, it’s yours, no question,” he said as he chuckled at one of the Leafeon that attempted to jump up and shower her with affection.

Biting back his mirth, he listened quietly to her explanation. Once she was done and it was his turn to speak again, it was time for him to share.

“I don’t know if you’re familiar with Senri, he was the last one who had—who had been chosen by this deity,” he began. Fuck, that video footage he saw was something he wasn’t going to forget easily. Although that begged the question, burn marks? From a deity of ice?

Strange, indeed.

“One thing’s for sure, this one’s not from around here. It’s Articuno,” he continued a few moments later. “The only time I’d gotten the chance to hear their voice was during… hm. How am I going to explain this?” he dropped off, wondering if she was familiar with what he was about to go into.

“The only other time they’d spoken to me was when I saw this… this strange Pokémon. We were catapulted across space. And then the other one speaking, pretty sure it wasn’t Articuno, said something about ‘everything in due time’.”

He folded his arms across his chest. This was really confusing, for him at least.