loss. a very real, very human emotion. she did not understand it, however. Pa said his wife died when she was born, but the man never held it against his only child. some parents did, when they lost their partner and only the child remained. they were innocent - but tormented because of it. Tallulah never grieved a parent she didn't know; she only mourned the loss of what could have been.

so, why come to Mt Pyre?

well, she had been in Hoenn since June. it never occurred to her to come before now. she found gravesites to be dreary. it should be a celebration of life, but people came to mourn and cry. there was little remembrance going on in the sea of emotions. "oh" she says softly, having just wandered at random. there were words spoken in another language.

a ghost?

nevertheless, they made her return to conscious thought. her boots slowed as she looked ahead, spotting a familiar head of blond hair. "s -" sir, no. it was - "Lars?" 

"visiting." it was the truth. she hadn't ever been to Mt Pyre before now. seemed a long overdue visit. though she couldn't help feel she was intruding on something private. Lars was one of many who said her full name, but the way he said it now... seemed forced. strained. she doesn't come closer. she gives him space. he's near a gravestone, after all. someone she doesn't know and would never know.

she pauses too long, the awkward silence lingering. so she clears her throat gently, softly. "there's none I'm visiting in particular" Tallulah confirms suspicions "it just felt like it was time to come here" with all the destruction and death in this region, she couldn't ignore it forever "pay respects to people who have fallen." there had to be fellow Rangers who fell in the line of duty. she shifts on the spot, aiming to move away.

give him his privacy.

when the man speaks again, she stops. having turned away from him, Tallulah waits for Lars to finish. she is quiet. she also knows - nothing she could ever do or say would make the pain go away. "in a way, I have" she says once he was done "my mother. she died at childbirth. but I can't properly mourn a woman I never met." only feel their loss in her chest, of what could have been.

it had been her Pa that raised her. she owed the man everything. if he was here, or in Alola, dead... she would be breaking down too. "I only know stories. photos. and take comfort from them" she adds "loss is hard" but "be fortunate they were in your life, however long, than not at all." celebrate they were there at all.

she didn't like to mourn. "you tried" Tallulah continues "if the dead ask for more than that..." they are selfish.

Laurence Anderson

he stands now. she turns to look at him. loss is heavy on his features from what she can see. pain. agony. regret. Tallulah says nothing, allowing the man to speak his mind. when he's done, it's clear he's struggling. Lars would state his mother was missing, suspicious of her disappearance. "I'm sorry."

it was all she could hope and think to say. losing a sibling as well as a mother was hard. being buried in Mt Pyre... even his Swampert. the man had seen a lot of death and loss. "I was going to buy some flowers from the lobby" she goes on "but if I go back myself, I won't remember the way back" a pause "come on, we'll go buy some fresh flowers for your family and partner."

she reaches out an olive branch for the man.

she smiles patiently at the man as he joins her. "well, this way I can ask what their favorite flowers are" Tallulah is quick to fill the gap of conversation as they make their way back to the entrance "I'm sure your mother had one or two, yes?" if Lars could remember. seemed she had been missing for some time.

the Swampert would be harder. she decided on basic white lilies for it. Tallulah falls to silence, counting how much she had seen at the counter with how many graves she could afford. not just Lars, but others around them. she would make a grand display so the deceased would know they were remembered.

"I'm partial to sunflowers, me'self" she reaches out to take a few after Lars had picked his own out "though lilies are mourning flowers..." she recalls her father placing one on her mother's grave every year, on the woman's birthday or the anniversary. sunflowers were cheerful and energetic. seemed like Lars' sister had been like that, or just thought the flower was pretty.

they would walk back, Tallulah letting the Head Ranger lead the way. she wasn't sure she could recall the way back to the graves; there were so many here. she held lilies and sunflowers, which she would drop on random tombstones along the way. it didn't matter that she didn't know them; they deserved to be remembered and appreciated.