[attr="class","complanet"]

[attr="class","complanet"]

[attr="class","complanet"]

Grief

Beaten and bruised Elinor stood outside the door to her apartment. She barely had the strength or the mobility to open it. Not after what happened. Not after IT happened. The memories still vividly flashed through her mind as one hand clutched the mask of Cofagrigus and the other clutched the keys to the door in front of her.

She knew she had to go inside, she knew they were all worried about her. But, something stopped her. Perhaps it was the thought of what she had to do. She wondered if Laurence Anderson had ever stood like this hoping that nobody would open the door to hear the grim news of a story whose tale had concluded far too soon.

Shaking hands made for poor attempts at unlocked the door. But she managed somehow. Now came the real challenge. She placed the keys back into her pocket. This hadn’t been the clothes she had left in, but the worn and torn attire from the days prior had been long since discarded.

The door swung open before she could even try her luck with the handle. The smiling beak of her Porygon-Z greeted her warmly as it jumped her, hugged her, cooing in an attempt to tell her how worried it had been, how it and everyone else had seen what had happened in the NEWS, and how they feared she wouldn’t return.

But Elinor didn’t understand its words. Still, she understood its meaning. Her body shaking slightly, though she quelled it quickly. She couldn’t break now, she still had something to do.

The Porygon-Z pulled back its eyes meeting with Elinor’s. Her voice trembled as she said. “I need to speak with Minh… Alone… Please.”

Porygon-Z’s eyes grew dark, it trembled like its trainer as the realization dawned upon it. But it steeled its resolve and gave a sturdy nod before it went to usher the young Illumina Bagon into Elinor’s bedroom where it was soon joined with its trainer, who placed the mask of her departed companion on the desk.

Where it not for its bright colored pattern, she would’ve thought she looked at Gon the Salamence, back when he was but a small Bagon. The cocky glare, the arrogance in which it sat upon her bad, though a bit more lady-like than her father. Elinor dragged a chair over to the bad. The small dragon followed her with its gaze uncertain of why its trainer looked so sad.

“Baaa?” It asked, in its primal dragon growling language.

“Minh… I…” Elinor tried to speak but the words wouldn’t come out. Stuck in her throat, like knives stabbing into her flesh. “I am sorry, I am sorry. It’s all my fault.” The tears began to fall from already well-spent tear ducts.

“Gooo?” The young Bagon looked confused, bewildered. And then it slowly dawned upon her. “Go Go Ba Go?” The Bagon’s eyes began to water, it shook its head in denial. And then the cries came. Elinor quickly grabbed it. Held it tight as the Tiny Dragon’s chest heaved for air with each powerful sob.

Time stood still or perhaps it accelerated. Neither of them knew as hours went by while they both grieved the loss of a friend and a father. They both fell asleep in each other’s arms. Bound by their shared grief.

The Morning after Elinor was the first to rise. She had a funeral to plan. It was the right thing to do.

The skies over Slateport Pokémon Cemetery were heavy and dark. Adding only to the gloom of the situation happening below.

---

“We are gathered here today to remember those who fell in the line of duty.” The Priest of Arceus stood as the head of the gathering, called there solely to officiate the burial.

Elinor stood surrounded by her Pokémon, she had chosen to spare Callan Young for the emotional turmoil it would surely cause to be here. They all wore the same saddened expression on their faces, some had even chosen to wear small pieces of black attire, be it a tie, bow tie, hat, and veil.

Graves had been dug, though there was little to offer to the earth. The body of Salamence had been crystalized, the bodies of Drifblim and Cofagrigus had eroded into nothingness, and Steelix had been vaporized. Each death that she saw was still fresh in her mind. Still, they would dig their graves and offer to the earth what they could. They had chosen a casket for each and filled them with beloved food items, and offerings to the departed. It had been the best they could do.

With arms raised high to the skies did the Priest speak. “The Lord Giveth, and the Lord Taketh, this is known. This is a facet of life that we must all accept. Some embrace this more than others, giving their precious life away to save another... While words and memories are a meager substitute for the presence of a loved one. We must all remember that we will meet them in the end. So let us remember them, and live a life worth showing them. Amen.” The Priest lowered his arms, and the caskets slowly began to sink into the ground.

While trainer and Pokémon alike had tried to keep it in. Their overwhelming grief would stay quiet no longer.

Minh the Bagon couldn’t contain it any longer, she knew it was irrational, but she tried to jump for what was supposed to be her father’s casket. She didn’t want them to burrow his pictures, nor the favorite toys or that one sweater he had chewed too much on when he was small. Luckily Elinor stopped the Bagon from joining her father in the ground holding it in her arms as it cried for them to not bury its father’s precious belongings.

“Inte, int.” The Inteleon that stood by the side spoke. Its dabber appearance joined with a Bow tie.

“Scep, Sceptile.” The Sceptile acknowledged. A long black tie around its neck.

“Meta, Metagross,” Metagross spoke. A black top hat rested neatly upon its head.

“Kommo.” Kommo-o was the last to speak its mind. Like Inteleon, it had chosen to wear a bow tie.

Though the clothes of each Pokémon were somewhat mixed, one thing bound them all together, and that was the tears streaming down their respective faces like rivers.

They all shuffled around a bit making a bit of space before they looked into the air and began to fire off salutes. Inteleon sending blasts of Water, Sceptile blades of leaves, Metagross shiny rounds of metallic beams, and Kommo-o with its dark purple beam. Each salute was fired in intervals of ten seconds until the caskets were buried beneath the ground.

With the graves filled the Priest let them all to their grief.

Elinor finally released the Bagon from her clutches. Its tears showed no signs of halting as it trembled uncontrollably. Elinor looked up into the skies. Though the clouds were dark with water, they did not release their drops, for it was a terrible day for rain.

Elinor left the group of Pokémon, placing herself where the priest had stood just moments earlier. “Friends… No… Family.” She paused. She feared she hadn’t considered her words carefully enough just yet, but she knew she had to speak them either way. She had to reassure her Pokémon that their friends didn’t die in vain.

“The pain we go through today and for the rest of our lives…” She paused. “If you want anyone to blame. Blame me. I was the one who decided to go there. If you want to part ways with me, I fully understand, and won’t stop you.” Another pause, this one longer, more uncertain. “But I promise from now on I will do everything that stands in my power to grow stronger. And I hope you all will join me in making Hoenn safe again so that nobody will have to go through what we are going through right now, and who knows, maybe when our time comes we will be able to meet our lost family with pride in our eyes once more.”

She expected at least some Pokémon to leave, surely, they wouldn’t all want to stay with an incompetent trainer like her. But nobody left, they all stood in acceptance of their new lot in life. “…” Elinor was perplexed, had she not already been crying then she certainly would be doing so now. And that’s when they all came to her, joining her in one big hug, not a single member left out.

A raindrop prickled her skin, then another. And as the group hugged, the rain finally began to fall. Perhaps it was a sign that their friends had finally found peace, perhaps not. No matter, the funeral had reached its conclusion, and for now, they would hug and grieve as one.

@tagsomeone

Night had fallen upon Slateport City. People were starting to go to sleep. And yet, amidst the ever-increasing blackness of apartment buildings with sleeping residents the light of One Penthouse apartment fought valiantly against the tide.

Though Elinor had tried to sleep, she found that no sleep would come for her. Not even the warmth of her Talonflame could comfort her as an ever-growing unease took hold. For quite some time did she ponder if perhaps Callan Young’s presence would bring her sleep? And yet she was certain he was too busy to oblige her with such a silly unimportant request.

And so instead of the warmth of her bed, she sought the cold comfort of her office chair and table. Clad in a simple silken nightgown she sat down. For a moment she gazed at an already huge tower of books she had fetched. She read each title, some more extravagant than others, though they were all written by the same author and under one primary moniker. Myths and Fables of the Pokémon world By George O. Dawson. Quite a mouthful if one were to say it out loud, perhaps that was why they were graced with secondary titles.

She allowed her finger to run over the spine of these books, halting at certain titles, reading them out loud, tasting each one as they left her mouth.

“Tales of the Winged Mirages.” She thought of Laurence Anderson as she brushed past that book. By now she knew about his relationship with a certain deity. If she wanted to know about the birds, then she could ask Articuno personally. Hopefully, it wouldn’t mind.

“Tales of the Weather Trio.” It left a sour taste in her mouth, after the AQUA meeting she figured she didn’t need to read up on old tales when the very deities themselves were roaming around in Hoenn. Some might claim them a boon to Hoenn and the League. And perhaps she should agree, she even wanted to believe that MATIAS SILPH and skyler dross would never have bad intentions, but they were human and so a liability.

She sighed and moved on to the next book.

“Tales of the Legendary Beasts.” The taste was a bit bland. Though she was sure that Josh Devlin would find it riveting reading. But no, for a future uncertain Hoenn would need something stronger.

And then her eyes and finger reached one of the books nearest the table. “Tales of the Legendary Titans” If she remembered correctly they had made certain appearances in Hoenn lately, but none had yet to capture them. Perhaps it spoke of strength worth seeking.

She carefully retrieved the book, making sure she did not tumble the tower of books in the process. She then fetched a notebook, and with it laying nearby she leaned back and began to read. While the reading was dull, the author put words to paper with professional attention to detail that she could not fault him for. It started off with a summary of what exactly the Legendary Titans were believed to be.

The Legendary Titans. In some regions, they are also called the Legendary Giants, Legendary Golems, or other such wording. All terms used to describe an almost robotic Pokémon. I will henceforth be referring to them as Titans for the remainder of this book. Descriptions of these Titans appear across texts and temples in various regions and cultures, but the most curious thing about them is that they all fit a basic premise of an almost robotic guardian deity with braille-like markings, the only differences being elemental variations.

While Hoenn thought them more bound to earth, describing them as Titans made of Rock, Steel, and even Glacial Ice. Galar takes a more unconventional approach, attributing the very essence of electricity and Draconic force to them. Perhaps in doing so they hoped to find protection against the harsh weather of the Crown Tundra where such tales were primarily found.

But from whence these Titans come neither Hoenn nor Galar tries to answer. For this, we must look to Sinnoh and its eternal pursuit to understand the creation of our world. While some of the stories they attribute to this “Regigigas” are, to put it mildly hard to believe, amongst these tales we find the creation of these Titans of whom I hope to give you a better understanding.

And as Elinor slogged through the summary she reached the good part. She took a moment to write some notes down and then continued reading page after page of Titan descriptions alongside their corresponding tales and origins. She spent most of the night reading, even going as far as reaching the entry for Regidrago. As she read through the description of Regidrago, her thoughts turned to Amor Rose, and for a moment she wondered what he would be doing right now.

But then she returned to her reading. Unnoticed by her fatigue was slowly creeping in on her. Her body finally forced her mind to chill, reminding it that she would not see Hoenn’s future if she did not take care of herself.

Before she realized it, she had closed her eyes for just a moment. Only for them to open as Hoenn’s sun shone its greeting straight in her face.


LOCATION: ELINOR'S PENTHOUSE APARTMENT

@tagsomeone