“It’s fine,” Guillermo said, and he sounded convincingly genuine. It didn’t so much matter what Alex’s team at the sanctuary found, now, because the League’s team had pointed them in this direction. The map was accurate-- a big, buzzing, stinging X marked this spot.

“The infinity energy is making them super aggro,” Memo confirmed, “that’s why they’re acting brainwashed.”

He turned his attention back to the massive hive, trying to fight the anxiety spiking through him. It was painful and threatened to steal the air from his lungs.

“How do you reckon we go about this? Guns blazing or do we try to be sneaky about it?”

Praxidike-- whose name was Greek for exactor of vengeance-- swung her hands like a boxer, clearly wanting to full send it. But Memo wanted Alex’s opinion-- because it was Alex, of course, and then also because if something bad were to happen, not all the blame would rest on his shoulders.

It was a selfish feeling that he was entirely unused to experiencing. He scrubbed a hand over his face, the humming drone turning into a headache.

Alexei Ivanov

☉

“Uhm, well…” he trailed off, thinking about the state of the Pokemon he’d brought, whether or not they’d be capable of being sneaky. In his defense, when he thought about stealth, his first thought was ghost, but Alex was terrified of Ghost-types, and he’d rather not scare the man into lateral recumbency.

”I was thinking that I’d probably take Praxidike and Sibella and try as pull as many off the hive as I could,” he said, having a feeling Alex wasn’t going to like this plan, but suggesting it anyways, because self-martyrdom was his thing, damn it, ”and then you and Kyouya and Gabe and Vince can sneak in and find the queen’s chamber.”

But was Sibella fast enough to outrun a swarm of angry, chaos energy riddled Combee? That was less important than maintaining Alex's safety, in Memo's view, while also completing the mission.

Alexei Ivanov

☉

The words were barely out of his mouth before Alex put the eighty-six on it, complete with a chastising arm slap and, oh boy, Guillermo was going to have to get used to this having someone care if you live or die thing.

And of course he stupidly just said, “Well, yeah,” as though that explained everything. “I mean--,” he was flailing a little bit because while he’d expected Alex to not be happy with his plan he hadn’t expected him to outright decline it. So, yeah, he was a little thrown.

“Sibella does,” he said, touching the Noivern’s Pokeball a little unconsciously. “But-- will they be okay on their own?”

See, he was fine with sacrificing himself, but not his friends.

Alexei Ivanov

☉

“It’s not that I don’t trust them,” Memo begins, which is exactly how every explanation of why you don’t trust someone starts, “it’s just that I-- I don’t want them to get hurt.” And he thinks, as he looks over at Praxidike, who rolls her eyes and huffs, that this is a very apt metaphor with how he feels regarding his relationship.

There’s a lesson here, and Memo isn’t going to like it.

“So we just-- we just let them run the gambit and sit back and do nothing?” Memo continues, streak of protest leeching into his voice. “Because that’s…” not how I do things dies on his throat as he looks at Alex, confused; he’s a man of action, always has been, always will be. Sitting back on his heels while his Pokemon go headfirst into danger doesn’t sit right with him. They’re partners, not tools.

Praxidike gives her comb-dress a whirl that suggests she doesn’t give a fuck what they do as long as they do something.

Alexei Ivanov

☉

Memo fixes Alex with a look that says you are not convincing me like you think you are without, he hopes, him having to say it out loud, because he really isn’t used to disagreeing with Alex, and is even less excited to have an argument. But he would certainly not send Zuzu into a swarm of angry bees all alone, no matter how much he trusted her.

He did follow Alex’s guidance when he gestured to Praxidike (the nickname brought a smile to his face, despite his sullen mood).

“I-- I guess,” he finally relented, really really not convinced. He hated this kinda thing-- feeling like his Pokemon were expendable, tools, just because they were a lot harder to kill. Still, he rolled Sibella’s Pokeball across the palm of his hand, releasing her with a flick of his wrist; she turned back to him with a curious trill, ears perked, awaiting instruction.

“Okay, fine,” Memo said, “we’ll go with Alex’s plan. For now.” He wanted to say but if anything seems off, I’m jumping in, but what could he do? He was, after all, just human. He also didn’t like how threatening it sounded in his head. “Sibs, I need you to run interference. You’re going to have a lot of angry bees chasing you, so, be ready.”

Sibella purred, unconcerned.

Alexei Ivanov

☉

Sibella titled her head, ears flexing forward, listening as Alex spoke; Memo pressed a hand into her white ruff. She trilled, the fur down the length of her body rising and falling in a wave, and then he stepped back so she could flap her wings and take to the sky, spinning airborne in a characteristic Sibella flair, before she lifted up and over, flying in an S-pattern in Gabe’s wake.

It was rather comical, the Salamence diving forward like a knife, and the Noivern going in slick loop-de-loops behind him, calm as the day is long.

“Yeah,” Memo said, sort of distracted, watching his dragon go, “I-- I get it.” And he did, but he-- he worried. Alex should understand what that was like.

He exhaled sharply, turning to Praxi.

“Once they pull the swarm off, you’re on your own. You’re okay with that?”

She rolled her eyes.

“Okay, okay. I’ll stop nannying. Jeez.”

The dragons were within sight of the hive, now; Sibella chirped at Gabe, turning upside-down beneath him, then peeled away, spitting an arc of fire down on the hive and flaring out to circle up and around.

Alexei Ivanov

☉