He slips into a normal conversation before he can help himself. Navy chuckles, scratches the back of his neck. The alcohol on his breath is forgotten, as well as the ghost of an ascended dragon he could not save. Just a guy and a girl, walking along together. Looking for Pokemon together.[break][break]
“Y’know,” Navy has a glint in his eye, “there’s this really good samurai meets cowboy flick. It’s called Red Sun. They play it sometimes at the old theater in Slateport. Classic. Unovan cowboy and a Johto samurai gotta team up to get back a treasured Johtonian Honedge he was gonna present to the president of Unova.” He prattles on about a movie he likes. The smile broadens, despite himself.[break][break]
Until a pair of Pokemon burst onto the path before him. A Seviper and a Zangoose. The snake hisses at the Zangoose, who raises its claws to defend itself from the impending attack. Navy cracks his neck. Seviper. That’s a poison type. A real snake in the grass.[break][break]
His hand slips to Vortigern’s ball, but---[break][break]
He looks to Elise. The hand goes instead to the next ball down. Old Ironsides, for once in its long existence, looks relieved to have been pulled free from its ball. For too long, it has sat there. Between the daycare and being cooped up in the ball, the Pokemon was ready to fly some.[break][break]
“Lift.” Navy commands. Like a hawk swiping up its prey, the Skarmory snags the Seviper. With Ironside’s claws gripping it right below the neck, it hisses but can’t do much of anything. It is caught in its grasp. Like the mighty hawk, this bird is an apex predator. Ironsides gloats in triumph and floats around.[break][break]
In its desperation, the Seviper shrieks. Its form changes. No longer is it a Seviper, but an exact replica of Ironsides under his own Pokemon.[break][break]
The Zangoose jumps up as the new weight brings it own low. He pursues his foe relentlessly.[break][break]
“…huh. A ditto. Pretty crazy stuff.” Ironsides and the Zangoose team up on the creature. Slash at it relentlessly. A two on one fight isn’t good for it. Navy preps a pokeball and throws it at the ditto before things get too vicious.

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“Amor, huh?” Navy teases her. “That name’s a bit on the nose for a boyfriend. Do you have an ex named Casanova?” He picks up and pockets the pokeball. It’ll struggle for a few minutes as the Ditto decides whether it wants to stay or not. It’s a job hazard, having Pokemon occasionally burst out right when he thinks they’re caught.[break][break]
Maybe he’ll sell it to a breeder. He doesn’t know yet. For now, what he’s really focused on is the company. Everything else was and is secondary.[break][break]
“Much more interesting than any exes I have, namewise.” He hasn’t had a girlfriend in a good long while. What ones he had were brief. There was no time in Navidson’s world to date. He always put someone else ahead of himself. Gabe came first. The business came first. That bratty kid he helped keep off the streets came first…[break][break]
Now, he really doesn’t have anything to focus on except himself. It’s a sad thought. The smile sours into a soft frown.[break][break]
“There’s plenty of good Unovan cowboy movies. The real good ones are made in Paldea. They call ‘em Spaghetti Westerns. The landscape out there’s perfect for those kinds of movies.”

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“Could be worth a trip out there.” He remembers wanting to take his brother there, once upon a time. Show him the scenery from all his favorite movies. Unova wouldn’t be a bad place to live. It was new, but it didn’t have all the trouble with the Rockets.[break][break]
Everywhere had its problems, but few places faced quite as many as Hoenn. Kanto gave them a run for their money. Maybe other places, too. Navy always considered just leaving, but there was something that kept him here, every time, without fail.[break][break]
“This is our home, Navy.” His brother told him long ago. “And it’s worth fighting for.”[break][break]
So, he stayed. Through it all. The highs and the lows. The deaths.[break][break]
Because a man only has one home.[break][break]
“Are things bad in Galar? Seems like you can’t turn a corner without--- SHIT!” He forgets himself and his chivalrous rule as he turns a corner right as a Haunter materializes in front of him. Acting on instinct, he throws himself before the Pokemon and swings. A mere human’s fist could never harm a Pokemon, much less a ghost Pokemon. It fades and cackles.[break][break]
His fist crashes into a Wigglytuff strolling right behind the creature. It looks up at him with blue eyes. Tears form in the corner of them. The Pokemon starts to bawl like a baby.[break][break]
“Aw, I’m sorry. Sorry. That Haunter scared me.” He smiles at the Wigglytuff, making no move to put it into a Pokeball. He’s just consoling it because he did wrong by it. The Pokemon still sniffs, tears draining down its cheeks, but it doesn’t pull away or attack him. His voice is gentle, like when he used to put band-aids on Gabe after he fell down.[break][break]
“You’re a tough one, aintcha?”


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Wigglytuff keeps crying, and eventually wanders off into the night. The detective feels bad, but there isn’t really much to be done. There are just times in life where you’ll accidentally hurt someone. Navy accepts that, resolves to do better, and stands up. Sighing, he looks to the Princess, who’s caught herself another Pokemon. She’s making out like a bandit tonight. [break][break]
“I hear things are pretty bad in Galar, yeah.” Just the news reports. Same as everyone else. It’s enough for him to know that the world’s bad everywhere. So it is in their generation, so it has been in every generation that came before them or will come after them.[break][break]
“Guess I should ask again. Why are you here? If things are so bad back home, I mean. It sounds like the people of Galar could use their princess.” He observes.


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“Eh.” Navy shrugs. What the hell is someone like him supposed to say to her? She’s talking about matters of state. The future of nations. He’s some nobody kid from the streets of Slateport. What could he possibly have to say to her about being a good ruler?[break][break]
“It says something that you even stop to ask that question, dontcha think?” Navy asks the princess. “There’s plenty of people out there who just wanna be in charge.” Like half the people in charge of the League, from his point of view.[break][break]
“It’s your life and your business. I’m just bein’ nosy. Glad you came to Hoenn to further your education. We’ve got plenty of great places to do it.” He doesn’t pay attention to the Pokemon flitting in and out of view. For him, it’s mostly about getting to know Elise.[break][break]
Well, and strategizing in his head about what he’ll do with that Ditto he’s caught. That things one hell of a useful Pokemon to have.[break][break]
“What do you think makes someone a good queen?”


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