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Things are different now.[break][break]

Your parents' absence reverberates to all corners of your new, emptier life. At first, there's a near-constant feeling of... something. Your nine year old mind has difficulty putting words to these emotions. [break][break]

Sometimes there's an ache so sharp it feels like your heart might rip itself from your ribcage, if only to escape the pain for a fleeting moment. Sometimes it feels like there's hard lump in your gut, weighing you down and dragging everything with it. And sometimes you feel nothing at all, as if your insides have been hollowed out.[break][break]

It's worse at night.[break][break]

Before, when you had a nightmare, you'd clamber into your parents' bed and settle between them.[break][break]

But now? Now you live in a "new" apartment, with sticky linoleum tiles, carpet that pricks at the soles of your feet, wallpaper yellowed at the edges... and no bedroom sanctum to flee to when fear strikes in the night. [break][break]

"Gus?" You call out from the end of the hallway as you walk toward the living area, dragging a TYRUNT plushie by the tail behind you.[break][break]

You eventually make it to the kitchen table, which is dimly lit by an overhead light and currently stacked high with various textbooks and papers. Agustin sits amidst the pile, but shifts around when he hears you coming.[break][break]

"Ah—" You look up into your brother's tired face, seeing dark bags under his eyes. Lines that weren't there before. But a small smile, too.[break][break]

"Hey, bud. Can't sleep?" You shake your head, feeling suddenly shy.[break][break]

Agustin pauses for a moment, then looks around the room, first at the TV, then the refrigerator, before his attention finally lands on a newspaper at the end of the table.[break][break]

"I've got just the thing. C'mere." He takes the newspaper and flips through the pages until he finds what he's looking for: the comic section.[break][break]

"I used to read these all time. Check it out." [break][break]

Though you're getting a bit big for it, your brother hoists you into his lap so that the two of you can read together. [break][break]

The cartoons on the page immediately catch your attention for their mirth and easy, jovial humor. You find yourself smiling for the first time in what feels like forever.[break][break]

The nightmares feel a little farther away.




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The nightmares wane as you grow.[break][break]

Time passes and heals old wounds. The shy boy that you once were evolves into a surprisingly gregarious man — different, especially, when compared to your brother.[break][break]

Agustin did everything within his power to fulfil your aspirations. Worked overtime at multiple jobs, put his love life on the backburner, invested as much time and energy and resources as he could. All for you and your success. [break][break]

To make your parents proud. And, of course, because he loves you.[break][break]

The newspapers you used to read with him as a kid inspired your chosen profession. Eventually, you moved on from the comics and ventured into other sections... some more interesting than others. Sports didn't really catch your eye, nor did finance/business, but the entertainment section kept you up to date on all the latest gossip.[break][break]

However, writing columns for The Daily Yamper wasn't exactly the extent of your ambitions. [break][break]

You wanted more from life. To live it to the fullest, since you knew from personal experience how short-lived it could be. Travel, politics, divisive topics, fiery discourse — those were the things that made you feel alive. And you wanted to share your passion with the world...[break][break]

...as a broadcast journalist.[break][break]

Your big break came with a promotion and relocation.[break][break]

To Hoenn.






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Agustin was sad to see you go, but so, so proud of all the things you'd accomplished thus far in your life. [break][break]

As you ventured off to Hoenn, ready for a fresh start, you promised yourself that you wouldn't squander all the sacrifices he'd made that allowed you to follow your passions. There was good work to be done here, in this new region — much more than you ever realized.[break][break]

So much more.[break][break]

Because, unbeknownst to you, your universe has been influenced by the anomalous push of another. Continuous and consistent events within Universe 820 has caused things in your dimension to be ever-so slightly off kilter. [break][break]

You aren't really even aware of it at first. Your initial year in Hoenn is spent settling into your new role, making connections within the industry, getting to know the people and culture of the region. But as time passes, you begin to notice small things.[break][break]

Odd happenings throughout Hoenn start to crop up. Most wouldn't have realized the uptick in frequency, but it's your job to report on the goings-on around the region. Environmental disasters, disturbed swarms of Pokémon, rampant crime, unexplained phenomena. [break][break]

When compared with historical numbers, all of this combined together was unprecedented. And catastrophic.[break][break]

What was going on...?







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Some things never change.[break][break]

In your Hoenn, TEAM ROCKET is still an ever-present threat to the safety and stability of the region, however much they profess otherwise. The tug-of-war between it and the LEAGUE make headlines on what seems to be a weekly basis, with you at the helm of discovery and proclamation. [break][break]

There are whisperings that some within the organization don't appreciate your journalistic tenacity.[break][break]

Rumors constantly buzz about the identity of the organization's boss — a figure so steeped in mystery and intrigue that there's virtually no identifying markers as to who it really is.[break][break]

The more conspiratorial of the populace swear that dahlia goode, the Commissioner herself, is pulling double duty.[break][break]

Runner-up is the most tenured of her council, FERNANDO SILPH, with his incredible business acumen. How'd he get all that money, anyway? Chatty suburban housewives would chitter to one another.Definitely not on the straight and narrow, that one.[break][break]

But you? You have your own thoughts.[break][break]

Ones that you share regularly with a close confidante, PENELOPE LIVY. A peer and sometimes-mentor of yours from when you first immigrated to Hoenn. She humors your ramblings, acting as a sounding board for your more outrageous ideas.[break][break]

Little do you know, the answer is just within your reach.[break][break]

But Penny dangles the carrot, purposefully misleading or pushing toward one false avenue or another.[break][break]

She wouldn't want to give her lover, ollie morales, away, after all.








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