Keiko had reached Hoenn far too late. She had not seen the dragon that had ripped space apart, nor the one that caused time to fray and bend and snap. If she did, she'd understand the utter fear of being told by a god that people did not deserve to exist.

It had certainly broken him.

"If the Almighty Sinnoh's will is for people to die, then the Almighty Sinnoh is a fucking murderer!" He did not practice Sinnoh's theology. He didn't necessarily care. Miles of scripture penned onto miles of scrolls did not substitute for the genuine truth that Rex had seen. "He-"

Wait. Rex's eyes narrowed as he realized what Keiko had uttered.

"He only punishes who, Keiko?" His voice had turned from hard to dangerously soft, like a knife being slipped from a sheath. "Who does he punish?"

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keiko mori

"I believe that people I loved died!" Rex's voice cracked. The mask of the trainer cracked, and the boy hiding in the cellar peeked out. The boy and the Ralts he swore to protect, to get stronger for, to find meaning alongside. "Because I-"

Tears spilled down his cheeks. A rattling gasp fled his lips.

"Because I was too weak to save them." He turned away, rebuilding his composure. "Go. Go and chase your goats. Hopefully your Almighty Sinnoh is kinder to you than he was to me."

When she came back, several trees in the area had been felled, sliced clean through with a Gallade's Leaf Blade. Simple training. Cleaving and dicing and severing through wood in an attempt to strengthen the blade. Rex still sat near the fire, watching its sparks dance.

"How'd it go?"

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keiko mori

He looked up from the fire, cheeks still red and slightly puffy. Trees crashing against the ground muffled sound quite well, leaving plenty of time to cry and scream.

How childish.

"Yeah, he's practicing his form. He evolved recently, still hasn't gotten used to his body. Dancing through the trees lets him get used to controlling his blades." A sword with no sheathe was of no use to Rex, so Gallade still danced through the woods. Every once in a while, a tree would fall, signifying an error. "It's bittersweet. I can't hold him anymore, and his arms make it hard for him to hold anyone else."

In Littleroot's cellar, they wouldn't have been able to hold one another as the world threatened to end. The emotion in his chest was impossible to describe. What had he felt during that moment?

Fear? Longing? Anger?

"This Gogoat." He shouldered on, burying his unhappiness for this woman in his soul. "Think it'll stay?"

The sun was setting. Rex whistled, signifying that his Gallade return.

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keiko mori

He let her words wash over him. Whispered murmurs of a dream of spring where god is benevolent and kind. The truth of Dialga is a simple one. Trapped in chains of red and dragged about by a DRK Triad member, it was not itself. God had been chained, and little people were poorer for it.

Yet Rex did not know that. Neither did Keiko.

Her Almighty Sinnoh had been chained, and now it had fooled an entire generation of people into believing that it wanted them dead. He would fight it. He would win. Victory had a delicious taste, sweet and delectable. If he could chase that high, he would be content to stifle the void in his soul.

"I can't even remember their faces anymore." Rex's voice was small as he looked up at Keiko "Too much time has passed. There's nothing left but sensations. Hints of a memory. If too much time passes, I'll forget what they went through."

Gallade appeared between trees. He nodded to Rex, bowed to Keiko, before returning his Pokeball in a flash of red light.

"I don't want to forget." Pelipper was not going to make it back. He could feel it in his bones. The bird would get lost, rest, and find them eventually. It would take even longer for help to arrive. They were about to spend a lot of time on this island.

Too much time.

A yawn broke the silence.

"I can stay up for the first watch." Rex's gaze lingered towards the tent. "Go get some sleep."

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keiko mori

"I don't know." His gaze locked with hers, the firelight sending waves of colors across their faces. Sparks danced in the air, before flickering and dying in the night air. "I'd rather not find out. Night, Keiko."

As she went towards the makeshift tent, Rex looked down at his palms. They shook.

Why?

Why was he alive?

Why was she alive?

Why were they stuck on this island together? What was the point? Where was the meaning in being castaway? As he thought, a realization came to him: this was why he fought. The rush was part of it, as was the adrenaline. Yet when he was on the battlefield, he wasn't thinking about this.

Keiko was lucky. Everything was so simple to her. All she needed was faith. As the hours ticked on, Rex yawned and sighed, his eyes falling on the tent. It was time for Keiko's watch, so he groggily meandered towards the tent.

Heat. It was warm. Far preferable to the air outside, cool and biting as it was. He reached out to tap Keiko's shoulder, before his hand retreated with only the faintest of brushes. There was no threat to letting her sleep.

He poked his head out at the Gogoat.

"Watch for us." His head retreated back into the tent. He hated calling it that. It was more of a ramshackle imitation than a genuine tent, but it was still warm and homelike. Instead of waking the courier, he started to doze aside her. "Night."

Warm. Vastly preferable.

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keiko mori

When the courier leaves, it's less warm. Yet whispers of her presence remain. The familiar sensation of being close to another does not immediately cease. Her warmth doesn't leave immediately, preserved by the rising sun as it flickers through strands of grass and leaves and bark.

Rex didn't want to move.

Yet eventually, he stirred from the realm of dreaming into wakefulness. It's a pleasant sensation, especially after almost drowning and being washed up on an unknown island.

Hours after Keiko roused from slumber, Rex woke. She should've woken him up earlier, but empathy stayed her hand. There's kindness in her heart, the young man realized as his eyes fluttered open. In spite of everything, she was trying to make a difference. She cared.

That made her a better person than him.

"Mmmph." He sat up and rubbed his eyes. His bedhead was abhorrent, and it looked like Gogoat had spent the entire night licking it. Keiko wasn't there. She had woken up without him. Likely for the best. "Morning."

He poked his head out of the makeshift tent, his eyes wandering until he found his fellow castaway.

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keiko mori

A splash of red colored Rex's cheeks as Keiko laughed and looked away. He patted down his hair self-consciously, though it did little to flatten and only served to embarrass him further.

Gogoat is their staunch ally, their middle ground that they both approve on. He kept watch in Keiko's stead, and they both woke well-rested as a result.

Extra berries were warranted, if Rex could find them.

"I'm sorry." He muttered in a sheepish apology, akin to a child being told they had misbehaved. It felt humiliating, getting a stern talking down from someone whose Pelipper had yet to return, and yet he admittedly deserved it. "I should've woken you, it's just..."

He pulled his knees close as he sat down near the Gogat.

"...it was cold." He refused to make eye contact as he rubbed the Gogoat. "You weren't."

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keiko mori