he's hedged his bets. he's done his own digging. jayden cross accepting him into the fold of the organization has given him some measure of reach, despite being low on the totem pole. her books are beautifully done. public records are flawless, despite the impromptu disappearance of the previous owner. the place seems better in her care anyway.

"a host that values their ambiance uninhibited by the blue light of computer screens," he says dryly, though his expression is teasingly light. 

"you ought to send a search party after me if that happens. i'm a horrible creature of habit, save for when i'm not." he tips his glass towards anton. "and besides, where else would i go that would treat me like you do here?"

he turns his head. "honestly, it's made me feel as though i need to do something deserving of your time." he smiles cheekily. "and what could i do that might captivate the lady hasigawa?"

Yumi Hasegawa

☉

"miss hasegawa," he says with a slight nod of his head at her whilst the bartender, anton, moves to grab the second bottle. nikkari does as he always does - extends an arm out for yumi to sit, tucks some of his papers into a folder, and turns his computer screen away. 

it has a privacy screen and even then, glimpsing it shows only his real estate backend.

"if you'd prefer i reserve a conference room, i'd be happy to oblige, though i would miss the wine." he smiles. "and the company."

anton returns, displaying the bottle in careful fashion. nikkari's gaze sweeps over it only briefly before giving a nod. he inspects the cork, swirls a taste, and muses, "ah, it's lovely. thank you, anton," he says, as the bartender pours yumi's supposed glass.

Yumi Hasegawa

☉

he is no stranger to late nights, though sitting in the dark with a glass of wine in hand, computer screen a harsh blue against his bright gold eyes, has become somewhat tiresome. he has come to loathe the two thousand and some odd square feet of the apartment, with nothing but his own irritated sighs and musing hmms as company. 

when he's particularly abhorrent of his own isolationism, he plays perlman. when he's slightly more spirited, it's mutter and a keen listen to her contemporary compositions. 

but when he is in high spirits, as he is now, he takes a taxi to sootopolis and orders a glass or bordeaux and posts up at the end of the bar. he's learned of the fascinating series of events that led the head bartender into his position now, from childhood to this very moment, and the amiable chatter pauses between the two men as yumi crosses the floor. 

"mm," nikkari muses and drapes a hand over the neck of his current bottle, tilting it to catch the light and examine its contents - "best open another. and another glass while you're at it."

Yumi Hasegawa

☉

it is entirely possible that he imagined her. it is entirely possible that she'd been nothing but a shade of the woman he thought he'd finally gotten over. it is entirely possible that he did find her and she was real and now she's gone for good, out of his grasp and leaving him with a sense of bitter longing. 

and complacency. 

and then he hears his name being called. fog whisks away from him and above, surrounded in a halo of neon blue light, is her silhouette. the celesteela takes her away and he growls out a frustrated order to crown. 

her flamethrower helps alleviate the worst of the immediate fog until he forces her to stop, realizing that the foreboding shapes around them are other, bigger celesteela. 

but try as he might he cannot wake them. he cannot go after her. until the ball at his hip wriggles and out pops the injured kartana. its high-pitched, shrieking voice makes him flinch and it stops at nikkari's movement, twirling around in place. 

it seems to contemplate a moment and then gestures with a fan of its hand to one of the celesteela. nikkari returns his vulpix and climbs. the kartana drifts off and screeches again, dancing about the celesteela like a fairy. 

it awakens. 

and then it launches. the kartana perches on nikkari's shoulder and rides with him, back to the rift. out of its home forever. 

Lulu Flint

🗺️ utilize an ultra beast in a pivotal way.

☉

"i don't think that's ~!" but then she's gone, disappeared into a cloud of fog rolling in. the imprisoning bonds on the kartana continue to rust and ianthe joins her sister in support, blue eyes gleaming a cold sapphire as she leads what kartana are left into a state of utter confusion.

they whirl about in a frenzy after one of their companions is nestled in the pokeball in nikkari's palm, but their angry, buzzing voices are soon left behind as nikkari follows lulu into the mist. 

ianthe and coronabeth are at his heels, whining their trepidations. 

"we have to find her," he says, though he does not know if he is saying it to them or himself. the fog thins, allowing him glimpses of hazy shapes. impossibly large shapes, almost like buildings, dwarfing them on all sides. 

"lulu! where are you?"

Lulu Flint

☉

he folds it over his arm and offers his other to her, but her back is still turned and, after a moment, he drops his arm and busies himself with straightening the towel instead. he notes her chill and laments not having a jacket of his own to offer her. 

"the pleasure was all mine. truly," he says. 

her hotel looms above them. he smiles and looks down at her dutiful purrloin. something he's...not quite used to lingers in the spaces between his words. his lips press together and then he clears his throat. 

"i've never much cared for fireworks, but tonight...hm, tonight, they were something else." a pause. "good night, miss hasegawa." 

Yumi Hasegawa

☉

this will change everything. he's been in rocket long enough to know that there's no coming back from this. you sign a deal and you sign in blood. but there's a new life here, a new beginning. new opportunity. 

"mind if i stick around and work for you, mr. cross?" 

jayden cross

☉

coronabeth's pips hadn't been because of the baby celesteela at all. embers fly from her little teeth as she squares off against pieces of paper on the ground. nikkari recognizes them as kartana, though the one that remiel had managed to capture, was nothing like this. 

he shifts to the side as one of the creatures whisks by him, bladed arms spinning. at his feet, ianthe yelps as her side is cut open. blood sprays over her white coat and her lips curl. dark aura exudes from her tails. her spite stops the kartana in its tracks, giving nikkari a moment to start moving - 

lulu's cry draws him back. he's not close enough to catch her, but he thrusts a hand out to coronabeth. 

"crown - immobilize them." the vulpix joins her sister and fans her tails. ghastly chains crisscross over the area, snaring the origami pokemon. she grunts from the effort and nikkari spares a glance to lulu. 

"she won't hold them for long. hurry, while your houndoom pulls them away."

as he turns, though, a kartana, its left side ripped, struggles against coronabeth's bonds. it looks like she'd imprisoned it on top of one of the celesteela - the only thing strong enough to puncture its side. he worries his cheek and then grabs a pokeball on a whim. 

Lulu Flint

got da kartana

☉

he wants to ask more, to follow this thread while the conversation is easy and interesting, but the first firework goes off. he turns a shoulder and looks up at the sky. multicolored lights reflect off of dark gold. and then, as the smoke fades, he looks back at her. 

there's no chance to get a word in edgewise so he bites back his curiosity and settles in beside her. coronabeth's ears flatten against her head and she burrows against his side; he neatly returns her to her pokeball. 

the fireworks grow more impressive. some of them even form the shape of pokemon - simple ones, still, like bounsweet, but it's still impressive. 

and when it's over, there's much cheering on the beach. some folks start packing up. nikkari continues to lounge. with the sun having fallen, a chill sits on the sea breeze. 

"may i walk you back to your hotel?" he asks.

Yumi Hasegawa

☉

he flinches away. he'd heard, at the very least, about rinc. and it had brought him immeasurable satisfaction to see his bloodied, beat-in face afterwards. he hadn't been there for the deed, but he'd overseen the clean-up. he was their most efficient, after all, and had never left a mess behind. 

"lulu," he says, tongue trilling the roof of his mouth. despite himself, and the genesect still staring down the barrel, he smiles. he still looks upon her and sees fiona, but that may change in time. 

if she grants him that. 

"of course not," he says, brows furrowing. "i looked for you because i wanted to see you." and he'd leave it at that if it weren't for the mist crawling its way up his sides, the warm breath of steam on his face. the crater beckons them deeper, closer, and despite the situation, he takes a step forward. towards her. 

"i couldn't stop thinking about you, even after all these years. and i..." he starts, but stops. coronabeth mewls at his feet and paws at the earth. 

he blinks through the steam and then sucks in a breath. 

"fi - lulu, i'd appreciate if you called off the genesect. you've never known me to be a liar so i'd ask you to kindly believe me now because i'd rather we save our quarrel for somewhere else.

"somewhere out of the celesteela nest we've found ourselves in."

Lulu Flint

04 encounter baby celesteela in the ground as obstacles. if they are touched, they will summon kartana to attack you.

☉

he's been accused once or twice of having his head in the clouds, but he's flesh and bone before jayden. no mirage would conjure him now. and yet there is a tickling at the back of his mind as the portal's shape warbles, beckoning. 

"no, it's not," he says and the conversation is snapped shut, a neat little bow stretched over it. 

he throws an arm over jayden's shoulder. years fall away between them; nikkari demands they do. and with a smile, gold eyes glittering, he looks out over dewford town's waters and thinks, perhaps i should. 

"then allow me to formally ask." 

jayden cross

☉