a date from his app had seemingly ghosted him for today.

brows furrow as his head festers thoughts from the recent happening, culminating to an amalgamation of frustration and distress. he keeps his head low as he stares down his phone, apparently still in denial of what was obvious.

his pictures were perfect, right? he obviously wrote something nice in his description: working at silph co... that should amount to something since it's a big corporation. did he fuck things up and-

something bumps into him.

"what?" he'd snarl.

he looks at down her, his expression frozen from the earlier worries.

he looks around and sees a few electronics on the ship's floor. a few rewirings and tapes later, he attaches it to his marowak's club.

"i'm replacing this later, bud."

the contraption beeps and blinks. wolfgang urges his marowak to throw it overboard, away from the ship and perpendicular to the zekrom's path. it spins in the air and circles around, catching the legend's attention.

"that's the decoy! let's go! let's go!"

the zekrom fires its lightning at it, and, with the bone acting as a ligtning rod, overloads the small piece of megalopolan technology and results to an explosive distraction.

the timeline eventually gets back to the usual flow.

rocket gets ousted in johto, the set their sights on hoenn, and everything weird would soon happen once again after a year or two. his home, however, remains untouched.

the only difference is that wolfgang didn't have to do the things he had to do. he's still on johto this time around, having taken over the home that his retired grandparents have left for him. they eventually leave this world around the same time they did before, but this time, they passed away without worries.

he now runs his own artisan shop for apricorn balls. it's the novelty that sets a high price for it on the market, with markups getting higher than it should be for other regions.

wolfgang is alone again, but he's not just content with how things are. he's happy with a peaceful life.

his mail comes by, and he goes to receive it. an invitation to a top business appears to him. it's the same as the one he has in real life: aeos. it comes with the same catch, with their base of operations being on hoenn.

he leaves the letter alone, dropping it by his office on the way to his workshop. the letter will be forgotten for the entirety of the dream.

news of rocket's invasion start blowing up over the news.

his grandparents were adamant of not moving out. they cite age and health issues as reasons why they cannot, but wolfgang knows the reason why: sentimentality.

this was the reason why he joined rocket for protection. why he forced himself to work to the bone for them when things got rough. they didn't even win in the end, and everything fell apart later on anyways.

it would have been a regret, but he got what he wanted from it.

this is a dream, however. if he has the capability to make a better choice with a lesser risk, he would. to act smart meant to force a win, and this was one of the only wins he ever wanted in the entirety of his life.

azalea's militia was one of the weakest in the region by the time the attempted takeover happened, but this was his story. they will stand their ground and not let their quaint little town be ran over.

"ya dumbfucks better not let anyone get through!" he shouts, addressing the neighbors he once had that had fallen victim to rocket's conquest. "i'll kill ya myself if you do!"

they would eventually be successful in fending off forces. the sense of worth wells up in him. to be on the side of the way he actually stands for felt like an accomplishment more than anything.

he sits on comfortable tatami floors of his grandparents' place. sliding doors were opened wide to let the smell of the forest in, giving him the view of their modest garden on what was supposed to be a makeshift workshop.

tools were sprawled all over, with screws and parts scattered around the floor. his hands work meticulously on a hallowed piece of apricorn, attaching bits and pieces that would decorate it with functionality.

as he applies the last coat of varnish over the painted shell of the makeshift ball, another door of their traditional home opens. his grandmother comes in with tea and biscuits, leaving them for him with a flash of smile from her expression.

wolfgang finds the smile contagious as he reflects the same to her.

"hey," he calls her attention. "take this."

he twists his torso and reaches the product he just finished to her hands. he ungracefully drops on the tatami floors as soon as he sees the apricorn ball in her person.

"go get yourself a pokemon with that," he instructs her grandmother. "if y'er wonderin' what happens after y'er gone, then don't worry. i'll still be 'round here."

most of the apricorn balls he got commissioned to make were for aesthetic purposes. no one actually uses them for their intended help since they are usually too specific to help an average trainer.

the love ball he just gave was one of those.

the plane lands. people flood out of departure, either to find transportation to where they need to go, or to reunite with people that came there in person to welcome them to the region.

for wolfgang, he belonged on the latter group.

he raises his sunglasses to see his grandparents looking lost, unable to find their grandson from the sea of immigrants that came to the region. the smile on his face was faint, but shows enough just to convey wistfulness.

with a hand raised to get their attention, he drags his bag across the airport's tiles. the countryside leaves a lot to be desired from the setting, but the centerpieces are there.

"missed me? hope your memories ain't failin' enough to not recognize me."

as soon as he reaches them, he extends his arms and gives both of his grandparents a warm hug. emotions were not his thing, but he was sentimental enough to let it flow out of him for once.

"before you offer, i'm the one cooking."

he lets go and lets them guide him back to their vehicle. it's a rusty old thing, but they mentioned not wanting to replace it before, mentioning its charms. the rustic setting of azalea was off-putting for him at first, but he did eventually grown to eventually tolerate it.

it was an understatement. he loved it.

"...that'll be all. see you all tomorrow."

sweat drips from a lock of hair that found its way on his face. he sweeps his hair back as he watches everyone within the dojo to filter into the shower rooms.

he recognizes this place. kalos. this was his place of birth, but he never acknowledged it as his home. he recognizes that this was a dream, and everything can be what they want, but only one thing remains in his head if he was given a chance to relive it all.

it was only until it was the two of them left that he approaches the instructor.

"oi. i'm flyin' to johto to visit my grandparents tomorrow. jus' lettin' ya know."

it differs greatly on how they were taught, but the way he talks has become natural to him that even nostalgia doesn't stop it from flowing out of his tongue.

for once, he's excited again.

this wasn't the family he considered. as much as he felt bad for cutting them off his life, he wasn't regretful. wolfgang wasn't the kind of person to make decisions and not stand by them, regardless of how heavy they are.

should he be given a redo in an alternate universe, he's not sure if he'll sway from the choices he made.

"shit! it saw us!"

it wouldn't be surprising for a creature of legends to have better perception than them. staying by its midst instead of getting out has compromised their hiding. he wasn't confident enough to fight it, but he knows just enough to buy them a second or two for them to come up with the next step.

he rushes to an opening of the ship. his marowak sticks out its club, intercepting an electric-type attack from the zekrom into it with lightning rod. the power was enough to transcend type matchups, causing the marowak to drop on the ground after neutralizing the move.

"we can't take another strike. hit it with something big and let's get the fuck out!"

a potion is sprayed on the marowak to get it back to its feet, just in case the zekrom fires another bolt of lightning at them. it's a futile attempt, but it wasn't like wolfgang has any other option.

the collision attempts to throw him off his feet, but his grip on anything that can anchor him down manages to save him from being thrown off.

"huh?! who the fuck decided to-!" he ends with a heavy sigh. "you know what, this should've been expected."

the moment they reach the border should also be the moment that something dangerous approaches them. that's just how the dangerous ultra plant dimension works. there was no time to muse about the world's reality when they have to face something ahead too.

at least being this high up has its advantages

"oi. do you think it won't see us if we park the ship with the thunderclouds up here?"

if it's anything robotic like the stakataka, then the strong static could interfere with their censors. if it's something like xurkitree, then electricity makes good bait for them to take their leave.

maybe it's the gravity that pulls wolfgang's face to the side, or maybe it's just the disbelief of doing it and the realization settling in after the post-nut clarity, but his eyes meet gunner's as they lay side by side on his bed.

he blinks, and then opens his mouth.

"hey."

while the deadpan expression shows nothing but indifference in wolfgang's face, he can only feel frustration from within. hatred runs deep that he remembers there's a reason he doesn't like himself to begin wiht.

dammit wolfie! of all things to say, you say that? ya don't even hafta say anything, idiot!

he ends up not saying anything else and lets it linger in the air. if gunner has anything to say, he can do it himself and carry the conversation. he already invited him to his room, so his obligation's done.

as soon as the wirings were dispatched, wolfgang moves to check the exterior. finding nothing wrong, he moves to inside to check on the controls of the ship.

"oi. are we really this lucky? this can't be right."

disbelief riddled his tone as he finds nothing wrong. he comes out to do a double check of the hull, wherein the only problem he finds are indentions and burn marks from the wirings earlier.

he invites the other two in as soon as the preliminary checks gave no immediate problem for them.

"come on. who wants to drive?"

taking notice of movement in his sight, wolfgang whistles for his companions and directs their attention to what seemed to be a vehicle being constricted by live wiring.

"that one doesn't seem broken down." they had ridden another ship before to travel distances, and this wouldn't be any different. "we just need to free it first."

he releases a marowak from one of his pokeballs and instructs it to throw its weapon towards it.

bonemerang hits, and then circles back to their position. it stirs the wiring and its sudden movements loosen up its grip on the ship. however, it doesn't fully release it from its grip without a strong enough move.

"tch."