Little hybrid AU idea inspired by a sick cosplay by @/hellishcrusade on TikTok! (If you see this, I hope you love reading this as much as I did writing it!)
You combine my favorite character with my favorite Pokemon? Self-indulgent story = MANDATORY.
Lil TW for blood; angst inbound as well >:’3
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You sighed to yourself as you gazed out at the slowly setting sun from the balcony of your little hut. A chill began to thicken in the air, making you pull your cloak closer to you. Your ace Pokemon stood poised at your side, giving you a sideways glance with what seemed to be a tinge of sad sympathy before returning their own gaze out across the expanse of the Cobalt Coastlands where you resided.
Warden Ingo of the Pearl Clan was a punctual man, always committing to his schedule and heeding every order on time. Hell, he would show up ten to fifteen minutes before the allotted meeting time in order to prepare for whatever, or whoever, awaited his presence.
That's what made you admire him so much.
Ever since you both fell from the sky from that godforsaken rift that supposedly tore the both of you from your beloved homes, you two were practically attached at the hip. From the moment you stepped foot into Jubilife and became known as the Hero of Hisui, he wished to personally observe your success.
He insisted on overseeing your journey to fill up the Pokedex. He always had his ace Gliscor and Lady Sneasler at the ready to come to your aid if an Alpha proved to be too troublesome for you to fight alone.
He may not be the most recollective, but he's still the personification of a gentleman at heart.
And he is why you await patiently outside, cloak tugged a little tighter as a breeze began to blow and the sun began to set below the horizon.
He was to take you on a well-deserved vacation, for the both of you, to the very summit of Mt. Coronet. He would see to it that Lady Sneasler would assist you both in traversing the particularly steep slopes of the mountainous hills below it with a ride in her basket.
However, they were to meet you promptly before the sun finished setting, but the fiery orb had already concluded its descent.
You wondered what the reason behind the delay was, but you tried to brush it off. Ingo was a Warden, for crying out loud. That meant he had quite the handful of duties to carry out throughout the day.
"He must have gotten caught up again..." you pondered to yourself, sparing a glance at your ace before turning back towards the front of the hut. "I don't blame him, but this is the third time this has happened."
Ingo had planned on taking you to Coronet's summit two months ago, but a recent string of attacks by an unknown entity had required the Wardens and Commander Kamado to be on high alert. One of said attacks occurred on the night you were to travel to the summit, leaving a group of Teddiursa cubs without their mother Ursaluna, who had been viciously mauled and left for dead halfway into her own cave.
Ingo profusely apologized the next morning for his absence and had promised you that he would rearrange the vacation for the very next month.
However, the very next month, on the very same night you two were to depart, another grisly attack occurred and left a pack of Kleavor without their arms. Ingo had insisted the morning after that that he was called to oversee their burial, to which you nodded and reassured him that it was just a string of bad luck on your part, but one day...
One day... you would have a proper night together.
However, a few things struck you as odd...
Ingo always insisted he was with the other Wardens following the attacks, but when you went to question Irida about his condition after the first incident, she stated that he wasn't there to tend to the Teddiursa cubs.
"Odd..." you pondered after hearing that intel. "He told me he was..."
Following the second attack, you went to Irida again to question if Ingo had, indeed, went to oversee the burial of the Kleavor, to which she responded,
"He did indeed come to me and state that he was to carry out that mission, but Kamado had made no such demands for such a thing."
Now that puzzled you even further. Ingo wasn't the type of person to make up excuses or not show up to carry out demands made of him.
Additionally, the attacks always seemed to occur on the nights Ingo planned to take the two of you on vacation, and he was also seemingly missing on each of the separate occasions. Nobody even specified what the creature was, but if it was able to take down an Alpha Ursaluna and eviscerate a whole pack of Kleavor, then it must be pretty damn strong.
So what on Earth was going on…?
Your thoughts were interrupted by a piercing scream that seemingly echoed from the woods in front of your hut, making you jump out of your skin for a split second before grabbing the railing in front of you for stability. Your ace perked up at the noise and braced itself at your side, ready to attack.
Ingo had warned you that, if another attack were to occur, you should never head towards any suspicious noises, no matter how dire they may sound, for you and your Pokemon’s own safety.
But still, whatever, or whoever had shrieked sounded like they were in extreme pain. Your inner empath couldn’t help but feel bad for the poor soul that might be falling victim to whatever beast lurked the region…
Another guttural yell rang through the air, and this time, you tried to pick up on the tone of the voice. Judging by how gritty it was, it was definitely a man… but who?
Adaman? Iscan? Commander Kamado?
“Ingo…” you whispered to yourself before adrenaline set in and you bolted across the porch and down the steps, your ace in tow. “Ingo!”
The screams seemingly came from the woods directly south of your hut, which meant that the danger laid somewhere within Deadwood Haunt, where plentiful Ghost-types roamed and waited to claim their next victims.
A third pained cry echoed as you beelined towards the trees, trying to pinpoint where Ingo was amidst the foliage. You huffed with every breath, the edges of your cloak waving wildly by your ankles while sweat began to bead on your forehead despite the nip in the air.
Once you reached the edge of the trees and shrubs that separated the smooth hills of your Coastland home from whatever hell awaited you in the Haunt, you stopped to catch your breath, hands on your knees as you looked up from your hunched position. Your ace remained fixed by your side, taking in the environment every which way to keep an eye out for potential threats.
“Stay close,” you whispered to your partner, to which they nodded in response before resuming their lookout as you both strolled deeper into the Haunt.
“By Arceus’s name, please let Ingo be okay…” you silently prayed as your eyes were trained in front of you.
Your head quickly snapped up when you heard a sharp crack resound from somewhere around you. You and your ace collectively flinched as you scooted closer to each other, head whipping around to try and locate the source of the noise, all the while trying to breathe calmly in the now eerie silence of the Haunt.
You closed your eyes to steady your breathing and slow your racing heart before looking up again.
You and your ace stood in another few moments of silence before what sounded like scratching on wood began to reverberate through the trees. It paused after a second, then resumed for another second before ceasing again…
Followed by a low, inhuman growl that would have made an Arcanine freeze over.
That sent a collective shiver down you and your ace’s backs. They nudged you and looked to your right, emphasizing where they heard the commotion.
It seemed to come from behind the thick oak right in front of you.
Your ace went first, moving slowly and as quietly as they could to avoid aggravating what hid behind the trunk. You stared at them with a look of worry, but they nodded to the side and insisted that you follow before they turned back and headed towards the tree.
And follow you did, slowly and on your tiptoes while looking at the ground to avoid snapping any loose twigs.
A distressed huff from your partner made you look up and meet their eyes, which were wide and full with what looked like surprise. This triggered you to stride faster towards them and join them at their side.
Once you reached the tree and resumed your spot near your ace, you looked down at where the noise had come from…
To confirm your nightmare was, indeed, true…
There, curled at the base of the tree, was Ingo, back turned towards you as he hid his face within his coat, which looked… absolutely more destroyed than ever, you realized. The parts covering his shoulders were torn open, and his sleeves were shredded. His hat also had a few new tears, letting more of his fluffy silver hair poke through.
You feared not for his coat, but how he was underneath. Mere seconds ago, you had heard some unearthly snarls from behind this very tree.
Did whatever had been attacking and killing Pokemon around Hisui get to him now…?
Your fears became slightly more likely as you looked up at the tree’s trunk, where a set of deep, jagged gashes graced the wood.
That’s what was behind the scratching earlier…
But where had the beast gone? It had to be close by if those sound had occurred mere minutes ago…
That would be saved for later. For right now, you had to check on your friend.
"...Ingo?" you half-whispered so as to not startle him in his vulnerable-looking state. You tiptoed through the snow towards him and raised a shaky hand, contemplating touching him as you watched his back rise and fall slowly.
"Well, he's breathing, thank Arceus..." you thought to yourself.
You reached out your hand and ghosted over his shoulder, watching as he shuddered from the sudden contact. You flinched for a moment before resuming a gentle rub of the area.
"Ingo, it's me. Are you hurt?" You asked, still in a whispery voice in an attempt to soothe his nerves. "I heard your screams all the way back home. Did the beast-"
Before you could continue or get a response, you heard a sharp intake of breath, followed by the most guttural, low-pitched growl you ever heard come from Ingo before. You quickly withdrew your hand and shuffled backwards, bumping into your ace who was quick to assert a defensive stance at your side, eyeing the Warden sharply.
With a turn of his head, the rays of moonlight peeking through the trees illuminated just how much danger you were about to be in.
Ingo's eyes were icy and glazed over, outlined with red and white kohl and with pupils now resembling slits. His face bore a set of pale scars that graced both sides near his cheeks and mouth, and a set of three, diagonal scars went down and over his right eye. A helpful smattering of what appeared to be blood coated his left cheek and the corners of his lips.
The sight of your longtime friend in such a state left you fearful of what had transpired.
You reached out a thumb to wipe at the blood on his face, only for his lips to perk up and show off pearly, jagged fangs, followed by an equally threatening snarl as the one before. He unveiled his hands from where they were tucked into his coat, revealing his fingernails to be just as sharp as his teeth.
You stared at him for a moment longer before taking a glance up at the moon that was directly above the two of you, then back down at Ingo. The color had completely drained from your face upon the realization you made.
"It was him after all..." you fretted internally. "No wonder he was missing during the attacks, because HE carried them out! And every night he did..."
Your attention quickly snapped back to the beastly Warden when you heard the crunching of snow and the shuffling of his eviscerated coat. He was now standing at his full height, glaring daggers at you as you watched his heavy breaths leave in frigid puffs from his mouth.
"Whoa now, Ingo..." You held your hands up, trying to show that you weren't a threat, all the while sparing your ace a glance before returning your attention back to him. "You recognize me... right?"
He only responded with a tilt of his head and another misty breath.
"Right?" You whispered again desperately, not wanting things to go south.
But south they were about to go...
You could only watch as his face dropped before his teeth were bared once again, his throat rumbling with a newfound growl as he took a lumbering step in your direction. You ghosted a hand over your ace, who moved a few inches in front of you and countered Ingo's growl with their cry, daring him to come closer and try to hurt their Trainer.
You were not prepared for the lightning-fast lunge and slash of claws by the Warden towards you and your partner, who took the brunt of the hit. They skid through the snow a few inches back as you gasped, immediately wishing you brought Berries with you in case either of you were to become injured.
Too late now, and you didn't want them getting any more hurt.
"GO!" You suddenly shouted at your ace. "Get back home, quick!" They did a double-take and stared wide-eyed at you like you were crazy. Leaving you behind with the being that killed an Ursaluna and a group of Kleavor on his own? Hell no!
"Don't worry about me," you egged on, trying to spare them any more trouble. "I'll deal with him and try to make him regain his senses!" You turned and pointed in Ingo's general direction. You regretted your decision almost immediately as you saw him pacing towards the two of you again, body tense as if he were about to leap at you for a second time.
You saw him pause and ready himself for an attack as you made one final effort.
"GO, NOW!" You shrieked at your ace, who finally seemed to get the message and bolted from the Haunt, making their way back towards the forest's edge as Ingo launched himself forward.
You threw yourself to the side and barely missed being tackled before you regained your stability and made a run for it, slapping away low-hanging branches and vines as you huffed and puffed from the cold air, mere feet from the clearing. You could hear the thumping of the Warden's boots as he was in hot pursuit of you, keeping up much faster than you thought possible.
You finally broke through the long line of trees and saw your home just up the hill. You quickened your stride and decided to spare a glance backwards. You'd regret that decision for two reasons.
Reason number one: Ingo hadn't gotten farther away as you had wanted, but rather closer. He was still rushing after you, and if he stretched his arm out, he could grab your shoulder. That's how close he was to you.
And reason number two: turning backwards made you unaware of a stray plant root, which your foot catches underneath and causes you to tumble forward. You somehow manage to tuck yourself into a forward roll and regain your footing, but not before you felt a sharp burn on your left shoulder that caused you to yelp and look back again.
Ingo had managed to take a swing at you and connect, dragging his claws down your shoulder and your back, opening up your cloak that separated you from the bitter chill in the air. You slapped at his hand and continued running, hoping that your ace Pokemon got back home alright.
You were getting exhausted from running, your cheeks flaring red from the onslaught of cold wind, but you persevered. The claw marks down your shoulder began to sting as flecks of snow pelted the wounds.
As soon as the steps of your home came into view, you let out a barking laugh before it got caught in your throat and turned into a shriek as you slipped on a long patch of ice and spun awkwardly before falling back. As you were slipping, you saw Ingo a few inches away, his own chest heaving from chasing you all the way.
He raised his arm again to lash out at you, but not before you shielded your front with your arms and gasped as your head hit the ice, knocking you clean out.
The blood that had oozed from your shoulder streaked across the ice and snow as you slid forward before halting in a heap, the wind blowing your hair away from your face. Ingo skid to a stop at where you lay, his pursuit now over. He hunched over you and growled as he prepared another slash...
...and that's when he suddenly came back to his senses.
His eyes seemed to refocus as he shook the snow from his mutilated cap and wiped the back of his hand across his cheek. He looked at his nails and saw that they had been painted a fresh red.
Little did he know that it was your blood...
He tilted his head in confusion and worry, wondering what poor soul he had cut down this time. He glanced down and got his answer in the form of you in a crumbled heap, your mauled shoulder exposed to the chilly outer world.
His eyes tried to focus on your form, not recognizing you at first, but as soon as he saw the insignia of the Pearl Clan on your tunic...
He suddenly remembered everything.
Him on the way to escort you to Mt. Coronet at long last, his chest suddenly hurting, him telling Lady Sneasler to head back home and await his arrival. Him looking up at the sky and realizing that it was going to be a rough night for himself and whoever he might encounter along the way.
He remembered how he dashed into the woods of Deadwood Haunt, trying to find a suitable hiding spot a good distance away from any civilization so nobody would witness him in such pain. How his entire body began to itch and ache ahead of the change...
How his pained screams and growls caught your attention and brought you and your ace to his supposed aid...
How you laid unmoving in the pile of snow that had begun to build on all sides of you. How the ground and ice around you began to take on a crimson color much like the tips of his hair.
By Arceus's name... he thinks he has killed his beloved.
The Warden, now taking sharper, more pained breaths due to shock, slowly lowered himself to your body and sniffed at the crook of your neck. When he didn't get a response, he reached out shaking hands and turned you gently onto your stomach, where the gashes he mauled into your shoulder were in full view.
He couldn't help but feel tears build up and threaten to freeze as they trickled down his face. He barely suppressed a whimper as his lower jaw quivered, but couldn't contain himself and let out a high-pitched whine afterwards, training his gaze onto the ground away from you upon realizing that he harmed you.
He thinks he killed you...
Returning his attention to you, he launched himself into action and heaved you into his arms as gently as he could, careful not to claw any more of your skin with his nails. He noticed the stairwell of your home and bolted up them before practically flying through the door.
Kicking the door shut with his boot, he took notice of your ace in the corner of the room, who made a distressed noise, followed by a much angrier one as they saw the state of you. Ingo quickly nodded his head 'no,' trying to convey that it's not what it looks like and that he's here to help.
He maintained eye contact with your ace as he slowly made his way to your bed in the middle of the fire-lit room and lowered you onto it. He put his hands up to show your ace, who eyed him warily before nodding and gesturing at you, trying to say: "Help them, or I will tackle you into oblivion, so help me Arceus..."
The Warden nodded swiftly before rummaging through the drawers at your bedside, mentally scolding himself for invading your privacy as he looked for medicinal supplies. He snatched a roll of gauze out of one and began cutting it into strips with his nails, setting them aside before opening a jar of healing salve from another drawer and rubbing it into and around your wounds with his palms, not daring to use his fingers and make more cuts elsewhere.
Afterwards, he took the gauze and wrapped it around your shoulder before cutting off the excess with his claws and tying it off. He stepped back to assess his handiwork before letting out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. He glanced back at your ace with a nod, which they returned with a glare that said: "They better make it out alive by morning..." before he slid himself under the covers by your side, taking his hat off and setting it on the nightstand before he scooted as close as he could to you, burying his face in the crook of your shoulder and neck as he felt a bout of whimpers coming.
He cried himself to sleep that night, praying to Arceus and all his creations that you would wake up.
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You woke up to your head pounding and thoughts groggy. It was the next morning, and you could barely remember what had transpired the previous night due to the hit you took to the head on the ice.
You tried to roll over, but were stopped by two things. First came the sudden sting of your shoulder, which you quickly shot a hand towards in an attempt to stop the pain, but found that it was wrapped in gauze. The inner layer of it was stained scarlet.
Secondly, you were stopped from sitting up by a deafening whimper at your side and what felt like arms tightening around you.
It all hit you right then and there.
Him being late to take you on vacation...
Finding him in Deadwood Haunt...
He was the beast that was responsible for the slew of attacks around Hisui, and you were his first human victim, yet you survived. You wondered why nobody had suspected him until you took note of the white hair that covered the backs of his hands and his red-tinted nails.
He was a were-Zoroark, you realized, and they supposedly still retained their illusion-casting abilities. Ingo must have set up a false vision around the other Wardens to make them think he was off to take care of business surrounding the creature those fateful nights...
When it was, in fact, him...
You felt your heart twang out of guilt at the thought of the amount of physical and emotional pain he went through on the three nights he had changed, including last night when he attacked you. You couldn't help but shift in his hold and lift your good hand to scratch at his much fluffier sideburns.
Ingo suddenly stirred awake at the sensation, icy-blue eyes opening slowly and making contact with yours. They quickly widened and sparkled with what looked like immense joy at seeing you alive before the hold on you became noticeably tighter as he practically squeezed you to his chest. He buried his face in your hair as he tried to muffle his whines and stop more tears from coming.
A few whimpers broke through, and you felt your hair slightly dampening. He was crying.
You couldn't help but feel your heart ache more at the state of your partner, and you felt your own tears welling up. You moved your hand from his head to his back and stroked it up and down as you let him cry it out.
Your ace perked up from their sleeping position as you turned to face them from your trapped spot on the bed, smiling at them and nodding as they returned the gesture and fell back asleep, leaving you and the Warden in comfortable silence, aside from his whining.
You stopped your rubbing of his back and slid a hand over his rough cheek and lifted it from your shoulder. He glanced up at you with watery eyes and trembling lips, his teeth slightly poking through from his upper lip. You gave his face a pat and stroked it with your thumb.
"I know you meant no harm, it was just instinct," you tried to reassure him. "I forgive you."
His eyes widened again, practically saying: "How could you?" You didn't wait for him to make another peep as you guided his head back into the crook of your shoulder, where he nuzzled and tickled you with his goatee. A brief snort left you before you resumed stroking his hair to try and help him rest, his whines now reduced to a deep purr that you could feel thrum from his chest and through your entire body as sleep took him before you soon succumbed, as well.
"Your secret's safe with me..."
