To say it hurt would be like taking a fistful of lava and describing it as mild. The loss of Roark devastated both Byron and Fantina, and the opportunity to visit Oreburgh and say their last goodbyes did nothing to soothe the grief.
But, for the sake of Jade and the pokemon Roark had loved, they had to be strong. They had to be the ones people could turn to with their sorrows, the ones who could act as pillars of strength during this time. The two gym leaders took comfort in each other, bound by the knowledge that they had lost not just a Sinnoh league colleague, but someone dear and irreplaceable. Byron had lost his only child, and Fantina had lost someone who’d she’d all but come to see and treat like her only child.
When home, Byron devoted all free time to being with his wife. They already knew from past incidents that a divorce wouldn’t help, and the Underground Man needed some time alone to deal with the untimely loss of his grandson, so the couple did the only thing they could and attempted to regain some semblance of a normal life. They talked, they worked, they shared the same home again, but they could never get back what they’d had.
And if Jade had ever seen him, with his eyes red and bloodshot and voice rough from hours of demanding to know why the world hadn’t taken him instead, she was kind enough not to mention it.
Fantina, meanwhile, did all she could to ease the suffering of his pokemon. Some had already been transported to Iron Island to live out their days in relative freedom, though most had stubbornly refused to be moved from their home city. Fantina didn’t mind. Out of respect for them and the man who’d once poured so much effort into making them his family, she wouldn’t force their decision.
Cranidos was there, of course. She couldn’t imagine how distraught the poor thing must be, so she never reprimanded him when he lashed out. Instead, she soothed each one of his cries, whispering to him in her mother language until he either fell silent or directed his aggression at something.
Fantina never lied to him, never said she could make everything okay, but she told him she was here. Should he wish to leave, Hearthome would always be ready to welcome him in with open arms, but until then she would stay and make sure he was comfortable in Oreburgh. Cranidos would be given the best, most comfortable life she could offer, because that’s what she thought Roark would have wanted.
- @ghosteel
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My Muse Is Dead. Tell Me How Yours Is Dealing With It.
[ wow, tabitha came for my heart with this one?? i’ve gotta offer up some of my own headcanons for this in return since she went all out with this holy shit- ]
Fantina being the one to focus on Roark’s Pokemon while his parents focus on themselves is … wildly in character. Like, on the one hand - of course his parents are hurting, and need time for themselves, since they just lost their son, but on the other hand: his Pokemon lost their father (Cranidos, Geodude, and Onix especially viewed Roark in this light - plus, I actually headcanon that Roark’s Onix was trained and raised by Byron before Byron gave it to his son as a starter, for double pain), and are definitely just as in need of comfort right now. There’s something really heartbreaking and doubly oof about the fact that not even Cranidos is getting attention from Byron and Jade, even after some time has passed, and that Fantina is the one taking up that mantle instead.
Part of Jade’s rationale in not taking in Roark’s Pokemon has to do with how she’s dealing with her son’s death: the same ‘ignore it until it goes away’ mentality that she views most of her problems with, but with an added dose of despair because, like - your child’s death isn’t something that goes away. She’s never again going to wake up one day and see her husband and son arguing in the kitchen or on the phone, or be able to scold Roark about how he can never seem to get his hair to lie neatly even when he’s not wearing a hard hat, and eventually she’ll run out of Fossils to revive that had been found by her son, and that will become a ‘never again,’ too -
Actually, with that last one in mind: she keeps Roark’s most recent Fossil find (aka, the last one he found before his death) locked in her office at the Museum, just so she never has to lose that last piece of her son. Like…that’s the real key that she’s hurting way more than she’s letting on: instead of displaying or reviving the Fossil like she usually would, she’s hiding it away, so no one can take it from her. She’s also extraordinarily cold to whoever Oreburgh’s new Gym Leader ends up being, as another sign.
Jade is really shitty at offering comfort to other people, including her own family, so even though Byron generally keeps his own grieving process to himself so as not to distress his wife further and doesn’t want attention called to it, Jade wouldn’t be a good support system for him even if he did try and reach out. And she knows she isn’t good with providing comfort, even though she would try her damnedest for her husband’s sake if he asked her to, so she’s actually really jealous and resentful of Fantina - because Fantina and Byron are close friends, and to Jade, it looks like her husband’s stunningly attractive colleague is a better shoulder for her husband than Jade herself is. Even the knowledge that Byron isn’t leaning on Fantina anymore than he is the other Leaders and the intuitive knowledge that nothing is actually happening between Byron and Fantina isn’t enough to keep Jade from feeling at least a little bit resentful of their connection, which isn’t helped by the fact that, even after Byron moves back in with his wife following their son’s death, she still feels like they’re just ‘going through the motions’ for a long while with each other and in their jobs.
Honestly, to go back to something above: I imagine the only scenario where she wouldn’t start being cold with Oreburgh’s replacement would be if it was Riley, or if Byron himself took over again and left Canalave Gym in someone else’s hands. If Byron did go back to Canalave, Jade would quit her job at the museum and move in with him there, meaning all of Roark’s Pokemon that haven’t already been re-located to Byron’s home on Iron Island (which I imagine he wouldn’t sell, whether he lives in Canalave or Oreburgh, so as not to lose a viable living option for his late son’s Pokemon) would have to move there as well. And I can see Riley temporarily playing the role of Leader in whichever Gym Byron doesn’t choose to run.
In the end, I don’t think Roark’s Pokemon would split up their residences permanently - maybe temporarily, as they each grieve in their own ways, but ultimately, they’d all want to live in the same place, whether that be Oreburgh City, Iron Island, or Hearthome City. They love each other like family, due to the connections that Roark fostered between them and with himself, so they wouldn’t want to be apart from each other. If Cranidos moved in with Fantina (which seems likely, due to the care she’s giving him), Roark’s other Pokemon would want to come with, which would be Fantina’s decision ultimately, but otherwise? If Fantina doesn’t do it, I can totally see Riley taking over as the other Pokemons’ caretaker, since his family owns Iron Island and he was close with Byron anyway, and Cranidos would move between the two residences. I can see Byron giving money to Fantina for Pokemon care (and, if Riley has the rest of them, Riley would get a stipend too), and I feel like Byron would eventually get to the point where he could sit with his son’s Pokemon again, but Jade never comes around.
The Underground Man turns Roark’s base into a tribute area for his grandson, and either moves in temporarily with his son and daughter-in-law to help them with the grieving process or takes up residence in Byron’s Iron Island home so as to help look after the Pokemon kept there. This would be temporary as well if Fantina took the whole team, but permanent if Riley was the caretaker for the others (barring Cranidos, who ultimately goes with Fantina either way but makes regular trips to Iron Island if the others do not).
