Hi y'all, here's a new fic I'm working on. It's a Junkrat/Zenyatta slow burn fic that will have a lot to do with cyborgs in the future. For now it's a bit of a slow start but I hope you enjoy!
Summary: Instead of escaping Aether with Type: Null, Gladion gives in and tries to escape with Lillie in tow. They are unfortunately caught in the middle of their escape. Good thing Gladion had a Plan B.
Your Pokéride device is sentient. You don’t realize it’s strange until it’s too late.
Note: In short, everything is the same except the Ultra Recon Squad have a purpose in the story, Lusamine is possessed before all the shit goes down in Alola, and the Aether Siblings never escape Aether Paradise. So basically, nothing is the same. But, now you have a talking Pokéride device.
Prologue: Land of Blindness
In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is King. - Gideon, Minority Report
Gladion swears to Arceus he had a plan. His plan, ultimately, is a failure.
The moment Gladion realizes something fishy is up at Aether, not that it was hard to guess what with Faba keeping his diary open for all to read, he grabs as much supplies as he can and wakes Lillie up. His sister is sleepy and changes with little haste and Gladion would have left her behind if he could but if he had then Lillie would have only their grieving mother. Lusamine wasn’t in the right state of mind, not since it appeared, not since the Ultra Recon Squad showed up.
By the time they made it to the labs, Lusamine had gathered enough workers to block off their exit. In the mix of Aether grunts, Gladion had spotted them, the Ultra Recon Squad. Before he realized Lusamine was possessed by the beast that came through the portal with the UR Squad, he knew that Zossie and Lillie had some kind of friendship and as an extension of that, Gladion ended up spending some time with Dulse while Lusamine discussed with the older members of their team. He and Dulse spoke about all manner of ways a Pokémon Trainer showed strength and before this whole mess it seemed like Dulse understood when he’d said it wasn’t just about brute force but strength of the heart.
Changing course, Gladion shoves the Pokéballs containing the two Pokémon crucial to Lusamine’s plans into Dulse’s hands and immediately feels arms restraining him. To his right, Zossie wraps her arms around Lillie but his sister is likewise restrained. “Mother is not herself.” Gladion whispered.
“Is it reasonable to worry about this now?” Dulse spoke in his typical monotone but his eyes betrayed a hint of exasperation. He’d heard a lot of this from Gladion, his reasoning and hypothesis aside.
“It should be clearest to you now that I’m telling the truth.” He says, his statement underlined by the sound of cuffs snapping onto his wrists, cuffs Lusamine said they were developing in case they encountered criminals who hurt Pokémon. Dulse’s eyes widened a fraction at the callus treatment. “Mother is not herself, you know she isn’t. She is not your savior, she’s our doom.” He continued, knocking his head back against his captors to buy time. “Remember what we talked about, I’ll find a way to help you get to them.”
“What-” Dulse straightens in recognition. “The strongest trainer.”
Gladion finally gave in, allowing the grunts to pull him away and watching Lillie protest as she too was dragged in his direction pried away from an inconsolable Zossie. “I’ll find a way.” He whispered as the doors shut in on them and darkness took over.
-
In a newly refurbished house along the coast of Mele Mele Island, you watch your mother stretch and blink as though waking up from a dream. The days pass sluggishly in Mele Mele which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it was still a relief to finally be graduating from Trainer School finally. Hau, in particular, was getting antsy and almost started his journey ahead of you. He’d already beaten Ilima’s Trial and he swore to defeat Hala at the end of his journey. And while Ilima hung around and battled you in trainer school, it apparently didn’t count as passing the Trial. Things were different in Alola, that’s for sure.
Next to you, your starter Pokémon - a Popplio you’d come to call Leia - trills happily. The only thing you had to go back to trainer school for was to meet the Principal and even then it’s just so she can battle you. You don’t really know why everyone seems to want to take you on in this island. On the way from school, a commotion was being kicked up on the road.
“Oh, hey [Y/N]!” Hau greeted, waving and jumping in that way that always makes you smile. “The kahunas sure are something, eh? Able to calm a raging Pokémon without even needing to battle. Now that's something! I mean, I like Tauros plenty and all but it is pretty scary! I don't want to ride on it!” He said, gesturing to Hala riding the Tauros. “You know, if you beat him he’ll give you your Ride Pager.”
