This chapter is inspired by @sunshine-vx's works, and I'm glad she enjoyed it!
Chapter Summary: Emmet finds a dangerous area in the Subway, and a man inside. Ingo ventures into a distortion, and finds a man inside. Is any of this real?
Chapter Word Count: 741
He is Emmet, and the air around him crackled unlike anything he had ever felt before. Which, considering that his ace partner was an Electric type, and his closest friend was an Electric specialist, is definitely worth noting. The winds ripped at him, throwing his coat up into a frenzy as he stepped further into the bubble that had formed inside of one of the out-of-service tunnels. Inside were several Pokemon native to Sinnoh, as well as a small collection of Pokemon from other regions. And off in the distance, a figure. “I am Emmet!” he shouts, trying to flag them down. “This tunnel is restricted! Approach with caution!”
“It is my duty to conduct people to safety,” flashes a voice through his head.
Ingo had a feeling this Distortion wasn’t like the rest when initially, no Pokemon had appeared. The winds were too fierce, and the air too charged with electricity. Normally, he had no reservations about rushing into a Distortion when it appeared on a main path, to ensure no traveller had been caught within, but he felt that something was off. It took too long for Pokemon to appear, and rather than appearing in flashes of light, it seems that they had run into the Distortion like himself. But off in the distance, he could see someone. “Attention, traveller!” he shouts at the top of his lungs, spooking several of the Pokemon, who were thankfully more timid than aggressive. “If you’re lost, come to me, but do so safely!”
“I need to get this person back to the station,” flashes a voice through his head.
Emmet had to leap back from a lunging Luxio as he tried to approach the distant figure. Were these Pokemon going to be stuck in the tunnels when this phenomenon went away? They would heavily affect the ecosystem of the region if left free! For now, he lets Ingo’s Excadril out of his Pokeball, having used him on the Doubles Line earlier, and has him take care of the small group of Luxio that were beginning to gather as he broke into a faster walk through the… It wasn’t quite just a tunnel anymore.
“Where am I?” flashes through his head.
He was in the Highlands, though now the area seemed almost to be a tunnel, with some sort of rail splitting the area in two. Ingo hadn’t seen anything like this before, and releases Gliscor from his Pokeball to grab the attention of a particularly aggressive large yellow spider. “Take care of this, then return to station,” he orders quickly, stepping between the rails and sprinting forward toward the figure in the distance. The sound of static rises louder and louder as he focuses in.
“Who could even be down here?” flashes through his head.
Emmet could see the figure clearly now, and surely something must be wrong. He can’t be here, not him of all people. But that coat, tattered as it was, couldn’t be anyone else.
“He looks like me.”
Ingo, staying clear of the third rail on pure instinct, could now see the figure. A man in white, his outfit mirroring his own that he had arrived in, a coat still whole. No, this can’t be happening. He can’t end up like this.
“Who are you?”
Emmet wanted to shout out Ingo’s name, but his voice couldn’t be found.
Ingo tried to remember his name, but his name couldn’t be found.
The air around them crackles louder and louder until it empties all thoughts. The space between them dwindles, until their hands, outstretched to their limit, can nearly touch.
And the distortion snaps free.
—
Emmet jolts awake in his bed. It’s 2:30 in the morning. Elesa is asleep next to him still, seemingly unfazed by him waking so suddenly, though Eelektross raises his head from the end of the bed. Emmet’s breathing is erratic, and as Eelektross wraps himself around him to try and comfort, all Emmet can think of is how real it felt to see Ingo.
—
Ingo stands there on the edge of a cliff, tears streaking dry across his face from the wind. Gliscor wheels its way down to him, and gently perches on the cliff edge next to him, looking up at him with worry. After a moment, Ingo steps back away from the ledge. “Let’s go home.”“None of that could’ve been real,” said the voice that flashed through both of their heads.
