Listen To The Distant Thunder...
[Chapter list HERE]
Kabu strummed his guitar quietly as he watched the clouds gathering on the dark horizon, leaning back against the tree behind him. Nanu sat with his head resting on Kabu’s shoulder, his eyes closed, just taking in the sound, heart aching.
“And if the music stops There's only the sound of the rain All the hope and glory All the sacrifice in vain,”
The first drops of rain began to fall, the two young men mostly staying dry under the leaves of the tree, the deep rumbling of thunder like a drumroll in the distance.
“And if love remains Though everything is lost We will pay the price But we will not count the cost...”
Nanu’s last night in Hoenn before going on to Alola for his new job, and it was starting to rain. He wanted to believe, something, somewhere, had a cruel sense of irony, as drops plinked down onto the polished wood, tears that fell just like the rain. They listened to the distant thunder as the strumming of the guitar fell away to silence.
Word had started to spread across Galar of the two young children who Rose left behind, and although Bede was used to being in the spotlight and handling paparazzi and questions and fans and chaos, Kabu was doing everything he could to keep it all away from Basil. The damn leeches were everywhere, it was almost impossible to avoid them, and once they realized he was also housing Cyrus, a known criminal... It was only going to get worse as time went on.
Cyrus didn’t seem as bothered by them, and had scared most of them with his delightfully dark and deadpan humor that they mostly stayed away if he was out and about. His two “friends”, as he called them, started coming around more and more as Cyrus started to heal, and once he was able to move around mostly out of his wheelchair, they began to join Basil with his lessons.
They started with simple things, basic reading, writing, arithmetic, and Cyrus couldn’t help but be impressed with how smart the kid was.
“Rose made me attend lessons.” Was his defense, though he sounded less than thrilled by that fact. He wasn’t thrilled with having class now, either.
Having Lincoln around helped, especially as they taught him sign language, and the more Basil absorbed, the more fun he had with it, as Lincoln was quite talkative when he wanted to be and Basil was thrilled to have someone other than Cyrus and Kabu to talk to.
Cyan mostly sat quietly in the corner, sketchbook in his lap, doodling idly and looking uncomfortable around everyone. Basil had taken a dislike to Cyan but an interest in his sketchbook, so he’d sit as far away as he could while still being able to watch him draw, squinting nosily until Cyan would gesture for him to come over and get a better look. Sometimes, if he was in a good mood, he’d show Basil how he drew something, or explain a little about his art, but normally he was quiet, closed off, just wanting to have alone time with Lincoln and Cyrus.
Basil, however, wanted to be anywhere but in a lesson. He would much rather be running around, training his Pokemon and exploring, and Cyrus knew this. He did what he could to make the lessons interesting, but he could only do so much.
“How come you don’t have any Pokemon?”
Cyrus had been ignoring the hand in the air for five minutes now, he could tell that Basil’s question did not pertain to the lesson.
“That is irrelevant.”
“Do you have pokemon? Do they not like you? How come you never have them out? Do your friends have Pokemon? Can I see them?”
Cyrus groaned. “Focus on your lesson, please. Pokemon have nothing to do with your homework.”
Basil crossed his arms. “I can’t focus anyway so you might as well just answer the questions.” He smarted off with a smirk.
“No, I don’t have any Pokemon. You don’t get to keep your Pokemon after you get arrested for trying to bring an end to the world as we know it. I don’t know if they liked me or not, that is their business and it doesn’t matter anymore anyway. Lincoln does have Pokemon, I don’t know if he’ll let you see them that will be up to him.” He snapped bitterly. “Can we continue with the lesson now?”
Basil frowned at that, and let Whisper out of his ball, cuddling the Meowth close. He couldn’t imagine being separated from his pokemon.
“I’m sorry Mr. Cyrus… do you want to hold Whisper for a while?”
“No I do not want to hold Whisper for a while. I want you to finish this equation.”
Basil dropped the cat pokemon in Cyrus’s lap anyway, before leaning over and getting back to work.
Cyrus growled, annoyed that he wasn’t being listened to, however the Meowth was very warm and very sweet, and he couldn’t help reaching over to give it a pat every so often.
If only for Basil’s sake. He wasn’t doing it for himself, of course.
************
“You should bring an umbrella with you, there’s rain coming…” Kabu followed Cyrus to the door.
“It’ll be fine, a little rain never hurt anyone.” He assured the older man, leaning on his cane as he rushed off to take a walk with Cyan and Lincoln.
“Bye Kabu see you later!” Basil rushed past, almost making it by before Kabu wrapped him in a hug and pulled him back inside.
“Now where do you think you’re going?” He teased.
Basil squeaked and giggled. “Hop and I are going to Circhester to have a snowball fight! Let goooo!”
He let Basil go, smirking. “Alright, just be safe. It’s supposed to storm and I want you home before that happens!” He called after him.
“Okaaaaaaaaay bye!”
Basil stopped to say hello to Cyan and Lincoln before disappearing down the road.
Kabu watched them and smiled, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, taking in the scent of rain yet to come. He was so proud of how far the two of them had come, Cyrus could move around pretty freely with the help of a mobility aid, and Basil only needed his cane on bad days. The doctors told him they expected him to make a full recovery, though it was close, any more injuries and things could have been much worse.
He felt… at peace. He couldn’t remember the last time things felt so right. For once, everything was going his way. He was happy.
“Lincoln, wait up! I’m old, I can’t run that fast!” Cyrus called, smiling. Lincoln was running back and forth through the trees, chasing his Spinarak and giggling.
“He hasn’t looked this happy in months…” Cyan mused. “You haven’t looked this happy in… well ever.” He had his hand on Cyrus’s shoulder, an old habit, to keep him steady.
“I haven’t felt this happy in well ever.” He responded, sounding almost surprised. “I don’t know how to describe it. I feel… good.”
“You look good.” Cyan pecked his cheek. “I’m so proud of you.”
“Bean! Get down from there!” Lincoln was hanging upside down from the branches of a tree, spinarak dangling beside him. “You’re going to fall and bust your noggin!”
Cyan laughed. “This is as good a spot to set up camp as any, hm? Are you sure you want to have our picnic out here? We can go somewhere where you don’t have to sit on the ground…”
Cyrus waved the thought away. “No, no, I want this. I want to be out here with you. And this will make Lincoln happy too.” He groaned and tried to sit down, letting Cyan guide him down the rest of the way with a grunt. “There. See? I’m fine.”
Lincoln plopped down from the tree and sat beside him happily. “Are you going to catch any Pokemon today?” He signed excitedly. “It’d be good for you to have a companion!”
“I don’t know, Bean… I don’t deserve a pokemon after what I did. And besides, the old man would just take it away from me if he found it. He doesn’t trust me further than he can throw me, and I’m pretty sure he’d throw out his back just trying to lift me.” He smirked, and Lincoln snickered behind his hands.
“You keep saying that but that isn’t true you know.” Cyan noted. “Like it or not he does trust you. He wouldn’t let you teach his son if he didn’t trust you, you’ve seen how protective he gets. And he’s done wonders for your back, too.”
Cyrus couldn’t deny that.
The three of them ate in silence, just enjoying nature and happy with the company. It was nice to have time together, just the three of them, and they didn’t want to waste the time with idle chit-chat. Eventually, Cyrus made them pack it up.
“The wind’s getting strong, we better get back before we get blown away.”
They made quick work of packing their meal and helped Cyrus to his feet, staying much closer to him on the way back, noting how much slower he was moving.
Cyan kicked himself for not thinking to bring the wheelchair with them.
On the way back, Lincoln stopped suddenly, grabbing Cyrus’s sleeve and tugging urgently, pointing to a patch of tall grass.
“What? What is it, Bean?”
The three of them paused then, watching as the grass quivered, something zigzagging through it haphazardly. Finally, the mysterious creature emerged.
“Oh, Arceus…”
Standing before them, looking dizzy and confused, was the cutest, fluffiest Eevee that any of them had ever seen. It’s fur covered it’s eyes, and it shook it’s head trying to clear them, before catching sight of it’s tail and chasing it a few more round, plopping over on it’s face when it got too dizzy.
“That’s the most pathetic thing I’ve ever seen in my life…” Cyan covered his cheeks with his hands.
Cyrus groaned and crouched down to get a better look. “Come here cute thing…” It started to wobble it’s way over to him.
More rustling was heard, and suddenly a second Eevee flew past the first like a zubat out of hell, knocking it over before latching onto Cyan’s boot, gnawing and growling.
“Hey! Get offa me you little ankle biter!” He tried to nudge it away but it was determined to make an example of the shoe, however its tiny teeth weren’t doing much of anything.
“Catch it catch it!” Lincoln signed excitedly.
“What? No way, it’s vicious!”
Cyrus reached out to brush the fur from the fluffy Eevee’s eyes, but was met with a fingerfull of needle like teeth. “Ow!” He didn’t pull away, watching as it tried to suck and chew at it gently. “Cyan, they’re just babies! They don’t know any better they’re just hungry!” He pulled his finger away finally, watching as the Eevee stood on it’s hind legs and spun around before losing its balance and collapsing. “Well aren’t you a pretty little dancer!” He cooed. He couldn’t figure out why, but he had a sudden need, an urge to catch it.
“Come on, I’m sure they’ll leave us alone, we need to get back before the rain hits.” Cyan huffed and started trying to walk, but the Eevee kept getting underfoot. “Hey! I said beat it!”
Lincoln giggled. “They like you!” He looked to Cyrus, who was watching them with a small smile, and handed him a pokeball, pressing it into his palm. “Go on… it’s okay.” Lincoln smiled and squeezed his hand before stepping aside to let him work.
Cyrus whistled. “C’mere, little dancer…” The Eevee perked right up at that and scrambled back over. “You want to come with me?” It hopped back up and spun around again, making happy noises. Cyrus smiled and tossed the ball towards it. “Alright, if you insist…”
He watched the ball shake, once, twice, three times, then the satisfying click of a pokemon well caught.
“Cyan you can’t leave his friend here.” He scolded.
“I’m not taking it! It’s mean!”
Cyrus and Lincoln both gave him the look. He caught the Eevee.
They made it halfway back before the thunder started to break apart the sky and the rain started to pour, taking refuge under a bridge to wait it out with their new little friends.
************
Hop, Basil, Marnie, Milo’s brother, and the new champion all met in Circhester for the most epic snowball fight of epic snowball fights. They had invited Bede to join as well, but he hadn’t gotten back to them. Basil promised them he’d come around to their games eventually, after all they always had fun playing when they were little, he just needed a little more time to adjust.
Bede had also told him he was going to see Rose, and Basil could only imagine what that had done to him.
He pushed the thought out of his mind while they played and laughed, he hadn’t had this much fun in a long time and he was going to enjoy every second of it. He rolled his eyes when Hop tried and failed desperately to flirt with the Champion, and rolled them doubly when the Champion gave his attempts in return to an oblivious Hop. It was like watching Nanu and Kabu try to dance around their relationship and it was painful to watch.
The all eventually got tired out and stopped for lunch, piling into the cozy little restaurant and chatting happily. Basil was thrilled that they had all accepted him in as a friend, and he quickly lost track of time as they drank cocoa and gossiped about their siblings.
The snow outside was starting to pile up. The Flying Taxi’s stopped flying over Circhester.
************
“He should be home by now…” Kabu was trying not to let himself relax too much, but Nanu’s arms were so inviting. “Something’s not right, I told him to be home before it got bad out…”
Nanu pulled him close again, kissing his neck. “He’s fine, Kabu. He’s just doing what we did when we were his age. He probably lost track of time, he’s out with friends. They’ll keep each other safe.”
They were snuggled together on the couch, watching the rain come down through the window as the lighting blinded them yet again.
“I don’t like him being out in this weather. The rain is one thing but Circhester? The snow gets so bad you can’t see your hands in front of your face what if he gets lost?”
“He’s with friends! He won’t get lost.” He turned Kabu’s eyes away from the window and towards his own. “You’ve gotta let the kid have a little breathing room, babe. He’ll be okay.” He planted a kiss on Kabu’s lips, smiling at the small moan of frustration it brought and Kabu pulled him even closer.
Both of their phones started going off, startling them out of their kiss.
“What in Arceus name..?”
Kabu grabbed his first, scrambling to his feet. “No more flying taxis. I’m going to go get him it’s getting too dangerous out there—” As he spoke, a crash of lightning shattered the earth and the wind tossed a large branch against the window.
Nanu pushed him back down onto the couch. “Stay here, I’ll go look for him. He’ll feel safer with you here if he does happen to show up.” He tossed on his jacket. “But he’s fine! He’ll be fine! Keep your phone on you!”
Kabu didn’t want to stay. He didn’t want to sit and feel helpless, but he knew Nanu was right. He was okay, he was with friends. They’d keep each other safe…
************
The three strongest trainers in Galar gathered in a huddle in the lobby of the Battle Tower (Aside from the new champion, of course, but behind closed doors Leon swears his win was a stroke of luck and not a feat of skill). Piers, Leon, and Raihan spoke in hushed whispers, just loud enough to be heard over the raging storm outside.
“What about Marnie? He’s had his eyes on Spikemuth for as long as I can remember, I won’t let him hurt Marn, I’ll kill him before he gets the chance…”
“I don’t think he wants to hurt anyone.” Leon soothed. “I don’t think he’s going to come after anyone. But we have to be there for Bede and Basil, because he’ll try to get in contact with them and if he does, it’ll be bad news if no one’s there to intervene if his intentions aren’t good.”
“And the Champion?”
“Your brother’s gonna be alright, Rai. Don’t worry about it. We just have to keep our wits about us, and—”
They looked up as the bell on the door rang, announcing the stranger’s presence.
“Excuse me sir, the battle tower is closed…”
The stranger was wrapped in a large, ill fitting coat, with a hood that covered his eyes, and a scarf that covered the rest of his face. He unwrapped slowly, ignoring the warning.
“The battle tower is closed, you need to leave.” Leon warned again, hand twitching near his pokeballs.
The hood came down, and the scarf came off, and the stranger had revealed himself, though he didn’t look much like himself anymore, a shadow of his former grandeur.
“Please… I need your help.”
