2.1. Can It Be Real?
"What are you doing?" Reyes asked.
Spoiler:
"Catching fish!" Dominic replied, leaning off of the shore to glare into the water.
"The water has too many rapids for—"
"There are fish down there—I feel it in my gut!"
"No, that's the feeling of you being too adamant to eat Berries."
"I'm tellin' ya!" He finally spotted a Remoraid zipping by and dunked his head under; he not only missed, but it bit his nose too. Reyes sat down on a slick flat rock; the small isle was full of Pokémon, but they seemed to be impassive towards those two, which was relieving considering that the rebels and revolutionaries were after them. Dominic had suggested staying there—there were, after all, plenty of caves, trees, and burrows to sleep comfortably in—but Reyes refused on the grounds of their enemies finding them if they remained in any place too long; as a result, they had been skipping across little islets and small out-of-the-way towns for two weeks, and despite keeping their heads under they were still found after less than forty-two hours each time.
"Look, Dominic, the sun is setting and we've got to pick a tree or a burrow or something for the night," Reyes said tiredly, rubbing his face; as he did so, Dominic noticed that the edges of his leaf blades were browning, becoming crispy and breaking away. "Oh, Arceus, this is a pain."
"What, are you expirin' or somethin'?"
"Stress is bad for my system, as I am a plant," he elaborated. "It should wear off in a few hours."
"Should," he repeated.
"Oh, don't worry about it." He started checking the insides of various rocky cliffs while Dominic tried the trees; neither found a vacant space after an hour. When they came together again, Dominic noticed that the sickness was in Reyes' other set of blades too, although he tried to hide it. How did you help a plant anyway? The Pokémon Center wasn't an option considering where they were, and although Dominic had a lot of things tucked away in his mane, plant food wasn't one of them.
"Where do we sleep?" Dominic complained.
"I'm not… Wait, I'm sure I saw a meadow somewhere." He pushed forward through some thick shrubbery, which ended in a row of oaks and pines before leading to a virtual sea of green green grass almost as tall as him.
"Aren't there wild Pokémon in here?" Dominic asked, then he sneezed, and sneezed again.
"No, because that," Reyes answered. "The grass is a species that most flesh and blood is allergic to, and from what I've heard, Ghost-types don't like the feel of it. We'll be safe enough here." He started stepping on the grass, clearing out a flattened bed of it.
"But—" he sneezed again, grabbing his running nose. "I'll die!"
"On the contrary, this isn't deadly."
"No, but… Oh!" He pulled a gas mask from his mane and attacked it to his muzzle. "Better!"
"I'm sure you didn't have that when we entered Ever Grande."
"I'm only borrowin' it; I'll return it when I'm dead." He also removed a bright purple sleeping bag and offered it to Reyes.
"I'm better sleeping on the grass." Dominic shrugged and curled up to sleep, but he couldn't sleep because of how cluttered his mind was. Okay, it usually didn't matter, and in fact it wouldn't have mattered some days ago, but it was different now; he was dragging Reyes into his mess now. That even wouldn't have mattered some days ago—hell, he would've wished he could turn the revolutionaries all helter-skelter—but Reyes was different than just some revolutionaries; even knowing about him, Reyes went all the way with him and even betrayed his friends. For what? For a split-personality, twisted bastard of a Zoroark? There was a time that he thought he was the only one that could hear the voices of Hell; now, Reyes was close to that line too.
"Reyes…can you go?"
"You're conscious of me sleeping with you," he said dubiously; Dominic retreated slightly into his sleeping bag.
"No… I want you to go back and tell Alakazam that you were under my illusion; he's likely to take you back." He heard Reyes roll over to look at the back of his head.
"I don't understand you; why is it that now, now, you seem to have a heart?"
"I have a heart; it's just not as carin' as yours looks," he murmured, remembering the first time he said that. "That's right…it's more carin', believe it or not." He sat up, staring at the sun disappearing from the sky. "I knew what it was like to be loved, but I also knew what it was like to be hated; it's this kind of…curse within Dark-types. There's darkness within us, all of us, and some of us never get over it; some of us are always just that darkness within us. That darkness takes anythin' and everythin' it can from 'round you and it twists it and rots it until there's nothin' left for you to have." He closed his eyes, covering his muzzle with his claws. "I'm a bad guy I'm a bad guy—"
"Do you remember that little girl from Slateport, the one with the Frisbee?" Reyes asked all of a sudden.
"W-Why?" Dominic sniffled.
"You didn't kill her, nor did you break her Frisbee or attack her Mudkip."
"I… You told me to return it…"
"And since when have you ever listened to me?"
"I…dunno…"
"You had a family, Dominic, and you've honestly said that you loved them… Why do you hate humans now?"
"I don't…hate…humans," he murmured. "I hate what I do to them ev'ry. Freakin'. Time." He remembered Ali, then Steven, and even those two guys from Rustboro; every time he dealt with humans they died, and he just didn't think…that the world should lose so much, especially in those times. "The King, he hates humans though; he thinks that they've made him…us weak. He's this big impossible insurmountable monster, because-because how do you beat your own mind? But I've given up at this point; I know I can't be saved, so I'd rather that you save yerself."
"Hah… Maybe you can't be saved, and maybe it's smarter that I save myself, but at this point it's clear that I've abandoned logic." Dominic looked over his shoulder and saw Reyes sitting up, a smirk on his face. "You're an insane, twisted bastard and you kill when I don't want you to and you make stupid choices and you're more likely than not wasting precious oxygen and sustenance with your very presence…but."
"But?" Reyes looked skyward.
"Well… There was once a time that Lilly, my mate, found a beached Wailmer; it was the runt of its litter and so sick that it was dying, but she didn't hesitate to spend hours going on days taking care of him. In the end, he did die, and I asked why she tried to help even though he was surely going to die; she told me something that I've forgotten until I met you—she told me that Arceus does what it does for our sakes, so even though it seemed pointless to take care of the Wailmer, it washed up at our home so she did all she could to help. I used to think it was more of her good nature than something by Arceus, and although I still find divine intervention to be a total load, she was right about the rest: there's a purpose in our meeting, Dominic, you as a rebel killer and me as a revolutionary peacekeeper."
"So…you think there's a good reason for this?"
"What? In complete Hell, no; you've taken me away from all I've known and what I could have been, but you know what? The King can rot in Hell for all I care, but Dominic is a decent kid; if only you could be two people…"
"I can be two people!" he exclaimed. "Hi, I'm Reyes and I'm a total anus!"
"Number one, you're still you; number two, that's not funny."
"Haha…hahaha…" He started laughing, rolling on his back and clenching his stomach. "Haha! Hahahaha!" He was laughing so hard tears were staining his fur and he was rolling all over the grass and getting dirt in his mane and it felt like he was dropping things too—
"What's this?" Reyes asked, taking up a photograph.
"H-hah?" Dominic wiped his eyes. "Oh, yeah, that's my parents—you know, when they were cubs."
"Mm… I remembered you said that your name is Rex."
"Y…Yeah, damn Alakazam." He shuddered. "Yet I've dealt with worse." He wiggled into his sleeping bag and closed his eyes.
——————
He didn't remember until it was too late, the effect he had when sleeping too close to others. He woke up because he heard some noise and turned over to see Reyes' face twisted in a nightmare, tears falling down his face; Dominic sat up, amazed, then annoyed with himself. He always brought out the dark of people's hearts, and being irascible made it bad enough to elicit painful nightmares; he remembered it happening to Steven's Pokémon, and even Ali because of his father. "Sorry," he muttered, taking up his sleeping bag and sifting through the grass to sleep a couple dozen feet away, except he couldn't really get back to sleep because the night had reached its peak.
"I wonder…how Wallace is doing…" he muttered dreamily, staring at the sky. Wallace was the Hoenn Pokémon League Champion after Steven… Back then, when the rebels hadn't caused too much damage overall, people still believed that things could blow over and go back to normal once the Trainers and police force won out; obviously, they never did, and Dominic often wondered what became of the League.
He rolled on his side and noticed a pair of small Zigzagoon sleeping together in the grass; they looked a little cute, and that wasn't a word he threw around too often. He realized that they weren't sleeping a moment later when the female began giggling, then they started romantically sleeping together, and as much as he enjoyed a good show involving quills and the Pokémon equivalent of dirty talk, he had to move away before he threw up in his mouth. He barely even closed his eyes before a voice pierced his thoughts: "What would Blaziken think of all of this?"
"Be quiet, you," Dominic muttered, squeezing his eyes shut tighter; even so, his mind's eye perceived the perfect illusion of himself irritatingly known as the King. The King crossed his arms over his chest, annoyed at Dominic's attitude, and kicked his side; Dominic still refused to respond until the King pushed him hard enough to send him rolling across the dirt, muddying his fur. "Hey!"
"I asked you a question and I expect it to be answered," he said in a tense voice; Dominic exhaled through his nose.
"He'd kill me."
"So you're suddenly unafraid of him? because the last time you defied him, he gave you that pretty hole in your chest." He pointed at the invisible scar on Dominic's chest; years later, his lungs still had burn marks.
"No… I'm takin' this all one step at a time."
"And why!? Just get rid of that guy. Here—" Dominic opened his eyes and saw Reyes lying a dozen feet away; the King smirked as he raked his claws over Reyes' cheek light enough to be unnoticeable. "I can even help."
"No! Don't do that!" Dominic shouted, grabbing his arm; the King pulled away, repulsed.
"You're a killer, Dominic; you're not meant to have friends, nobody except me."
"You're not my friend, you're jus' a huge bully that finds his happiness in takin' 'way mines," he muttered.
"I reiterate, you're a killer; you don't even deserve to be happy. This guy right here is a traitor to my agenda and his own affiliation; hell…" He laid his claws down on Reyes' throat, ears pricked attentively. "His heartbeat, even, is an insult to me."
"Don't! If you do that, then I'll—" The King looked at him, already aware of Dominic's first, second, and third and even thousandth thoughts.
"I wish you would kill yourself, Dominic; I'd just plague you in Hell."
"I'd rather…you were trapped in Hell…than up here."
"Oh, because I'm such a danger, right?" he sneered, releasing Reyes and waving his claws in irritation. "Because I'm the killer? Well, I can remember a lot of times that Dominic killed."
"That's… That's…"
"That's what, different?" he accused. "You're no different from yourself ten years ago! You're just a beast that causes death for those you know and those you don't know. I wish you would kill yourself; the world would rest easy if you did." He came closer and grasped Dominic's neck, his claws digging into the soft skin beneath his fur; blood soaked into his carefully-brushed fluff and ran down his arms.
"You've never let me off that easily."
"Because I don't like people doing their own thing. I am the King; I'm the one that says when to jump, when to speak, when to run." He removed one of his claws to lick it slowly, clearing it of blood, and smiled maliciously. "When you finally want to end it all, ask the King; he will gladly shear this troublesome head from your shoulders."
Dominic opened his eyes, and with a tired breath, he realized that it was only a dream; of course it was, since the King wasn't very real.
He rolled onto his side and got a face full of mud; one sniff confirmed that the dirt was moistened by his own blood, and a lot of it. He wanted to be bothered by it but, hell, he didn't have that much motivation left to live; Dominic just closed his eyes again without even a prayer.
…
"No…I'm a terrible terrible bastard," he decided, sitting up. "I'm just talk…" He felt the grass blades around him but they were too thin; against his better judgement he walked over to Reyes and pulled away one of his leaf blades. He was too fast to wake up and hold his blades to Dominic's throat; Dominic just grunted and pushed him away. "Quit playin', Reyes."
"Wait, what?" he said, perplexed; Dominic ignored that, tying his leaf around his neck to cover the wound. "How did you stop me?"
"I pushed you?"
"No… That was reflex; it's hard to counter reflex that quickly and easily."
"You can't underestimate me," he sighed. "I know I sound like kinda a dumb guy, and maybe I am, but I like playin' around, which the King hates; 'cause of that, I look weaker than I am. Like, for example, Zoroark are known for speed." Without Reyes seeing a thing, Dominic took one of the seed pods from his back. "And especially now, 'cause it's nighttime; at night with a Zoroark, yer pretty much dead. You'd have to be, I dunno, god to stop one of us."
"Too bad I'm just a Reyes."
"Yeah…and too bad I'm jus' a Dominic." He took a bite of Reyes' seed pod; it tasted just as horrible as the first time, but it relieved some of his lightheadedness. "You can go back to sleep."
"It's alright; I don't need that much sleep," he said. "Soldier's thing."
"Ah…I wouldn't know 'bout that—oh wait, I do now 'cause you drag me to all hell durin' daytime, which is when I'm used to snoozin'."
"Don't be a crybaby." They were silent for a long time; there seemed to be a lot of silences between them.
"Where do we go after this?"
"I've no damn clue."
He took another bite even though the seeds were starting to make him physically ill. "I might."
"You might what?"
"I might have a clue…where to go."
"Really? Where?" He sounded half-dubious, but mostly he was curious; Dominic mulled it over.
"Well…"
"…?"
"Okay, um, the guy that taught me how to kill people maybe?" This time, Reyes gave him an eight-second look of Are you damn stupid or what? "Okay, I know it sounds a li'l crazy, but hell, it's somethin'."
"Yeah, it's somethin' stupid," Reyes said. "Let's file that away as Plan Z-1000."
"Okay…what if, um, I knew a Legendary Pokémon?"
"I'd say that even if you weren't totally lying to me at this moment, the Legendaries haven't exactly been helpful these last seven years."
"Oi, you're not a lie detector." He took one more bite before he was too nauseas to stand it anymore and tossed the pod far far away. "Mm, let's see… Can't we go to Sootopolis?"
"I'm not as welcome there as you are; hell, I don't think you're very welcome there in the first place."
"Oi, you're not a mind reader either…but yeah, you're sorta right." He reached into his mane and took out his cellphone; Reyes immediately pulled a face, which he expected at this point.
"Where did you get that anyway?"
"Blaziken," he answered. "It's how we communicate—not that I listen to what he says very often." He checked his messages and grimaced. "I've got twelve alerts about… well, ya know."
"I'm guessing they're pretty pissed off at you."
"What?" Dominic was distracted by a certain text message.
"The rebels; I'm guessing that they're pretty pissed off at you."
"…Oh."
"Oh? What does that mean?"
"It's a sound of surprise—" Reyes beat him with the flat of his hand. "Ouch! I'm sorry… The Elite Four is movin'."
"What?"
"They're, um, four Pokémon from each of the old Elite Four," he explained. "I always thought they were kinda funny; like, five out of six Pokémon are revolution'ries, what happened to those last ones? But, uh, I digress; usually they hang around Sootopolis not really doin' nothin' more than botherin' ol' Pokémon about their ol' troubles, but now they're out…and around…for me."
"Because you're with me?"
"Well, they've been pissed at me for the better part of three years—don't ask why—so for them, this is the perfect excuse to chop mah head off." He turned off his cellphone and curled up on his side.
"Dominic?" Reyes asked; he whinnied in complaint.
"Just… I wanna sleep for a while."
"Are they that great as opponents?"
"N-Nah, it's not that… I'll tell you in the morning…"
"Dominic!"
"I'm sorry, but there are things even I'm uncomfortable with! Goodnight!"
"Damn freak," Reyes muttered.
"Coming from you, that doesn't hurt quite as much…"