The dull beating of a heart monitor in the background slowly cracked Jackson's eyes open, he had been sleeping...? How had he gotten to a bed? His vision was blurry as he looked around a room he didn't recognize, slowly attempting to pull himself up, only to feel the soft touch of a feminine hand on his shoulder, pushing him back when he was powerless to resist. He hadn't even seen anyone else in the room, but as his vision finally began to clear, he noticed the familiar black garb of the Sinnoh Champion.
"Easy now, Jackson... the treatment is only just starting to take effect, you'll be up and ready to go in a few hours, but bright and early at 7 AM is pushing your luck. You've barely gotten any rest at all." She sat back in her seat as Jackson's blurry memory finally started to fade back into place. He had been shot, by Gabriel Artece... he had climbed Prism Tower to-
"The girl... Lillie, is she alright?" He croaked, his voice re-adjusting as it was pushed back into use. Cynthia nodded slowly as she crossed her legs and interlocked her hands, sitting in a pensive position. "She's perfectly fine, thanks to you... you may wish to check the news later, many people are talking about the unidentified trainer who scaled Lumiose tower to save a young girl in a mission most would have considered suicide." Jackson managed to force himself into a sitting position, the pain in his shoulder was bad, but as if by some miracle of science, it was dulling by the second. Lumiose was truly a hub of scientific prowess, it was no wonder the professor kept his lab here and bothered to fly the commute most every day for work from Aquacorde.
"The Professor and I have made the decision to foot your medical expenses, considering the circumstances." Jackson sighed a little, somewhat relieved and irritated at the same instant. "You didn't need t'do that..." He grumbled, to which she simply smiled, she saw no need to give an answer when both of them saw the futility in such a conversation. "Lillie left this for you, before heading on to the West gate... I think you'll find it to your liking." Cynthia placed a pouch of sparkling powder and a pink Technical Machine on the bedside table. Jackson acknowledged them briefly, but now that everything was clear again, he had more pressing concerns.
"Cynthia... that pokémon I fought..." She tensed as he spoke, but nodded carefully in response. "Samples of the dust it became were recovered, Professor Sycamore spent most of the night and presumably even now is researching its properties." She trailed off, considering the right words to use. "I study, dabble really, in certain specific branches of ancient mythology. There are many cases of people using pokémon in cruel scientific studies to gain their power for themselves." She grimaced, as if reliving painful memories. "I have read of the great weapon based in Kalos so many years ago... its resurfacing in Kalos so painfully recently, I assume you know the tale of Team Flare?" Jackson nodded. "I've 'eard of 'em yeah. They wanted to end the world."
Cynthia placed a finger pensively to her chin. "I suppose that's the basics of it yes... but Lysandre was a genius, his plans extended beyond a simple end to the world as we know it." She started, leaning in somewhat, her brow furrowed as she began to explain. "The ultimate weapon was a machine designed to draw upon the raw essence of life and creation in this world, bestowed by the God Pokémon, Arceus, to two pokémon for very different purposes."
Jackson scoffed, looking at Cynthia as if she was insane. "Arceus...? It's good to have something to believe in, but he's just a myth, if you expect me to-" She cut him off and gave a stern glare. "Do you honestly think I would delude you with fairy tales considering what has been happening Mr. Crane? Do you truly believe that we are not beyond that point now?" He was taken aback by her sudden abrasion, but he looked aside with embarrassment as he realized the truth in her words. He made a conscious effort to say no more as Cynthia continued.
"These pokémon are known as the Legends of Kalos, Xerneas and Yveltal, confirmed to exist at least by the Flare disaster, but the nature of their power is nothing less than awesome in scale." Her eyes were shining with an enthusiasm for the subject matter that she curbed with professionalism. "Xerneas was gifted the purest form of creation... the ability to grant and prolong life itself. Yveltal, as a foil to said power, was granted the inate ability to destroy, to kill. They were life and death incarnate, birther and reaper. The ancient king AZ saw this power and desired it above all else as a tool of vengeance and rebirth." She sighed as the story began to catch up with the modern times.
"He created something, a weapon capable of harnessing these powers for two express purposes..." She trailed off, but Jackson had an idea of where she was going. "Genocide..." He started and she finished with a grim nod. "...and immortality. Life itself is a balance, it can be preserved easy enough, it can be removed with even greater simplicity... but what AZ sought to do was re-create it. To mimic and play a god, to generate life where there was none. This... thus had a cost, by the nature of balance..." Jackson's eyes widened with shock. "You mean the old king in the story made the ultimate weapon... t'kill thousands for the sake of one?!..." Cynthia nodded, before waving her hands flippantly.
"But enough of that... you know now what the weapon is capable of, creating, destroying and prolonging life itself. We need not go into side effects of its use, but as a base concept that is its purpose." She bit her lip, worried she might go too far with her assumptions, but after a moment of steeling her resolve she continued. "What Team Cinder did was similar... but much different. They created a replica of my own pokémon, with the power of the ultimate weapon this would be reasonable... and due to their clear relation to Team Flare it would make sense they may have access to the plans revolving around said device." Her features were quizzical and yet, determined, as if she were about to unravel some great mystery. "Yet we would know, rather rapidly, if they had used the ancient weapon to create life from nothing. It's also easy to assume that since the... well... clone, as it was, disintegrated upon taking enough of a beating, it clearly was more than a little imperfect." Jackson could understand Cynthia, but now even he was struggling to comprehend her thought process, it reached far beyond his own and so his expression reflected his confusion.
"Ahh sorry, long story short for you... the clone was broken. It wasn't complete. The Ultimate Weapon is not documented to create such things." She concluded but Jackson merely scowled. "Then what dahell is the point in all of this speculation?" To which the Champion grinned rather matter of factly. "Two questions for you first. One, what happens if you try to insert a holocaster chip into your pokédex?" Jackson looked at Cynthia like she had two heads, but he played along for now. "The 'dex glitches out like hell." Cynthia nodded approvingly. "Exactly. Now then... question number 2."
"Jackson, have you ever heard of a pokémon known as Mewtwo?"
He thought hard for a moment, searching for the answer. "It's... really strong...?" Cynthia gave a small chuckle. "Yes, quite... but in Kanto, over a decade ago now I'd wager, a villainous organisation known as Team Rocket was responsible for creating the pokémon, using advanced modern day sciences to attempt to clone a nigh mythical pokémon known as Mew, from ancient DNA found on an old slate." Jackson frowned. "It sounds like... science fiction." She nodded. "Indeed, but it happened, the mansion where it happened still stood upon the isle it was built on, in fact, before a volcanic eruption erased it."
Jackson suddenly had a burst of understanding. "I get it! So Cinder is doing what Rocket did right? Cloning pokémon?" Cynthia winced a little before continuing with an awkward smile. "Not... exactly. Remember the first question? I fear, if my assumption is correct... then CInder being a fairly new organisation is using a bit of both theories. The life giving properties of the ultimate weapon... the reconstructive process of Rocket's reverse engineering and cloning..." She began... before trailing off to consider her words once again. "I believe that Cinder isn't as vast and wealthy as those suits would have us believe. I think they're using knock of technology from two different sources to create copies of powerful pokémon... and yet-"
"Like the chips...!" Jackson concluded. "It's not compatible, so while it tries to work the result is a broken mess with barely any use at all, am I right?" Cynthia grinned triumphantly, her point finally made. "It's a shot in the dark... we need more evidence on both ends, but its the only solution I can present at this moment yes."
Jackson considered the revelation for a moment, imperfect, easily broken clones of powerful pokémon... that was insane, but then why-
"Jackson?!" The door to the hospital room slammed open, and there, clutching her walker in the other hand... stood Malorie. "M-Mal...?! What are you doin' walkin' around you can't-!" But Malorie wouldn't listen, moving as quickly as she could into the room, she half threw herself around her brother with tears rolling down her face. "P-Professor told me to wait but I- I heard you talk and I had to- I was worried I thought you were- I thought-!" She sobbed and sobbed, prompting Jackson to hold her gently, trying to calm her as Cynthia gave a small and understanding smile as she stood.
"Another time Mr. Crane, I will discuss things further with Sycamore upon our next meeting... for now your time is beholden to another." With a tired sigh, Jackson waved Cynthia off flippantly. "Yeah... a'ight... don't die." With a small chuckle she nodded in response, before stepping out of the room and leaving the two siblings alone.
---
"Now, even though he's managed to pull through and is well on the road to recovery, you need to make sure not to let him overexert himself for the time being," the nurse explained, handing Avril the pokéball which held Shino once more. "We don't need that wound opening back up before its had time to be fully healed. In fact, it may be more beneficial to leave him in the PC for the time being."
Avril narrowed her eyes, the blonde shaking her head quickly in response. "I'll remember that fine. I don't need to have him stuffed in some kind of virtual storage box like he's some old Christmas decoration."
Without waiting for the nurse to give a response, the trainer quickly snatched the pokéball right from her hand and began to make her way down the hallway towards the exit. To say that the remainder of the previous night had been kind to Avril was bit of an understatement. The girl looked absolutely exhausted. Large, dark circles framed her currently red and sleepy looking eyes, giving her the appearnace that looked as if she had not slept at all the previous night. That would not have exactly been a lie either. After her strange, late night encounter with the ghost pokémon, Shuppet, the girl spent most of the rest of the night doing a somewhat random spree of late night shopping and more or less hovering by Shino's bedside. The girl's concern over the frog pokémon, along with an all-around foul mood, did little to let her mind or body get any rest proper. A part of her wondered how in the world Anise managed to stay awake as long as she did, regardless of the fact that it was more or less in the Noctowl's genes. A part of her had debated about possibly staying another day in Lumiose, if only to catch up on her sleep... However, Avril quickly decided against that. Her time in the city had been hellish enough to give her great motivation to just get out of there as quickly as she could.
Yet, another reminder of her ordeals was already entering back into her life, almost as soon as it had left. "You climbed Prism Tower...?!" Malorie asked with wide eyes, one hand on her walker and the other linked around her big brothers. Malorie was dwarfed standing alongside the six foot tall Jackson, barely reaching 5'4" and standing with a petite frame and musculature, Malorie was a rather pretty girl all things considered. Her eyes were a beautiful shade of lilac, and her long brown hair swept behind her like that of a princess, reaching down to her lower back as she gazed up at Jackson with a mixture of disapproval and awe in her voice... and a sweet voice it was, encompassing the virtues of innocence, naivety and kindness, yet still packed with the underlying tones of sass one would expect from a seventeen year old girl.
"Well I had'ta Sis..." Jackson grumbled, looking down at her with genuine confusion as to what she was so concerned about. "I mean I got shot too, why's the tower such a big-" She interrupted him swiftly, poking his cheek with a snarl almost reminiscent of Jackson himself, before pouting and turning her gaze away. "Oh trust me, I was just getting to that. Do you have idea how stupid- e-eh? Jackson?" Malorie stopped walking and stood beside Jackson as he went still, she followed his gaze to a blonde girl standing a few feet ahead, her eyes marked with dark circles made her look more than a little tired. "O-oh... is this a friend of yours...?" She asked with a slight edge of concern as to how somber her older brother suddenly seemed.
"Morris..." Jackson said, brushing Malorie's question aside and addressing the girl standing in front of him with a darker, but not confrontational tone, as if instead gauging her state of mind and response before deciding on his approach. He had to be more cautious of confrontation with Malorie there, regardless of the source or nature of it.
Avril glanced over in the direction of the voice, "Oh, it's you," she answered, a bit more sharper than she actually meant to. "What are you doing back here? Did one of your pokémon get hurt that bad too?"
Jackson shook his head gently tapped his shoulder gently where he had been shot the night before. "I took one myself after... well, what happened happened." He started, not sure exactly how to address the situation. "After that I got a bit dinged up at the tower but... How is he? Shino?" He wasn't one to beat around the bush, he decided, it was best to just ask directly.
"He pulled through..." Avril replied, showing the Frogadier's pokéball for proof. "It honestly looked a bit doubtful... They said if I had been a little bit longer getting him here that..." She paused, clearly not comfortable with dwelling on the thought for too much longer. Rather, she turned her attention to the girl beside Jackson. Avril raised an eyebrow. "Ah... so who's this with you...?"
"Oh... yeah, her..." Jackson stated, having forgotten Malorie's presence somewhat, coupled with not really knowing how to react to her meeting one of his.. classmates. "Oh her? Really Jackson... honestly..." She mumbled and puffed out her cheeks with a glare. Placing both hands upon her walked, she stepped forward and extended a petite hand towards Avril with a bright and beaming smile. "I'm Malorie Crane! Jackson's sister, it's a pleasure to meet you! Jackson never really had many friends in trainer school so I'm glad to meet someone he actually seems to know, heh."
Avril gave a small smile to the girl. She managed to remember briefly that Jackson did mention the girl during their encounter with Gabriel. When he mentioned that he provided for her the best he could, she imagined it was because of the fact it was just the two of them. Her eyes fell to the walker, albeit quickly enough so as not to make it awkward, before returning her focus to the Malorie. She had no idea that it also had something to do with the girl's health.
"Oh, so you're Malorie," Avril replied, giving the girl a somewhat warmer smile. She gently took Malorie's hand, giving the girl a small shake. "Jackson mentioned you before! It's nice to meet you!"
Malorie seemed to brighten even further at those words, her smile growing into a proud and sheepish grin of a sort. "Oh he has...? Well, only good I should hope! He's a troublesome sort but he means well... so I'd like to think even in his brash tones I might give a good second hand impression." It was at this point that Jackson stepped forward as well, snarling a little and ruffling his hand roughly through the younger girls hair. "How's about you stop badmouthin' me when y'already know I'd only say good shit Kiddo?!" Malorie pouted in response, swatting his hand away until he relented, only to stare at him with a glare and another signature pout.
"Oh, Miss Morris, isn't it? We were going to go and have lunch at a recreation zone on Versant Road! You must join us! Right Jackson?" She concluded with glee, eager to get to know more about the new trainer she had met. Jackson on the other hand, grimaced and awkwardly scratched the side of his head. "I... dunno Mal, I'm sure Avril is busy right? So..."
Avril noticed how uncomfortable Jackson seemed to be from the sudden invite. She really didn't want to force him to be in anymore of a spot than he already was. Even for someone like her, it was easy to tell that Avril encountering the girl was enough to pull the older boy out of his comfort zone. Also to be honest, Avril herself wasn't really feeling all that much like chatting it up at the moment anyways. Rubbing the back of her head, her smile faded into a bit of an apologetic looking one.
"Well... that does sound like a tempting offer, b--"
"Exactly!" Malorie quickly interrupted, taking Avril by the arm and starting to slowly lead her to the exist of the pokémon center. "You'll love the place we've chosen Avril, it's so open and fresh. You must be a trainer too right, I adore pokémon so you must let me meet at least one, you will won't you? I hope so, I've met almost all of my big brothers now but he..." And she continued to ramble as such while Jackson, barely comprehending the situation, quickly rushed after the pair with a panic in his eyes.
"M-Malorie! Wait!"
---
A light breeze blew through Versant Road, ruffling Jackson's hair and sending the blonde strands astray. Black roots were beginning to show once again, he really hadn't done so good a job at coloring it the first time, but when he reached the next town... he had considered it and had decided to get another packet of dye, to do a proper job and make the new color a more permanent fixture. Since the contest... and the experiences he'd had thus far... it felt right.
As for right now however, he sat upon a bench at a picnic area near the entrance to Lumiose city. The grass was a darker and more verdant green on this side of the metropolis. The terrain was resplendent with hills of various heights leading up to the presumably rocky crags of Camphrier town and beyond. He watched as Malorie sat in the grass comfortably a small distance away, she held Teddy and Marble in her lap, the former quite enjoyed her petting, while the latter seemed content to have her fluffy form squeezed and hugged... all the while Malorie laughed as Gaspar lifted and dropped strands of her hair, using its length to pretend he had pigtails or a mustache as he waggled his tongue and Salad bounded around excitedly, eager to play with and sate his curiosity with the girl before him.
Beside Jackson was Avril, there had been an awkward silence permeating betweem the two since they had arrived and released their pokémon... but now that Malorie was distracted, Jackson was no longer to avoid the subject matter looming over them both.
"After I left... what happened? Were there any more Cinder? Do you know if anything happened to Emma?"
Avril's eyes darkened at the mention of Emma's name. The girl shifted her gaze, looking over at Malorie for a moment before responding. "There weren't anymore Cinder guys there... At least, none that I recall. I was in so much a hurry to get Shino to the pokémon center, that I kinda just... blacked out on the rest. I'm pretty sure that
he was the only one there though. I doubt I'd have been able to get out of there that easy if he had some guys waiting in the back..." She paused, her hands tightening into fists as she answered the next question. "Emma was at the pokémon center for a bit. She stopped by to check up on Shino, but then went on her way. Probably needed rest after that whole mess or something."
It wasn't exactly the entire truth, but Avril felt good enough with that answer. She honestly didn't want to think too much on the detective at the moment, so the sooner she got past that question the better. Of course, she also had to hope that Jackson decided not to dive deeper into Emma's location and the like.
At her mention of Emma, Jackson rose an eyebrow. It was easy for him to see that there was more there than she was telling him... but he was becoming disillusioned with involving himself in other peoples drama as it was. "Well... guess that's good right?" He mumbled in a neutral tone, before furrowing his brow as he remembered the events that had occurred over the previous night and morning since he had left Avril and Emma behind.
"There are... some things you should know."
He proceeded to tell her everything, how he had followed the Garchomp, how he had climbed Prism Tower alone, how he had barely survived falling from the tower thanks to Wave's evolution, how he had met Lillie... and how he had essentially killed the cloned pokémon. He told her Cynthia's theory and the discussion they'd had, the idea of Rocket cloning tech being integrated with the most deadly of all technology, the Ultimate Weapon, in order to create imperfect, expendable clones of powerful pokémon. He revealed it all to her to the best of his memory, it felt good to get it off of his chest to anyone at all, so he worried he might have overwhelmed Avril with the information he had provided. Still... she was as involved now as he was, she had a right to know.
"...after that, I walked out with Malorie and here we are now."
"That's... a lot to take in, really..." Avril replied, not even trying to hide the fact that she may or may not have grasped all the information that she had been handed. "I remember the whole Flare thing... well, what the news covered of it, anyways. But I wasn't aware they were trying to go that far. To be honest, that whole weapon and Geosenge sounded more like some weird plot from a comic book or something. And now they're trying to make clones of pokémon too? It's kinda creepy to think about."
Jackson nodded slowly, running over all of the information in his head. "I didn't believe it at first either... but Cynthia doesn't seem the type to make up crazy stories..." His voice was much more quiet than it usually seemed to be, as he watched his sister playing with the pokémon around her. He thought back to what happened to Shino, he wondered how much he meant to Avril. What if it had been Teddy? What if it had been Malorie?
"I'm sorry, Avril." He said, annoyance at his humility burning inside of him, but he supressed it best he could.
Avril glanced over in his direction. "Sorry...? What for?" The girl was honestly taken back by the sudden change of Jackson's tone. As far as she was aware, he hadn't done anything to apologize for.
"I shouldn't have offered you the chance to come... I should have stopped myself from pushing you to try and..." He trailed off before sighing gently. "I shouldn't have tried to make you face reality, Avril... I wanted you t'see that when somethin' goes wrong we gotta move forward and face the next objective, but by pushin' you to do that when all of this... this sick and twisted shit was so new t'you..." He grit his teeth, shame seeping into his voice. "None of what happened woulda happened y'get what I'm tryna say?!" He growled a little, more annoyed at himself than her. "I got someone y'cared about hurt because I thought I was doin' the right thing... I thought, again, that I could protect everybody, but I couldn't." He sat back on the bench against the picnic table and stared skyward.
"So... I'm sorry. That's all."
"No... if anything, I should probably thank you, Jackson," Avril replied quickly. "If anything, it was a wake-up call that I needed. Up until that point, I was acting just like you said... a protagonist, I believe you called it?"
She paused, glancing over at Malorie and the pokémon for a moment, in particular looking at Marble and Salad. Despite the heavy atmosphere brought on by the topic, a smile managed to tug at the blonde's lips.
"What happened to Shino... it was my own fault. Even after your speech... I still thought that I would be able to make things right at the end. If anything, I should thank you for waking me up to how weak and pathetic I really was until then." She looked back over at Jackson, a forced laugh slipping past her lips. "Hell, I probably would have just followed anyways..."
Jackson sat forward again, folding his hands in his lap and watching Malorie pensively. He looked at her quietly for a long few moments, seemingly considering his next few words very carefully. "It should be obvious... but it's all for her." He said plainly, no embarrassment or begrudging tones present in his voice. "Every step, gym, battle... She loves pokémon, but she can't be with them like we can, not yet. If I make it far enough I can make sure it's a reality. I can make sure she gets what she wants."
He looked at Avril, his eyes were serious, piercing even... but not aggressive. "She means everything to me... if it was her who got hurt, I'd tear down the whole world and thrash about in the remains. I know how much you care about Shino, I could see it in your eyes... I know it wasn't my fault, but I still feel like I coulda done more to stop it." He paused and sighed deeply again. "So... I'm still sorry Morris, I can't not be."
Avril sat there in silence, taking in what Jackson said. She could feel a slight similarity between them. Of course, there was no way she was going to say that what happened the previous night was anywhere close enough to match the amount of pain he had went through. She'd have been stupid to do that much. But he was right about Shino. Truth be told, Avril wanted to give Gabriel Artece the slowest, most painful death she could think of. It was a thought that honestly scared the hell out of her... and yet, somewhat satisfying at the same time.
"She's lucky, you know..." Avril said, deciding to shift the subject for the time being. "Having you there for her. I can tell it means the world to her."
"I'm her big brother..." He stated plainly. "Not by blood... but I'm the only one she's ever known. Hell, I'm the only parent she's ever had either, even if we only have four years in the difference." He trailed off, before shaking his head quickly. "Alright enough of me going on about sappy shit... here she comes anyway." He quickly retorted to his own words, while pulling himself upright, shaking off any soft sides he was showing.
"Avriiiil!" Malorie cried, carrying Marble in her arms as she approached. "Your pokémon are so cute! I love them!" She cooed, patting a rather pleased Marble's head. "Do you have any others?"
Avril smiled at the girl, giving her a nod in response. "Yeah. I also have a Noctowl, Shuppet, Mudbray, and Frogadier... but the last one could use some rest. He's a but under the weather at the moment."
"Waaah?! A Mudbray?!" She asked with her eyes sparkling like stars. "Like... like the little baby pony Mudsdale? That one?" She was positively squealing at that point and Jackson had to interject awkwardly. "She ehm... she watched a lot of equestrian shows back in Sinnoh..."
"Please Avril! Can I meet him? I love pokémon like Mudbray and Ponyta and... oh please!"
Avril seemed somewhat hesitant. She wanted to grant Malorie's wish, if only because of who she was and the fact she seemed like a good kid. On the other hand, there was no telling how Benjamin would react. The last thing she wanted was for him to hurt the girl because of his obvious attitude problem.
"Well... I mean... Look, he's not exactly the friendliest pokémon. Just... be careful around him, okay?" Avril conceded. Taking one of the balls off her bracelet, the girl tossed it out into the open and released the Mudbray inside. "Malorie, this is Benjamin." The girls eyes widened with glee as she knelt down in front of the pokémon without delay. Slowly she reached forward, her pure and complete aura of calm reaching out towards Benjamin as she gently pet his head with a small smile. "Hello Benny... my name is Malorie, it's wonderful to meet you."
Avril tensed up as Benjamin seemed to stare at Malorie intently. The Mudbray narrowed his eyes, his ears stiffening at the touch of the girl. His trainer tightened her grip on the horse pokémon's ball, making sure she was able and ready to call him back should he decide to reject Malorie's advances and lash out against her for daring to so much as even touch her. What happened was... most unexpected. If Avril wouldn't have seen it with her own eyes, she would have sworn she was dreaming... which wasn't really too far out of the question on account of how sleep deprived she was at the moment. Her eyes widened. A gasp of surprise escaped her lips.
Benjamin the Mudbray, the pokémon who never obeyed her commands... the pokémon who would rather lose a battle than do anything that his trainer said, was actually leaning his head into Malorie's hand. He was actually bristling up against the girl. He was actually enjoying the attention being paid to him by Jackson's sister. Avril was absolutely speechless at the sight, a look of utter confusion and disbelief taking over her facial features.
"Haha, aww you want a hug huh?" Malorie said gleefully, wrapping her arms softly around the small horse and nuzzling against it gently. Jackson actually smiled for a split second, before he saw the shock on Avril's face. With a raised eyebrow he leaned in to question her quietly.
"Why the odd expression Morris...?" He queried. "Is your pokémon not usually like this?"
Avril shook her head. "He's... he's never listened to a single thing I've ever said. I adopted him from Santalune... he was a pokémon that lost his trainer because of that fire," she explained. "He honestly couldn't have cared less about anything I tried to do with or for him..." The girl turned her attention back to the Mudbray in question and Malorie. For the first time ever, Benjamin actually looked... happy. At least, for the first time since she had known him. Avril began to wonder if perhaps his trainer was similar to Malorie, if perhaps it was stirring up some memories within Benjamin. Avril bit her lip in hesitation for a moment, turning to Jackson and speaking in a quiet tone so Malorie hopefully wouldn't overhear. "...Malorie... doesn't really get to interact with pokémon a lot, does she...?"
Jackson shook his head slowly as he watched Malorie stand up using the Mudbray as support and walk with him around the field. His eyes were focused on her as with the help of the pokémon she was able to walk around without her walker. He felt a wave of emotion almost immediately overwhelm him as he grit his teeth behind pursed lips, his fists balling in order to fight back the lump in his throat until it finally faded. She turned slowly to him and smiled, one of the biggest smiles he'd ever seen her give... and he laughed, he genuinely laughed and smiles for a moment before collecting himself and reforming his more rugged exterior. "N-no... she ain't ever gotten the chance... I guess it's only fittin' on a day like this where she gets the chance to... that she..." He trailed off and had to swallow his pride for the second time. "...she ain't walked without me or her walker in over five years now."
Avril had more or less made up her mind at that point. Still, she knew she needed to get the okay from Jackson before making a promise to Malorie. "I... I was thinking... Benjamin, he's... well, we don't click... apparently... And, just sticking him in a PC for storage or just releasing him out into the wild... wouldn't be good either, so... What if... What if I just left him with Malorie...?"
Jackson looked genuinely shook by the suggestion. "But Malorie is... that's too risky for-" He began, but it was then that he caught her eye again, walking alongside Benjamin with a smile unable to fall from her lips. "...hmm. Well... I dunno..." He considered the prospect, running the risks and rewards over in his mind, before giving up on the strenuous thought process and deciding to himself that it was best if Malorie made the decision herself. She was almost an adult now, he had to give her some freedom.
"Mal! C'mere a sec Kiddo." He called out and Malorie turned positively bursting with glee, as Benjamin walked her over towards the two and she smiled while petting his head upon arrival. "Jackson! Didja see that? I was walking without my support! I was walking!" Jackson smiled softly back and ruffled Malorie's hair quickly, before turning to Avril. "Yeah, yeah I saw kiddo... and well, I was talkin' to Morris... and she has an offer for ya." Malorie looked suddenly by that, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "An... offer?" She asked, puzzled and still passively petting Benjamin's head.
"Mhm," Avril replied, smiling softly at the shorter girl. "See... the thing is that well... Benjamin seems to be a little tired from the traveling and all that. I think it'd be good if he had a place he could rest and just spend time doing his own thing... Of course, I really don't wanna stick him in a PC box or just let him go because of that... so, I was thinking of maybe looking for someone who might be able to keep an eye on him... You know, just to give him some affection when he needs it... maybe he could keep them company in return... So... Do you think you might have some spare time to fill that kinda role for me...?"
Malorie's face gradually grew more excited and happy as Avril continued speaking and by the end of her suggestion there were tears rolling openly down the girls face. "I-... I can-" She practically threw herself on Avril as he clung to the girl with the biggest and strongest hug she could muster with her feeble frame. "You mean it right? You actually mean it? You don't mind?" Her voice was muffled against the other girl as she tried to contain her growing joy.
Avril carefully returned the hug and nodded. "Yeah... I think he'd be happy with you. Plus, I'd feel a lot better knowing he was in someone's care that I know, so if I ever wanna visit him or something... well, you get the idea. So, can I count on you to take care of him for me, Malorie?"
She quickly stood up and nodded seriously while wiping the tears from her eyes. "Yes! I promise, one hundred percent I'll take care of him no matter what! I'll be sure he gets exercise and the best food and that he's happy and has a cozy bed and... and everything I swear!" She continued to nod until Jackson put a hand on her head to stop her. "Alright kiddo, I think she gets the idea, haha." Malorie proceeded to hug her brother tightly in turn, glad to have him near again, she smiled brightly and nodded one last time before petting Benjamin again and barely being able to contain her smile. "You hear that Benny? We get to live together now!"
"Thanks, Jackson. It really means a lot that he's got somewhere that he'll be more happy with," Avril replied, watching as the Mudbray once more nuzzled against the excited girl.
Jackson nodded as he rose to stand, watching as Malorie began to walk off with Benjamin, happy as could be. "I should thank you, to be honest..." He said plainly with a small smile... however at that moment everything began to catch up with him and he scowled down at Avril with nigh killer intent. "But don't you dare get me wrong Sunshine, you let anyone know about what happened between the three of us and by extension 'ow I acted t'day and I'll beat you down capiche?"
He sighed, the obligatory threats out of the way... and to settle his stresses further he lit a cigarette of Gaspar's hand, which set ablaze on command just before the ghost type resettled into Jackson's shadow. "I assume he's got a pokéball right? If you wanna give it to me I can make sure Malorie gets it before the day is out."
Avril grinned, "Don't worry, it'll just stay our little secret." She handed the ball in her hand to Jackson. She was glad that this worked out in somewhat of a happy ending, at the very least for Benjamin. Still, the girl found herself not fully satisfied with everything up to this point. There was something she found herself wanting in the end, something she knew would be risky to ask, but something she needed to anyways. "Jackson... you've got a holocaster, right?"
He rose an eyebrow confused for a second, before his face filled with realization and he pulled his new, slick holocaster from his pocket. "This? Yeah got it yesterday."
"Then... I want you to do something for me," Avril replied. She paused, as she reached into her trainer's bag and pulled out her own holocaster. She quickly flipped the device open. "I want you to exchange information with me. If there's a time you're dealing with Cinder and... you think
he's gonna be there... I want you to contact me." She stopped again, her eyes darkening as she felt that bit of anger rushing back to her at the very thought of Gabriel once more. Avril could tell that Jackson was potentially going to protest, so she quickly spoke up before he could. "This isn't about what I think is wrong or right or whatever anymore, I could care less about that at the moment... I want to be there to bring him down, to get that bastard back for what he did. Will you do this for me...?"
But Jackson was already pressing his Holocaster against hers, connecting the registration ports and then swiftly putting the device back in the bag. "You don't need to explain it to me... I get it." He said, that hint of somber creeping back into his voice.
"But Avril... don't say I didn't warn you."
With that, he called out to Malorie and handed her the pokéball, she showed it excitedly to Benjamin and began to walk with her new friend back towards the West Gate of Lumiose city. Jackson gave one more look back to Avril as he walked away... but it was her battle now. She'd have to come to terms with everything herself. One way or the other.
Benjamin has left the party...
