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The sun beat down on Moonview Arena, relentlessly heating the air to a sweltering high from its perch in the bright blue sky. A trickle of sweat ran down the back of Melli’s neck, and he clenched his teeth together, staring down the woman in front of him. The woman stares back with hard, emotionless brown eyes, matching her boring brown hair.
This was quite the predicament he found himself in. Alone, guarding Electrode, with only his Stuntank still standing, battling against three strangers with three menacing, fully-evolved Pokémon.
They’d called themselves the Miss Fortunes. Melli thought it was a dumb name, but infuriatingly fitting. With their arrival, all of his luck had departed.
“You should probably surrender,” said the woman in the center–Charm, he thought she’d called herself. “Before I destroy that hideous skunk of yours.”
Solidifying her intention, her Rhydon let out a scratchy roar, rearing its speared nose into the air as if it intended to impale it. It’s meaty tail swung in anticipation and it eyed Skuntank hungrily.
Skuntank, to its credit, didn’t show the slightest hint of being intimidated, even if it was weak to most of the moves that Rhydon was capable of using. It didn’t balk or even let its eyes stray from the opposing rock monster, glaring and growling.
Melli was intimidated, but he couldn’t afford to let it show. And who wouldn’t be? The trio was taking him on three-on-one, and he had no idea how he was going to defeat them. The truth was that there was no way he would win. And then… what would become of Lord Electrode?
He needed backup–but the sisters had ambushed him, and he’d had no time to call for help. Now, all he could really do was shoot a prayer to the Almighty Sinnoh and hope for divine intervention.
He swallowed back the rising panic in his throat and clenched his fists together, glaring defiantly at Charm.
“You should probably get that head injury of yours checked out,” he sneered, “Because that’s what you must have if you’re delusional enough to think you’ll get past me.”
In response, Charm’s lips quirked up into a small smile and she let out a laugh. It was obvious that she wasn’t fooled by his confident front. She swept an arm out, and Melli stiffened, bracing for an attack. “Rhydon, use–” she began, but was cut-off mid-command.
“I arrive, right on schedule!”
The loud, familiar voice sent a palpable wave of relief crashing through his entire body. He almost caught himself laughing as Charm and her two sisters whipped around in time to see Ingo approaching from behind. His face was as calm and impassive as always as he strode up to them as casually as someone would walk up to greet three old friends.
So perhaps the Almighty Sinnoh had granted his wish for divine intervention. Melli had no idea how else Ingo would have been drawn up to Moonview Arena at the exact moment that he needed him–until a swath of purple fur caught his eyes in the rocky walls that surrounded the arena, and he realized that Sneasler must have been witnessed his predicament from the cliffs and ran off to alert her warden.
“What are you…” Charm began, but the sentence trailed off into a dumbfounded silence.
Ingo held up a pokeball in one hand and tipped his hat with the other. “Now, I apologize for the intrusion, but I’ve been informed that you ladies have been giving my friend here a hard time. I’m afraid I can’t let you continue doing that.”
He paused, coming to a stop 20 feet from her, leaving the approximate distance of a battlefield spread between them.
“So, the way I see it, you have two tracks to choose from,” Ingo continued evenly, although a glint of light ran like a dagger through his eyes. “You can either leave now, or face me.”
At this, the girl with the pigtails and a crazed look in her eyes–Clover–let out a sharp laugh. Her lips curved up into a maniacal grin. “You really think you can take down the three of us all by yourself? It’ll be your funeral, old man.”
Charm and the other girl, the one with the spiked hair–Candy, Cupcake, Constipation–whatever the hell her name was–exchanged small, uncertain frowns with each other, but ultimately turned in support.
Melli knew that Ingo wasn’t that old–or at least, not much older than he was, but he didn’t seem bothered by the comment. Instead, his lips jerked very slightly upwards into what could almost be considered a smirk. He closed his eyes briefly, as if in thought.
“I can see you’ve made your decision,” he said. Then he opened his eyes again, and they blazed as if lit by fire. “I accept your challenge. Have fun and drive safely! We’re heading for a destination called Victory.”
With that, he threw out the pokeball he held in his hand, and it exploded open to reveal his trusty Gliscor.
Usually, Melli thought Ingo’s strength with Pokemon was as disgusting as it was unnatural. He didn’t often see eye-to-eye with the strange man from the future. He didn’t agree with his habit of containing his partner pokemon in those weird capsules. His method of battling with one pokemon at a time didn’t make any sense. He couldn’t understand why he stood his ground and fought against raging alpha instead of running like any sane person would do.
But today, he can’t help but feel immensely grateful for his insanity.
The result of the ensuing battle wasn’t at all a surprise to Melli, who stood back and rewarded his partner Skuntank with affectionate pets for her tenacity while he watched the Pearl clan’s strongest warden systematically crush the three pesky bandits like flies. It is an intensely satisfying sight, and Melli could tell just by watching that Ingo is having just as much fun decimating the trio as he was witnessing their destruction. It wasn’t long before the three ladies were retreating down the mountain like kicked dogs, and even though Clover stopped to inform them that, “You may have won this time, but this isn’t over,” Melli doubted that they would have the nerve to come back.
Ingo watched the three as they continued down the mountain, until he was satisfied that they weren’t coming back, and then turned to Melli.
“I apologize for the delay. I came as soon as I could. Are you and Skuntank uninjured?”
When Ingo met his eyes with that terribly concerned look on his face, Melli realized with a start that he was still grinning like an idiot and tried to wipe the expression from his face. A whirlwind of butterflies swirled through his stomach as he wondered why exactly he enjoyed watching the Pearl warden battle so much.
“We are fine, thank you very much. And just so you know, you need not have come all the way up here. We had this handled on our own.”
Ingo’s frown deepened the slightest bit and his eyebrows bunched. “Is that so?” he says. He sounds unconvinced. “Well, at any rate, I’m glad I could assist. It would be awful if something were to happen to you or Lord Electrode.”
Does Ingo truly think that it would be such a tragedy? Melli gulped down a rising feeling of… he doesn’t know what, but can’t stop the heat from blooming into his cheeks. Unfortunately, Ingo notices his change in expression, and gets the wrong idea.
“Are you quite sure you’re alright?” he asks. “You look a little–”
“Yes, yes, I’m fine ,” he says, a little more forcefully than absolutely necessary. He lets out a breath in a huff and crosses his arms over his chest. “Now, don’t you have something better to do than hang out up here? Sneasels to take care of or bridges to fix or literally anything else?”
Ingo blinks. Slowly. “Ah… yes. Well, if that is the case… I will depart. Please reach out if you need anything.”
With that, he turns and walks down the mountain.
Melli resists the wild, irrational urge to yell at him to come back.
A couple of months later, storm clouds coil up in the sky over Mt. Coronet, twisting and writhing like some dark, gray beast. Melli can tell just from the ominous color of the clouds that no ordinary storm is coming; for the past several weeks, these clouds have marked the onset of vicious rainstorms that produce massive mass outbreaks.
He is sitting in a little cave perched high on a cliff overlooking Moonview Arena. This is where he always goes to wait out storms like this, as being on the ground at the Arena is too dangerous. The area is prone to nasty flash floods.
Generally, he tries to avoid being at the Arena entirely in weather conditions such as these, but since the massive mass outbreaks started popping up all around the region, the weather has become more unpredictable. The clouds had descended upon the mountain before he even had the chance to consider evacuating, and so he now finds himself sheltering in the cave with Skuntank curled up against one leg and Electrode rhythmically rolling against the other.
As the first drops of rain begin to fall and thunder groans across the sky, Melli’s thoughts wander to a place further down the mountain where the other Highlands warden probably is. He illogically worries that he will be caught off guard by the sudden storm; but no, Ingo knows about the flash flooding. He will be seeking higher ground right now, if he isn’t already there. He knows the drill, and besides, he has Lady Sneasler with him. She could climb up even the most slippery rock wall with ease. He will be fine.
He tells himself this, but his stomach still aches as he leans back against the rock wall and lets out a sigh.
The rain starts as a drizzle, a gentle, unassuming pitter-patter against the rocks. Goosebumps rise on his arms as light flashes through the sky. He closes his eyes and counts in head head. 1… 2… 3… 4…
A crack of thunder. About a mile away.
He opens his eyes. Then starts.
“What are you doing here?” he demands of a soaked Lady Sneasler, crouched in the mouth of the cave with her red eyes fixed on him. An involuntary bolt of fear dashes through him as he realizes that she’s alone. “Where is Ingo?”
She frantically starts chittering and gesturing with her clawed hands. Then, without waiting to see if he’d comprehended any of the message she was trying to convey, turns around and dashes off in the direction she’d come. “Wait–” Melli calls, springing to his feet, but she doesn’t turn around.
Something is wrong. Sneasler is quite protective of her warden, sometimes annoyingly so, but Melli knows that she wouldn’t leave him if she didn’t deem it necessary.
Ingo must be in danger. Maybe even injured. Maybe even badly . Melli grips the stone wall as he stares out at Sneasler’s retreating form, becoming harder to see in the intensifying rain. His heart begins to pound and sweat breaks across his skin.
It would be stupid to go out there now. He is well aware of how stupid it would be. He shouldn’t–no, he can’t –do something so stupid. It would be like asking to be killed.
But then Lady Sneasler turns around and lets out a whine so desperate and heartbreaking that his feet start moving on their own accord.
“Fine, I’m coming,” he grumps, balling his hands into tight fists and stepping out into the rain. “Let’s go save your stupid warden.”
The rain builds into a pounding downpour as Lady Sneasler leads him down the mountain, towards the ruins of broken pillars, and Melli’s clothes are soaked through in minutes. The rain mixes with sweat as he has to run to keep up with her long strides, his feet squishing with each step. Already, water is beginning to trickle down the slope in a silvery stream, and he knows that before long it will be an impassable river. Lightning flashes again, but this time, Melli can’t even begin to count before the thunder splits through the sky, reverberating through the earth.
The storm is getting closer. No– they’re getting closer to it.
Why exactly are they running towards the storm, again?
Melli shakes his head, cursing Ingo with every rasping breath. What trouble could he have possibly gotten himself into? Wasn’t he supposed to be the safe one? How could he have ended up out in the middle of what was very likely to soon be a vicious flash flood? It was unfathomable.
Ahead in the distance, several bolts of yellow light shot through the gray wall of rain. Melli slowed his pace and squinted, examining the spot where the lightning originated from. It didn’t look right; they were too close to the ground to be coming from the storm.
But what else could produce lightning like that?
It took only a second for the realization to hit. Pokemon. A horde of electric type pokemon.
Melli picked up the pace, nearly catching Lady Sneasler. They got closer and closer to the swirling sphere of lightning until Sneasler stopped abruptly behind a crumbling white pillar, and Melli catches it with his hands before he can crash into it as a result of his excess momentum.
She lets out another low whine. Melli peered around the pillar, ahead into the ball of lightning, and his breath sticks in his throat.
Because there he is. There is Ingo. And four very pissed off Rotom.
It’s obvious he’s been fighting them off for a while. Even from here, Melli can tell that he’s winded. He doesn’t have a pokemon out, but he’s tucking a pokeball away as if he’s just lost one.
He hesitates for a split second, one hand hovering over a pokeball at his waist, as if he wants to send out a pokemon to battle the spiteful little electric-types with, but he’s not sure. Just as quickly, he sweeps his hand away and dives toward the ground instead, dodging just in time for a vicious lightning strike to land in the spot where he’d just occupied.
Melli doesn’t think he’s ever seen Ingo execute a dodge roll before, and the sight sends a frightened little shock down his spine. Usually, he prefers to battle enraged pokemon head-on. This tells him that his pokemon must be pretty exhausted from battling a lot already. Melli wonders how many he has left that haven’t fainted yet–one, two? How close are they to fainting, themselves?
He shudders, thinking of how powerful this horde of Rotom must be to have the strongest pokemon wielder he knows cornered. His grip on the pillar tightens as he wonders if he even has a chance of helping him defeat them, or if both of the Highlands wardens are going to end up fried by their electricity together.
Another dagger of yellow lightning shakes the earth. Ingo again dodges, just in time. His hat tumbles off this time, revealing the hair stuck to his forehead with rain or sweat, it’s hard to tell which. He glances back up quickly to reassess his enemy, gray eyes burning intensely with concentration, chest heaving with breath.
Next to him, Sneasler lets out a whine, staring at her warden with distressed eyes. She paws Melli’s side with one clawed hand. Do something, she seems to be urging him.
The next surge of electricity comes from behind from a Rotom that has snuck up on him. Ingo starts and tries to throw himself out of the way, but he isn’t fast enough. Not this time.
The lightning lashes against his right wrist like a whip, searing through the sleeve of his jacket, and he lets out a yelp of pain.
It is only then that Melli is able to act. Without thinking beyond the white-hot surge of anger that rises through his gut, he charges forward and sends forth Skuntank. The Pokemon leaps in between Ingo and another bolt of lightning, taking the brunt of an attack that probably would have done irreversible damage to a human.
Ingo’s eyes widen in shock and Melli shouts, “Night Slash!”
The Rotom is caught off-guard, and the attack lands hard and true. It lets out a groan and faints.
“Melli?” asks Ingo, his eyes still fixed on him. He looks completely bewildered, staring up at him from the pooling puddle of muddy water that he’s landed in.
“Yes, yes, I am Melli. Now if you could stop gawking and start helping me, that would be great!”
All three remaining Rotom have now honed in on him and his partner Pokemon. Melli yells an order for another Night Slash that is nearly drowned out by the crashing rain. Electricity hums through the air like physical energy, prickly against his skin. Melli can feel the water lapping at his heels now.
“I’m afraid I can’t. My pokemon…”
“Are hurt? Then what are you waiting for? Heal them!” He practically throws his pack of supplies at Ingo, who fumbles to catch it. “I’ve got plenty of stuff in there. Now come on, we don’t have all day! This entire place is going to be flooded in a half-hour, tops.”
This seems to finally kick Ingo back into gear. He’s tearing through the pack, pulling out as many revives and Sitrus berries as he can find. Melli can’t tell what pokemon he’s using them on, and he’s too preoccupied with the Rotom to care.
Skuntank manages to take down one more Rotom, but sustains heavy damage from the constant onslaught of electric-type attacks. Melli’s chest begins to tighten when he notices the staticky electricity jumping around his pokemon’s black fur and how slowly it is now moving. He starts to turn around to tell Ingo that now is the time that they start running for their lives, but before a word can leave his mouth, a pokeball splits open in a burst of white light and Gliscor joins Skuntank in battle.
“Earth Power!” Ingo shouts, his voice as loud as a thunderclap. At his command the ground splits open beneath one of the two remaining electric spirits and shoots upward. It’s knocked out instantly.
Melli glances over to see that Ingo’s found his way to his feet again. He is standing close to him, perhaps closer than he’s ever been before, and despite the dire situation, Melli feels a shiver run through him that has nothing to do with the cold, washing rain.
A second Earth Power, and the last Rotom is defeated. Melli finds himself bracing for another four to pop into existence, but to his great relief, they don’t.
Beside him, Ingo lets out an exhale. His shoulders drop several inches as he lets it out. “They’re gone,” he says. He then turns and meets Melli’s eyes, and Melli feels his breath stop half-way to his lungs when he sees the way that he’s looking at him, like he’s some sort of beautiful mythical being and not the drenched mess that he’s sure he looks at the moment.
“You saved my life,” he breathes, like a revelation. “Melli, you’re an angel. It’s almost like… divine intervention.”
Again, Melli’s cheeks blaze like they’re on fire, and for a second he’s so flustered, so caught up in Ingo’s wonderful gaze and the fact that he just called him an angel that he forgets where he’s at for a moment. Until he realizes that water is now rushing around his ankles, and he remembers. Oh. Right. They’re about to be washed away by a flash flood.
“Yes, well, while this is all very romantic, I’d rather not drown today. Come on, let’s get out of here.”
Without thinking about what he’s doing, he grabs Ingo’s arm and steers him back up the mountain in the direction they came. The water is getting faster and stronger, and soon all four of them are sprinting up the mountain against the current in a mad dash to get back to the safety of Melli’s cave. What is less than a half-mile journey feels like it takes fifteen years, and when they get there, water is rolling off of the cliffs, forming several miniature waterfalls. Lady Sneasler helps the two scale the cliffs, and Melli is glad for it. Usually, he has no issue with them on his own, but with the rocks so slippery and his entire body quaking with adrenaline, it is almost impossible without her help.
The two collapse side-by-side against the wall of the cave, breathing heavily. It takes a few minutes for Melli to catch his breath, and when he does, he finds his eyes dragging up to meet Ingo’s again, and he is surprised to find to find him smiling, but no, not only that–he’s laughing, and the sound is so warm and hearty that it makes Melli smile too, and then he’s squeezing his hand, and–
Wait.
Melli jerks his hand away from Ingo’s, screaming internally. He doesn’t remember grabbing his hand. How long has he been holding it?
From her spot sitting cross-legged against the opposite wall, Lady Sneasler brings a clawed hand up to her mouth and snickers. Melli wants to shrivel up and disappear when his own partner Skuntank–that traitor–lets out a few amused huffs as well.
“I–I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me–” Melli begins, but before he can come up with a proper excuse, Ingo reclaims his hand with his own, twining their fingers together. The words stop before they can reach his tongue, and when he chances a glance over at Ingo, he’s surprised to find him looking just as flustered as he feels.
“If this isn’t okay–” he begins.
“No!” Melli says, a bit too forcefully. His cheeks blaze like they’re on fire, but Ingo is holding onto his hand, and… Holy Sweet Sinnoh, he doesn’t want him to let go.
“Alright,” Ingo says. Quietly, for once. Then, sighing, he turns his eyes out to the rain. “How long do you think it will last?”
“Not long, hopefully,” Melli answers, trying to sound cool, as if his heart isn’t about to pound its way out of his chest.
But then Ingo lets out a small “hmm” and squeezes his hand again, and Melli wishes that the storm would last forever.