Pokémon Turquoise | A Unova Fanfiction

Chapter 76: The Truth

It was three months until Neptune was finally discharged from hospital. Even then, when he returned to his parents' house, it was another month until he wrote to Johona and Trip to invite them if they still wanted to see him. Downcast Galatea stayed with Amber and Jamie. Trip asked if Johona wanted to talk to Neptune on her own first, but she shook her head.

Samurott was curled up in the basket once occupied by Jamie's Oshawott. Neptune sat cross-legged on the bed, fidgeting with his threadbare old plush football. He lost weight, probably muscle, but his eyes weren't as empty and distressed as they expected. He actually smiled.

'Hi... thank you both for coming... I understand if...'

Johona hugged him tight before he could say he understood if they didn't really want to talk to him.

'Shut up, Neptune. Shut up. I was so worried...'

'I know... I'm sorry... I swear I won't try again... and I won't go after Team Plasma again, either. Trip... I'm sorry...'

'Why are you saying sorry to me?'

'You went through so much to get here... and I... I fucked it up for you... I'm sorry, Trip. I'm so sorry. I... that day at the castle... my dad was trying to ask if I was still going to therapy... and I wasn't, obviously... but... I am now. I promise I am. I promise I will.'

'You fucked it up for yourself before you fucked it up for me. Apologise to yourself first. If you were determined enough to stick it out on the team with Py, I know it means as much to you as it does to me.'

'Yeah...'

'You're the best WR I've ever had the pleasure of playing with, so... as long as you're OK and you're getting the help you need, I sure hope you're coming back.'

'If you still want to play with me... of course I will.'

His eyes welled up as he clasped his friend's hand.

'Thank you, man... thank you. The thing is... I never had... people thought I was weird because I'm N's kid and I look like him... because... the truth is... I can talk to Pokémon.'

'Isn't that kind of cool?'

'No-one else thinks so... and if anyone did ever start to like me, Py went after them... and he was the popular quarterback and... I was scared of you, when we met, to be honest... but... I liked you... I thought you were cool... and I really wanted to be your friend...'

'I wanted to be your friend, dude. I was upset when I started to suspect you because I didn't want to lose my friend. Maybe I seem like the popular quarterback to you, but popularity isn't the same thing as having meaningful connections. I never did. I was raised by a serial killer, so...'

'I know... I know. When I get up in my head like that, I can't think straight... but it won't happen again. I'll never get myself into a situation like that again... I don't want to. But... Johona... before we catch up... there's something I have to tell you... something I omitted...'

'Go on, then... nothing can be worse than knowing you wanted to die and I couldn't help, so...'

'Well... when we were kids... you know my dad had that stalker, Ofelia... who knew him from Team Plasma... and she had two kids... Pattie and Py. I... blamed my dad for so long... and... I still blame Pattie, but... honestly... it was her mom who set her on me. She's why Py's the way he is. But... whatever the excuse was... I was too young. She was three years older than me and... no-one stopped her. You know our teachers knew. My coach knew. They didn't do anything. I didn't... I was just being used... to fulfill her mom's fantasy of having her Lord N's grandchild...'

'Why didn't you tell me?'

'Because that's not even the worst of it...'

'You know I'll never judge. I love you... even if... well, I'm gonna be totally honest with you, like I always will be. I still love Nathan. But I'll always love you as my best friend... or whatever it is we are. You'll always be my first love.'

'I know... and I didn't want you to go rip Pattie's head off and... find out the truth. I love you. I didn't want to lose you. I wanted to be your hero...'

'You already were. Not because you're N's son. Because you're you. You're my best friend. The only time I ever lost sight of that... was when you were trying so hard to be someone you're not. Stop it. Stop acting. You're shit at it, anyway.'

She managed a smile that was feebly reflected in Neptune's weary eyes.

'When you said you didn't want me to find out the truth... was that just about Pattie? About you being able to talk to Pokémon? You know I'd never judge. You know I love N. Why would I care that you can talk to a damn Pokémon?'

'It... wasn't just that.'

'Then what is it? What is it that you think is so awful I wouldn't love you anymore?'

'Do you remember... the "mentally ill" teen mom who threw her baby in the river?'

'Yeah...?'

'It was Pattie... I was the father.'

'...Oh.'

She blinked. 'Oh. Well... that figures. A lot of things make sense now. That baby... thing... sent to me... it was Py, wasn't it? And you were opening my mail, to make sure I didn't get anything else like that.'

'Yes... it was me. Well, it was my Pokémon...'

'You know, for once, you actually covered that up pretty well. You should've just told me, Neptune!'

'When Zoroark pulled out those drawers... he was trying to show this to Amber, so she told you...'

The contraception obsession – and Neptune saying he wasn't afraid of children, but losing a child – made sense now. He was irrationally terrified of ever having another child in case the same thing somehow happened. He was afraid Py would target them. Under the boxes and a pile of scrap paper was an ultrasound print and three photos of a baby boy.

'I guess he thought you guys needed to know... because he knew something like this would happen if I kept it all inside... and I promise... I swear on his life... on Galatea's life... I'll never keep anything from you again. I hope Galatea will forgive me... that was why I wanted to protect her... I don't want any other child to ever end up like my son...'

'Of course she'll forgive you... she adores you. She wakes up every day and asks when she can see Daddy again...'

'I hope... I haven't... hurt Nathan by taking her in like that... I mean, I don't really give a shit about him if he hurt you, but... I don't want to do the same thing to someone else that was done to me...'

'I don't know what I think about Nathan, Neptune. Right now, I don't think I give a shit. I want you to be OK. And taking in a kid because the father nearly killed her grandpa isn't the same as throwing a kid in a river.'

'Well, yeah, but... before all this happened, when I was still hacking... I found out it was the VCP that claimed there was a woman in the car with him. There wasn't. He was on his own, probably trying to do what I tried... so what else is untrue? Anyway, I've been thinking about it... the guy who saved me had a Mega Salamence... and Nathan got kicked out after throwing that stuff at Py. I think... I mean, it's obvious... even if it was for Galatea... he actually saved my life. He can't be all bad...'