Pokémon: Out of the Woods | A Galar, Unova & Sinnoh Fanfiction

Chapter 18: Time Travellers

A door slammed at the foot of an apartment block in Obsidian City. Tansy knew that meant that Perry and Nashira were home. She also knew he could be quiet if he really wanted to be, because he was when catching Pokémon, but usually, he was the former: so noisy that people knew he was coming long before they turned to see him.

The 11th-floor apartment's long windows overlooked the Battle Frontier. Back when they moved in, it still looked like a construction site, but now it was the vibrant fairground that Wisteria imagined. Their friends helped them paint the apartment's walls in pastels, except the kitchen, which was Perry's favourite shade of green.

The door flew open. Despite her father's thundering footsteps, Nashira was fast asleep in the arms of Perry's Delphox.

'Yo, Tansy!'

He stepped over Nashira's scattered toys to dump his bags of groceries on the kitchen counter. Tansy laid down the cardigan she was knitting.

'Traffic bad?'

'Nope. We took the train, remember? The train!'

For once, he didn't bother hiding how excited he was. The underground railroad between Gateon Port and Obsidian City finally opened that afternoon.

'Holly drove it! I'm late 'cause we took a bunch of pics! Dad's still down there! Fuchsia's here, too!'

Holly was Perry's stepmother and Fuchsia his sister via Toru, his adoptive dad. Fuchsia was also one of Tansy's best friends.

'Oh! I should've come!'

'They'll catch up. Check out the pics!'

'I see Jamie made it.'

He was in several of the photos. He and his geology students worked on the railroad with construction experts, as well as Orre's new Ranger Union, who ensured Pokémon were protected throughout the process.

'Whatever.'

The door was flung open again. Holly and Toru's oldest daughter, Avalon, was just as noisy as her uncle Perry.

'Hiiii, Perry! Hi, Tansy! Hi, Nashira!'

Holly's Cinderace grabbed Avalon before she shook Nashira awake. Toru was upset about Volkner's death, but at that moment, he was busy glowing with pride that his wife drove the new train. Fuchsia was still wearing her new Ranger's uniform. Tansy stood to hug her. Now they were both working demanding jobs, they didn't see each other as often as they would have liked.

'Hey, I want to hear about this thing in Galar.'

'Ooh, that reminds me...'

Tansy glanced back to check that Avalon and her little sister Citrine were occupied. She didn't want them to repeat their gossip to the wrong person. They were already busy 'helping' Toru in the kitchen.

'I had a thought. You know that Professor Rowan?'

Fuchsia flopped down on the couch. Her legs ached after a long week of patrols.

'Yeah?'

'She looks like Amethyst, doesn't she? And her dad says his dad was in the International Police. Don't you think she could be something to do with Michael? He did go to Sinnoh to deal with that "one-man Team Galactic" bloke.'

'No,' Perry replied, 'I don't want another weird relative. Thanks.'

Although he did think that Helene looked like a distant relative. Holly sat wearily beside Fuchsia. She was fit, but she was also seven months pregnant and exhausted.

'I hope it's a coincidence, for Michael's sake. He'd be broken if he didn't know he'd left a kid in Sinnoh.'

Perry tutted. 'It's not his fault, is it? The mom should've told him! Anyway, I wanted to ask you guys...'