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

Chapter 55: Fallers

Stow-on-Side Stadium was surprisingly quiet. Fans rushed to see Laverne vs. Bede in Ballonlea instead. The stalls outside were barely visible through the thick fog, but Heather was sure Desiderio wasn't there.

The clarity of the lobby was startling once the doors closed and the fog was left behind. Hessie was relieved to see Rex talking to Ruslan. The doors reopened. When Heather heard Perry's footsteps, she froze, but she was pleasantly surprised to see him in a convincing disguise. It seemed he received a similar box of Euphoria merch from Daiki.

'Hey, Garnet!'

'Oh! Emmet! What are you doing here?!'

'Came to see you, of course!'

'Oh!' Hessie exclaimed, 'You must be related! You look so alike!'

'I'm her brother!'

Perry even managed to force himself not to smile sideways. He shook Hessie's hand.

'Nice to meet ya! I guess you're Hessie? Garnet told me about you.'

'Oh... really? But – but yes! I'm Hessie!'

The doors opened again. At first, Heather didn't recognise the man in a fez and djellaba who walked in. Perry's expression told her. Her face lit up.

'Dad!'

'Essalam!'

Jamie's accent was usually a bizarre clash of Galarian, Unovan and Orrean. It was a perfect Gharabian accent then. Despite Perry's discomfort, he and Jamie didn't need to agree to pretend they arrived together. They automatically did. Perry blamed his visible discomfort on how 'embarrassing' his dad's traditional Gharabian clothes were.

An older man arrived with Jamie. Daeng's father hadn't finished his Battle Frontier challenge, but forever paranoid that Wish would go for his son, he was worried. They were on the same flight and met on the way out of the bathroom where Jamie changed his clothes.

Heather had no idea what Jamie's name was supposed to be. She was glad he immediately introduced himself to Rex as Rasil. He warmly shook his hand. He was much cooler with Ruslan. He hadn't quite forgiven him for inadvertently hiding the Plasma Frigate. Ruslan noticed. He was fairly sure he knew what he did to offend the stranger from Gharab via Elemar, but he didn't say anything.

The Gym Trainers were on high alert after what happened to Allister's Gengar. Their Pokémon were out. The one acting as a security guard stood with another Pokémon that Heather didn't recognise. It reminded her of Miror B., a legendary Orrean dancer.

'Blacephalon!'

Heather glanced up. That unfamiliar Pokémon stumbled towards them.

'Come back! What're you doing?! Come back!'

Its Trainer ran after it. It was too late. Blacephalon suddenly hurled its head. It crashed into the small group of relatives in an explosion of kaleidoscopic sparks. The stench of singed fabric filled the lobby.

'I'm so sorry! Blacephalon! What were you thinking?!'

Daeng and Ever, his father, were on the floor. They were mortified. A Pokémon attacking random strangers was a sure-fire way to cause them to lose face in Seri. Perry's clenched fists held his hat to his head to hide his lopsided wig. Hessie fell on Heather. Bard tumbled onto the pile. Healing items and two books fell from Rex's bag. He rubbed his forehead where the corner of a book hit him. Even the Ball Guy was knocked down. Heather saw purple hair before he retrieved his mask. Jamie was the only person who kept their footing. It was as if nothing happened to him, but his cold eyes said otherwise.