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

Chapter 67: The Result

'It's Rigel.'

Heather sighed. It was a partial sigh of relief, because she hadn't called Volo hot, but it was more of a sigh for Neptune and even Tansy.

'Well... good luck telling Neptune. I don't envy you, dude.'

'I don't envy myself... see ya.'

Tansy nodded with a resigned expression.

'Right. Right.'

'I'm sorry, man...'

'S'pose I already knew. The song basically confirmed it. I mean, it doesn't exactly affect me... and I never want to see my mum again, anyway... I certainly can't feel sorry for her...'

'But it does affect you...'

'Well, yeah. I was getting to that. It affects me because, well, I wouldn't exist if this hadn't happened... or I'd be their kid. Nashira's life would be different. My grandpa's life would be different. My other grandpa – Heath's – life would be different. Ernie's life... lots of lives...'

Tansy's face crumpled. 'She might've actually loved me...'

'Oh, Tansy...'

She didn't shake off Heather or Dragalge when they hugged her as her shoulders began to shake.

'You know what? I'm glad this made her show her true colours. She doesn't deserve you. And she wouldn't deserve Ace when she can love Rigel's kid, but no-one else's.'

'Even Rigel deserves better, to be honest... but his poor wife's dead... Team Plasma probably killed her... or... or maybe Tance even killed her...'

'I feel like Rigel would try to be a father figure to you if he knew.'

'But he isn't my dad... I've already got Lochlan... my stepdad... and I want my mum, even if not my dad, to love me...'

An engine cut out outside. A car door slammed. Bede blinked when he walked in to see his granddaughter crying.

'Has something else happened...?'

'The Craving Books dude is Rigel.'

'...Oh. I see.'

'G-Grandpa...'

Tansy sniffled. Bede picked Nashira up and rocked her before she, too, began to cry.

'Do... you know if Mum ever knitted a cardigan...?'

'Yes. She knitted lots of things.'

He paused. 'I take it you've found out that Rigel still owns it...?'

'Y-yeah... I... I bought a knitting book... and he said... someone dear to him used to knit... and she probably still does... wherever she is now... he... he was even listening to that song... the song she had tattooed... he was upset... he said it was 'cause it's the anniversary of his wife's death... but...'

'But it's also 25 years since he last saw Queenie. I see.'

Nashira fell asleep in Bede's arms. He returned her to her bassinet. Despite Tansy's concerns that she would scream through every night like Toru said Perry did, she slept more like her father did as an adult. Tansy hoped that was because she knew she was loved. She hoped she knew her parents would die for her.

'So we can safely say he still loves her. I wonder if she might actually listen to him...'

'I wouldn't count on it...'

Tansy shook her head. 'She's probably more likely to stab him at this point... especially if Tance tells her to... anyway... I don't want to keep talking about it. It's not going to help anyone. Did you beat Laverne...?'

'Yes. The idiot was drunk again.'

'Like ancestor, like descendant, I suppose...'

'It seems he's also struggling to train that Lilligant. I'd criticise him, but I doubt any of those Hisuian Pokémon actually want to be here...'

Heather frowned. There was someone she forgot when she questioned who repeated Hazel's accusations. Laverne was there.

Damn! I kinda liked him, too! Yeah, he's got the brain of a Bidoof, but he seemed like a decent dude! I mean, maybe it wasn't him, but... was it really some market trader?

She suspected that the original accuser, if not someone else, was still talking to the VCP. The speculation intensified. No-one at the bookstore seemed to care, but one woman on the bus did keep glancing at Heather as if she expected her to whip out a knife.

What the public had certainly decided was that she was Zenko's stepdaughter. They knew she was Heather Haider, although they had no idea that Heather Haider was anything more than the stepdaughter of a pop star. They still knew she was pretending to be someone else.

Maybe there's no point in this disguise anymore... but I didn't kill fucking Victor! I was in the Wild Area! Those fuckers have my Crobat! And that cut on my arm is from Barraskewda! Hasn't a Barraskewda ever launched at them before?!

Tansy giggled when she asked that. That was when Heather learned that most people never got that close to Barraskewda in the water, because few people crossed the waters they inhabited without the aid of a Pokémon, boat or Rotom Bike.

'I'm still tempted to say it was Hazel somehow,' Tansy said, 'Or Gideon was the one listening to her chipped balls and he did it.'

'It can't be Gideon... he was the Ball Guy.'

'Oh, yeah...'

There was a gentle knock on the front door. Hatterene let Pluto in. It apparently never occurred to him to use the doorbell. It also never occurred to him to question the silent but palpable distress that haunted the house. He either felt it was none of his business, or was so used to such an atmosphere that he didn't even notice. Heather suspected it was the latter.

Galatea's Zorua stayed with Jamie. It was curious about Pluto's Hisuian Zorua. At first, it hid behind Jamie and even an illusion of a chair, but when Pluto's Zorua cried, thinking it scared off its new friend already; it realised the unfamiliar Pokémon meant no harm. They happily chased each other around the sofas.

Perry returned in time for a dinner of shepherd's pie. Heather was surprised that he silently pushed it around his plate instead of proclaiming that it was disgusting. Bede had already served stew to the Pokémon. As soon as his back was turned, Perry gave his shepherd's pie to them. He opened a pack of BBQ chips instead. Jamie ate it, but Heather saw him grimacing a few times.

She had no opinion. It was plain, but perfectly edible. She and her mother were usually hungry enough to appreciate whatever they could get, so although she particularly liked strawberries, there was nothing she despised.

Yesterday, Pluto gave half of his food to his Pokémon. There wasn't really enough of Bede's cooking to feed them all. Today, he cooked for everyone and their Pokémon, including Heather's stronger ones, the two extra Zorua and the Wyrdeer that peered in from the garden. Heather couldn't help noticing that Pluto ate every last crumb of his shepherd's pie as well as the leftover mashed potato that no-one else wanted. She was sure, as she was sure he was used to distress at home, that he didn't simply love that plain dish. He wasn't fed enough at home. It was no wonder he was so good at foraging and cooking for himself in the wild.

Well, when your home is Team Plasma's castle, I guess that's what you have to expect...

So he wasn't just surprised that someone outside of Team Plasma was feeding him for free. He was surprised they fed him enough. His Zoroark and Pheromosa, which he said detested people, were so appreciative of Bede's quiet hospitality that they insisted on washing the dishes. Heather shared his smile. He wasn't the only one seeing that the world outside of Team Plasma wasn't as terrible as Jahzeel convinced him it was. His Pokémon could see it, too.

You made a mistake when you let him out, Jahzeel. You thought no-one could ever care about a 'freak without a human heart,' didn't you? Well, they do. And in an ideal world, he'll never return to that castle. But I'm about truth, not ideals, so I'll make that the truth. Because I know it's not a delusional ideal. I know it can be true. Maybe not today, not tomorrow, but soon.