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

Chapter 105: The Trio

The young N and Hilbert were discharged from hospital. They had nowhere to go, so the International Police booked rooms for them at the hotel in Hammerlocke.

'Excuse me, but where is Ghetsis...?'

N asked the nurse before they left. She looked baffled.

'As in... Team Plasma Ghetsis...?'

'Yes.'

'He's dead, Sir...'

'...Oh... will there be a funeral...?'

'I'm... fairly sure it already happened... quite a while ago...'

'Oh...'

They passed Khalid on the way out. He didn't see them. He balanced a tray of coffees in one hand and several boxes of cream cakes, for all the injured Pokémon, in the other. He didn't even see Tahirah waving to him on her way home from the night shift. His thoughts were full of his mother's and Pokémon's injuries. Tatsuko was out of the ICU, but she would be wheelchair-bound for months until her broken and crushed bones healed. The little Dreepy survived. Ace and Dragapult got them to hospital in time. Like Tatsuko, it would be months until it could even think of battling again, but it would.

Triton waved to Tahirah from the café. Two cups were on the table. His was already empty. Tahirah regretted agreeing to meet him there. Her shift ended late and she just wanted to leave. She tried to smile as she took a seat opposite.

'Hi. How are you feeling?'

'Could be worse, I guess...'

Triton actually felt terribly shaken since Calyrex attacked him. That was part of the Shadow Trainer conversion process: hitting people who could see auras with Shadow moves. Tahirah knew that, of course. She looked wearily sympathetic.

'Yeah... you feel like shit. I get it.'

'...Did you ever feel better?'

'I mean, I'm better than I was when I was first purified... but not really. Rui was never the same. As for poor Risa...'

'Yeah. It's rough. And... I'm sorry I couldn't protect you...'

'It wasn't your fault... I never blamed you. That wasn't why I ended it. I just wanted to get the fuck away from Orre and everything I associated with it. You were one of those things. Sorry.'

'It's OK... I understand... you don't even have to give me a reason...'

'But that's it. It's not that I stopped caring about you... you'll always be my first love... but... I can't be with you. Even if I get over the Shadow Trainer thing, I can't cope with all the attention that comes with being with the World Champion. I'm sorry...'

She didn't have to give Triton a reason. He never actually expected to speak to her again, but he always believed that if only he could, he would understand. He could get over it. That seemed impossible then. Of course, when she agreed to meet him after rushing to his aid at the Energy Plant, he hoped she missed him as desperately as he missed her, that they would admit that and get back together. He wasn't expecting to feel like she clubbed and smashed his frozen soul. The coffee he bought for her was already cold. Her Cinderace ate her pastry. She stood and brushed the scattered crumbs off her scrubs.

'You're a lovely bloke, Triton... and you'll find someone who can love you even more than me one day. It was nice to see you. Best of luck with the investigation. If I can help with anything, let me know. And... I'm sorry.'

'It's... it's fine... see ya...'

Triton wouldn't be letting her know if she could help him with anything. He felt more like laying down on the motorway. There was no time to feel sorry for himself. His shift began in 17 minutes. He was to begin the investigation into Karot and Poppy. He didn't know what propelled him out of his seat, because it certainly wasn't a will to do anything.