A Couple of Special Kids

Alt and Imbalance

Rust slowly comes to his senses. He’s got that strange feeling washing over him. He’s dreaming. He can at least understand that. He slowly stands up, and he comes face-to-face with the legendary feared for causing nightmares; Darkrai. Neither move for a while. Last he remembered, this pokemon belonged to the leader of those masked children. The mistress’ trump card, or ‘ace’ if you will. There have never been any Darkrai stronger than this one. It’s dark voids hit 100% of the time. And its nightmares are violent and strong enough to stop someone’s heart.

“I am here to warn you. Another is lurking inside. The other half of you has somehow managed to manifest here. I cannot destroy it for you, but I can aid you in ending it yourself. Come.” Darkrai spoke.

It waves its hand to follow, and Rust follows obediently. What else could he do? Darkrai must’ve been talking about the bad timeline self. Now that he knew, he had to make sure he wouldn’t make the same mistakes. He truly didn’t want to hurt his friends.

He was starting to hear whispers. Voices that sound like himself and his siblings. Whispering bits of doubt and little threats, getting louder and louder as he went. He had to cover his ears. Darkrai watched as it kept floating. It almost seemed curious of him. He mutters to himself all the good things he remembered doing. He always tried to throw wrenches in his siblings’ plans. It was of course jealousy driven at some moments, but in a lot of others he couldn’t bare to see pokemon tortured. He’d take the fall. He’d want to. He was hearing the voice of his mother. Her terrible, condescending voice that always told him he was a runt, and weak; the same voice belonging to the person that gave him that huge scar right across his face, the mark of a failure.

His bad thoughts were surrounding him. Every jealous and angry thought was bubbling and storming up around him, all his memories from the new timeline and the previous timeline. With those, all the guilt and terrible things he’s done swelled like a tidal wave headed right for him. He tripped and fell, and it was hard to get up. He was drowning in all those negative thoughts. Darkrai could only do so little to protect him. His powers were meant to mold and work with darkness, not to go against it. The barrier he made was frail and weak, and would barely last. It didn’t help that Rust was crying. The chaos was getting louder and tougher to fight. Darkrai growled at Rust to get himself together, or they’d both be drowning. No one wanted that bad Rust to win, right?

But Rust was curled up, cowering in fear. He couldn’t move. He could barely hear Darkrai over everything. He was trying so hard to think of upsides, but it was difficult. They were small like small bubbles of a creature drowning in the ocean. But slowly, he was starting to hear something else. A voice that was different from Darkrai. It almost sounded like Hayune, but it was also different.

“You know, I really like the way you think of things. Every one of us is a new person. That means you too. It would be a shame to make that a lie, when it really is a hopeful thing. You’re wonderful. No one else thought of things like that, but it’s oh so true. You’re nothing like that other you. That other you can try to possess you and take your place, but he’s a weak and evil kid who can’t possibly compare to you. You’re no runt this time. You’re quite strong. Don’t let him make you think otherwise.” they said.

Rust took a deep breath. He focused more on those small bubbles of good memories. He focused on the voice and it’s gentle words. There was another here; a shadow with an outline of muddy blending colors. Darkrai seemed puzzled by it as well, but left it because it was helping.

“His sins aren’t yours, just as you don’t bear any of the sins your mother racked up. It’s theirs, not yours. Just… forgive yourself. Azure’s forgiven you. I talked to her like this too. She forgives you. And you know Hayune can’t hold a grudge as long as he can hold his breath. You’re in the main timeline, Rust. You have a good position. Things may seem tough, but it will never be a bad end in the end. You’ll be okay. You’ll all be okay~ now all you have to do is silence the remains of that little bad runt of the rotted off branch. And Darkrai will help. And I’ll always help you keep your calm. You know, you’re such a good person. You’ll be okay when you’ve got help from your friends.” They coaxed.

The shadow gently wraps its arms around Rust. His heart was starting to feel lighter, and the moment’s stress was beginning to melt away. That tidal wave was moving back out into the area, beginning to melt down and fizzle away. In its place was a calm pool of light colors, bubbling up with good thoughts and good memories both major and minor. The shadow was warm and gentle, it’s muddy colors turning light and melting into the shining pool of light continuously. The pool itself was shallow, reached just below his hips as he was kneeling down. It felt as if it was warmed by sunlight. It stained his jeans with pretty and light colors. The bubbling nest of blackness in the distance was picked up in Darkrai’s claws, and eaten away with barely a whisper.

“There you go. See? Look at that beautiful place you’ve made up in here. The pollution from that dead you can’t taint it anymore. And you’ve got a nice happy place right up there. Wish I could see it. Though all the other ‘you’ of the timelines are all different in some ways… I could calm you just like mine. You’re a restless dreamer with all this anger and stress, but you melt when someone gives you a little loving touch and soft words. It’s rare that all the other you are calmed like this… I missed doing this. Do you… like this?” they ask.

Rust nodded. It was like nothing he’s ever felt before. And yet… he felt like it was something he had once long ago, and he got it back just now. It felt satisfying. He turns in the shadow’s grasp, wrapping his arms around it too and laying his head on it. It felt real. It felt familiar. It was like he was missing it forever.

The shadow chuckles softly. “You must be so tired from today… you never do this unless your mind slips into that deeper place in your dreams. Go ahead and relax. You’ll be fine, I promise. I’ll keep you floating. Enjoy yourself… we’ll have to meet again someday.”

Rust gently nuzzles the shadow. The world around begins to fade; the pretty colors glowing softly in the hazy yet calm darkness. The shadow gently runs a hand through Rust’s hair, humming a tune softly that Rust could almost remember the lyrics too, but they were too lost to bring out. All he knew was that this entity was so calming. And he never wanted to leave it.

…

Hayune emerges from the bathroom, hair neat and fresh clothes on. He took a deep breath, feeling calm again. Sure, he would have to deal with trying to find Winter again to ask how the fuck she remembered, but for now, he just wants to check up on Rust and check up on Azure too.  He walked a little ways down the hall, and opens the door.

The sight before him alarmed Hayune. There’s an alt there with Rust. An alt of himself, lying there while Rust sleeps peacefully atop him. The alt had a grey sweater and short hair, seeming to be cut at just above where his ponytail would be. His highlights, instead of just the usual one or two colors, were a rainbow of bright colors. Vibrant red, fiery orange, light yellow, lime green, light teal, blue, a light indigo, violet, and bright pink. Though that was impressive to fit on his hair, Hayune was understandably concerned.

“Shhh… I just got him calmed down. Wouldn’t want him to wake up just yet, would we?” the alt whispers softly.

Hayune quickly motions for the alt to come out into the hall. He needed an explanation now. The alt rolls his eyes, and gently puts Rust down and tucks him in before following Hayune out into the hall. Hayune makes sure the alt gets out before quietly closing the door behind them.

“Okay, why the hell are you here and what do you want? Is your timeline collapsed or what? Did things not happen like they should’ve or what? What am I supposed to do about this?” Hayune asked.

“Oh, my timeline~? There’s nothing anyone can do for that one. It’s supposed to be broken. It’s supposed to be the shittiest thing possible. And there’s nothing I or any of me can do about it.” The alt answered.

“Okay…? But?? Why are you here?” Hayune asked.

“Oh, I just pay visits to all the timelines. Yours is the best one, so of course I had to see what it was like. To have. The best. And it’s really nice. You know, your Rust is a lot like mine was… I feel all nostalgic.” The alt says, smiling as he twirled in place once.

“Well then why don’t you go see your Rust? You know, pay him a visit?” Hayune asked.

“Ahahahahaha! That must be a joke, right? What do you not understand about ‘worst timeline’ that I’ve said? I can’t see ‘my’ Rust. MY Rust no longer exists. MY Azure no longer exists. No one of my timeline does. It’s all gone. Do you get why it’s bad now?” the alt said, laughing it off like a bad joke until there were tears in his eyes.

“Oh… how did that happen? How could that happen??” Hayune asked.

“How do you think? Rust’s siblings are just a plague. In almost every timeline I’ve been to, they cause nothing but destruction. It makes me so pissed off. Worst thing is, I was what they used to do it. I was called ‘Project ouroboros.’ They wanted to time travel, so what better way to figure it out than use a little kid whose entire family was connected with the shrine? And I was stuck. There’s no “other” team rocket helping me because that time, Azure’s father wished for a normal life and never had it. What can a bunch of old heroes do? Apparently nothing. Not even mom or dad could help. I was orphaned, after all. I made stupid sacrifices to try and keep the forest safe, and it was all for nothing. And I think my Rust… was someone special. He’d always sneak in after all the testing to comfort me. He told me I’d find peace someday. It was such a nice thought, and I wanted that. I wanted nothing more than to take his hand and get the hell out of there. But they knew he was visiting me. And right in front of me…” the alt trails off, and it was obvious that little laugh was trying to cover up a little sob.

“Oh…” Hayune mumbled.

“And so then, there was nothing left for me there. I wanted nothing more than to blow myself up and die. And something… just sort of clicked inside. And I had a lot more power than I did. And so I did a strange thing. There was suddenly a Pokéball in my hand. But it wasn’t anything like any other – it kept changing colors. And so I threw it. And what popped out? Just a monstrous being that matched the way I felt. It didn’t really look like anything I could give a name, but it listened to me. Or well, what my feelings were. Everything blew up. And there was nothing left. Except for me, and one big crater. There were a few left around, wondering how the hell I survived and who I was. That strange power that made these tips flash rather than stay any one color. That gave me the power to hover slightly off the ground and start up shockwaves when I failed to do anything but smile. I wasn’t even given a name in that timeline. I just learned it from the other timelines I visited. Yeah, I didn’t wanna stay in my own place, because I was afraid I’d just destroy the world itself, and I wanted things to be much better for any others of us suffering out there. They destroyed a lot of legendaries to give me power, and I still have a Celebi to help me get around. As I went around, I found a lot of strangeness. For example… one timeline where those rotten siblings weren’t so rotten, and actually helped keep peace and fight a greater enemy that had killed their Rust. They helped me calm down my powers, and gave me a ‘power cap’ if you will. So nothing explodes anymore when I get upset. I can control it way better now.” The alt explains.

“What did you do when you hopped around timelines?” Hayune asked.

“Just did a lot of counting. There are not a lot of nice Rusts out there. And there are way more violent versions of us out there. You kill Rust a lot of times, or Azure kills him, or he kills you, or azure. It’s kinda scary how rare it is to find a nice Rust. It made me think I’d never find a friendly one again. But you and your cozy timeline definitely caused a chain reaction. Lets everyone know things can be fixed if you tweak it just right. Maybe not as drastically as you did, but you know. You’re the ‘main’, or ‘alpha’ timeline. You set examples with what you do. Considering how everything just went wrong in my line, I’d consider mine the ‘omega’ timeline. And dear Arceus I’m just gonna say this right now… I’m really jealous. So far, your timeline is so… calm. If I were stupid, I’d try to assume your place. But I won’t. I just wanna ask you a question.” The alt says.

“What is it?” Hayune asked.

“I… I don’t know what to call myself. Each timeline of us has pretty easy nicknames. You’re just Hayune, because you’re the main one, then there’s Gemini, capricious, guns, flowers… and then I just exist. I can’t even remember where to find my original timeline. I just want a name. Something that everyone can call me. Can you name me?” The alt asked.

Hayune thought for a moment. “Well, this is a really cheap reference. I just like it though, and with all your colorfulness it seems fitting. Do you like the name Trickster?”

The alt contemplated it. “Hm… Trickster. Maybe. It sounds sweet. Very fitting. Thank you, Hayune. You can call me Trickster!” Trickster says with a bright smile.

“Glad you like that. Anyway, what are you going to do now? You won’t do anything too drastic, right?” Hayune asked.

“Well, I won’t. I’ll only act if you or anyone asks. I’ve got some business elsewhere anyhow, but I’ll be coming back to see the cute main timeline Rust. Make sure he’s okay. Oh! And if he’s not…” Trickster says, suddenly powering up so that he began to float and his highlights began to flash different colors rapidly, “Well, I won’t exactly be happy.”

“I’ll… keep that in mind. But don’t worry; I don’t plan on killing him. Just uh… go relax. I’m gonna go visit Azure.” Hayune said.

Trickster snaps right out of it. “Okay! Also, you may wanna work up the muscle to carry her. Just saying. She’s got a pokemon that helps defy her illness but sometimes it’ll forget to visit her when things get hectic, either that or she stresses herself so much the power-up does nothing to help her. Shit’s gonna hit the fan in a week or two. You’ll need to help her.” Trickster warns.

“I know that. I know what’s coming. I’ll prepare myself. Thanks for doing whatever you did to get Rust to sleep peacefully.” Hayune says.

“It was no trouble at all~ see you all later. Sometime. Somewhere.” Trickster says. He walks into another room, and disappears.

Hayune just tries to clear his head. Nothing he can do about another him with basically god powers and no regard for how things should be working. It was another him, so it couldn’t be so bad, right? Besides they both sort of broke the rules. He’d just roll with it for now. He knew Rust was peacefully asleep, and right now he wanted to see Azure and know how she was doing.

He waves a goodbye to his mom and tells her where he’s going. He hurries off into goldenrod city, to the hospital, and begins looking around.  Well he would do it the normal way if visiting hours weren’t over. He had drifty float him up so he could look for her. It took a while, but he found her. He gently taps on the window. He can see Vris pop her head up and wag her tail excitedly. Azure seems to stir and she looks over at the window, luckily not being startled by his presence. She was just pleasantly surprised. He gets the window open and carefully moves inside, quietly closing it behind him. Both speak in hushed tones.

“Wouldn’t stick around for too long. Father… persuaded the doctors to let him stay. He’s been walking around like a guard pokemon on patrol.” Azure says softly. She has more control over her breathing than she did before, especially when using a quiet voice.

“He hired me as the bodyguard for you, right? And I was really worried for my best friend. I really think he shouldn’t have a problem with me sneaking in to see how you’re doing. Sorry it took so long… there was quite the mess to clean up.” Hayune whispered.

“It’s okay. A little girl named Winter… kept me company. And I talked to a strange shadow in a strange dream.” Azure said.

“Oh great. What did she tell you?” Hayune asked.

“Nothing I didn’t know. You don’t have to worry. I’ll… stop being at Rust’s throat so much and… I’ll try to keep Winter the same way if I ever see her again. You can relax.” Azure said.

“That’s a relief… how is your breathing now? Are you gonna be okay?” Hayune asked.

“I’ll be just fine… don’t worry. I’ll just get cooped up in the base for a bit. Stay in bed… get food brought to me… and if there’s anywhere I need to go I’ll have to do it in a wheelchair or on someone’s shoulders. It’s just the safety precautions… because if I try to get back in action too fast… I’ll have a high possibility of a bad relapse. And it’ll land me in a chair for a month…” Azure explained.

“I understand. And I’ll always help you in whatever way I can, and that’s a promise.” Hayune said.

Azure smiles a genuine smile, laughing a little bit. “That makes me feel good. Thanks… you cutie. I don’t know why I’m so mellow and giggly though… it’s either meds or the lack of proper oxygen making me feel high…” she says.

“Thanks. I’m glad I make you smile. And how do you know what a high feels like?” Hayune asked.

Azure shrugged. “Well, when your favorite grunts disappear left and right, you find Harry, Ken, and Al all gone someday… because of that witch… you get so angry you can’t calm down, and nothing can get you down unless it’s something strong enough to distort the red world you see… but don’t worry. It was only once. One week.” She admits.

“Oh. What did you do?” Hayune asked.

“Got a hold of a rare type of berry that makes you hallucinate vividly when you eat it raw. When cooked its just fine… and really delicious actually. Goes good with literally everything. Did you ever try a drug?” Azure answered.

“Ah. Well. No. I just have Celebi help down my pain and memories so I can’t feel sadness.” Hayune says.

“You’re a good boy. Don’t do any. Unless I give it to you. Don’t trust anyone else. The one I did had luckily very little bad things with it. You just barely move and it’s all in your head. Almost everything else you can try is really bad.” Azure said.

“Uh… sure. But this is only in a hypothetical case right?” Hayune said.

Azure nodded, then stretched just a bit. “This next week or two will suck ass…”

“Well, you have us now. That’s something, right?” Hayune said.

“Yeah… and… it really is nice to talk with you. Maybe it’s a chance to think up more I could talk to you about.” Azure said.

“Talking to you is really fun. It would be nice to have a nice long chat with you without any frustrating distractions…” Hayune agreed.

“So that’s that. Could I expect you to drop by… with a topic or two whenever you get the chance to…?” Azure asked.

“Yeah, definitely.” Hayune said.

“Thank you. That’s really comforting…” Azure said.

“I’m happy to help you out!” Hayune said happily, giving Azure a gentle hug.

Azure hugged him back. She enjoyed it for the few seconds it lasted before she heard her father open the door. Hayune pulled away quickly, and Azure just sort of froze up. Hayune now has a Weavile on his back with its claws to his throat, prepared to slice him open if he tries anything funny. Silver glares him down. It doesn’t help that Hayune’s default fear face is a nervous smile.

“How did you get in here?” Silver growled.

“Window…” Hayune answered.

“And for what purpose did you come here?” Silver asked.

“To make sure Azy was okay!” Hayune answered.

“Nothing else?” he questions further.

“Nope. What else would I come here for?” Hayune replies.

Azure’s father glares him down for a few more seconds, and then gives a nod to his pokemon. The Weavile retracts his claws, and hops off of Hayune’s shoulder and onto his master’s.

“I don’t know. But since you’re here, you and your pokemon have to help guard her. This place obviously doesn’t have much security.” Silver said.

“Okay! So are we taking shifts? Drifty and Meowthkara can patrol outside.” Hayune asked.

“Do what you can. I already have my pokemon patrolling the halls.” He answered.

“Yes sir.” Hayune said, giving a little salute as he smiled.

Silver turned and walked back out the room. “Remember, you try anything with her and you might not have the hands to try it again.”

“I get it.” Hayune said.

The door closes, and the two are alone once again. Azure has a bit of an embarrassed blush on her face as she sat there. Hayune was a little bit shaken up, and he takes a few deep breaths to push away the panic over almost getting stabbed for hugging Azure.

“Why does he have to do that… it was only a hug…” Azure growls quietly.

“He just worries for you, it’s fine… and besides I kinda broke in here.” Hayune said.

“But why is he so suspicious of you? Don’t you notice him glaring you? If anything he should be more wary of Rust, the complete stranger we brought in.” Azure said.

“I think he’s worried I’m gonna be a pervert. My dad is one of his perviest friends after all. He is probably 70% sure the hugs will turn into me grabbing your butt.” Hayune said.

“Well he’s silly to assume. You aren’t your parents.” Azure said.

“Well I admit I do have pervert thoughts, I’d never act on them that often.” Hayune sighed.

“What?” Azure asked.

“N-nothing! I dunno what I’m saying anymore… perhaps you should just try and get some rest.” Hayune answered nervously.

“Yeah… good idea. Goodnight.” Azure said.

“Goodnight Azy.” Hayune said.

He hoped to never blurt out things like that again.