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Laguna had glanced at the last texts briefly, before continuing her drive. She hoped that her cheeks would stop burning by the time she had actually arrived. Even though she totally knew that she'd blush just at the sight of seeing him all over again. Taking a deep breath, her eyes might be focused on the sidewalk ahead of her, but her head was completely in the clouds.

She felt fuzzy, dizzy, and totally would have wobbled to the ground if she could actually walk. This was a date, and her heart was pounding away so fast.

The stars seemed to shine so bright tonight. The moon reflecting off the ocean, the cool night air, the smell of smoke and barbecue on the air, mixed with the salty ocean breeze. For just a moment, it was genuinely easy to forget her worries.

Nothing else mattered. Not now.

By the time she had finally arrived, watching Orion hop out from his truck, her smile was genuinely a mile wide without even thinking about it. She immediately laughed at his words, rolling her eyes slowly as her motor was rolled to a stop. "Oh goodness. No cool kids allowed? I don't know, I think we'll be fine. Neither of us are that cool enough." Abigaelle laughed again, her smile genuinely sparkling.

Only for Orion to comment on her looks, and her flustered state immediately returned in full force. He would be greeted to the sight of her cheeks becoming bright red almost instantly, even as she continued to smile while flustered. A hand instinctively moved up to curl a finger around a strand of hair. "Oh, hush! I just, freshened up a little. Spending all day at a con, full of people who never have any other reason to leave the house, certainly isn't good." Even still, she was absolutely feeling a bit of pride. She knew this dress was cute!

Abby giggled quietly, slowly starting up little motor again and rolling down to the beach. Once she got onto the sand, her chair clearly struggled more to move, but it seemed she was used to it. Parking down near the fire, she'd quickly move to detach the motor before turning her chair around. It seemed she had little gloves on to protect her hands from the wheels, just a simple precaution while she was still moving around.

"S-so, uh," Abigaelle paused, looking up at Orion as she tapped her fingers atop the pizza box on her lap. "Do you, wanna grab a bite first? Or, how do you wanna do this? I haven't uh- well, I don't think it's a secret that I don't get out much myself." Right on cue, came back the flustered, cautious woman he had met at the convention center, despite her best attempts. "It's good pizza! It's a local place, I get it all the time. I didn't know what toppings you liked, so i just figured, well, just cover it in tons of meat and cheese, hah."

Laguna just sat back, laughing as he suddenly began crafting up a few oars like it was nothing. She really should utilize the crafting more often. It sounded more useful than she probably realized. "Looking good! Let's get going! Bertha?"

"Oh! Yes?" The Cetoddle suddenly turned around, the Quaxly whispering into its ears confusing it intensely. It wasn't going to sink the boat! Even if they could swim, and she knew her trainer could apparently breath underwater, that would be rude!

"Keep your eyes peeled, we're setting sail."

"Aye aye, cap'n!" The Cetoddle pushed its flippers and feet, kicking forwards and keeping up with the old boat.

As BigBee rowed, Laguna kept her own eyes peeled herself. Sitting down at the front, Laguna's hands gripped around her fancy wand, twirling it in preperation. Just in case.

It didn't take long for something to interrupt their journey. The current seemed strong, pulling them somewhere as if by design, until the whole waves just rocked violently, something pulling them drastically off whatever course with visible strain on the boat. Within just seconds, the water began to swirl, twisting and sinking down into a whirlpool out of absolutely nowhere.

But this wasn't natural in the slightest. At the very bottom of the twisting waves laid a large, open blue maw as two massive claw-like limbs reached up above the waves, snapping aggressively.

"What is that!" Cried out her Cetoddle, caught entirely by surprise, their flippers slapping on the waters.

"Doesn't matter!" Laguna immediately cried out, twirling her wand as the seemingly magical tailwind of cold air formed, hoping to push them out of the unnatural whirlpool. "Just attack it! Bertha, Ice Shard!"

"O-on it boss!" The whale was careful of her duck passenger, as it opened its own large jaw. Razor sharp shards of ice fire forth at one of the limbs, hoping to draw attention away from the boat. "H-hey you big, nasty! Fight me!"

Empty. The desert is empty.The sweet ice tyke, her voice, her spirit, her form, removed. Ice forms with ire, form prepped. "Where-?" Voices the Mother, expressed misery with her cry.

She presses forth with hope, the keys to this mess viewed with time. She hopes. The Mother seeks her kid, her frosty tot, provokes the rot of this deserted district

Time becomes mystery. Feet step, step, step, eyes wide. Sky devoid of shimmer, zero remote torches over the cosmos. However, the Mother moves forth despite. Horror seizes her, yet her devoted mite be discovered with misery.

Tick. Tock.
          Step. Step.
                   Tick. Tock.
                            Step. Step.

"I'm tired..." The Mother whispered to the empty.

                            The Empty spoke of this forever.
                   The Empty spoke of her worries.
          The Empty spoke of this crime.
The Empty spoke of her woes.

Her psyche, victimized. Before the Mother, stood series of two.

Two streets.
         Two tires.
                  Two bodies.
                           Two wrecks.

The Mother wept, sobbed. She dropped, broke. "Yet here?" Her eyes red, dripped wet. Yet the Mother stood some more. "How rich, this horror is poor, dim, if it deems this distress to stop me."

Discomfort pierced their spirit, despite the Mother's decree. Where were the others? Who posted the text? Where is her kid? The wreck terrified her, but the horror with the bitter bite to petrify her is yet there to see.


                            Silence.
                   Fear.
         Trauma.
                   Alone.
                            Loss.
                   Hurt.
          Anger.
                  Desperation.
                                     Abandoned.
                                              Alone.
                                                       Alone.
                                                                Alone.
                                                       Acceptance.
                                             Ugly.
                                     Disfigured.
                            Useless.
                   Nothing.
          Nothing.
Nothing.

It made sense that historical accounts would lose the personal touch that first-hand accounts of playing the original games would grant. But "ancient UNOVA?" Just how many years in the future were they? Ancient implied far more than just one single lifetime. Ancient was thousands, if not more.

She listened quietly, rubbing her eyes and trying to stop any tears from flowing as Ash rested a hand on her shoulder. Ash trusted her to do the right thing. It was a lot to take in, the trust of a person she had all but idolized when she started the game. Ash trusted her.

Laguna let out a long, anxious sigh as she fought to control her nerves again. Maybe it wasn't fair that Ash didn't know, and couldn't ever know the truth. But that didn't prevent her from explaining all that she could, in a way that would make sense. It didn't matter that it was in a game. It mattered that this was real to her.

Her stomach still queasy, she nodded in response, once again listening as Ash spoke. She had so many questions, all completely justified and valid. What exactly could they all do? When did they have them? If Laguna really wanted, she could sit here and talk about every single thing, but there probably wasn't time for that.

Especially not with the sudden pop-up on her UI instructing her to explain a Single Topic from the list below. Laguna immediately closed the UI, trying not to imagine that this was a carefully constructed event by Hydance.

This was a real, genuine question from a woman who wanted to know the truth of a world that hid it all from her.

"Well," She'd sniffle, rubbing at her nose for a second. Her other hand just moving to affectionately pet down Glacia's glitch-filled spines as the tiny iceberg sat on her lap. "There's... a lot to go through. And, I don't really know if I can explain everything. But-"

"Professor, when we first met, I told you I was used to a wheelchair. That I was relearning to walk." She was quiet for a moment, her legs feeling oddly numb. She ever so slowly wiggled her toes, making sure she could still move them before beginning. All while Glacia looked on in curiosity. Even just properly admitting that took a lot of confidence to finally spill.

"It wasn't until I- er, I arrived in your lab, that I could walk again. I knew that, coming here, I would be able to walk. I... I heard it from others that had come before. That, they'd be healed. I didn't ask why, just like I didn't question these abilities we had until you started wondering. I just knew here, in UNOVR, we could do all kinds of things. I didn't know if you knew how it worked, at the time. I didn't know if you were aware, or even how much you knew about what we could do until much later."

"... It's entirely why I became a Trainer, you know. I've always loved Pokémon, but- I just really wanted to walk again, more than anything else. I hadn't walked for five years."

She's on the verge of tears again, and she swiftly moves to wipe her tears away. Her Pokémon is now looking on with a quiet frown, hoping off her lap and now looking at her trainer with a more concerned expressing. Glacia brushes against her thigh, speaking softly. A concern to their voice that hadn't been quite audible before. "I'm so glad you can walk here, Mama. I love skating with you." She clearly didn't seem to really process how Laguna was healed either, but they continued to show their endless affection regardless.

Laguna choked up for a second, just smiling down at her Pokémon. It was then she realized once again, that Ash couldn't understand Glacia. Discussing Pokémon Speech was one of the options given on that list, huh? She probably should address it.

"Just like, I knew from Trainers that came before that they'd be healed, or that they had wild abilities that defied logic. I was aware that some trainers even heard Pokémon. When I first arrived, I didn't hear them."

She slowly rubbed at her legs on pure instinct, slowly moving to tuck them under her side. "I think, it was because I didn't want to. I felt like, I had never heard Pokémon speak before- asides from like, this weird Meowth that learned to speak in a TV show, that probably wasn't real. But, did it matter to me? It didn't. So I just... didn't try to listen, I guess. I didn't try to understand. I was content hearing their cries as they were. I think, I was afraid it wouldn't be real? Like, their words would mean nothing." It was just a game, after all.

Laguna grew quiet again, moving to grab Glacia and lift them up, giving them a gentle kiss, once again cradling them close. "But, I'll be honest, I grew attached. I knew I would, and that was okay. I made friends just as I always did and I loved them. But," She suddenly paused, looking at Glacia. "This little one just had to break my heart, didn't you?"

"I'm sorry mama!" Her Bergmite immediately replied, visibly frowning. "I-"

"Shh, I know dear." Laguna spoke with a soft smile, gently squeezing them. "I know why you did it, and I'm proud of you. Just let me finish telling the story, okay?"

Glacia continued to frown. "But- but I didn't mean to hurt your heart mama! I just wanted to help! I knew you-"

"Shh, shh," Laguna gently placed a finger against the Bergmite's frozen jaw, slowly moving to set them down to the ground. "It's okay, dear. I'm not hurt anymore, you don't need to worry. Why don't you play with your new friend for a bit?" She of course, motioned to the little spirit, the flame floating in the room. "Let me finish speaking with the Professor, okay?"

"... If you say so Mama." Glacia only half-heartedly began to play with the spirit. More appropriately just staring into the flames, trying to see what she could see within.

Laguna let out another quiet sigh, but just smiled softly despite herself. She'd finally turn her attention back to Professor Ash, nodding her head. "I know that, must seem so awkward to you. But, I do understand her. In full, genuine English. She's like a child, but not all of my Pokémon are. It started when I was, well, arguing with her. It's all in the last log I wrote there. The one about the Moltres Sacrifice and the Trial of Sand. She clearly wanted to sacrifice herself again, and- a-and I, couldn't bear to lose her again. Getting her back from the Everworld the first time was so hard, the pain was so real, and I almost lost her for good. She clearly wanted to do it again."

She rubbed her arms awkwardly, looking away slowly. "I was, so upset with her. I refused. Her life was so important to me, and I begged and begged, but Glacia just, kept crying at me. Kept shouting, talking and talking and I couldn't understand them. And I just-" Laguna paused again, trying to find the right words for 'activating the menu option.'

"I just, willed it to happen, I think. I wanted to hear what they were saying so I could argue with them. Convince them to stop trying to tell me to do it. I cared so much, I couldn't dream of a single world where I'd ever let them do it again. And, wouldn't you know it, hearing their words had the opposite effect than I was hoping."

Laguna's eyes finally looked back up at Ash, this time genuine tears finally spilling from the corners of her eyes. "Ash, she called me Mama. That she knew I'd come for her. That it wouldn't be so scary the second time. And I just, broke. I sobbed, uncontrollably. And my other Pokémon suddenly spoke too. That we needed to act, to do something, and- I'm sorry. It was... a lot. "

She once again wiped her eyes free of tears, smearing it against her cheeks as she sniffled a bit. "Ever since then, I've been able to hear them. And it's like they've always been talking, we just couldn't understand. I can hear other people's Pokémon, even if they can't hear their own. I can hear Pokémon in the wild speak to me, if they try to. I can't tell you how we can speak to them, I don't really know. I just know that I can, and every Trainer recruited has the same potential all the others do. The seemingly magical abilities, the Pokémon speech, hell even I can just-"

She suddenly twirled her fingers, little snowflakes forming at her will and falling for just a brief second before melting in the warm room air.

"Maybe it's like, something in the land? Some lingering effect of Corruption? I've heard rumors that some infected trainers who helped with Bunya's corruption experiments are spoken to by... something." She paused again, continuing to wipe her eyes a bit. "But, you know, if you ever wanted to hear your own Pokémon's words, I can translate for you. Or, any Pokémon, I suppose. I'll always be here if you need me."

Laguna was quiet for a few moments, shifting where she sat awkwardly. "I-I mean it. I'm always here to help. Your kindness deserves that and so much more. I know, you probably just want me to help everyone too, to do the right thing. But, you deserve to know too. It's not fair that we can do these things, and you can't. I'm sure you have other questions too, bluh, I'm getting ahead of myself. Is there anything else, before I grow too sidetracked?"

At his questions, Abigaelle just chuckled softly. Of course he'd wonder how fast she could go. It felt like such a normal question, something so casual, it helped her feel at ease, despite her butterflies.

It went unsaid that she'd have to explain her situation eventually. How she lost the use of her legs, among other things, but for now, for tonight, she wasn't going to worry about it. She was going to go dancing with a close friend, and that was all that mattered.

"About 20 mph!
I could probably outspeed you even if you had a head start running, hah!
Don't you fret your-"

She paused her texting, struggling to figure out what to write. Was now a good time to flirt? A bad time? It was a first date after all, but it had her so nervous. Would Orion enjoy the more forward approach? Subtle? She didn't really do subtle well. Maybe she should make it seem more teasing? After a few moments of indecision, she finally continued to type.

"-cute butt about it.
You really went and modeled it in-game so perfectly after its real world counterpart, huh?
I'll be there before you know it."

Even just typing that had her heart pounding, but she was just laughing to herself all the while.

Eventually, the train came to a stop and she swiftly moved right off and began to make her way to the beach. It was a beautiful night, the moon shining brightly in the sky. Taking a deep breath to steel her nerves, she kicked the little motor into gear and spend down the beach paths.

Abigaelle would be pretty obvious traveling up the beach, most likely the only one with a wheelchair and a motor attached to it, but she tried not to think of the stares of anyone else who might be loitering about the beach.

There was only one person tonight who she really wanted attention from. Was that so bad?

"Are you sure, this is the right place, Auntie?" Roxanne the Onix spoke, the massive rock snake curling around a giant metal spire, twinkling as if they were made of ice.

"I uh, it should be?" Laguna checked the clock, frowning a bit. She would think at least someone would be here by now. She stood up off the ground, dusting off her cool, cool jorts. and stretching a bit. "Let me double check-"

"WAAAAHHH!!" A loud cry shook her from checking her messages again, quickly glancing over at her Wishiwashi. Tears poured like a leaky faucet as it swam towards her, seeking comfort.

"Oh goodness, what is it?" Laguna would speak up, and immediately cup the tiny fish against her chest, holding them carefully.

"He's being MEAN to me again!" The little fish continued to sob, and Laguna immediately looked over at her Frigibax without a single second of hesitation. He was acting innocent, staring away into the distance.

"Brragon," She'd say his name, only for him to pretend he didn't hear her. "Brragon!"

"Alright, alright, but it was just a little scare! He's such a baby!" He roared out, arms stretched upwards. "I'm just trying to practice being big and scary!"

"You know better than to practice on Guppy! If he gets too scared, the whole school will come here and then you'll be the one running for mercy!" Laguna reminded him, gently brushing her fingers against the scales of the Wishiwashi to help calm him down.

"... Alright." Brragon sounded upset, slowly staring at the ground as if he didn't really want to admit the truth. "Sorry, Guppy. You just, get so cool when you have all your friends!"

"Really?"

"Really!"

"H-heh, o-okay! Still don't scare me though!" The little fish squirmed from her hands, and gently swam over towards the Frigibax, with clearly nervous movements

With that handled, for the moment, Laguna finally opened up her messages again, to look at the messages. She mentally cursed, only to swiftly climb atop Roxanne with a leap and moving to their head. "We're at the wrong spire, gang! We gotta move!"

"Huh?" Was pretty much the same sound echoed from her whole crew. Bertha the Cetoddle and Glacia the Bergmite stopped playing together, roughhousing and pushing each other back and forth. Marina the Brionne was in the middle of using bubbles to patch up their little scrapes here and there.

"We have to go for uh-" She paused, swiftly turning her head around. "That one!" She'd point into the distance, noticng some Pokemon and a trainer's silhouette in the distance. "Move out, gang!"

Bergmite and Cetoddle immediately laughed at each other. "I'm gonna beat you there!" cried out Bertha, running on their big legs before kicking into a frictionless glide across the steppes.

"Nuh uh!" Glacia countered so eloquently, suddenly High-Jump Kicking across the landscape, leaping over rocks and sliding whenever she landing.

"Girls, girls, you're both cool! This isn't a race!" Marina would follow suit, swimming through the air, leaving a trail of bubbles in their wake.

Just before Laguna could encourage Roxane to move, already gripping hard onto their horn, she leaned down and overheard her two remaining Pokemon speaking to each other.

"W-we should get going," Guppy said, swimming in place and floating forwards a bit.

"Yeah... But you know, we'd make it there a lot faster if you had your crew!" Brragon had a smirk on his face, clearly trying to encourage him to summon them, despite his hesitancy to just ask earlier.

"... Y-you uh, really like them, huh?" The Wishiwashi would ask, seeing the Frigbax nod furiously. "A-alright then, just uh- stay back." Tears would drop from their eyes, suddenly shimmering with the reflected light of the sun. And out of every nook and cranny between the rocks of the steppes, and around every corner hidden came a swarm of Wishiwashi. With a roar, they schooled up and effortlessly swept up her Frigibax in their mouth.

This time, it was the Wishiwashis' turn to roar. "Little man! Behold, the Demon of the Sea! RAAAGH!" And it suddenly charged forward, swimming through the air across the steppes, making a huge shadow down below.

Laguna just let out a long sigh, before chuckling quietly. "They really are such a handful."

"Oh, Auntie, I don't know how you put up with it. I get tired just watching them run and play all day." Roxanne spoke, that sultry voice of hers filled with humor as she kicked off, moving to join Big Bee and his Pokémon.

Eventually once within shouting distance, Laguna would raise her voice. "Hey! Sorry, I was over there!"