Static made his hair crackle in the soft breeze as he leaned into the comforting mass of his best friend's leg. An amused rumble sounded above him. ~We've met Jagdish. He won't eat you,~ the dragon legendary prompted.
N fidgetted with the puzzle box on his belt. “I know. But he hasn't fled his duties or failed to achieve his goals. Maybe we shouldn't have come here yet.” The human sounded young and uncertain.
~The Arbiter has had many years to achieve his ideals and people to help him do so,~ Zekrom pointed out. ~You need another like you to help heal your wounds, my friend. Those resident already know we are here.~ The pokemon twisted to look over his shoulder as his tail briefly flared blue. The light bounced off a third being some distance away before night reclaimed the area once more.
Jagdish's body language betrays no concern, though the fact he's stepped out of his cathedral to greet them at all makes up for the understatement. At a few metres distance, granting enough space for the creature to move in practically any way it might like on impulse, he pauses, glancing up at his Legendary guest. “Welcome back,” he addresses it, then lets his gaze meander down the pokémon in curious steps - the shape is still unfamiliar enough to attract some interest, after all - to find N. “You're a long way from home,” he observes. “What can I do for the two of you?” There were a few things that came to mind, but he wasn't going to get ahead of himself and base a conversation on assumptions.
Despite the warning N still startled at Jagdish's appearance. He'd been expecting a pokemon, maybe even Mew, not the Arbiter himself. “I apologise for interupting your business,” N began with a respectful nod. “Ghestis returned to Unova to attempt to control the tao dragons against their will, and were forced to fight him, and father said…” N's voice wavered and he took a breath. “Is it true being able to talk to pokemon makes me an inhuman freak?” he finished near a whisper.
Sparks struck the ground as Zekrom growled fiercely. ~That foul being will never hurt you again!~ the legendary repeated with a slightly desperate edge to his voice as he looked to Jagdish for help.
Jagdish's spine straightens subtly as one brow arches lightly. There's no abrupt response - apparently, it's not a question he can just deny off-hand, and whatever answer he's concocting requires some thought. The pause doesn't stay past its welcome, though; instead, Jagdish's attention finds N's face again. “I think you need to ask yourself what that means far more than whether it applies to you,” he says, tone soft. “I'll be frank with you - I think the answer to your actual question may be 'yes'; it's certainly what I see when I look at myself in the mirror, but my situation is a little… more complex than yours, I think, so that needn't mean anything.” His arms have folded behind his back. “But what does 'inhuman' mean? It's a clever little, insiduous word, isn't it? Are we talking subhuman… or superhuman? Neither, perhaps? Are you perhaps just presumed to be… lateral to the human definition? Would that be a problem?” His hands fold behind his back as he inclines his head lightly. “You're far removed from subhuman, that much I guarantee you.”
“Father meant it as an insult. He… - he laid the blame for all the pokemon he harmed at my feet and said that were it not for my treason they wouldn't have suffered. So much rage and pain in him towards me…” N exhaled slowly. “I should be pleased he thought of me as a pokémon if he hadn't proved how he hated them. He thought his lies true and it hurt.”
The young man stared into the distance before adding quietly: “It's selfish of me, but I had hoped… that after losing all he had plotted for, he'd realise the cruelty he'd committed and charge for the better, like Rood did. That his feigned love would become real. Instead he became more monsterous.”
“I'm sure it was meant as an insult, but there is much flattery to be found in the insults of one's opponents, providing one knows how to deconstruct their fallacies,” Jagdish comments, a light shrug touching his shoulders, expression a weak smile. There was, after all, little he could do other than to offer an avenue out of such circular thoughts - if they weren't taken, it was a question of either sitting it out or finding a different leverage. “Mind you, as it were, psychopaths have no one to blame but themselves for the harm they cause.” In another circumstance, he'd outright laugh at the notion for its ridiculous 'logic', but the time hardly seemed fitting. “May I invite you in?” he asks after a moment's pause, tilting his head, only to glance across at Zekrom with an apologetic undertone.
~Go talk. I have others I wish to speak with,~ Zekrom prompts even as his friend is turning to ask if he minded. The legendary's words were warm and N smiled even as he wondered who in Sehto Zekrom wanted to talk to. Not that he would ever object.
“Yes?” Jagdish was both comforting and intimidating and the animal part of N's brain liked having an ally even though he knew that was silly. Something of that must have shown on his face as behind him Zekrom rumbled a low chuckle.
Jagdish turns halfway, then swerves a hand up in a casual gesture for N to follow. A few steps of the way are walked in silence; then he's cutting through it with a related thought that's been nagging at him lightly ever since he's met the boy: “I understand you're concerned for Unova's pokémon and so I honestly presume it isn't an option for you, perhaps even to the point of unintended scorn… but I feel I must ask, regardless: Have you ever considered a… more permanent residence on our humble island? You would certainly be welcome here.”
N startles to a halt and has to take quick steps to catch back up to Jagdish. “I hadn't considered it, no.” Silently he does so before admitting: “I'd like to stay, but if I don't help Unova's pokemon who would? I've seen spoken with many pokemon that are happy with their humans and true partners and it would break my heart to seperate them, but maybe if I could break the back of the gym circuit it would let those other less harmful relationships thrive.”
The comment prompts an acknowledging nod. The uneven ground crunches slightly under Jagdish's boots as they walk, bridging the last of the distance to the Cathedral's gates. There were, technically, easier ways to enter the building than by the front door, but it still seemed like he was breaking some unspoken, universal etiquette if he took any other path. An exhale transitions into a motion of his arms - a moment later, he's pushing one wing of the gate open, only to pause after pushing it ajar enough for two people to pass comfortably through the gap. The inky darkness inside is a little disconcerting, but if past experience was any indicator, a little curious pink light was going to guide their way into the lit corridors soon.
“With more than a single human lifetime at my disposal, my choice has always been an obvious one,” Jagdish comments, an apologetic undertone appearing almost misplaced amongst all that he's communicating. “A slow, gradual change is not easily undone. Something that burrows into the minds of several generations of people cannot be dislodged by revolution; that's both my curse as well as my blessing. I've whittled at Sehto's culture for decades and will whittle at it for a few more, but you may not have that luxury. But then, my nature spoils me; I don't need to think about a perfect successor and by proxy of never having done so, the thought is daunting.”
It's all a bit cryptic at that point, like some narrative that's lost its precise place in time and space, beautiful perhaps on some level, but frayed at the edges. Then: “I can offer my advice if you'd like to mimic the method I'm applying to Sehto, but I cannot judge if it's a sensible path to take for Unova or for you and those who might carry your heritage, my friend. If your patience allows for it and you deem it a prudent approach, despite your likely mortality, then you have my full support, of course.” A pause. “Rather, you have my full support otherwise, as well, but then I predict I'll be significantly less useful for your budding plans.”
The end goal was clear, but the path to reach it foggy and uncertain. Jagdish had shown one way, but he was right: It relied on advantages he didn't have and their absence brought new difficulties. It was hard to imagine a successor that couldn't speak with pokemon and the thought of stealing a child and abandon them in the wild in the hopes it would work as well as in his case left a bad taste in his mouth. Surely if being raised by pokémon was all it took to understand them there would be others with his gift. It was more likely his ability was inate and spared him from whatever accident had befallen his birth parents.
“I do have a group of people sympathetic to my view and willing to help,” N muses before grimacing. “They're seen as criminal by many but that can change with time. They've already begun with Rood running a refuge for mistreated or abandoned pokemon. Perhaps they could begin convincing people there are better methods of bonding without battle while I attempt to handle the gym circuit.”
Jagdish's initial response is lost mostly to the darkness - a stray nod, more an expression for himself than his guest. “Splendid - then you already have backing; and if Zekrom is willing, you have the ability to pressure anyone you wish out of their position in the circuit.” It's matter-of-factly spoken.
It's at that point that the familiar pink light pops into existence atop Jagdish, flopping against his hair. “Mew!” is intoned happily, the pink gleam spreading through the arena as she coils her tail lightly around Jagdish's neck, pawing at his scalp, causing to shrink subtly in instinct - but it passes quickly, barely putting a dent into his self-confident demeanour. “Mew,” he addresses her, slight amusement creeping into his tone, creasing his expression. “N would like to do something about the circuit in Unova. Does that sound like something you'd like to support?”
Did he have the ability? N considered who he knew of the current Unova circuit. The gym leaders he thought most needed to go were also the ones least likely to be persuaded by a show of force. There were others who could possibly be turned towards his view, or at least convinced to keep out of the way. The Elite Four was a more promising target. He'd have to think about that.
The sudden pink glow makes him smile and N greets the tiny legendary with a simple: “Hello, Mew.” When she was in an affectionate mood her antics always cheered him. When she was in a mood for trouble… well, he still hadn't gotten the stain out of one of his shirts, but it was touching to hear a troubled Rhyhorn offer to sit on Mew to keep her out of mischief.
With a bit of an 'ooh' face, Mew inclines her head to look at N. A whole new canvas overseas? That certainly sounded exciting. On the one hand, Sehto's time of sadistic glory had long passed, with how near-extinct circuiting was here. On the other hand, things had a certain predictable regularity here, and she always knew who she could go to for a good time. But what harm could a little vacation do, while a not-wholly-subtle revolution went underway? She'd have to think about that. Her tailtip flicks about, denoting her indecisiveness.
“Mew is quite an ideal watchdog for one's back. She's a defensive little critter and I don't think I've ever seen her sleep more than a simple content, light nap - she's certainly always reacted quickly if I called her name,” Jagdish explains. “So if you can convince her that there's fun to be had in Unova - and given the subject matter, that should be easy - she'd be happy to help you. Never underestimate the benefit of having an adorable companion pokémon to warm the hearts of those who don't know her any better.”
Cautiously he reaches out to stroke one hand along the pokémon's tail. “I'd treasure your help, Mew. I'm worried you might not find the first stages as entertaining, though.” N paused for a moment and considered the fury in Reshiram's voice the last time he'd heard her, as he recounted the agonised scream Zekrom had made and the broken resignation that was all Kyurem had left. Mew's sadism made him uncomfortable, but when he remembered what had happened to his friend… “Zinzolin is going to die painfully though, if you'd like to help catch him.”
Mew's tail gives a pleased, gentle little twitch at the gesture of N's affection; then, after only the barest moment's hesitation, she's bounded onto N's shoulder instead, purring into his ear, licking lightly at one cheek. Is that a 'yes please', then? Jagdish, leading the way casually through the confines of the half-ruin, observes and incidently 'translates': “Looks like you have a partner in crime.” Of all pokémon, Mew's communication, body language notwithstanding, seems like the most opaque to N - but then, it's no surprise, given that as a psychic Legendary she should be able to speak with humans in their own language, but nonetheless avoids clear speech.
Idly stroking one hand down Mew's spine N muses about her condition. As far as he knew the legendary never talked, yet as a psychic she should be capable of doing so to any human. It wasn't physical injury that stopped her, as far as he could tell; Mew certainly vocalised often enough and showed no signs of pain or obvious scarring.
(He was glad on multiple levels. Given her abilities and natural resilience the thought of a being managing to do sufficient damage to cripple her voice and leave her unable to heal it was itself alarming.)
Something psychological, then? A long period of isolation and nobody to talk to could make a person forget how. If that were true there was no reason for her not to try and relearn now though, not to mention the difficulty of restraining a pokémon that blinked around so habitually. Mew's restricted communication seemed deliberate, but he was still struggling to come up with a reason other than she enjoyed making life difficult for others.
N's hand stilled before resuming its stroke. Given her personality that alone could be the reason. If so one had to admire her dedication to something that made life trickier for herself too.
✘ IN PROGRESS