FicWad

Author’s Note: Some of the situations, themes, and descriptions are dark and may be unsuitable for young or sensitive audience members. Please use discretion when reading and speak with a trusted adult if you have questions or concerns.

A young man sat at a table, his left hand in his lap and the right rubbing the temple of his forehead. He ruffled his wavy, light blonde hair as he listened to the chatter and arguing of the many people around him. The man hated these kinds of meetings and would much rather be outside in the boiling Kaneko sun than stuck, sat in this room of bickering Leaders.

An irritated sigh sounded underneath the table and the man reached his hand down to pat the head of the Pokèmon sitting near him. He whispered a few words of soothing to the trusty Kanekan Furfrou as it raised its head to press the corse, hard fur against his palm.

“We’ll be done soon, Apollo,” he murmured to the black Pokémon, leaning over the wheel of his chair to whisper into the long ear of his friend. The dog creature licked his fingers gently with a warm tongue as the man continued his soothing.

Across the table the dredge of voices ceased as the eyes of the gathered Leaders turned to the blonde man. Unnoticing, the man kept up his one sided conversation with the Rock type Pokèmon by his foot.

A tall, slender and very severe looking woman cleared her throat with an aim to gather the distracted man’s attention. “Champion Irwin,” she called loudly when her first attempt failed.

Finally hearing the angered voice calling his name, Irwin jumped under the table and bumped the back of his head on the edge. Bringing his now watering eyes above the table, the blonde sheepishly looked around at the many sets of eyes now focused on his embarrassed face as he rubbed his right hand over the swiftly forming bump on the back of his head.

“Is the meeting too boring for you, sir?” The woman, Mary, asked him with frustration in her voice.

Irwin winced at the formality, hating being addressed as “sir” or “Champion”.

“My apologies,” he said, his cheeks burning as blood rushed into them in his embarrassment. He glanced at the faces gathered around the table as the woman began to scold him in annoyance. To his slight pleasure, many others looked bored as well.

Pilecki, a small, sallow skinned person next to him tapped their fingers on the table gently, letting out their own sigh of annoyance. Freeman, a very thin man with ruffled hair, twirled a pencil in his hand, a scribble of drawing on the paper in front of him, that was meant to be for note taking.

Irwin flashed his blue eyes to the older gentleman, Rogers, sitting across the table from him. There was a small smirk on the elderly man’s face as he held back a laugh at the chastising his young friend was currently receiving.

“Mary,” a man with a slow, deep voice said calmly. “I think we should continue with our discussion before night falls. I would very much like to return to the outside world to feel the sun on my skin today.” Hollows face was turned in the direction of the woman, his eyes covered with a cloth to hide the scars that marred the empty sockets where they used to sit.

“Yes, let us continue.” Martin, a man with light brown skin agreed from beside the angry woman. “Albert,” he said, pulling his hand towards the man sat beside Rogers, “Mentioned having a vision of a new disaster,” the man informed kindly, an understanding smile on his face as he looked at the young blonde Champion.

“I am uncertain yet of what the disaster will be, or even when it will take place, as of yet.” The normally serene psychic man said, his hands folded together and set carefully on the table. “However, it did alight fear in my heart for what the omen could possibly mean.”

“And that is precisely why we should close the borders of the land once more. Or would you all rather risk the lives of countless others. It is bad enough that our own people will have to struggle with this new disaster. We shouldn’t be so eager to risk the lives of those from other regions.” Aleksander slammed a furious hand on the table, making the Pokèmon sleeping at Irwin’s feet jump slightly.

Pilecki stood now, the boredom clearly diminished by the jolt of the table as they raised their voice in protest, “We have only had our borders opened for barely 3 years. Closing them now could be devastating to our still struggling economy.”

Irwin dropped his eyes as the bickering started up again. He was never a fan of meetings in the first place, but when all the Leaders of the land of Kaneko came together, it would more often than not, result in fighting and frustrating situations.

“I have lived through terrible disasters in my time,” the small voice of an old woman said. The young blonde man turned to face Joan as she slowly slid her chair back and rose to her feet. Once more the voices quieted, but not out of curiosity for a distracted mind, but out of respect for the wisened woman. “Time after time, we have faced fearful situations, but the land and its inhabitants have survived.” She stated, glancing meaningfully at Irwin’s wheelchair and Hollows’ covered face.

“In all the times, we continue to fight, and in the moments when it seems that we will meet our end, the Great Obori have always stepped in to protect what was left.” The room now sat in a halted silence at the mention of the three giant Pokèmon that ruled over the lands of the region. Joan was one of the few people in this crowd who has had the opportunity to meet face to face with the Obori.

“I agree with Mrs. Joan,” Albert said politely with a nod in her direction. “While this clairvoyance brings me great fear, there is not enough information for us to make decisions. I will seek more and report back when I have another, more pertinent vision.”

Irwin agreed with a grunt and then spoke for all to hear. “There is no point in us sitting here fighting amongst ourselves. I think we should reconvene after more information is learned.”

The blonde man peered into the faces around him. Mary and Pilecki both looked as if they had more to say, but they knew better than to go directly against the words of the Champion.

“If there is no more to be discussed here, then I will take my leave now.” Hollows declared. He rose slowly to his feet, the huge male beside him known as Bull standing with him. The giant man took the arm of the blind gentleman carefully and led him from the room.

Irwin pulled the lever on his chair, unlocking the wheels, and backed out of his spot, careful to ensure no one was behind him. Apollo stood beside him, bowing on his front legs to stretch, opening his mouth wide in a yawn. The purple vest on the black Pokémon’s midsection moving forward slightly as it switched to stretching his back legs too. The blonde man grabbed the sturdy black handle on the Furfrou’s PokeAssist vest and straightened it out to make it more comfortable for the helpful creature.

Tank and Rogers both slowly made their ways over to their chair-bound friend.

“Can you believe that?” Tank said with a laugh, his arms stretched above his head. His friend was short but strongly built, with caramel-colored skin, and a laissez-faire attitude. He was the same age as Irwin and the two had travelled together when they were children. “There’s still a good bit of daylight left though, we should all hang out!” He exclaimed with a gleam in his eyes at the young and old man.

“The missus is making a special dinner tonight so I should be getting home to her.” Rogers said with a slow shake of his head, his white hair waving slightly in the created breeze.

“Yeah, and Mavis needs a break from the kids.” Irwin commented, referring to his own wife and wincing at the quickly saddening face of Tank.

“But, I would love if you joined us for the meal,” Rogers added with barely a pause. Tank cheered up immediately at the idea of joining the old man and his wife for dinner.

“Great! We should head out then, I’d hate to keep her waiting!”

The young blonde man laughed at the interaction before him, his hand still clutching the handle of Apollo’s vest. Noticing the pressure he was squeezing with, he released it and shook his arm slightly, pumping his fingers to help the blood return to the whitened tips. As much as he wanted to act unconcerned like Tank, he couldn’t help but feel a seed of doubt growing in his gut at the words said at the meeting.

Rogers and Tank walked ahead of the wheel chair, chatting, seemingly unnoticing of Irwin’s worry. The young Champion stole another glance at the psychic man as the two moved off.

Albert continued to sit in his chair, even though the room had nearly emptied. His face was drawn in a frown, and his eyes stared blankly at the table before him. Irwin grabbed the wheels beside him and began pushing his chair towards him in concern, but stopped when the psychic jumped slightly. Albert glanced around the room, stood, and walked swiftly to the door, only meeting the Champion’s eyes briefly before exiting in silence.

Irwin drew in a sigh as he watched the frightened looking man leave, shaking his head and laying his hand on Apollo’s back once more. “I don’t know what we should do, bud, but I can’t help feeling like something bad is coming.” He spoke to the PokeAssist. The black Furfrou shoved his nose into Irwin’s side, in an attempt at comfort, but the young man couldn’t push down the feeling of worry as it grew ever stronger in his mind.