Chapter 17

Farewell to Violet

Travel Journal — Day 21

I got back to the Pokémon Center after sunrise.

Victor asked questions.
Owlbert judged the time.
Cinder forgave me instantly because he is perfect.

Mum arrived with an egg and chewed me for not calling home.

Then a mysterious woman in a black kimono appeared and acted mysterious then disappeared..

Normal morning.

Tonight is my last shift at the Mist Pavilion.
I suspect this will somehow be worse.

- - - - -

The Pokémon Center doors slid open at 9:04 AM, the artificial light doing nothing to ease the early morning ache behind Ravina's eyes. She stepped through, her boots making soft sounds against the polished floor, and stopped three steps in.

Owlbert was already awake.

Perched on the back of a waiting room chair, his round body perfectly still, his gaze fixed on her with unnerving precision. Ravina glanced at the wall clock, 9:05 AM, then back at him.

Hoot.

"I know," Ravina said, running a hand through her messy hair.

Owlbert's head tilted by exactly five degrees, his internal clock apparently demanding acknowledgment.

"It is technically morning," she offered.

Hoot.

"Yes, very technically."

Another tilt, this time accompanied by a slight ruffle of his chest feathers.

Ravina sighed. "Good morning, Owly."

That seemed to satisfy him. Mostly.

Cinder was less restrained. The moment he spotted her, his longer Quilava body unfolded from the padded mat with surprising speed. He trotted toward her with enough enthusiasm that Ravina immediately raised both hands, palms forward.

"Easy, my Fireball."

He slowed, barely, then pressed his head and shoulders firmly against her thighs. Ravina laughed and wrapped both arms around his neck, burying her face in his warm fur.

"There you are."

A deep trill vibrated against her chest.

"I missed you too."

Cinder leaned harder, nearly knocking her off balance.

"You had one night."

Harder still.

"My clingy boy."

No apology in his bright eyes, only affection.

Ravina kissed the top of his head, then wrinkled her nose. "You smell like Center shampoo."

Cinder's flames flickered in what she recognized as mild offense.

"It's not bad," she added quickly.

His flames drooped further.

"Very masculine," she tried, which made them retract almost entirely.

A cold presence drifted over her shoulder.

Victor.

Ravina didn't look at him. "Good morning."

"Good morning, my muse," his smoky voice replied. A pause. "You look terrible."

Ravina slowly turned to face him. Victor floated beside her, white eyes bright with malicious curiosity.

"Thank you."

"I mean this affectionately."

"That somehow makes it worse."

Victor circled her once, his gaseous form leaving faint trails in the air. Ravina narrowed her eyes.

"No."

"I have not asked anything."

"You are about to."

Victor's grin widened. "Was your evening successful?"

"Victor."

"I ask only as a concerned member of this household."

"You ask because you're nosy."

"These qualities may coexist."

From his perch, Owlbert contributed: Hoot.

Victor turned to him. "You agree."

Hoot.

Ravina pointed at both of them. "No alliance."

Cinder pressed his head against her hip, seeking reassurance. Ravina scratched behind his ear. "At least one of you loves me."

Victor gasped theatrically. "O cruel accusation!"

"You survived one night without me."

"Barely," he lamented, floating closer. "The silence was deafening. The emotional energy is insufficient for my sustenance."

The night nurse behind the desk was trying very hard not to laugh, her shoulders shaking with suppressed mirth. Ravina looked at her.

"Please don't encourage them."

"I didn't say anything," the nurse replied, eyes twinkling.

"You're thinking loudly."

That sounded familiar. Ravina frowned, then immediately decided she was too tired to investigate the similarity. Some mysteries could wait until after coffee.

- - - - -

The nurse handed over the detailed report, her pen still poised.

"Victor maintained excellent gas density throughout the night," she read, making a neat checkmark. "Owlbert's sleep routine proceeded exactly as Owlbert intended. Cinder spent part of the evening in the exercise room and only knocked over one padded obstacle."

Ravina looked up from the paper. "One?"

The attendant nodded, not quite suppressing a smile. Ravina looked down at him.

Cinder stood very straight, his body tense with anticipation.

"Cinder?"

He looked away, his flames flickering with what she interpreted as embarrassment.

"Still progress," she said softly.

The attendant handed Ravina the care receipt. "No concerns. They can leave whenever you're ready."

"Thank you."

Ravina led the boys outside. Morning had properly begun by then. Violet's streets were damp with dew, shopkeepers opening shutters, the rhythmic sweep of a broom against stone from the tea house across the way. Ravina yawned hard enough to make her eyes water.

Victor drifted backward in front of them, his gaseous form swirling with curiosity.

"You could tell us."

"No."

"A single detail."

"No."

"A rating, perhaps?"

"Victor."

"Would you return?"

Ravina's face warmed. Victor's white eyes widened dramatically.

"Oh."

Ravina pointed. "Do not."

"I said nothing."

"You looked something."

Cinder glanced up at her, his expression unreadable. Ravina looked down. Then groaned.

"You too?"

Cinder chirped innocently, his flames dancing with what she knew was false innocence.

"My own Fireball has betrayed me."

From his perch on her shoulder, Owlbert hooted. Ravina looked up.

"No, Owly. You don't even know what's happening."

Hoot.

"That might be worse."

Victor floated beside her again, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "A good night, then."

Ravina walked straight through him. Victor dispersed around her and reformed behind, his gas thick with theatrical offense.

"How rude."

"You're smoke."

"Spirit."

"Same tactical problem."

- - - - -

The hotel room door clicked shut behind Ravina, and the silence that followed felt sacred. She barely made it three steps before stopping, her shoulders slumping in relief. The bed, with its neatly arranged pillows and folded blanket, called to her like a siren song. The curtains were drawn tight against the morning light, creating a dim haven where the world couldn't reach her.

Ravina shrugged off her jacket, letting it fall to the floor with a soft thud. Her bag followed. She didn't bother to unpack—she wasn't staying awake long enough for that.

Cinder was already moving, his longer Quilava body gliding silently across the floor until he claimed his spot beside the bed, his back pressed against the frame. He looked up at her with bright orange-red eyes, his flames low and steady.

Owlbert, ever practical, flew past her and settled on the curtain rail, his round body perfectly still as he surveyed the room with his usual unnerving precision.

Victor drifted near the ceiling, his gaseous form swirling slowly. "Ah, the weary traveler returns to her den."

Ravina kicked off her shoes, not caring where they landed. "I am going to sleep."

Victor opened his mouth, likely to deliver a soliloquy about the dramatic significance of rest.

"No."

He closed it, though his white eyes widened theatrically.

Ravina stared at him. "Thank you."

She crawled onto the bed, the cool sheets a balm against her tired skin. Cinder immediately raised his head, placing his chin on the edge of the mattress. Ravina reached down, fingers finding the soft fur behind his ears.

"My good boy."

His eyes softened, the flames on his back dimming slightly. He trilled softly, a low vibration that seemed to echo the relief Ravina felt.

"There you are."

She rolled over, burying her face in the pillow. The world faded away.

Three seconds later…

Knock.

Ravina didn't move. Maybe if she ignored it, it would go away.

Another knock, more insistent this time.

Owlbert turned his head toward the door. Hoot.

"No."

Another knock, louder. Victor descended slightly, his gas swirling with curiosity. "An ominous visitor at this hour."

"No one knows I'm here."

Victor considered this. "That was more ominous."

Cinder raised his head, his flames flickering with alertness.

Ravina groaned into her pillow. "If that's housekeeping, I am willing to commit crimes."

She dragged herself upright, the effort feeling like lifting weights. She shuffled to the door, feet dragging across the carpet, and pulled it open without checking who was there.

Nostus Shales stood in the hallway, tall and composed despite the early hour. Her dark skin seemed to glow in the dim light, her clothing immaculate as always. A padded carrier rested against one hip, it occupant unknown.

Ravina stared, her mind refusing to process what she was seeing.

Nostus looked her up and down, a slow, deliberate sweep that missed nothing. A pause.

"Good morning."

Ravina slowly leaned her forehead against the doorframe. "Mum."

Nostus smiled, a familiar curve that meant she'd already won whatever game this was. "You look rested."

"I hate you."

"I've missed you too."

- - - - -

Ravina sighed and stepped aside, the gesture feeling more like surrender than invitation. Nostus moved past her with an economy of motion that made Ravina's tired muscles ache in sympathy. The door clicked shut behind them, sealing them in together.

Cinder stood from his spot by the bed, his longer body uncoiling with the sudden alertness of a soldier spotting his commander. Then froze as his ears lifted, the flames on his back dimming as recognition dawned.

"Mum," Ravina said, the word tasting like a confession.

Nostus looked down at Cinder, and for a moment, her expression softened into something almost gentle. "Well."

Cinder approached, not running but with a purposeful stride that suggested he'd been waiting for this moment. He stopped before Nostus, head tilted upward.

Nostus crouched, her movements fluid despite her height. "You've changed."

Cinder chirped, a soft sound of agreement.

Ravina managed a smile. "He did that in Sprout Tower."

"So I heard," Nostus replied, her fingers hovering just above Cinder's head.

Ravina blinked. "Heard?"

Nostus gave her a look that said everything without words. Ravina decided not to pursue that yet.

Nostus offered her hand, palm up. Cinder sniffed it once, then pressed his forehead into her palm with a sigh of contentment.

"Still you," Nostus murmured, scratching carefully behind one ear.

Ravina's smile softened. "That's what I said."

Cinder leaned into the touch, his body vibrating with a low trill. Then from above:

Hoot.

Nostus looked up at the curtain rail. "And you must be Owlbert."

Hoot. He replied, his head tilting at precisely the same angle as yesterday morning.

Nostus smiled. "Very punctual, according to the notes."

Ravina stared. "What notes?"

"Later."

Victor descended from the ceiling, slow and deliberate like smoke settling. Nostus watched his approach with the same calm attention she'd given Cinder. Victor stopped before her, his white eyes fixed on her face.

Ravina immediately became afraid.

Victor bowed, his gaseous form dipping gracefully. "Madam."

Nostus's eyebrow rose. "Oh my."

Ravina covered her face with one hand. "No."

Victor continued, undeterred. "I am Victor."

"Nostus."

"I know."

Ravina looked up, her hand still pressed to her forehead. "How?"

Victor's eyes remained on Nostus. "Presence."

Ravina pointed at him. “You used that line on Chinatsu!”

“It remains accurate.”

Nostus smiled, a genuine curve of her lips. "Chinatsu?"

"Later/Later," Ravina and Victor said in unison.

Victor floated closer. "You are the mother?"

"I am."

Victor considered her, then Ravina, then back again. "Ah."

Ravina narrowed her eyes. "What does 'ah' mean?"

Victor's grin widened. "Genetics."

"Victor."

Nostus laughed, a sound that was both warm and utterly terrifying. Ravina groaned.

"This day started badly."

- - - - -

Nostus set the padded carrier down on the small hotel table with a careful, deliberate movement. The sound it made was soft but final, like a period at the end of a sentence.

Then she looked at Ravina.

Really looked.

At the tangled two-tone hair, the pale white fringe flattened against Ravina's forehead.

At the exhaustion in Ravina's magenta eyes, the slight puffiness beneath them.

At the fresh Zephyr Badge clipped securely inside its case on the desk, gleaming under the dim light.

At the way Ravina stood, stiff and defensive, like someone caught returning rather than someone waking.

"Late night?" Nostus asked, her voice deceptively mild.

Ravina crossed her arms over her chest. "Early morning."

"Ah."

"Don't."

"I didn't say anything."

"You made a sound."

"So did you."

Ravina pointed. "You have somehow acquired Chinatsu's face without meeting her."

"I still don't know who Chinatsu is."

"You will."

"That sounded threatening."

"It was."

Nostus's gaze drifted to the badge case on the desk. A slow smile spread across her face.

"Congratulations."

Despite herself, Ravina brightened. "Thanks."

"You did well."

Ravina smiled properly this time, the exhaustion momentarily forgotten.

Then Nostus added: "I saw it in the League system."

Ravina's smile slowly froze.

Victor began drifting backward, his gaseous form swirling with what could only be described as tactical retreat.

From his perch on the curtain rail, Owlbert turned his head to look directly at Ravina.

Cinder, still pressed against Nostus's leg, looked up at his trainer.

Ravina looked at all three of them. "Cowards."

Nostus crossed her arms, mirroring Ravina's posture. "When did you arrive in Violet?"

Ravina thought for a moment. "...about 7 days ago?."

"And when did you last call home?"

Silence.

Ravina looked at the ceiling as if seeking divine intervention.

Victor continued his slow, careful retreat toward the ceiling.

"Mum…"

"Ravina."

"...Before I left."

"You were standing in our kitchen."

"That still technically counts as being in contact with home."

"I appreciate the technical argument."

Ravina looked hopeful.

"It is still wrong."

"Damn."

Nostus's expression softened slightly. "I don't need an hourly report."

"I know."

"I don't need permission requests every time you leave a route."

"I know."

"I do need to know my daughter has not fallen down a cliff, been eaten, kidnapped, recruited into something stupid, or decided Pokémon Centers make parents obsolete."

Victor raised one tendril. "For the record, she has not yet joined a cult."

Nostus looked at him. "Yet?"

Victor paused. "I withdraw the statement."

Ravina covered her face with both hands.

Nostus continued. "One call when you reach a major city."

Ravina peeked through her fingers. "Every city?"

"Every major stop."

"Even if nothing happened?"

Nostus slowly looked around the room, her gaze taking in Cinder, Owlbert, Victor, the Zephyr Badge, and finally Ravina.

"...Okay." Ravina relented as Nostus raised one eyebrow. "Fair."

"Thank you."

Ravina sighed. "I am sorry."

"I know."

"I wasn't trying to worry you."

"I know."

That was somehow worse.

Ravina stepped forward.

Nostus opened one arm.

Ravina leaned into her.

For several seconds, neither joked.

Nostus kissed the top of her head.

"Call me."

"I will."

"Good."

Ravina went very still.

Nostus felt it.

Her eyebrow rose.

Ravina immediately stepped away. "Don't."

Nostus stared.

Victor's grin became enormous. "There is a story."

"No."

"Clearly."

"Victor, I will put you in a jar."

"You don't own a jar."

"I'll buy one."

- - - - -

The carrier shifted on the table.

Or rather...

something inside it stirred.

A tiny movement, but enough to draw every eye in the room.

Ravina froze mid-breath.

Nostus's gaze sharpened toward the table.

Cinder's ears lifted, the flames on his back dimming with sudden stillness.

Victor turned, his gaseous form coalescing into tighter focus.

Owlbert's head rotated by exactly forty-five degrees, his unblinking stare fixed on the carrier.

Ravina approached the table cautiously, her fingers hovering above the carrier's latch. "Is that..."

"The Egg," Nostus finished.

"Elm's?"

"Originally Mr. Pokémon's," Nostus corrected. "Elm's responsibility now."

Ravina looked up at her mother. "You brought it yourself."

Nostus's expression soured. "Elm was considering sending it through ordinary courier transfer."

Ravina stared. "You're joking."

"I wish." Nostus sighed. "I volunteered."

"Because it's safer?"

"That," Nostus acknowledged, "and..." A pause as her mouth curved into a wry smile. "I needed to escape his paperwork."

Ravina laughed, the sound filling the small room. "You came all the way to Violet to avoid paperwork."

"I condensed six pages of handling instructions into one," Nostus said, her pride evident. "Heroic, really."

"Absolutely heroic," Ravina agreed, grinning.

Nostus opened the carrier with careful, practiced movements.

Inside, warm padded lining cradled the Egg, its surface bearing faint patterns that seemed to shift in the dim light.

Ravina's expression softened immediately. "Oh."

It looked fragile, not tiny, but fragile in the particular way eggs always did. Potential wrapped in a shell, waiting for the right moment to begin.

Cinder stepped closer, his longer body moving with unusual caution.

Ravina looked down at him. "Well..."

He sniffed once, carefully, his nose twitching.

The Egg moved.

Just slightly.

Cinder froze, his entire body going rigid.

Ravina smiled, reaching down to scratch behind his ear. "Congratulations, my Fireball."

Cinder looked up, his orange-red eyes wide with what might have been dawning comprehension.

"I guess we're parents now."

Cinder stared, processing.

Victor gasped dramatically, his gaseous form expanding with theatrical shock.

Owlbert hooted once, sharp and questioning.

Ravina pointed a finger at Victor. "No."

"I said nothing," Victor protested, though his white eyes gleamed with mischief.

"You were about to."

"I was going to declare myself uncle," Victor declared with unnecessary volume.

Ravina paused. "That was actually what I expected."

Victor straightened proudly. "I accept."

Owlbert stared.

Victor turned toward him. "And you, naturally, are the family Eevee."

Ravina slowly looked at Victor. "What?"

Victor blinked innocently. "The household pet."

"Owlbert is already a Pokémon."

"Exactly."

Hoot.

Victor considered this. "Your objection is noted."

Ravina laughed, shaking her head as she reached down to touch the Egg's surface. It was warmer than she expected.

- - - - -

Nostus unfolded a single sheet of paper, the creases sharp and precise. Temperature. Handling time. Rotation. Rest. Observation notes. Her handwriting was the same clean, efficient script Ravina had grown up watching on permission slips and field trip forms.

Ravina scanned it quickly. "No Poké Ball."

"No."

"Carry it normally."

"Yes."

"Movement exposure is part of whatever Elm's studying?"

"Apparently." Nostus's expression suggested she had opinions about the word apparently, none of them favorable.

Ravina looked at the Egg again, its shell seeming to pulse with soft light in the dim room. "Why me?"

"Because you're traveling."

"That cannot be the whole reason."

"It is most of Elm's reason."

"And yours?" Ravina asked, meeting her mother's gaze.

Nostus looked at her for a long moment. "I trust you."

Ravina went quiet, the words settling heavier than expected.

Nostus continued: "And you already adjust your life around the needs of three Pokémon."

Victor made a delighted noise, his gaseous form swirling with theatrical approval.

Nostus ignored him. "Adding responsibility isn't the same as adding inconvenience."

Ravina looked at Cinder, whose ears had perked with interest. At Owlbert, whose head tilted with mathematical precision. At Victor, whose white eyes gleamed with what was probably already planning family photo albums. Then at the Egg.

"Okay."

She reached into the carrier. The shell was warm against her palms, smooth and solid. She lifted it carefully, supporting it with both hands.

Something happened.

Not dramatic. No flash. No sound.

Just… warmth.

More than before.

Ravina blinked. The Egg shifted against her palms, a subtle movement that made her breath catch. Cinder's ears lifted further. Victor's eyes narrowed with focus. Nostus noticed everything.

Ravina smiled softly. "Hi."

The warmth increased. Only a little. But enough.

Ravina felt something in her chest answer. Affection. Protectiveness. The absurd instant feeling that this fragile thing was now hers to look after.

Her aura stirred almost unconsciously around her. Not magic. Not exactly. That old inherited biological pressure at the edges of her presence. The thing that softened hostility. That made sharp intent less sharp. A quiet emotional atmosphere that usually existed only because somewhere in her ancestry, apparently, not getting murdered had been considered a useful evolutionary trait.

The Egg moved again.

Victor drifted closer. "Interesting."

Ravina looked at him. "What?"

His expression had lost some of its theatrics. "Nothing."

"That was definitely something."

Nostus was watching too. Ravina frowned. "Mum?"

Nostus shook her head. "I don't know."

The warmth pulsed again beneath Ravina's hands. Not hotter. Almost, content.

Ravina smiled without meaning to. That feeling seemed to make the Egg react again. Victor's eyes widened slightly.

Ravina looked down. "Oh."

The loop continued. Ravina felt happy because it moved. It moved because…something about her happiness? Maybe.

Ravina held it a little closer. "Okay."

Cinder pressed his nose carefully against the shell. The Egg shifted again. Ravina laughed. "Yeah."

She looked down at Cinder. "I think it likes you too, my Fireball."