Interlude – Iron Islands II

Interlude – Iron Islands II

A/N: This is the final part of the interlude.

INTERLUDE - IRON ISLANDS II

"Thank you for your time, Jude," Cecilia sniffled as she wiped her eyes. "Truly."

Jude Cantrell— Cecilia's therapist— was a middle-aged man around his early forties with short, dark hair. He had a thin face with sunken cheeks, though he wasn't underweight by any means. The short man nodded as he walked out of her Pokemon Center room. She'd unpacked everything about Grace today, having finally pulled her worries out of the box, and sometimes, a good cry really did feel good, even if the crux of the issue hadn't been addressed.

"I will see you tomorrow at noon, Cecilia," he smiled. "You did well today."

"Will you be able to get to Falkirk?" she muttered. While Jude had a Misdreavus and a Banette, he had no means of Teleporting that Cecilia knew of.

"Oh, one of your ACEs will fly me. We've been in contact," he said. "And remember, give her space. Calling over and over won't do any of you any good. She's most likely seen those and will answer when she's ready."

Cece nodded tightly and then watched Jude stride through the Center's dirty hallway with steps so light she wouldn't have been able to tell he was here was she not looking at him. She'd been doubtful about therapy before, but Jude was truly a blessing. It was unfortunate that Chase had refused the League's offer, even if he was doing relatively well compared to her and the others. Cecilia knew he had a lot on his mind to vent about, especially after yesterday's outburst about his worries about the Iron Islands.

Alas, Chase was an islander, after all. The people here had developed a culture that dictated that getting help was shameful and toughing things out was the only way to go about things, and he had still not let go of that mentality. Once she made sure that she hadn't forgotten anything in her room, Cecilia left— and hopefully she would never have to stay here again. She was pretty sure she'd breathed in more dust in a single night than she had her entire life. Chase was already waiting for her in the lobby, though he was talking in a hushed tone to his Lucario and Zangoose. She felt bad interrupting what looking like an important conversation, but Ri had noticed her approach anyway, and his glance gave her position away to Chase.

"Good afternoon," she said.

"Arceus, you've been crying," he deadpanned.

Cecilia frowned. "You didn't have to say it so... matter of factly. Yes, I was crying, but I'm done now. I let everything out of the box. How was your morning?"

"Spent it visiting places with Ri and the rest of the team. Kept Wimpod in her ball, though. This place would terrify her."

She hummed as she got closer. "See anything good?"

She nearly jumped when Ri spoke into her mind. It was good to reminisce. There is not much to do here, but I have been here plenty of times with Urie. The place hasn't changed.

Zangoose offered him a supportive look, though support from her looked like she was still glaring. After so much time spent having Slowking speak through telepathy, Aura felt odd to her mind. Like a frigid blanket enveloping her brain. Not painful by any means, but slightly uncomfortable.

"We went to check out the mines too," Chase added. "To see what conditions people worked in."

Cecilia winced. "And?"

"Awful. You know, I didn't really comprehend how bad it was. My dad probably kept how shit conditions were to keep me happy, but it's hell down there, Cece. I spoke to the miners and they told me about the shit air ventilation, the lights that don't work half the time, the heat, the long hours... and the mine's so far away from First Landing that they don't have time to go home for lunch, so they're forced to buy food on location. And guess what? They pay Teracore for their food. The company's literally growing richer by not feeding them."

Cecilia frowned. Even Unova, which was quite literally five corporations in a trenchcoat, had laws to protect workers against abuse like this. The picture was growing clearer, now. For the vast majority of people, the only jobs open would be the mines. These were, coincidentally, always far away from any settlement, which meant that workers would have to spend an absurd amount of time commuting there and back on foot. Not only that, but they were stuck there the entire day for wages that were honestly so low she wondered how they even sustained themselves.

Unless they worked overtime. Chase explained that there were barracks near the mines where miners could be lodged if they so chose so they could work longer hours. Entice them with more money, but not enough to actually change anything. This place was a well-oiled machine of oppression.

"Did you find a supervisor to speak to like you wanted?" Cecilia asked.

"Yeah, but if I did anything, he'd retaliate on the miners when I left because he'd think they sent me or some bullshit. I know how they work," Chase said through gritted teeth. "They spend the day here and then Teleport back to Canalave. Funnily enough, the government doesn't track them."

"Obviously not," Cecilia said with a hint of sarcasm. "That'd be far too fair."

"They hate that here," he nodded. "Arceus, what I would have done to punch that fucker in the face. Ri warned me before I could. Instead, I spent some of my savings from the LTIP and bought the entire place lunch— not from Teracore, though. Fuck giving them any more money. I had Sig fly the food in from here."

Cecilia's eyes widened in surprise. He'd talked about needing to save money to have his team catch up for the Conference, but clearly, this was more important to him, and she respected that fully.

Which you almost forgot to do, and would have done if I hadn't been here, Lucario said.

"Give me a break," he groaned.

He stood up to leave, though he recalled Zangoose and left Lucario out. They were both ready to fly to Falkirk, now. According to Chase, it would only take thirty to forty minutes to make it there. It would have been faster, had Sigilyph been a fast flier, but she was still lagging behind in flying type TE compared to Talonflame or Grace's Togekiss, and she didn't have a literal jet engine like Lehmhart did.

"The Iron Islands don't look very ripe for agriculture or raising any animals," Cecilia muttered as they left the Pokemon Center. "Is fishing enough to sustain the place?"

"No. A lot of the food is imported from the mainland," he instantly replied.

I figured, Cecilia thought. The leash Canalave had on this place was tight.

"We mostly eat fish Pokemon, though. The ones near the coast are weak enough to kill with mechanical harpoons, and their attacks aren't enough to destroy our fishing boats. Obviously, there are accidents sometimes, though. Keeping the waters mostly clear is one of the few things Canalave does right."

"Well, at least you're aware of the situation," Cecilia said after a short pause. "How will you proceed?"

"Next time I speak to Cynthia will be very interesting," Chase said.

"This time, you'll have a set of demands instead of asking her to 'fix' things. Cynthia is a pragmatic woman at heart. So long as it is in her and Sinnoh's interest, she will accept your demands— after Team Galactic is done with," Cecilia explained. "You have levers to pull, but will it be enough?"

"I have the Voice. And I can possibly unite the people of the Iron Island, though it'll be tough."

"Pfft. You're a charismatic leader, Chase, and you fit in," Cecilia said. "You'll unite them in no time."

"Threaten a strike if they don't give in to my demands. Teracore will throw a fit, but at the end of the day, Cynthia's pulling the strings. I'm thinking that we should use more machine-based mining. That way Sinnoh keeps getting their iron, and we can breathe easier."

"There will be a heavy upfront cost," Cecilia said. "And you can't get too reliant on machines, or Pokemon will get angry and people will lose their jobs."

Some would rather work in such terrible conditions than not have any money at all.

"I know that. But we need to diversify. The fact that the majority of us either go into fishing or mining is the problem, but... Arceus, this is hard. I can't just snap my fingers and turn this place into a tourism haven, or a manufacturing hub, or whatever."

"There will be difficult times ahead. But future generations will be thankful," Cecilia muttered as they approached First Landing's outskirts. "Alola was in a similar situation after the Great War. I read about it as a child."

He scoffed. "As a child? You subjected yourself to this shit willingly?"

"I'm going," he finally said. "I'm going," he repeated a second time, steeling himself.

He took the first step. Then the second. He hopped over a fallen house, and found his steps heavier the closer he got to his home.

It was collapsed. Completely, as he knew it had been. Their old stone home lay in ruins, the once sturdy exterior now a jumbled pile of even stones and dirt. The roof obviously hadn't fared any better, and in the end, the entire place was inaccessible.

"It's... collapsed," he muttered. "I need to..."

"Sigilyph and Slowking can help," Cecilia suggested. "They can lift the debris with Psychic."

Sig excitedly beeped, brushing his back with one of her wings.

"Sure, uh, yeah," he said. "That sounds good."

His friend released her Slowking, and the two psychic types got to work. The fucked up part of this was how easy it was for the both of them to clear this place out. They lifted the roof like a piece of paper and split it into multiple parts, carefully catching the splinters before they could get to them and placing them neatly back on the street. Next, the stones flowed like grains of sand and were thrown back. An unsurmountable obstacle as a kid was now dealt with in barely two minutes. If it was so simple, then why the fuck couldn't the Rangers do anything? Steelix was being quiet, so they could have sent a group of two or three to do this.

He knew the answer. Because without having an opportunity to reclaim the island and start mining again, they had no reason to actually fucking help them. Fucking Canalave, he raged. Arceus, the fact that he couldn't go to Byron right now and have a fucking word was pissing him off. He understood, but that didn't mean it was right to do this. Sometimes, the rubber had to meet the road and you had to tell Teracore to suck a dick.

Chase gave Wimpod to Zangoose, who clumsily carried her in her arms as he approached the ruins of his now uncovered house. At least the flooring had survived. The wood still creaked in the same spots too. He walked through a non-existent door with Ri at his side and set his eyes on his father's corpse, with bits of torn-up clothing he'd been wearing. The usual crap he wore below his miner's uniform since he'd just come back from work.

I love you, son. This wasn't your fault. You aren't weak. You're perfect.

He was still in that same position he had told Riolu and him to run away with, though the part of the roof which had collapsed on him had now been removed. The damage now was obvious. His leg bones were cracked in at least ten pieces and fractured all over. When he'd been a kid, he had desperately tried pulling his father out from under the roof until his fingers started to bleed and his nails started to split, and even with Ri, it hadn't been enough. Ri hadn't been strong, back then. But in the end, it never would have mattered, would it? His Dad never would have been able to run anyway, with the state of his legs.

Lucario closed his eyes as a blue aura enveloped him, and Chase knelt against the floor close to his father's bones. He readjusted his cap and clasped his mother's necklace. No pictures he hoped to reclaim were intact.

"I'm back," he muttered. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

No answer came. Of course, no answer came, but that didn't matter. He talked for a long time, about his journey. About how much of an asshole he used to be, his new friends, and this Legendary bullshit he honestly didn't care about beyond the world needing to be saved. He must have spent an hour and a half recounting all of it, though Ri often interrupted to correct him when he strayed or was too biased.

He also prayed.

Chase had an odd relationship with religion, ever since he visited his mother's grave. He liked imagining his parents, reunited in the afterlife and being proud of him. He had done more research, in the months since. Worship of Arceus like they did in the east was a little hard, when he knew the prick was resting on his laurels and watching the world possibly end, but supposedly he made a nice garden for the dead to hang out in after they passed if they were good, so Chase would let it slide if his parents were having a good time up there. It was different everywhere, he knew. Not everyone believed in the same thing— hell, not everyone even believed in Arceus being the creator, but this was his version of things, and it would work well for what he needed.

"I'm going to make things right," he declared. "When I left here, I made an oath with Ri as soon as I was alright enough to speak again on the rescue boat. I said I'd come back here to see you again, but I also said I'd become the Champion and make things right." He stopped to take a breath, staring into the empty eye sockets. His hand was still outstretched. Chase could still feel his father's touch on his cheek, using the last remainder of his strength to tell him he loved him. "One day I'll be Champion," Chase continued. "But the work I can do here? I don't need to be Champion to do it. And it starts now."

Chase rose a new man.

The sun bore down his back, illuminating the ruins of his home as he stared down upon his father.

"Let's give you a proper send-off, shall we? Let's give all of you a proper send-off."

Chase left his house and called out to Cecilia, who had been patiently waiting all this time. It was scary, how much of a saint she was.

"Cece," he said.

Her eye twitched. "You look different," she noticed. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. I'm going to need your help carrying all of the bodies down to the pier, if that's okay?"

"Sure thing," she said without a moment's hesitation.

Moments like this was why he was glad he'd met her. Overrated Unovan trash. Legendaries, he'd been so full of shit.

—

Falkirk had only been home to a few hundred people, yet it took until nightfall to gather all of the bodies, and even then, Cecilia was sure they had missed some, but they had done all they could. When she'd asked what they were gathering them for, Chase had simply answered that this was how they buried people in the Iron Islands. They'd built multiple barges using wood and hardened mud from Lehmhart and placed all of the bones on it after making sure they would actually float. They were a little rocky, but it did, and Houndoom set each of them aflame with flames that were beautifully golden. Their teams surrounded them, save for Zweilous, and they watched in silence. Chase's team was huddled around him, while Lehmhart played a farewell tune that fit the mood almost too well.

"The traditional way of doing things was to put the person on a boat and burn them at sea, but I had to improvise," Chase explained as the bones and barges burned down. "Of course, that was before. Back when Sinnoh was just a squabbling mess of city-states and we rivaled Canalave on the sea. Before we were conquered. Nowadays, we just burn the corpses on land and keep the ashes, but this... felt proper, I guess."

The smoke rose high into the sky as they watched in silence. None of the barges got too far, because Houndoom's flames were too powerful, but the gesture was there, and Cecilia knew that was all that mattered. She wondered, still, why Chase hadn't wanted to keep his father's ashes, but it wasn't her place to ask. Urie Karlson would burn among the rest of his people.

"I finally did it," Chase sighed as he stared at the night sky.

"You did. It might not mean much, but I'm proud of you," Cecilia said.

She did not know what it felt like, to lose a parent who had genuinely loved you for the first or second time. Chase crouched, and his arms hung off his knees.

"I hope they're proud too," he said.

"They are, Chase. They are."

There was a short pause.

"You religious?" he asked.

Despite fewer and fewer people being religious save for a few countries, Cecilia knew, that most of eastern Sinnoh saw Arceus as the creator— which apparently was correct, which was called Originalism. In Johto, they believed it to be Ho-Oh, who was also their guardian of the afterlife who would reincarnate you if you lived a good life. That one was called Celestism, for their worship of the light and rainbows. In Unova, the majority followed the religion of Syncretism. They believed that two dragons— Reshurem and Zekourom fought for eons in a barren world until peace was made, and they united as one. Without their fight to scar the world, life began to bloom and the world came to be. There was a split-off of that church who believed that the dragons had split again, which was why the world was in such discord all the time. Another believed that a third dragon had been in the picture and had thrown a once peaceful world into disorder, but in the end, Cecilia had never really believed in any of these.

"Not exactly, but does that matter?" she shrugged. Though Arceus' existence had been confirmed, she still didn't believe there was something beyond death. "If you think your parents are watching over you, then who am I to disagree? I'll support you every step of the way."

Chase smirked. "For all your moral quandaries about how you'll use your power wrong," he started, "you're probably the nicest person I've ever had the pleasure to meet."

Cecilia sat next to him. "Why don't we make an oath, you and I?" He blinked, but she continued. "That we'll change our homes no matter what, and that one day, we'll both be Champions. You, Sinnoh's, and me, Unova's. That we'll be different than all of the people in power now and actually try to break the status quo. That we'll do good and never lose sight of what's right, no matter what tools we need to use to rule."

Her comrade turned toward her and outstretched his hand. "You better not disappoint me, Cecilia Obel. Because I'll take these very seriously."

She clasped it tightly. "I'll do what's needed, Chase Karlson. Until we reach the top."

Cecilia rose a new woman, and the thread by which her reservations hung snapped.