Abby walked down the street, doing her best to smile as her shoulder rubbed ever so slightly against the large, warm furred, golden arcanine beside her. Despite herself, a sad little frown kept worming its way into her expression no matter how many times she tried to clamp it down. Kasai nudged his head against her shoulder to draw her attention to him before licking one of her cheeks. The woman glanced up at him but for once, pushed his head away, not really in the mood.
“Arc, Arcanine,” Kasai said reassuringly, nudging her once more gently.
“I’m fine,” she replied, not bothering to look at him as they walked closer and closer to their destination. A sigh left her lips and she tried to step further away from him. The Arcanine frowned as he stepped closer to her, not letting her push him away that easy. A small scowl flickered across Abby’s face and she directed a glare at him.
“I said I’m fine,” she said acidically, stepping away again.
“Arc Arcanine,” he replied in a firm tone as he followed her closely.
“Do you want me to start making a scene?” she inquired sharply, glancing at him with narrowed eyes before glancing at some of the people around them.
“Arc arc Arcanine,” Kasai answered with a small roll of his eyes as he stepped back from her, though still keeping at least two feet close to her.
The woman let out another small sigh. This was what I get for loving a canine, loyalty to a fault, she thought to herself, another dozen steps falling behind the pair. A few more moments of silence passed before she shook her head and closed the distance between them and wrapped an arm around his side without saying a word. Kasai nestled his head closer to the side of hers and kept up with the woman as they approached their destination.
It was of course the anniversary of her parent’s death, a year she’d spent out in the field as a Ranger in her own right. A year of discovering the love of her life, and a year of pain as well. It had also been a year of fruitless searches and many, many battles.
Now, she and Kasai were on their way to her godmother's house for dinner.
The young woman bit her lip and leaned closer into Kasai’s side, doing her best to not burst into tears, a shiver running through her body. Kasai rubbed his head against hers as affectionately and reassuring as he could while she held his head so tightly.
A low rumble rolled through the air as the cloudy sky hinted a thunderstorm was on its way. Of course it’s going to storm, Abby though dourly, stepping up the steps in front of her. It would on a night like tonight wouldn’t it? A sigh escaped her lips before she lifted an arm off of Kasai’s neck and wrapped on the door, hoping to get inside before it begun to poor.
“Scarlet?” she called as she wrapped against the door again.
There was a brief moment of silence before the sound of a lock clicking open rang in the air and the door handle turned. The door swung inward and a flash of yellow and black sprang out. Before Abby could realize it, she was being hugged around her lower waist by a bipedal lizard.
“Heliolisk!” the Heilolisk cried out in joy with a wide smile as it continued to hug the young woman for a moment before letting go and engaged Kasai with an identical embrace. “Heliolisk!” it cried out again.
“Hi Vivi,” Abby said, a bit of blandness leaking into her voice. “Scarlet here?”
“I’m right here,” Scarlet’s voice spoke from the doorway, a small chuckle rolling out of her throat.
Abby glanced up to see her foster mother, wearing her typical red jacket standing there, a smile on her face.
“Oh, good, thought that maybe you were out doing some shopping or something,” Abby stated wearily.
Scarlet shook her head. “You know I’m not the type to go on a shopping spree,” she said as she fully opened the door and offered Abby and Kasai to come inside. The wind was starting to pick up, the smell of humid air becoming noticeable.
“I know, thought you might have forgotten something for tonight or something,” Abby said, stepping inside with Kasai right behind her.
“You should also know I always plan ahead and prepare,” the scarlet haired woman said as Vivi followed and she closed the door, locking the bottom lock. “In fact, all I have to do is pull out the roasted Tauros out of the oven, and dinner should be ready.”
A small smile crossed Abby’s lips. “Roasted Tauros huh? That’s my favorite.”
“I know,” Scarlet replied with a smile, lifting a hand to scratch Vivi under her chin. The Heliolisk leaned her head into before she seemed content and just ran off, heading down the hallway with a smile to her face. The woman chuckled before walking over to a chair in the living room and sat down. “Well, how have you been fairing? I read some of your reports on some missions you did, but they only conveyed basic stuff you know?”
“Honestly? I’ve been... frustrated,” Abby answered, one of her hands tightening into a fist as she joined Scarlet, though she sat on the couch and Kasai hopped up beside her, resting his head in her lap. “I’ve been looking everywhere for him but I haven’t been able to find him anywhere. Every time I find a lead... anything at all... it turns out to be another dead end or worse!”
Scarlet frowned as she leaned forward in her seat. “Abby, the Ranger Union will find the masked man, but I think maybe you should ease off in your search for him.”
“And just let him walk around after... after what he did!?” Abby demanded, her voice quaking, a surge of memories welling up in her mind. “No... just no.”
“I never said we were letting the search for him up, I’m just saying that you shouldn’t be the one doing it in the first place,” Scarlet clarified. “It’s tearing you apart Abby, both physically and mentally. It’s sapping you of your energy and just making more agitated. And I know that your parents wouldn’t want you to tear yourself apart to ‘avenge’ them.”
Abby didn’t even bother replying to that, instead she just sat there quietly, stroking Kasai’s head. Another shiver ran through her and she glanced up, her eyes catching sight of a family photo that Scarlet had up in her living room. It showed her mother and father holding her close while Scarlet stood a little off to the side, a smile on everyone’s faces. The woman stared at it for a long moment before she began to shake and another quake rolled through her body, tears beginning to form in her eyes, three rolling down her cheek, her eyes closing.
Small sobs caught in her throat, her face quickly becoming red as tears continued to flow down it. Kasai lifted his head to lick them away, but paused when Scarlet got up and simply placed a hand on Abby’s shoulder, rubbing it gently.
“It’s... it’s not right,” Abby whispered out between sobs. “They-they-shouldn’t be-” she paused, the word catching in her throat “-dead.”
“I know...” Scarlet said, her words soft and full of understanding.
“I-I’m going to get him,” Abby swore, her voice catching in her throat again, biting her bottom lip so hard that blood welled up to the surface.
“And accomplish what exactly?” Scarlet inquired. “Wash away the feelings of bitterness and hatred you have, are you expecting it to vanish? Expect to see the emptiness that you feel to be just an illusion?”
To her surprise, Abby’s right hand swung up and caught her in the jaw. “No. I’m going to make it so that I don’t have to stumble on another camp of skinned Ninetales!” she exclaimed, moving Kasai off of her and surging to her feet. “I’m going to catch him so that no other Ralts has to lose their parents and find their corpses strung up across a rack for their heart blades!” A shudder ran through Abby. “I’m going to stop him so that I never have to even THINK about him again!”
A flash of lightning flared through the living room window, followed by the roar of thunder.
“So technically yes to my question,” Scarlet said, rubbing the side of her jaw slightly before placing her hand back down.
“Shut up,” Abby said, the energy draining out of her as she flopped back into the couch.
“No,” the woman replied back. “Because Abby, if you can’t see what this is doing to you then I might as well keep trying to point it out.”
Abby just averted her gaze and glared down into Kasai’s head, her body still shaking, fresh tears flowing down her face.
“This search for the masked man is tearing you apart Abby, drawing you away from a lot of your tasks as a Ranger as you conduct this manhunt all by yourself,” Scarlet continued, her voice hard. “So much so you look like you’ve aged by years. When’s the last time you had a full night’s sleep?”
“I don’t even know,” Abby replied, not looking away from Kasai’s head.
“And there’s the problem,” Scarlet stated with a shake of her head. “You’re not succeeding in anything Abby, all you’re doing is going around in circles expecting something different to happen eventually. You know what that is technically called right?”
“I’m doing good work though,” Abby defended herself. “I’m saving lives. That’s what matters.”
“Yes you are, but again, you’re overworking yourself,” Scarlet stated, keeping the subject on track. “That’s one of the reason why I invited you here. Not just to remember your parents, but to also tell you you’re on vacation from now on, until the health officials at the Ranger Union say you’re fit again.”
“...what?” Abby demanded, jerking to her feet, all but throwing Kasai off of her. “You can’t do that! I have to be out there!”
“Not when you’re like this, Abby,” Scarlet replied sternly. “And I can, not only am I your foster mother but I am the Top Ranger of Unova and can order suspensions of duty notices to the rest of you if I think your mental or physical health is at risk.”
Abby glared at her, her hand tightening into a fist and she stood there shaking for a long moment before turning her back on her. “Fine. I’ll go out even if I am suspended. I’m not going to let those bastards skin another Ekans!”
“Then that’s called disobeying orders, and that can get you arrested Abby,” Scarlet informed her. “And you do know you’re not the only Ranger out there fighting to defend Pokemon from poachers right?”
Abby stood there, her fist clenched even harder. “Why the fuck did you have to bring this up TONIGHT?!” she shouted as she turned to face the woman. “You couldn’t just let us have a nice dinner could you?! You had to make it about me!”
“Because I care for you Abby,” Scarlet said sincerely, her voice pained. “I don’t want you to make a mistake that could cost you your life. Going in all blazing with rage as your focus can get you, or one of your Pokemon killed. I couldn’t live with myself if that happened and I didn’t try to prevent it.” She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath before letting it all out. “Like I do when turned down the offer of going with your mother and father the day it happened...”
Abby looked down, her knuckles turning white. “Then where in the fuck have you been for the last year huh? Why do this now?”
“It’s not like you were giving me many options here,” Scarlet replied, her voice growing sharp. “You keep denying my other invites to meet and never really told me where you were. In fact I couldn’t get that even from the Ranger Union database because you never informing them either of where you currently were. So the only way I could think of was to invite you on this day to try and remember your parents. I didn’t mean to bring this up so early, I thought we were going to do this after dinner.”
“Yeah, well add that to the list of things you’ve fucked up,” Abby snarled. “Like helping mom and dad.”
“I DIDN’T KNOW!” Scarlet roared out, at a volume Abby never heard from her before. The woman closed her eyes and took another deep breath. “I didn’t know... I had other plans for that day, other leads to follow. Matt and Roxanne normally never needed any help, so it never occurred to me something like that could happen.”
“Well it did, and now they’re dead and you’re a shitty replacement,” Abby said darkly, turning her back on the woman.
“I never asked to be a replacement for them,” Scarlet told her, a heavy sigh leaving her lips. “I never asked to really be your ‘foster mother’... I’m only carrying out your parents’ wishes they left in their will.”
“Yeah well I kinda wish you weren’t,” the woman replied, staring down at the ground.
Kasai slid off the couch and walked up to her, nudging his snout against her chest, urging her to lift her head and turned around. Abby fought against it for a moment, trying to push him away but he was insistent she finally turned, small tears still leaking down her face.
As she focused her eyes back upon Scarlet, she saw the woman had her own tears streaking down her face. A look of defeat was sprawled all over Scarlet’s face, and she had eyes closed. “Then go...” she said slowly, holding a hand up to the front door as more tears leaked from her eyes, refusing to look at Abby. “You know where the door is... don’t let it hit you on the way out or the storm blow you away. I’ll just... toss all the food out.” She turned away, wiping a hand over her cheeks as she began to head to the kitchen.
Abby scowled at her and strode out of the room, fists clenched as she walked towards the door. Kasai growled as he leapt between her and the door and continued to growl at her. The woman stared at him and a snarl of her own leapt out of her throat as she pushed past him. He pushed her back with more force, causing her to stumble backwards.
“Arc! Arcanine!” he shouted at her.
“Oh shut up!” Abby snapped, getting back to her feet and shoving him out of the way, her hand grabbing the door handle, jerking it open, a sheet of rain slamming into her.
She ignored the chilled shock that ran through her body and pushed through it, slamming the door behind her before Kasai could follow, stalking out into the now abandoned street.
The rain slapped against her, the droplets cold and wet as she marched blindly through them. She didn’t know where she was going. She didn’t care. All she knew was that she wanted to be away from Scarlet. Be anywhere but near her.
The wind howled, the thunder roared, and the lightning flashed as the ocean of rain drummed upon her, soaking the woman to the bone. While in mid-stride she felt something grabbing the base of her shirt and stopping her cold.
“ARC!” Kasai muffley cried out as he held onto her shirt.
“Get off!” Abby screamed, pulling against him. “I said let go of me!” The Arcanine refused too, pulling harder on her shirt.
The woman screamed again and this time her fist lashed out, catching Kasai in the jaw and causing him to loosen his grip enough to release her. Kasai stumbled backwards in complete shock as he blinked blankly.
The woman didn’t look back as she took off at a full sprint, her eyes full of tears as she ran down the blackened suburban street. She didn’t know when she fell, she didn’t feel the impact on the gravel, nor the pain as her knee tore open. All she knew was that she wanted nothing more than to curl up in a ball and cry. So that’s what she did as the pouring rain drops marched across her.
She lay there in the darkness crying, curled in tight ball as tears and snot rolled down her face. Her parents were dead, the man who’d killed them was still at large, and she was an absolute failure. Thunder sounded in her ears but she just curled up tighter wishing that it would all go away.
Abby didn’t know how long she lay there curled up before a hand clasped around her shoulder.
“Didn’t I warn you about not letting the storm blow you away?” Scarlet’s voice shouted above the rain and thunder as she began to lift Abby up onto her feet.
“...” Abby didn’t respond, she barely looked at the woman holding onto her, her eyes red, her face worn.
Scarlet supported Abby with ease before Kasai joined them and offered himself for Abby to lean on. The woman fell against him, snuggling into his warm, matted, fur, eyes closed. Scarlet kept a hand against the Abby’s back for additional support as she began to head back to her house.