Enomoto opened her mouth, thought better of it, and closed it again.
If this Kadabra weren't already spoken for—if he weren't already halfway into her cousin's pocket—she'd have made a play for him herself.
A prodigy. There was no other word for it.
In the space of a single night, his handling of fantasy energy had climbed several rungs. Compared to what she'd felt from him out over the water, there was something almost elegant about it now.
She laid a hand on his shoulder, and his condition unfolded in front of her inner eye.
"That's… strange," she said, and stopped there, because she didn't know how to finish the sentence.
Akiyama's Gardevoir, back when she was still a Kirlia, had looked like a single withered blade of grass.
Her own Gallade looked like a thick, pale-violet tree.
And this Kadabra—
Maybe weird things just find each other, Enomoto thought, and kept that to herself too.
She began her descent.
They came down at the edge of the forest, well back from the shore. It was still dark, and the Pokémon Center's front walk was deserted. Inside, the Nurse Joy on the overnight shift was buried in paperwork.
She looked up, saw the unconscious boy and the Gardevoir, and everything on her desk stopped mattering. Chansey came at a run. Within seconds Joy was working, and she had no attention left for either Enomoto or the Kadabra hovering at her elbow.
"Might as well sit," Enomoto said.
Kadabra nodded.
It was full daylight before Nurse Joy came out and told them they could go in.
.....
Noon. Pokémon Center.
Akiyama's eyes came open in stages, and every stage hurt. The first thing he saw was Gardevoir's face, tight with worry, inches from his own.
His heart lifted—right up until he spotted the Gallade standing beside her.
How long was I out? Long enough for her to go find a husband?
Some of the joy leaked out of the moment.
Gardevoir saw his eyes focus and pulled him into her arms.
"Garde…"
A tear landed on his cheek. Something in his chest twisted, and he reached up fast to wipe her face.
"You're beautiful," he said. Not don't cry. Not it's okay. Just that, his thumb against her cheek, sounding genuinely amazed.
Gardevoir went still. The crying stopped mid-breath. Then, slowly, she looked flustered.
"More beautiful than any Gardevoir I've ever seen," he added.
Her eyes went wide, wet and shining, and she turned her head away.
That was when he finally started paying attention to the details. The horn that used to sit on her head had moved to her chest. It wasn't a sensory organ anymore—not the thing that had let her feel human and Pokémon emotions. Now it was her heart, worn on the outside.
And it was still broken. A section of it was simply missing.
He reached out with a hand that wasn't quite steady and touched it, light as he could.
"Garde?"
He pushed a little, feeling for her mental state.
Then he froze.
He saw a white mountain. On its peak, a single tree stood alone, crowned with heavy foliage—and completely hollow inside.
The tree was Gardevoir.
"So you really did spend everything," he murmured.
He couldn't see a single strand of fantasy energy flowing toward her anymore. Next to her, the Gallade across the room was a pump running at full throttle.
"But what's the mountain?" His brow creased. He had the nagging sense he'd seen it somewhere before.
He let it go for now and looked around the room.
The Gallade had his arms folded and his eyes shut, pretending to doze. Akiyama studied him a moment longer and started putting two and two together.
Then he looked past him.
"…Kadabra?"
The yellow Pokémon had a fox's narrow face, two long whiskers that drifted in air that wasn't moving, a silver spoon in one hand, and that heavy tail bent behind him.
As if he'd felt the attention, Kadabra opened his eyes.
Hello… human child.
The voice arrived inside Akiyama's head, hollow and clear.
He took it in stride.
He was opening his mouth to answer when the door swung in.
"Knew it. Cousin Enomoto." He didn't sound surprised at all.
He hadn't gotten a good look when he first woke up. But once he'd studied the Gallade properly, there was only one person it could belong to.
"Gone what, a couple weeks, and you're already getting yourself half drowned?" Enomoto leaned in the doorway. "Care to explain that one?"
"Eh, it's nothing. A while back I almost got crushed to death, so, you know. Variety."
He scratched the back of his head and grinned, sheepish.
Kadabra closed his eyes again. Heard nothing. Saw nothing. Said nothing.
Gardevoir's hand tightened around his.
Akiyama had to reach up to do it now, but he patted the top of her head anyway.
"You are the unluckiest kid I know." Enomoto yawned and stretched, and the cropped shirt rode up to show a stretch of pale waist. Another inch and there'd have been secrets on display.
Gallade drifted over and posted up behind her like hired security.
Akiyama didn't even blink. Business as usual.
"Luck isn't a fixed quantity," he said. "You eat enough bad, some good has to come around eventually."
Enomoto didn't argue. Her gaze went to Gardevoir, and something complicated moved behind it. "Yeah," she said. "I guess it does."
Akiyama threw off the blanket. Somebody had changed him into a standard Trainer's outfit—blue vest, black shirt, blue slacks.
He swung his legs down, stood, and squared up beside Gardevoir.
She was looking straight at him. Level. He raised a hand and measured, flat palm from the top of her head to the top of his.
Fourteen years old, and his own Pokémon had him beat.
The Pokédex he remembered from his old life put Gardevoir at five-three. This one was noticeably taller than that.
So much for game data. So much for the anime, while he was at it.
`Off to the side, Kadabra sat with his eyes shut in Calm Mind, and he was shorter—probably because he wasn't fully evolved yet.
"Guess this means you're walking from here on out," Akiyama said, laughing.
Gardevoir blinked. It landed on her all at once: she really had grown up. A lot faster than he had.
You can't carry me anymore.
There was something wistful in the thought, and something delighted right behind it.
But I can carry you.
She scooped him into a hug.
And now—now I can actually protect you.
That put Akiyama flat-footed. He hadn't expected her to just do that.
He laughed under his breath and patted her back, feeling how slender she was under all that white, how gentle the whole shape of her had become.
"You two are close," Enomoto said, nodding like she was signing off on something.
Gallade nodded too. Then he slid an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in against him.
When she tilted her head up to look at him, he turned his face away.
"Tsundere," she said, and gave up trying to hide her grin.
Kadabra opened his eyes and watched them. He didn't understand it. He also—wanted it? Maybe. He wasn't sure.
If I stay with him, I'll find the answer.
He'd been following Akiyama and Gardevoir in secret for a while now. He'd been up in the rafters during their Gym battle. When they celebrated afterward, he'd been outside the window, staring at the cake and swallowing.
The door opened again. Nurse Joy took one look at the room, paused, and smiled.
"Should I come back later?"