[Flashback]
"Babe, what time do you want to leave tomorrow?" a woman's voice called out from the small apartment kitchen. The pale red-headed woman was on her computer, a list of flights on the screen.
Marco stared up at the ceiling, laying down on the couch in the equally small living room. "Probably early. There's going to be traffic no matter what time we get there."
"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked, sitting down next to him and running her fingers through his hair.
"I don't know, but I'm out of tears so…"
"That doesn't make you fine," she said. "I still think you shouldn't have driven yourself home. Getting news like that at work-"
"I know, I just couldn't stay there," Marco interrupted her. "Everyone kept telling me I should leave and go with family. It felt like everyone was crowding me, and they just kept talking. I don't know, but I couldn't stay there."
They sat in silence for a few minutes before the woman walked over to her computer again. She clicked through the airline's website and eventually found herself looking at rental cars. "You know it's not your fault, right?"
0-0-0
The next day found Marco and his girlfriend making their way back to his hometown. The San Francisco airport was large, but it was generally a smooth experience. It gave him time to think about what he wanted to say to his family. To his mother.
As they drove through the Central Valley, absent-mindedly watching the farm fields zip by, Marco couldn't stop his mind from going back to his brother. Two years had passed since his death, and now he was back for another funeral. Tears slid down as they grew nearer, the final hour of their journey back quickly turning into just another minute. Dread filled his stomach. Not because he expected to find anger and hostility. He knew it would be quite the opposite.
No, he dreaded being surrounded by the memories of loved ones now gone. He dreaded the shame he felt each time he saw pictures of his brothers, or his childhood friends. Most of all, however, he dreaded adding another person to the list of people he could never talk to again.
They arrived at the small house, two German Shepherds stepping out of their wooden shack and running around several fruit trees to the front gate. Marco greeted them with head pats, both leaning into his touch. When they walked through the door, his sister Benita slammed into him. Everyone else stood up, the tears in their eyes freeing themselves once again.
"Gracias a Dios, you made it safely," she whispered, tightening her hug. The group spent the next hour hugging and crying, each taking their turn to greet Marco and his girlfriend. Once they were too tired to stand, they all sat in silence. Benita, the youngest of the girls, turned to his girlfriend. "Thank you for taking care of him and coming to see us, Emi. I know he can get stubborn when bad things happen."
"He was fine this time. I was even able to get him to lie down while I got our tickets," Emi responded with a small smile. It didn't last long. "How are you? And everyone else?"
"We'll be fine," Marco's other sister, Rosa, said. "It's not the first time we've gotten together for something like this."
"Dile que nos agradecemos que haya venido á apoyarnos," their mother said from the kitchen. She and Marco had set on making dinner and were busy preparing ingredients.
"Ya le dije, amá," Rosa called out as she sat with Emi. "We've been expecting my dad to pass. He's been sick for the last year, and it got really bad the other month. We all knew it was coming, but it still hurts."
"Marco was telling me the worst part is not being able to rekindle the relationship," Emi told her. "Then he mentioned something Nesto told him before he passed."
"What was that?'" Yesenia, the oldest of Marco's sisters, asked.
"Ni en la muerte estamos solos, but he's never actually explained what it meant."
"It means-"
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
[Marco POV, Route 8]
"Not even in death are we alone."
Nesto told me that the day he died. He'd always talked about how he'd haunt me in the afterlife. For years, I thought he was joking about me missing him too much or something. I think what he meant was that he wasn't afraid of death because he'd always remember me. And I had the fucking audacity to forget him. My brother, the one who saved my ass more times than I'd care to admit. Never mind that some fucking Legendary muddled my memories. I'm still alive, and I'd forgotten Nesto.
Not just him, either. Emi, the amazing woman who supported me through the most emotionally rough patch of my life. Rosa, Yesenia, Benita, my wonderful sisters that would whoop ass for me. Maya, my beautiful mother who raised us to stand strong when things get tough and never be ashamed of who we are. I'd forgotten them all.
But now I remembered them and my previous life.
"Orale, let's get this done Nautilus," I said. The pain and discomfort faded away, a renewed vigor coursing through my body. I focused on my family. They always gave me clarity when I had my head up my ass about something.
Which was good because, at that exact moment, the universe decided it was the perfect time to test me. Because of course it did.
"Get him- Aye, watch where you're going!" a Team Flux grunt yelled as he jumped from behind a large trash can, both he and his Marill jumping out of my way.
"Fuck you very much, bye!" I shouted as I zoomed past both. I pedaled even faster than when I started on the route. "Naut, get ready for more trouble!"
He grumbled as he got himself ready on my head, but the next grunt that showed received a nasty surprise.
The moment she stepped out from a nook in the cliff, Nautilus responded with a Hypnosis that an Eevee intercepted. "What the fuck?!" she cried out, but we ignored her in favor of speeding away. More popped out at randomly, each one and their Pokémon receiving either a blast of Hypnosis or Psybeam. They seemed hell-bent on catching me.
"What the hell is going on?" I said, mostly to myself. I'm sure it wasn't hard to guess that I would eventually make my way to Cyllage City, but they couldn't have known when I'd pass through Route 8. Unless they weren't after me specifically.
I was rounding out the end of the fourth hour when a group of grunts appeared in the distance, standing side-by-side along the entire width of the path to block me off.
'Shit,' I thought to myself. Their smiles turned predatory when they saw me, a dozen Pokémon popping out between them.
"Oh look," one of them said. "The big fish Miss Cas asked us to watch out for. Let's get that big payout she promised!"
Their Pokémon stepped in front, charging up attacks. I stood up as I pedaled, testing the bike's suspension. 'Nesto, please let it work this time.'
My thighs ignited as I pedaled faster to get more speed. I pressed down on the handlebars, centering and balancing myself carefully on the bike with bent knees and elbows. Nautilus carefully blocked the incoming attacks, making sure nothing got close enough to ruin my concentration. Once I was close enough for a Tackle, I launched myself into the air. I whipped the bike around me to slap away anyone who tried to grab onto me while Nautilus took care of the Pokémon.
I slammed onto concrete path on the other side of the Flux blockade, pedaling away as they shouted after me. "Wait, hey! Get the fuck back here you…"
I didn't hear the rest. Within minutes, I left them far behind me. It was quiet again, and my challenge wasn't disturbed again. Near the end of the fifth hour, with the soreness and pain creeping back in, the path curved enough that the beach and ocean were in sight. It was amazing how calming nature could be. It brought back memories of Emi, my little mermaid. She loved to swim, no matter how it happened. Ocean, pool, or tub, she was most relaxed in the water.
I felt the edges of my smile grow wet. She would have told me she was proud of me for ignoring the grunts. She hated conflict, especially when there was the potential for things to get violent. But she also had my back when I'd needed to defend us or others. Remembering that further cemented my feelings about Team Flux. They were dangerous, and they needed to be stopped. But I couldn't do it myself. I could barely do anything to them as things stood. My team needed strength, and the Gym Challenges were the best way to prepare for them. That meant I couldn't let something as trivial as fatigue stop me.
'My team is dedicated, and they've already suffered enough pain. It's time for me to put in just as much as they do.'
And with that thought, I pushed myself even faster.