The bedroom is dark, save for the blue glow of an electronic screen, silhouetting a small shape honed in on what’s before it. Soft clicking fills the room, fast and intent. Fingers fly over a keyboard, captions forming and erasing just as quickly. The click of a mouse button echoes, and the typing stops.
“All good,” Dot mumbles to no one, letting out a sigh of what could be relief, frustration, exhaustion—or perhaps a mix of all three, you’d be hard-pressed to tell. A ping blares from the phone face-down on the table, and Dot raises a brow with interest. “Woah, first comment already? That’s gotta be a new record.”
New message from Liko!
… Oh.
likoooooo <3: Hey, Dot, I’ve got some big news! Call me as soon as you can? <3
There she goes again. Such a simple string of pixels on a screen, but it never fails to make Dot’s heart flutter.
dot: yeah okay one sec <3
After taking a moment to kick her feet and spin excitedly in her chair, she clicks the call icon in the corner of the screen and waits. It’s like the ringing drags on forever, until—
“Dot! I thought you were busy! Oh, it’s great to see you again!”
Liko’s bright voice brings a smile to Dot’s face, and she waves at the camera in turn, pulling the hair back from her eyes. Such a sight was rare, but for Liko, she’d always do it. And after two weeks without a call—two whole weeks! Such torture!—Dot knew she wanted her girlfriend to see her in full, even if it was just through a screen.
“It’s great to see you too, Liko. What’s going on?” By now, Dot has risen from her chair and moved across the room, flicking on a light and illuminating the space, both reducing the sting in her eyes and the gloom she’d been wallowing in recently. “Big news, huh?”
The camera shakes, and Liko is forced from the lens as a flash of green and black fills the space, an excited “Nyao!” blaring from the tinny speakers.
“Meowscarada, stop! Let me see- stop pushing!” Liko laughs, bright and warm and enough to make Dot believe, if only for a moment, that it’s one of those days from Before, late at night on the Brave Olivine where they had to stay in their rooms, but nobody had ever said anything about the phone, had they? It had been a bit of a tradition between the girls, something Dot’s so glad to keep going. “You’re crazy, of course Quaxwell still lives with her—”
Now it’s Dot’s turn to laugh. “Quaxwell’s fine, I promise. He’s still here—”
“Quoah!” Quaxwell yells, racing in from who-knows-where and leaping onto the bed beside Dot, waving excitedly at the camera. “Qua-quaxwell!”
“Nyano mreah!”
“Okay, Meowscarada, please move over—”
“Quaxwell, come on—”
It’s a struggle to get both Pokemon to settle, but after a few minutes, both girls are finally able to look at each other, big smiles on both of their faces, neither willing to break the comfortable silence that follows when they just want to look at the other, take in their existence.
Dot caves first. “So, the big news?”
Liko puts a hand to her forehead. “Oh, I totally forgot, didn’t I? Well, I don’t know for sure where, and I’m not sure what the schedule will be like, but…”
“But…?”
Liko beams. “I’m coming to visit Alola!”
Dot’s heart leaps and flies and falls and stops all within the span of maybe five seconds before she chokes out, “You- you are? Here? You’re coming here?”
The sound of laughter, a melody to Dot’s ears. “Yes! My parents have always wanted to take a vacation there, and Indigo Academy is on a break right now. We’re leaving tomorrow.”
”Tomorrow?” So soon! “Liko, are you sure you’re not just playing a prank on me? This is really sudden…”
“Is… is it okay? If I visit?”
Dot curses herself inwardly, shaking her head so fast she’s dizzy for a moment. “No, wait, that’s not- of course I want you to visit, it’s just… it’s been so long, and- and I don’t know, what if it’s awkward, or what if my mom doesn’t like you- oh Arceus, I haven’t even told her we’re together—”
“It’s gonna be fine!” Liko interrupts. “I mean… I know we haven’t seen each other in a while, but it can’t be much different than this.” She gestures towards the camera. “You don’t have to tell your mom anything, okay? I’ll be right there by your side the whole time, whatever you want to do.”
“Liko…”
“That’s a promise. It’s going to work out, if you’ll have me.”
“Of course I will,” Dot whispers. “I always will.”
“Then… I’ll see you soon, okay?”
“… See you soon.”
The line cuts, but Dot makes no move to catch the phone as it falls onto the bed with a soft thud. Liko, coming to visit? The thought makes her heart pound. She hadn’t been lying when she said she wanted her to be there, but she isn’t quite sure she’ll be able to manage.
It’s been a year to the day since the end of the journey to Rakua, after all.
The wind whipped violently around Dot’s hair, pulling it from her eyes as she clung to Friede’s waist and Liko’s hand through the flight. Charizard’s wings flapped roughly to the side. A distant rumbling hummed in the back of her mind, previously the target of her terror but ultimately just white noise now. Her hands slipped and she yelped, feeling herself lean backwards, before Liko grabbed her arm and pulled her close, saving her from an unfortunate fate.
The Brave Olivine soared, higher than it had ever gone before, Kilowattrel and Charizard landing hard on the deck.
The wind shifted.
Charizard was sliding, Friede was sliding, and Dot could only stand in horror. She was snapped from her stupor when Liko shoved past her, screaming Friede’s name with a desperation Dot had only heard a few times, reaching out for him, intent on protecting him too. Dot ran after her, clinging to Liko from behind, holding as tight as she could to keep her grounded as…
Friede handed Captain Pikachu across the railing. His goggles hung limply from the Pokemon, one lens cracked, a spiderweb pattern across the glass.
Without a hand from Liko to grasp, Friede fell. To Dot, it was as if the clouds swallowed him whole, and for one naive moment she let herself believe that they’d break his fall. The choked sob from Liko dragged her back to reality instantly, and Dot felt her legs go out from under her, collapsing to the deck with hot tears spilling down her cheeks.
Harsh laughter filled her ears, and the scene shifted. She stood, slowly, turning to find the face of Spinel, looming over her with a wicked grin.
“You couldn’t save him.”
Dot gasps, sitting upright in her bed, sweat beading on her forehead as she runs a hand through her hair, pulling it from her eyes. She’s safe, in her room, and it takes her only a moment to realize Quaxwell is shaking her gently, cooing in alarm. She lifts a hand slowly and pats his head, attempting to slow her breathing and regain her focus. Another nightmare to add to the list, she supposes. It’s a bit pathetic, how a dream can affect the waking world, Dot thinks as she stands, sliding off her bed and hitting the floor softly. Dreams aren’t even real anyway. Why should they follow her wherever she goes, day in and day out, even a whole year after everything?
It’s late—early? The clock reads 05:27, so Dot settles on early and sighs, pacing around her room as she so often does after a rough night. Her phone pings, and she pauses, turning sharply.
New message from Liko!
Dot grabs the phone from the bed, nearly tripping as she sits down heavily.
likoooooo <3: I know it’s really early for you
likoooooo <3: But I’m leaving soon!
likoooooo <3: So excited to see you <3
Dot groans, rolling over in her bed and burying her face in her pillow. If the nightmares didn’t kill her first, Liko certainly would. Her phone pings again.
likoooooo <3: [Sent one attachment.]
It’s a very chaotic picture, with Liko towards the back of the composition and the front taken up by Hattrem, Meowscarada, and it seems even Pagogo has decided to join in the call this time. Liko is fighting to reach the phone, smiling wide, and it looks like she’s already at the airport. Despite her twisting mind, Dot smiles, momentarily forgetting her worries.
She types out a message.
dot: see you in a few hours love <3
And throws her phone across the room.
All day, Dot is restless. When she isn’t thinking about Liko, her mind returns to the nightmare she’d had. She’d never told her mother she was having them, because it just didn’t seem like something she should know. In fact, Dot hadn’t told anyone she was having nightmares. Spinel’s grating voice continues to echo in her mind.
“You couldn’t save him.”
Dream-Spinel wasn’t wrong. She couldn’t save Friede. Maybe if she’d been stronger, mentally and physically. Maybe if she’d been smarter, faster, braver, she could’ve grabbed his hand, pulled him onto the Brave Olivine without a worry in the world. She hadn’t moved an inch to help him until Liko did. Always the sheep, never the shepherd. That’s how Dot has always lived outside of Nidothing, willing to follow and be led around to anywhere she needed to be.
Journeying with the Rising Volt Tacklers had taught her a lot, she’d realized in the year she’d been apart from them. She’d grown confident in herself, learned to trust her Pokemon partners, made friends for the first time in her life and even fallen in love. In Dot’s eyes, that was pretty remarkable.
Reaching Rakua was supposed to be a dream come true. Pokemon as far as the eye could see, waiting to be studied and researched to satisfy Dot’s insatiable craving for knowledge. She’d been so thrilled to be there, to share an experience that wasn’t even once in a lifetime, something even more rare than that, something to cherish, a story to be passed down for generations.
Friede died for… what? For the Explorers to win? For Spinel to weave a web of lies around the Rising Volt Tacklers, to have complete control over the public and Rakua, to have so much power and leave everyone else in the dust? For Dot to sit in her room, the coward she was, and do nothing to fix the mess that had been left in the wake?
Selfishly, Dot is thankful he can’t see what she’s become.
The thought is banished from her head when, after a long day of editing videos and recording some fresh content, Dot checks the time. Her thoughts shift back to Liko. She’d be landing just about now!
The airport is only a few minutes’ walk from her house, and while most of the time Dot finds the constant sound of planes annoying, today she doesn’t mind it one bit. Any one of those incoming planes could be Liko’s, and the thought brings a big smile to her face.
A ping drags her eyes to the screen once again.
New message from Liko!
likoooooo <3: Just landed! I’m finally here!
likoooooo <3: Pagogo is itching to see you again :)
likoooooo <3: I am too!
likoooooo <3: [Sent an attachment.]
It’s a photo of Dot from behind. She turns, eyes wide.
Liko is here. She’s right there, standing just a few feet away, what are you doing? go see her, and then suddenly Dot’s legs are moving and she doesn’t even realize it until Liko’s arms are wrapped around her. Both girls have grown, but the difference in height has remained the same, and Dot finds it comforting to know that hasn’t changed. She wraps her arms around her girlfriend, holding her close, fearing that if she were to let go then Liko would disappear. She couldn’t bear that thought.
“You’re here,” Dot whispers, voice shaking.
“I’m here,” Liko replies softly, tightening the hug.
Neither could say just how long they stood there, but they finally pull apart after what feels like forever and still not long enough. “You’ve gotten taller,” Liko observes with a giggle. “Your hair looks so nice like that, it’s gotten so long! And your sweater is so cute…”
Dot can only stare, taking in the sight of the blue-toned girl she loves so much. Liko’s hair is up, which means it must be longer now too, and there’s a different clip in it, but even despite the entire outfit change as well, her eyes have stayed the same, full of that same comforting warmth that makes Dot want to stare forever.
“You look different,” she says intelligently.
Liko giggles again and Dot waves her hands frantically. “I mean, it’s great, I really like how you look now—not that I didn’t before, you looked great before, but you’re so pretty with your hair like that—”
She shuts up quickly when Liko leans closer, kissing her softly in a moment that is so fleeting Dot feels lightheaded when it ends. She has to take a step back to steady herself and not collapse on the ground right there.
“Woah,” she mumbles, a second hit on the list of incredibly smart things to say around your girlfriend you haven’t seen in a year.
Dot’s room is nothing special, and she doesn’t necessarily live messily, but the stray snack wrapper suddenly stands out a lot more with Liko there. She snatches it from the desk and tosses it into the bin nearby, rocking back and forth on her heels nervously. “Um, make yourself comfortable.”
If Liko feels the same, she doesn’t show it, sitting on the edge of Dot’s bed easily with a smile. There’s a pop and a hiss, and then Meowscarada is out, much to the surprise of both girls. Dot stumbles when the cat Pokemon pounces, hugging her so tightly it feels like her lungs might collapse. “Woah, yeah, I- I missed you too, Meowscarada, can you, uh, let go—?”
“Nyao!”
“Quaxwell is asleep, we were recording earlier—”
“Meowscarada, return,” Liko murmurs, mild exasperation lacing her sweet tone as she recalls her partner Pokemon to its ball. “I’m sorry, she’s been just so excited to see you and Quaxwell, I think she’s forgotten you need space sometimes.”
“It’s okay,” Dot reassures her. “I kinda did the same thing to you when you got here… so I don’t really mind.”
If looks could kill, Dot would have died a long time ago. The way Liko smiles at her, so full of love and care, it makes her heart threaten to beat out of her chest. Unwilling to get so dizzy she falls, Dot finally sits on the bed next to her girlfriend, though that does nothing to soothe her nerves.
“How was your flight…?”
“Oh, it was okay! I… was really nervous, at first.” The words linger heavily between the girls before Liko continues. “They let me hold Pagogo, so it was easier after that. And thinking about seeing you made me feel better, too.”
Arceus, Liko is going to murder her. Dot lets out a shaky exhale, letting herself lean against Liko’s side, putting her head on her shoulder. This feels nice, but the anxiety is still there, and that kinda ruins it. “I’ve never liked planes. Flying on the Brave Olivine was way better.”
Neither girl says anything in response to that. Inwardly, Dot curses herself. Why would she say that? Now Liko would be upset, too.
But if she is, Liko doesn’t show it, instead shifting so she can hold Dot a little more comfortably. Dot sinks into her arms, sighing softly. “I missed you so much,” she whispers.
“I missed you too,” Liko whispers back. “I’m so glad I’m here.”
“Me too…”
Dot closes her eyes, feeling incredibly at peace for the first time in an entire year. She feels herself fall a little as Liko moves to lay down, snuggling closer with a mumbled “I love you,” to which Liko responds with one of her own, something so much more meaningful to hear in person than over a phone late at night.
Somewhere in the back of her mind, Dot can hear the Grubbin chirping outside her slightly-open window, a thin breeze drifting through the room. It’s getting late, and she probably shouldn’t fall asleep on Liko, but she’s so warm and inviting and her arms are wrapped around her with no intention of letting go, so maybe it’s okay.
The wind whipped violently around Dot’s hair, pulling it from her eyes as she clung to Friede’s waist and Liko’s hand through the flight. Charizard’s wings flapped roughly to the side. A distant rumbling hummed in the back of her mind, previously the target of her terror but ultimately just white noise now. Her hands slipped and she yelped, feeling herself lean backwards, before Liko grabbed her arm and pulled her close, saving her from an unfortunate fate.
Or, at least, that’s how it should’ve gone, but Liko’s grip faltered, Dot’s hand slipping from hers, panic sparking in her chest as she begins to fall, plummeting faster than Charizard or Kilowattrel can follow.
The ground approached at an alarming speed—
A loud clattering sound wakes Dot, who sits up in alarm, looking frantically around her room. Her body aches, and she realizes the clattering sound was herself, falling from the bed to the floor and knocking things from a bedside shelf in the process. She winces, rubbing her elbow—that’ll be bruised for sure—and takes a deep but trembling breath, slowly easing the shaking in her hands. There were a number of things the nightmares manifested as, and that was just one of them.
A hand on her back makes her freeze briefly, before she remembers it’s only Liko, and then she realizes that Liko probably just watched Dot panic and fall out of her bed for seemingly no reason at all. And from the way Liko is looking at her, Dot knows she’ll have to explain.
Hunched over in her bed, Dot buries her face in her arms, trying to hide as if she were Pagogo in its shell. She can feel Liko leaning against her, one arm around her shoulders, and she's relieved that her girlfriend hasn’t asked any questions yet. One of the many things Dot loves about her so much is that Liko knows when it’s time to say something, and she knows when it’s not.
But Liko doesn’t need to ask, because the words start to leave Dot’s mouth before she can stop them. “Nightmares,” she mumbles. “Ever since… It's not every night, but most nights, I can’t sleep. There’s all kinds of ways they go… sometimes it’s exactly the same, sometimes I’m falling off of Charizard, sometimes you save Friede, but then you’re falling.” Her hands reach her hair and she grasps at it, not quite pulling, but holding tight enough that it would hurt if she moved. Her breathing starts to speed up, her eyes widening little by little. “And I can hear Spinel’s voice, taunting me, always telling me I couldn’t save him or I couldn’t save you. He’s so smug, and he’s right, Liko, I couldn’t save Friede and I probably couldn’t have saved you either. I keep losing… I keep losing everyone.”
Silence. Dot can feel herself trembling, and she leans closer to Liko, who moves to hold her again, wrapping her arms around the distressed girl’s shaking body, a hand reaching up to run softly through her hair.
“I get them too,” Liko says softly. “I get them all the time. It goes the same, or I didn’t catch you, or it’s the Six Heroes just fighting because of the Rakurium. I couldn’t save Friede, either.” Her voice cracks when she says that. “Neither of us could, and… and I’m not going to say it’s okay, but… I don’t think Friede would want us to blame ourselves. He… he made the choice to save Cap, at the cost of his own life, and that might be the bravest thing I’ve seen anyone do. I couldn’t hold a candle to that.”
Something about Liko’s words makes Dot’s heart ache instead of flutter. She lifts her head enough to see the tears pooling at the edges of Liko’s eyes, threatening to spill over, and Dot can feel her own eyes begin to sting. She turns herself around so she can wrap her arms around her girlfriend, pulling her into a tight hug. Her heart sinks when she hears Liko sob, and soon she’s sobbing too. They hold each other close, each letting the other cry as long as she needs to, because their pain is one and the same and they understand it better than anyone else. For some reason, Dot finds Liko even more beautiful now.
“Hey, y’know what?” Liko sniffles, her voice thick, but Dot still understands, sitting back to look up at her. “Maybe… maybe you could dream of me instead.”
“Liko… you’re literally the subject of one of the nightmares.”
“Well, yeah, but it could still work, and I can dream of you. And maybe now that we’ve talked about it, it won’t be so bad…”
Dot smiles. A sad smile, her expression mirrored on Liko’s own face, but sometimes being sad is okay. She places a hand on Liko’s cheek, sighing softly. “I love you, Liko,” she whispers. “I’m sorry for scaring you. I’m so glad you’re here.”
“I love you too, Dot,” Liko whispers back. “I’m glad I came.”
Held tight by the other, neither girl wakes again until the morning, and it’s clear to see that maybe dreaming of each other had worked after all.