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waywardstation · 2 years

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Let’s Get You Back to Her

Ingo comes across a lost child in Gear Station’s Battle Subway during a very busy event, and makes sure she makes it back safely to her worried mother. He was not aware he would be doing the same thing again for the same girl, years later.

Surprise fic! I saved this to post after I reached a certain point in my multi-chapter fic WIP, to give some content in between. This was written using one of the first fic prompts I got, about subway bands. I used an additive prompt for Ingo meeting Dawn and her mother before Hisui, and the aftermath of after Hisui too. Thank you to these requesters for being patient, if you’re reading this, I hope you enjoy it!!

Or, read on AO3 here!

Enjoy!

————

Few things ever successfully got people to stand still amongst the bustling crowd that filled Gear Station, hurrying from place to place to get to various platforms and lines for the Battle Subway.

Subway bands were one of them.

Currently set up against one of the walls near the platforms, the group that was playing had already drawn a sizable crowd, having strategically started playing during Gear Station’s lunch hour. With all the employees taking a scheduled break for the next hour, large groups of challengers were exiting the subway lines just to be greeted with a rather loud and exciting display of music.

Naturally, people came around with curiosity, only to stop and listen.

“Hey, what’s over there?” Elesa asked, interest in her voice as she stepped out of the double line’s subway doors and onto the platform, Emmet and Ingo following behind. She had come to take the subway bosses out for a quick lunch to hang out and catch up before they returned to another shift of battles, but the sizable congestion and loud mixture of music and cheering caught her attention. “Is that one of those subway bands you two are always talking about?”

It only took a moment of listening for Emmet to voice excitement of his own, clapping his hands together with recognition.

“It is!” He stepped around Elesa and Ingo on the platform, to try and get a better look over the crowd. “A subway band got past the depot agents!”

The Battle Subway had a list of rules the public were meant to follow in order to keep the station running at its best, and one of them was ‘no subway bands’. Not because the music was found to be disruptive (all the employees quite liked it!) but because it always caused a crowd to form, and congest the walkways, which of course could lead to multiple problems.

Gear Station’s Battle Subway had not been built with live musical entertainment in mind.

Ingo and Emmet personally loved when musicians would set up and play (and this was semi-public knowledge, known mostly by employees, but some thought their personal reluctance to do anything encouraged musicians to keep coming), but some of the more attentive Depot Agents would usually come around and request they pack up, or at least play outside Gear Station’s Battle Subway, where they wouldn’t cause such a buildup of people.

Both options meant Ingo and Emmet could not hear the music from their stations, however, so they counted both alternatives as a loss.

“Let’s go see before one of the agents kicks them out!” Emmet was already making his way down the platform to join in with the rest of the crowd. “They’ve never come around when we’ve been on breaks!”

Elesa followed excitedly, but Ingo trailed behind with a bit of hesitance; he loved when the subway bands came around just as much as Emmet did, but today, he was looking for a quieter atmosphere.

A dull but persistent headache had been throbbing in the back of his skull for most of the day. It was not terribly painful, but it was persistent and distracting - only the most astute observers could see how Ingo was slightly slower to react in his subway battles today. Ingo had been looking forward to the lunch break, if only in order to escape to a quieter place with Emmet and Elesa, and perhaps purchase some pain reliever to soothe it, if they had time.

A crowd of loud people cheering and surrounding an even louder subway band was the opposite of what he wanted right now.

From the familiar tune, Ingo could make out that they were playing a version of one of Gym Leader Roxie’s most popular rock songs.

Wonderful. Blaring rock music was perfect for a headache.

“Subway boss coming through!” the younger twin made himself known to the crowd as he reached the outskirts, and began to move between in an effort to see the band. Elesa kept close to him as the people parted around them, like a school of minnows around a pair of sharks.

The third shark, Ingo, was much less intimidating as he instead moved around others, apologizing as he kept his own pace, apart from Emmet and Elesa’s momentum.

It was apparent why such a crowd had formed; the band was good.

Consisting of four members (all teens, most likely a group of friends), they all played perfectly in sync, skillfully and energetically. Putting on a show with theatrics that were just as good as their music, pulling dynamic poses and dramatic moves, it was clear they were in their element.

…until Emmet emerged at the front of the crowd as it parted, Elesa and Ingo behind him. His smile was bright with delight, but it seemed to have been misread as intimidating - as if he was looking to fulfill his job of maintaining the subway’s rules.

The musical momentum died down at the sight of an authority figure, especially one as prominent as the Subway Bosses, and the band stopped playing.

“…we know,” the girl in front muttered, clutching her bass guitar as the others held their instruments still; it was apparent this was not their first time down here, and therefore, not the first time a depot agent had kicked them out. But this was the first time one of the Subway Bosses themselves had approached. “We’ll uh, go outside.”

Another moment of silence as Emmet held his response, the crowd waiting with baited breath for him to send the musicians out, break up the crowd, and have everyone disperse.

“I am Emmet,” he said, his smile still bright as he took an authoritative pose, folding his hands behind his back.

“And that was one of my favorites! You play Roxie’s music verrry well! Why’d you stop? Keep playing!”

Another moment of silence as everyone took in what he said.

Keep playing?

The Subway Boss wasn’t going to stop them?

He was instead encouraging them?

The joy returned to the young musicians’ features as they understood the situation, and went back to playing their instruments with fervor, as the rest of the crowd cheered along with Emmet.

And with the return of the music and the cheering, Ingo’s headache once again intensified, having lessened with the temporary quiet of the misunderstanding.

They were quite good indeed, Ingo would give them that, but each riff of the guitar, bang of the drums, and chord of the keyboard reverberated in his ribcage, and encouraged the thrumming of his headache. Mixed together with the sea of voices and the loud ambience of the station, the pain flared up.

Ingo closed his eyes, wincing as he pressed a hand against his scalp.

It was too loud here for someone with a headache.

“Emmet,” Ingo reached across the crowd to grasp his brother’s shoulder. Even with his naturally loud speaking voice that carried well, it was barely audible over the crowd and the music - he had to speak up. “Emmet!”

Emmet momentarily paused his cheering with Elesa and the rest of the crowd, to see who had touched him. He quickly met Ingo’s strained expression with a more quizzical look.

“Yes, Ingo? Are you ok?”

“I’m…going to the vending machine; you may meet me at the turnstiles when you and Elesa are ready to depart.”

The older subway boss was already turning to leave and make his way back out of the crowd, not having made sure Emmet caught all of that.

“What? Bathroom? Alright Ingo! We’ll wait here!”

Elesa, having caught none of the conversation over the loud atmosphere, was unaware one of the twins had even left.

————

Ingo moved out of the way as a few more groups of people steadily wandered towards the sound of the band, curious.

It was still loud, but moving a bit further away from the music and the crowd had already eased the pain of his headache slightly.

He made his way to the line of vending machines that were set against the wall in the corner of the station room, searching absentmindedly for some loose change in his coat pocket.

Ingo was normally not one to drink soda - that was Emmet’s preference. However, he often made exceptions when he had headaches, as he found the caffeine usually found in certain sugary drinks was a good secondary solution to pain relievers.

Glancing back at the crowd further down the subway momentarily, Ingo pulled back his sleeve to check the time.

12:18 pm.

They definitely wouldn’t have time to pick up some pain relievers for his headache at this rate, if Elesa wanted to take them to that new and popular food truck.

Ingo sighed as he fished out a handful of pocket change. He counted the coins to make sure he had enough, before pushing the money into the machine’s slot.

The panel on the side lit up as it registered the payment, and Ingo browsed the selection of drinks available in the rows behind the glass.

Cherub-juici, Fruit-zel, Vanillyte, Ener-joltik…

That last one had been added to the stock at Emmet’s insistence. It was an energy drink that Ingo thought tasted (appropriately) like electrified tv static, but among all of the fruit juices, it was one of the only drinks that had any caffeine.

Rubbing his aching scalp under his hat, Ingo sighed and input the drink’s number into the machine. With a ding, the drink was dropped into the pickup slot, and unused change was deposited for return.

Ingo pocketed the extra change and slipped his hand into the slot to retrieve the drink. Looking over the can’s design in his hands momentarily, Ingo took note of all the joltiks and thunderbolt design that decorated the drink.

No wonder Emmet wanted to add this to the Battle Subway’s stock.

Ingo cracked the can open and took a few quick drinks, trying to get it to bypass his tastebuds entirely so that he didn’t have to taste it, but…yup, just as staticky as the last time he remembered.

Swallowing with a slight grimace, Ingo looked through the groups of people standing around, back at the crowd further down the subway. The music was still going strong, and he could spot Emmet’s white cap and Elesa’s designer jacket amongst the crowd.

Did they forget they only had an hour for lunch?

Ingo glanced down the other way; he was surprised no depot agents in charge of this section of the station had come yet to break up the crowd…perhaps they were all at lunch already.

The group of musicians had probably strategically planned the time they came to start playing, which meant they were most likely consciously trying to get around the rules. But Ingo didn’t entirely mind that.

He understood it could be a problem causing such a blockage near the platforms when the single and double lines were running, but they weren’t right now. What public traffic could it hold up, if no one over here had any trains to catch at the moment?

And from a safer distance where his headache didn’t react quite as strongly, he did quite admire the band’s musical skills. It was a nice change of pace from the same few tracks the Battle Subway repeated over their systems every single day.

Ingo took another rushed sip of his drink, but jolted with an unexpected hiccup.

He pressed his hand against his chest in surprise, hoping no one heard that over the ambience of the subway. Perhaps he should stop trying to force a carbonated drink down quickly, even if it meant he’d have to taste the awful static.

Then he heard a barely audible sniff.

Becoming acutely aware that someone was watching him, most likely having heard him hiccup, the subway boss looked over the side of his uniform’s collar, at the end of the line of vending machines.

Someone was hiding behind the large appliances, peeking out and staring at him with a look of caution in their eyes.

A child?

It wasn’t unheard of to see kids in the Battle Subway section of Gear Station, but this one seemed exceptionally young to be here.

And they seemed very unsure of their surroundings.

…were they lost?

The two stared at each other for a moment, unmoving. Ingo was still, but his mind was already shifting out of a relaxed mode into a more attentive one, despite the bothersome headache.

A lost child in a busy place such as a subway was a matter of upmost importance!

“Ah,” Ingo cleared his throat, hoping he wouldn’t hiccup again, as he turned to the child. “…hello. Are you…lost?”

The child did not respond, but instead pulled a little further behind the side of the vending machine.

“…are your parents around?” Ingo tried again. He glanced around at the people standing nearby, trying to see if anyone seemed like a worried parent looking for their child, but he saw nothing of the sort. Everyone was either on their phones, walking somewhere they clearly had to be, drawing closer to the subway band, or talking with groups of others.

Another sniff.

Ingo pulled a look of concern as he fumbled with the half-empty energy drink in his hands. Dropping the can into a nearby trash bin, he took curious steps closer, until he reached the end of the line of vending machines. Stepping around to face the child, he tried to get a better understanding of what he was dealing with, but still gave her some space.

He could see they were a little girl about six, seven years old at the most. Yellow clips decorated her blue hair, matching her skirt barely seen under her oversized sweater. A buneary plush was held tightly in her arms, and a backpack was on the ground beside her. It was clear she had been crying, from the way she wiped at her eyes.

“Do you require assistance?” Ingo asked again as he adjusted his hat by the brim, trying to extend a more general offer in case he was being too specific; he was unaware the sentence might be too formal for a child of her age.

Instead of silence, he received a stifled sob this time, as the girl backed up against the wall.

Ingo adjusted the tie around his neck nervously. He already felt awkward with kids…how do you converse with a child? And this one wouldn’t even respond to him! He knew she couldn’t entirely help it, but she wasn’t making things any easier; he couldn’t help if he didn’t know what was wrong! And this bothersome headache was slowing things further, scrambling his thoughts.

Honestly, Emmet always seemed better with the children who came through the station; he was usually the one they came up to most, asking for those complimentary lollipops and battle subway conductors badges that Gear Station liked to hand out to kids.

It had always been a bit of a secret sore spot for Ingo seeing his pockets were always much more full of these things than Emmet’s at the end of the day. The kids always seemed so sweet; why did they seem so apprehensive to approach him, as opposed to his brother? Was it Emmet’s smile that put them more at ease? Maybe kids didn’t like his frown. Or his rather tall posture. Maybe he was scaring this little girl-

“…Momma said not to talk to strangers. And to tell her if someone did.”

The small voice interrupted Ingo from his thoughts, so quiet, he almost missed it amongst the crowded bustle of the subway.

She talked!

And she had a mother! One that taught her well in the ways of safety, it seemed. He didn’t cross it out entirely, but now it seemed unlikely that this was a case of abandonment.

“Ah! Well,” Ingo started talking before he knew what he was going to say, just relieved she was now opening up. “I’m…a worker here. I’m Ingo, one of the Subway Bosses who runs this station, the Battle Subway.”

The girl’s distressed expression remained unchanged, clearly having no understanding of what his name, or the title of “Subway Boss” meant. A fresh tear ran down her face, and she wiped at it, not comforted at all.

Ingo lost the short burst of confidence he had.

“So, your mother should be alright with you talking to me.” Ingo kept going, the beginnings of a listless ramble. He glanced around again, in case he missed an obvious sign of a searching parent the first time. “Is your mother here? Do you see her anywhere, or know where she is?”

The girl hugged her buneary plush tighter, shaking her head as a silent no.

Even if she was shy about it, he finally had confirmation on what he suspected was wrong.

But the situation didn’t seem to be getting any easier for the girl; she still held her buneary plush tight in her arms, pressed up against the corner between the wall and the vending machine in an attempt to seem smaller. Like she was still wary of him.

It dawned on Ingo that perhaps him standing over her while she was backed against a wall, with how tall he was, wasn’t doing any favors. And his frown-

Ingo crouched down to stoop more to her level, and did his best to give her a smile. It barely tugged at the corners of his mouth, pathetically underwhelming compared to his brother’s famous grins, but it already made him seem severely less intimidating.

“Well, I can help you find your mother.” He offered, extending a hand out to her. “A passenger’s safety is of upmost importance, but their needs must also be attended to! Let’s get your back to her.”

Maybe it was the promises and words of consolation, showing he was someone she could trust in this loud, scary, and foreign place. Maybe it was the less intimidating posture and reassuring smile he gave her. Or maybe it was even mistaking the meaning of his outstretched arm. But whatever it was, the girl opened up to Ingo; she got up, buneary plush still clutched tightly in one arm, and hugged him as a few more fresh tears spilled down her face.

Ingo did not know what to do with this, and let her dry her tears onto him as he held still for a moment.

“It is so big and loud here!” The small girl confessed to him, her eyes wet. “I lost Momma, she might have left on the trains already!”

Ingo’s aching skull readily agreed with the loud part.

But…left already?

It sounded like she was a commuter then, using the subway for Unovan travel, not battles.

She was in the wrong half of the station then! What was she doing over here, in the battle subway?

And was she a tourist here in Nimbasa? That would explain why nothing seemed familiar to her!

“I’m sure she’s still here, looking for you,” Ingo reassured her. If she was in the wrong section of the station, perhaps it would be best to take her to Gear Station’s services. Taking a glance at his watch, he noticed he didn’t have a lot of time to go searching with her anyways - 12:26 pm. “I can take you to a service center and make a call for your mother. Do you remember her name? What she looks like?”

The girl pulled away to express a face resembling deep thought for a few moments.

“She’s got hair the same color as mine!”

Ingo waited for more information, but none came.

Was that all she could remember?

“Ah, I see,” Ingo rubbed the back of his neck. Maybe he should take a different approach to this. “Well then, what’s your name?”

“Dawn,” the girl responded with some hesitance, as she tugged at the bottom of her skirt. She seemed hesitant to share this information, most likely from her mother instructing her not to, but she seemed to trust Ingo at this point. He appreciated the eventual cooperation with answering his questions, but he wasn’t entirely relieved to see how quickly she opened up to him.

Ingo glanced around again. How long had she been hiding here? He was glad he was seemingly the first person to approach her, if this was all it took to get her to trust a stranger.

“Alright then, Miss Dawn,” Ingo stood up again, once again overshadowing her at his full height. But this time, she didn’t shrink away. “Can you retrieve your backpack? I will escort you to a services center.”

The girl sniffed again, her eyes finally dry as she turned behind her to pick up her backpack. As she did so, Ingo quickly threw a glance back at the crowd.

Still loud, still playing music, still including Emmet and Elesa, right where he left them. They’d probably still be there by the time he finished this, as well.

He shook his head, doubting any of them would be leaving for lunch at this point. He’d have to see if Gear Station’s gift shop carried pain relievers.

As Dawn pulled her backpack straps up onto her shoulders, Ingo held a hand out to her.

“The Battle Subway might slow down around lunch, but the rest of Gear Station is very crowded this time of day. We can easily get separated. Take care not to come uncoupled from me.”

Dawn’s tiny hand grasped his own, her plush in the other.

With his passenger ready, Ingo pointed to the Battle Subway’s exit, that opened up into the rest of Gear Station. “Ready? Onward we roll!”

————

Leading the small girl through the crowd of people had been quite a challenge. Ingo had never taken into account how slow children moved, though with such short legs, he felt he should have expected it.

He was constantly slowing down for her, probably one of the only people in the station moving at a leisurely pace, with everyone else hurrying to catch various trains, too busy talking on phones or with friends to pay much attention to anything else.

But Dawn’s hand never let go of his, which he was grateful for. It would be hard to find her again in this crowd, he felt.

The drone of people, and station announcements, and general subway ambience dully irritated his headache, but the caffeine from earlier seemed to be helping, as he found himself with a clearer head than earlier.

Subtly keeping an eye out for any women with blue hair as he made his way closer to Gear Station’s service desk, he never saw what he was looking for. But he quickly explained the situation to one of the employees, and after getting a few more details out of Dawn, (Ingo discovered that indeed, she was six years old, and no father was present) they prepared an announcement to play over the subway’s PA system.

“Attention Gear Station, we have a lost girl named Dawn, who was found in the Battle Subway, and she’s looking for her mom,” one of the service center attendants announced, working with the limited information they had. “She’s six years old, has a stuffed buneary, and is wearing yellow hair clips with a pink sweater. You can find her at Gear Station’s service center near the front exit. Thank you.”

Ingo and Dawn listened to the announcement play through the station, watching people’s heads momentarily glance up from their devices and conversations upon listening.

“Thank you,” Ingo thanked the service attendant, as he then led Dawn over to a few chairs nearby to sit down. All they could do now was wait.

The girl seemed considerably more comfortable with Ingo now, seeing that he was helping her, and that there was nothing to be scared of, despite his intimidating appearance. She didn’t shy away from him, kicking her feet on the chair as she still insisted to hold his hand.

Ingo’s eyes still scanned the crowd for a possible mother, but was yet to see anyone with blue hair like Dawn’s. Amongst the scanning, his eyes fell upon the station’s clock.

12:46 pm.

His shift was starting up again soon, with a single battle scheduled right at 1pm. But the thought of leaving this girl alone before her mother came to pick her up did not sit right with him.

Ingo was a stickler for keeping a tight schedule, but this was more important, he decided. Surely, the challengers would understand.

“What’s that?”

Ingo turned his head down to Dawn, who was now pointing at something inside his coat.

His eyes followed her finger to see she was pointing at one of his inside pockets; a brightly-colored wrapper was sticking out of it, which must have been what got her attention.

“Ah!” Ingo pulled it out, to reveal a lollipop to her. “It’s candy. I hand them out to children, to promote Gear Station’s family friendly atmosphere.”

The verbose explanation sailed right over Dawn’s head, only understanding that he had a lollipop. The Subway Boss used his other hand to reach into an opposite pocket, pulling out a little pin badge, bearing the same logo that was on his hat.

“It comes with a free conductor’s badge as well. Would you like them?”

Ingo held the candy and the badge out to the girl, who took both carefully, but excitedly. She tore the wrapper off and stuck the lollipop in her mouth with a big grin, and stars in her eyes.

“Thanks, Mister Ingo!”

That seemed to be the first time Ingo recalled a child at gear station say a sentence like that with such happiness. Usually, if by some chance he did hand a badge and candy to a child, the parent usually had to coax a very scripted ‘thanks’ out of them with the famous “now, what do we say to the nice conductor?”

Again, maybe it was the frown-

“You’re welcome, Miss Dawn,” Ingo addressed the child. His frown only seemed slightly less so, but clear happiness of his own was apparent in his voice.

“Dawn!”

A voice cut through the crowd that Ingo immediately snapped his head to. With the emotion held in the single word, it unmistakably belonged to an overwhelmingly relieved mother.

A moment later; a blue-haired woman emerged from the parted crowd, tears in her eyes as she held her arms out.

“Momma!” Dawn cried as she leapt from her chair, running to her mother’s arms. Ingo simply stood from his chair to finally talk with her, but not making a move to disturb the moment.

“Where did you go?” The mother swooped Dawn up in her arms, protectively holding her close against her shoulder. “I was looking everywhere for you!”

“I heard fun music,” the child confessed, wrapping her arms around her mother’s neck. “And wanted to listen. But then a lot of people came, and I got lost!”

Ingo stiffened at this new bit of information.

Did she wander off to listen to the Subway band, only for the influx of curious people to confuse her?

Perhaps Ingo could now see another reason as to why bands should not be allowed to play in the Battle Subway. It subtly, but immediately, changed his view on letting bands sneak around the rules.

“But Mister Ingo helped me find you! He told me he’d get me back to you!”

Attention turned to Ingo as the mother’s gaze fixed on him, her daughter pointing back at him.

“Ah,” Ingo readjusted his cap by the brim. “Hello Ma’am, I presume you are the mother; I am Subway Boss Ingo, co-head of Gear Station’s Battle Subway. I found your daughter quite lost, and escorted her here to the service center.”

an arm wrapped around Ingo in a hug as Dawn’s mother stepped forward, still holding her child in the other arm. Ingo stiffened at the surprise contact - a challenger, much less a commuter, had never hugged him before.

“Thank you, sir,” the mother choked up, her voice wet with emotion again. “I was so worried!”

She pulled away from him, to make eye contact as she continued speaking.

“But yes, I am Johanna, Dawn’s mother. Honestly, I didn’t even know where to start looking! Dawn and I are from Sinnoh, but we came here for Nimbasa’s Pokémon musicals, as I participate in Pokémon contests.”

From Sinnoh! Ingo did a mental double take; he had suspected Dawn and her mother were tourists, from how unfamiliar Dawn seemed to be with the environment, but…from a different region all together? They certainly were far from home!

“Today was our last day sightseeing before heading back home, but when I went to step onto the train, Dawn was no longer by my side! And I don’t know this station at all…I didn’t even know it had a section for battling! I would have been searching and stressing for hours, if you didn’t bring her back! And who knows what could have happened in that time I was-“

For the third time, emotions seemed to creep up in her voice. Ingo could not relate to the scenario of a parent losing a child in a busy place at all (or even having a parental relationship with a child), but he was entirely empathetic.

“Well, I am glad to be of service, Ma’am!” Ingo expressed to Johanna, in an attempt to derail her current, incredibly stressful train of thought. “Happy I could help. And aside from this mishap, I do hope you found your time in Nimbasa City enjoyable!”

The gratitude was apparent in Johanna’s eyes as she smiled at him, readjusting Dawn in her arms (who was still enjoying her lollipop)

“It was,” Johanna answered him. “Nimbasa has proven its everything it’s advertised itself to be! Lots of entertaining events to participate in, a good, safe atmosphere…and you’ve done a good job advocating for the good service Nimbasa prides itself in! I would love to return and participate in another contest here sometime.”

A light flush crept up on Ingo’s face as he readjusted his coat, soaking in her casual but striking compliment. “Like I said ma’am, just happy to be of service.”

The station’s clock chimed, indicating it had reached the end of the hour, 1:00 pm.

Ingo’s shift would be starting again.

“Well, we should get going”, Johanna sighed as she turned back to Ingo from the clock. “I missed our scheduled train, so it seems I should go buy two more tickets before the last one possibly leaves for the day. Im unfamiliar with the station’s schedule…”

“Ah!” Ingo interjected, seeing another moment to be helpful. “No need Ma’am, you can simply update your tickets. Here, I’ll escort you to the proper booth…”

The Subway boss led Johanna and her daughter through the crowd of people, taking them to a booth to update their scheduled trip times on their tickets.

He could stand to be a few minutes late.

————

Johanna sat in her chair, the telephone out of focus from the corner of her eye, but almost always present in her vision.

She didn’t do much else these days, she found. Not since Dawn disappeared.

The clock on the wall ticked repetitively, methodically in the background. The day was winding down with the setting sun, another day where absolutely nothing had happened.

Her glameow paced silently but incessantly, as it did most days, leeching off of her trainer’s stress.

It had been several months since the teen disappeared, and it was a perplexing case.

Johanna had bid goodnight to her daughter as she returned to her room for the night, going to sleep. The next morning, when it had reached half-passed noon and she still had not emerged, Johanna hesitantly entered Dawn’s bedroom to check on her.

The room had been empty.

No one could figure out what happened. Where did she go? The windows were shut and locked, and with only inside locks, it showed she couldn’t have left through a window.

The front door had been locked as well, and had never been opened. She didn’t leave that way.

No signs of a forced entry were present as well, and all of Dawn’s important belongings were still in her room, including her very own Pokémon.

Frantic calls to all of Dawn’s friends confirmed she was not with them, and hadn’t been at any point in the last 24 hours.

It became crystal clear very quickly, that something very not-normal had happened. It was as alarming of a case as it was bizarre, and a surge of social media attention swarmed on it like a flock of fearow.

But Johanna didn’t want the attention, more focused on spreading the information than actually helping. In fact, she hated it. They didn’t care about her or her daughter, they just wanted a story. She wanted answers, and sometimes it felt like she was the only person actually looking for them.

Eventually, the attention died down some. Her phone stopped ringing with reporters asking for interviews, and people stopped bringing it up with her during trips to town.

All the questions had been asked, time and time again, and finally that time had passed. But when would she get answers? None of the research she was doing ever helped any.

Then people started consoling her. Expressing their condolences, and asking how she would deal with it.

The very thought mortified her, wondering how people could give up like that! Her daughter was not gone. Dawn was not dead. She knew it.

She was just lost.

And so she would spend most days waiting by the phone as she researched, hoping someone with some information would call and offer help. Hoping someone would say they found her daughter.

Hoping even Dawn herself would call, and say she was alright, and coming back home.

So when a knock came at the door, firm but hesitant, her heart leapt with hope before she mentally scolded herself.

Of course not. How could you get your hopes up?

“Yes?” Johanna cracked opened the door, to see a surprisingly familiar man. His face looked older and weathered, weary but not absent of compassion. The coat he wore, and the hat on his head; both were tattered and shredded, but they were familiar all the same. However, a foreign article of clothing, a loose tunic, replaced his dress shirt and tie she remembered.

But the Battle Subway emblem on his hat is what explicitly sparked her memory. It was the same emblem Dawn had on that pin she had received,back when they left Nimbasa city.

Dawn had loved that pin.

Almost a decade ago. He was the man who helped find Dawn in the bustling Nimbasa subway.

What was this man doing all the way here, in Sinnoh? And why was he so disheveled?

“Ah, hello Ma’am,” The man started, before being cut off.

“Mom?”

Johanna’s heart skipped several beats at that sweet, sweet voice. The voice she would not let fade from her head, and held onto. The hope she had locked away so tightly a second ago leapt from its cage, overwhelming the previous confusion she felt at seeing Ingo.

Surely-

Johanna quickly opened the door to see her daughter standing next to the man. She was pressed into his side, holding his hand tightly. She was dressed strangely, in clothes she had never seen before - a handkerchief around her head and a red scarf were the first things she noticed, before taking note of the blue uniform and strange shoes. She looked just as disheveled as the Subway Boss, a tiredness in her features. Tears were already beginning to spill from her eyes.

Johanna barely had time to register that what she was seeing was reality, and not a cruel trick of the mind, or a vivid dream, when her daughter rushed forward and wrapped her arms around her tightly. Johanna heaved a sob and returned the hug, holding her daughter close.

She was tangible, and she was here.

Dawn openly sobbed into her mother’s embrace, standing in the doorway of her home. She had returned back home.

Johanna looked up at Ingo through tear-obscured vision. The man who had made sure her daughter was safely returned to her all those years ago, at Gear Station.

He made sure she was safely brought home, back to her once again, didn’t he?

He helped Dawn get back to her when she was lost, when he himself had been even more lost.

He had felt like he brought her back terribly late, the moment he saw how much accumulated worry had sunken into her features when she initially cracked the door open.

But all of that washed away when she laid eyes on her daughter beside him, the girl he had not initially remembered, but come to care for all the same.

“Thank you,” the weeping mother choked out as she pulled Ingo close to join in on the hug, holding her daughter tightly in her other arm. “Thank you.”

————

Check out this amazing fanart for the fic by @justawipp !

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