Raihan's Flygon landed in puddles in Pyrite Town. It wasn't like him to show concern, or to be especially sentimental, but he didn't want to let go of his old friend's hand when he squeezed it.
'I'll be OK, mate. Get back to Lee.'
'...No. Olivia's with him. Wes is taking Amber and Fayiz. He'll be OK, Abbey. I'm not leaving you to deal with this alone.'
He returned Flygon. Water seeped into their boots. The streets were utterly deserted and doors tightly locked.
'Bloody hell... are you sure you want to do this?'
'I'm surprisingly calm.'
'For once, I think you're calmer than me. Alright, then!'
Flygon was replaced with his Torkoal and Turtonator. 'I doubt we can do much about Kyogre-level rain, but we'll give it a try! Get that Drought going, Torkoal! Shout me if you need me, Abbey. Seriously.'
Abbey stepped towards Pyrite Jail. The door slid aside. Chief Sherles expected her. He led her past cells packed with Cipher Peons to the jail's new, ultra-secure cell. Sherles opened a window, but Abbey shut it again.
'You can let me in. I'm not scared.'
'Are you sure...?'
'I'm sure.'
'OK. I'll watch the CCTV, just in case. I'll be right there if...'
She closed the door he unlocked behind her. Alfie glanced wearily up.
'Oh. My first visitor... and it's Abbey. Been a while, hm?'
'Apologise.'
He blinked as she sat opposite him on the grimy floor. 'I have nothing to apologise for.'
'You know you do.'
'You were emotionally cheating on me with Leon long before I slept with Lovrina.'
'I don't care whether you apologise to me. I'm asking you to apologise to your son. And yeah, I loved Leon, like a lot of people never let go of their first loves. But I've had 17 years to mull it over and believe it or not, I also loved you.'
'As if. Get real. You didn't know me. No-one knows me.'
'I'd usually say that, because I want to believe it myself, but you know what? Six years is a long time. I don't think I could help it. How could we avoid dropping those masks, running down back alleys in Nimbasa City? Waiting for you at the theatre to drive off into the middle of nowhere? Drunk on Heahea Beach, laughing until we cried? Your mum showing me old photos? I know I was part of your plan and I never let Leon go. But we let our guards down.'
'I'm an actor. Nothing was ever real. All I did was trick you.'
'Maybe I wouldn't even have thought any of this, 17 years ago. But you know when I knew? When my stepdad found a piece of topazolite and–'
'He's lying!'
'So thanks for confirming you went to him to ask about the perfect stone for my engagement ring. And you thought he was such a dipshit he'd never repeat a thing to me or Nolan, so you went and told him I was your rock, that you never wanted to get married or have another kid but you thought maybe if we did, you'd be able to "fix" yourself.'
'That's not–!'
'I know you hate that I know that because you thought I never loved you and only ever loved Leon... but I'd been happily married to him for nine years when Kai remembered that. And you know what? For the first time since I found out you were a total piece of shit, I had this pang. And I wondered. I actually wondered. I actually felt nostalgic and... I actually missed you. Because I remembered those times we had that for better or worse, I'd never have again, or with anyone else. Sure, my heart belongs to Leon and my kids. It always will. But there's still a piece that was once yours. Admit it, Alfie. I have. Now it's your turn.'
He said nothing. 'I know you have space in your heart for Lyndon. You might be a maniacal villain, but you're no psychopath. There was room in there for me. There's room for your son.'
'...I love Lyndon, in my own way. But if you think I have the capacity to admit that... to apologise or grovel to anyone... you've misjudged me. I act because I can't be genuine. Not even if I want to. I am incapable.'
'You just admitted it to me. And I know you can do even better. You admitted it to Kai. Come on, Alfie. I'm saying I think better of you even though you want to kill my husband. Can't you do an old friend a favour?'
'You were never my...'
'No, I wasn't. I was more than that. We were more similar than either of us want to admit. I hid my feelings because of my dad. Just like you. By the way, for what it's worth, Leon forgives you.'
'Oh, wow, I'm so lucky. Our purest hero Leon forgives me, even though I almost killed him and his wife remembers fucking me. Give me a break. The last thing I want is his pity. Does he forgive Rose, too?'
'No, he doesn't. OK, so you feel inferior to Leon. Instead of giving me that look, why don't you come with me to Citadark Isle and prove you're just as capable of feeling and forgiving before your son kills us all?'
'...I can't do it, Abbey. I don't know what Lyndon's up to, but I can't do it. I'm sorry. And that apology is genuine... as genuine as I can bear to be. But my apology to Lyndon wouldn't be. And he deserves better.'
'He deserves to kill everyone in Orre, including himself, or at least spend the rest of his life in jail? That's all that'll happen if you abandon him because he "deserves better."'
'I'm sorry, Abbey.'
Alfie stared down at his Zubat-print socks. 'I did love you. You deserved better... and you found it. I'm glad. Take Leon and your kids and get out of here. None of this is your problem. Your family have suffered enough at my hands already.'
'But it'll only catch up to us. We have family and friends here and I'm tangled in this web whether I like it or not, because I loved you, too. And Leon can forgive but he can't forget when he's never been the same since. And our kid is having your great-grandchild.'
'Thanks... for telling me how you felt. But I couldn't... and I still can't fix myself. Not for you. Not for Lyndon. Not for anyone.'
'I don't believe you.'
'Then you really are perfect for Leon... you have more faith in the man who tried to kill him than that man has in himself.'
'It's not about faith. I'm a scientist. I know a fact is a fact.'
'I'm not coming, Abbey. Take your kids and run. I guess if you don't... we really are tangled in this web together. Lyndon will kill us all.'
'But you can stop him!'
'I can't. You're wasting your time. Go be with your kids before you die.'
'Alfie... please.'
She stood, holding out her hand. 'I never thought I'd say "please" to you... but here you go. Please.'
He was silent. It was an improvement on the last time she saw him that he didn't leap up and try to escape; but somehow seeing him hunched, like a broken child as he pulled at the bobbles on his socks, was worse. She stood for a moment with the door wide open. He didn't move. He wasn't going to move. Abbey pulled the door shut. The lock clicked. She stared distantly at the wall ahead.
'Ma'am?'
Sherles' voice startled her. He beckoned her back to the desk.
'I don't know if this will mean anything to you.'
The monitor he turned showed Alfie's cell. He held something.
'That was in his pocket when he was arrested. We let him keep it.'
'What is it...?'
'It's a neck pillow. An inflatable one, made to look like a white Pokémon, but I don't recognise it.'
He sighed. 'I guess you don't, either.'
'No... I... I do. It's my Scorbunny pillow. I left it at his house in Gateon Port... before... well, the last time I saw him before I dumped him.'
'I see. He looks at it a lot.'
'Does he know he's on CCTV?'
'No. He hasn't asked any questions. He barely talks.'
'Oh... well. I was hoping he'd apologise to his son, Lyndon, but... I guess he just can't.'
'Would you like me to call you if there are any developments?'
'I doubt there'll be any. But thanks.'