"Akiyama," he said, and there was a trace of disappointment in it.
"Then let's battle. Go, Cacnea!" Nikozo threw his ball.
A round little cactus landed on the deck and stuck out two oval arms.
Akiyama drifted again just looking at it.
"Man. It's uncanny," he muttered.
Meanwhile, Nikozo had already called for Bullet Seed.
Gengar ate it standing still, then scratched his head and looked back at Akiyama, confused.
Uh, hello? Anybody home?
Akiyama snapped out of it and gave him an apologetic grin. "Sorry. Get in close, Hypnosis."
Gengar shot forward.
"Sand Attack."
Cacnea kicked up a spray of sand, straight into Gengar's wide-open eyes.
Gengar recoiled, rubbing at them, and the Hypnosis died right there.
"You can do that?"
"Noted. Definitely noted."
"Cacnea, Sucker Punch!"
"Shadow Ball—right in his mouth!"
The claw wrapped in dark energy was faster, and it caught Gengar in the gut, but the Shadow Ball still left Gengar's hand and hit Cacnea square in the face.
Cacnea toppled over, out cold.
The progress bar dropped to 18.
Nikozo blanked for a beat, then nodded. "Yeah. That's a serious Gengar. Come back, Cacnea. You did great."
Gengar floated back to Akiyama's side and hid another snicker behind his hand.
He could feel himself getting stronger.
When the next Trainer stepped up, though, Akiyama shook his head.
He looked at Nikozo—that face, that exact face—and every bit of his appetite for battling was gone.
Something in his chest had gone hollow in a way he couldn't put words to.
With the whole crowd watching him go, he took Gengar and Gardevoir back inside.
"Gen-gar?" Gengar tipped his head at him.
Akiyama sat on the bed and let himself fall backward onto it.
He didn't need to guess what Gengar was asking.
"Because I ran into a friend I hadn't seen in years, and I got my hopes up talking to him, and then it turned out he just looks the same. That's all."
Vague, but true enough.
Gardevoir seemed to get the shape of it. She sat down beside him, legs folded together, and stroked his hair.
Gengar seemed to get it too. He settled onto the bed without a sound.
The heaviness in the room made Akiyama feel worse, not better.
He rolled over twice and got up.
"Come on. Let's go up top."
He took Gardevoir's hand and marched out toward the elevator. Gengar came through the wall and draped himself over his shoulder.
The wind on the top deck was strong, and the smell of the ocean hit hard—not exactly pleasant.
But it blew the murk out of Akiyama's head.
He leaned out over the rail and yelled at the water tearing away behind them. Twice.
Gengar copied him, standing right on the rail, shouting at the sea.
Gardevoir was the only one who didn't. She couldn't quite let go like that. It seemed embarrassing.
By evening they came down for dinner.
Like last time, the buffet ran twenty-four hours. Akiyama had barely gotten his plate down on the table before a shadow fell across it.
He followed it up.
"Nikozo?" Familiar face, total stranger.
Nikozo pulled out the chair across from him and made himself at home.
"You looked like something's eating at you." He said it lightly, picking up his knife and fork and starting on the steak.
There were still ordinary animals in this world. Most of them just had to be farmed.
Akiyama didn't deny it. "A little, yeah."
He cut into his own steak, speared a piece, and lifted it.
"Honestly, you don't strike me as a guy with problems, Mr. Akiyama."
"Oh? What makes you say that?" He chewed, swallowed, and looked up.
"Money solves most problems, doesn't it?" Nikozo said it like it was self-evident.
Akiyama laughed under his breath. He was starting to like this kid. He set his knife and fork down on either side of the plate.
"So how'd you decide I have money?"
Nikozo paused a moment. "Nobody uses a knife and fork that correctly by accident. And I've been watching you a while. Even the way you walk has been drilled into you."
"Nonsense. I'm extremely casual." Remembering the etiquette lessons a certain other Gardevoir had put him through, he actually shivered.
Terrifying.
Nikozo laughed and scratched the back of his head. "So much for fooling you, Mr. Akiyama."
"Come on. It's Akiyama. Just Akiyama." He stood up and held out a hand.
"As in the Nick in Nick Ferry Lines." Nikozo got up fast and shook it.
They let go.
"You look exactly like a friend of mine," Akiyama said, sitting back down.
"Maybe you saw me on TV? They stuck me in front of a camera a while back. That whole business got pretty loud."
"I haven't watched TV in years." Akiyama shrugged and picked his utensils back up.
"Then I flatter myself," Nikozo said, grinning.
"The heir to Nick Ferry Lines. Real low profile." Akiyama said it around a mouthful of steak, dignity nowhere in sight.
Nikozo shoved in a cut piece of his own and mumbled through it. "Friends, then?"
"You had to ask?" Akiyama looked over at him, amused.
Nikozo blinked, then broke into a smile.
Just then Cacnea came back from the food line, cradling two Berries.
He walked over to Gengar and made a soft noise until he had his attention.
Gengar floated down off the chair and stood in front of him.
"Gen… gar?" Curious.
Cacnea held out one of the Berries.
Gengar pointed at himself.
Cacnea nodded.
Gengar took it—and then threw his arms around him in an enormous hug.
That strange body of his didn't feel a single spine.
Now it was Cacnea's turn to stand there stunned.
Gengar let go, popped the Berry in his mouth, and chewed happily.
Gardevoir climbed down from her chair out of curiosity, crouched slowly, and poked Cacnea with one careful finger.
She got stuck.
She yanked her hand back and looked at Gengar.
How? Why doesn't that hurt you?
Gengar blinked at her innocently.
No idea. It just doesn't.
Cacnea lifted the second Berry. That one was for Gardevoir.
"Garde." She took it, thanking him.
Then she tapped Gengar and pointed toward the food line.
Gengar got it instantly and zipped off, returning shortly with two Berries he'd picked out himself, which he presented to Cacnea.
Fair trade.
And in that small back-and-forth, three Pokémon built themselves a simple friendship.
"The most unique Gardevoir in the world, if the rumors are true. She really is beautiful." Nikozo watched her, every inch a lady.
"She is. Getting to travel with her is honestly the best thing that's ever happened to me." Akiyama didn't bother being modest about it.
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