The battle at Shaymin Village could have gone better. But they'd made it through.
The staff at the Treasure Town Guild infirmary had taken Astrid and Starr into their care, to be transferred and discharged at the medical centre in Destiny Village. Soon, Brisa and Curio would follow to their new home there. But not yet.
"Do you want to talk about this somewhere else? I feel like there's a lot I'm missin' and, well, obviously, we both have baggage to unload."
"Oh gods. Yes. Okay. Just, uh... Please help me check on Astrid and Starr first. Then we can go wherever you want, Curio."
They'd settled on the Beach. It wasn't a bad place for a conversation, and almost everyone else was busy with the move to Destiny Village. The two pokémon walked down there together, making light conversation about how their friends would pull through in no time, or the impressive feats of combat that their allies had performed in the recent fight.
It was harder to talk about what
Brisa had done. She'd... she'd used her paralysing light on Curio again. Deliberately, this time. And then...
Well.
She'd
mauled her.
But Curio wasn't asking about that. In fact, her wounds were even healing already from a quick oran berry snack, and the red stains on her fur weren't so bad in the light of day. No, Curio wanted to talk about
Jesse Stranger.
Jesse Stranger, the human-turned-delphox who had saved Brisa's world, only to disappear into the aether years later.
Jesse Stranger, who had read her mind a thousand times and concluded that she was a violent animal he might have to put down.
Jesse Stranger, her father.
What could she possibly say that would make enough sense? That would explain...? She didn't know. The waves beat against the shoreline, and she sat to listen to them with her friend, who seemed to know she was composing a thought. Probably because she'd been tracing mnemonics in the sand with her tail for a good minute.
"I've never talked about this," Brisa said, at last. "I've never told anyone what... what he thought of me. It was... painful to think about. So bad, I haven't recalled it clearly ever since. And who would even believe me if I told 'em? Everyone back home knows Jesse Stranger was a hero. So I stayed quiet for six years, pushin' the memory down the whole time."
{If I catch you like that again, I won’t hesitate to put you down like the violent animal you are.}
Brisa shuddered.
"He didn't say it out loud. He thought it, and I heard him inside my head. That's... how I know he weren't kiddin'."
