Good morning to all of our patrons at Gear Station!

Braviary-eyed challengers may have noticed scheduled changes to some of our battle lines; these adjustments will not go into effect until the designated dates, but trainers frequenting our facility are advised to take note for the future. It’s our duty to ensure the comfort and safety of all our riders, a courtesy which, of course, extends to our faculty.

It's our privilege to confirm that Subway Boss Ingo is welcoming the arrival of two new passengers this spring, and ask that our visitors continue to treat our staff with patience and dignity during this unpredictable phase of life.

Our Single, Super Single, Multi and Super Multi trains will continue to run as usual until otherwise noted.

And don’t forget, Diamond Junction starts today! Everyone follow the rules and have fun!

-

The sheer volume of messages waiting when Ingo unmuted his Xtransceiver that afternoon was alarming, though not entirely unexpected. Perhaps it was an odd mix of emotions, but anxiety and foresight weren’t mutually exclusive.

He wasn’t exactly eager to go through the bunch, but his years of working at the station had taught him that it was never worth putting paperwork off; it only caused more to pile up and delays to occur from lack of communication.

The best approach was to start small, with something one knew they had the capacity to handle.

Please forgive me if this is unwelcome but I saw the announcement on Gear Station’s Chattr this morning. Are you alright?

That was manageable. Always up to date, Cilan-- the backbone of the metro community. While it took a moment to figure out precisely what to say, he stayed true to his purpose and sent a reply promptly.

Needless to say this morning’s announcement has been some time coming. Your concern is greatly appreciated, but please don’t worry on my behalf; I have no intention of letting this situation derail me. I will be fine. Thank you for asking.

That’s the spirit! If it would help, I can take a look into meal planning for expectant parents and see if I can offer any recommendations.

Not to imply that you haven’t done your due diligence!

I’m sure you’ve done plenty to ensure your passengers’ well being!

No offense taken, I promise you; one would assume that there’s a world of difference between researching as a layperson and coming from a culinary background. That said, I’m sure a journeyman’s understanding will be plenty. While there’s certainly no need to remind you of the dangers inherent to having a sibling, I don’t relish the thought of your brothers catching wind of this hypothetical research and the grief they might cause you.

Oh. Well, it was a public post, after all. They would know why I was looking into it.

Knowing the facts doesn’t preclude willfully ignorant badgering. You would be surprised how often I’ve found Everstones in my pockets recently, despite repeated reminders that I am not, in fact, Galvantula.

Haha, you might have a point there, but I can handle anything they come up with. I don’t want to push if you’re sure, but if you ever do decide you’d like help with the culinary side of things, please let me know!

That’s incredibly kind of you, and while I would hate to be the factor causing you to detour, I may be convinced to take you up on the offer in the coming months.

No detour at all! I’d be happy to help!

Thank you, and have a good day at the gym.

And there they were. He’d known this would be the best place to start; it was only helped by the fact that talking to Cilan wasn’t so far removed from the ease of conversations held with his twin. Maybe it was the common interest in the rail system, or maybe it was because the young man was part of a set, himself.

Regardless, the fact that the correspondence had gone so smoothly was a weight off of Ingo’s back. He wouldn’t take the time to respond to each conversation right away-- he had duties to attend to, and couldn’t justify the time that would take when he was at work-- but it made the looming specter back off to its proper space which, in turn, made it easier to keep his focus where it belonged.

That was only fair! It would be a disservice to everyone involved in the Diamond Junction event if he didn’t give it his all.

Due to the nature of the event, however, it meant they were seeing a greater volume of challengers than usual, which also meant that there was more downtime while waiting to see if they would be met in the boss’ car.

It was like paperwork, he reminded himself, tapping out a response to Burgh.

You little sneak, you never said!

Congratulations!

Is this why you had to skip last month’s visit?

It was related. That’s also patently untrue; the announcement has been public for three hours.

You know perfectly well what I meant.

That’s not even your writing style.

Elesa wrote that. How long has she known, then?

A while.

Ah.

It’s not necessarily a happy occasion, is it?

I suppose that makes sense, you’re already married to the subway.

It is what it is. At this point, the only thing to be done is see it through to the destination.

Might I ask what that destination is? The post made it sound like you mean to keep them.

There had been a long break in the conversation at that point, which was all the answer Burgh needed in and of itself, but they both knew that Ingo wouldn’t allow the question to go indefinitely unanswered.

The precise end terminal has yet to be determined. It’s not a decision we are making lightly.

We?

Emmet and myself.

I should have guessed.

Things are alright between the two of you? This hasn’t caused any undue friction?

It’s been stressful, but I couldn’t ask for a better partner.

I know what you mean when you say that, but you might try to avoid using that kind of phrasing for now.

People will be quick to get the wrong idea.

We needn’t have said anything at all for people to make assumptions.

True.

Well, do let me know if I should ask Leavanny to help craft a pair of tiny conductor’s hats, won’t you?

It would be precious.

It’s a charming thought. I’ve yet to see any updates on your gallery show; is it still underway?

It wasn’t… proper of them to remain seated while on duty, but they would hear it if and when a team bested the subway trainers ahead of their car, giving them plenty of time to assume their standard poses at its far end. He wasn’t so far along yet that it was a challenge to get up, after all. This had been the compromise-- a way to maintain the system participants had come to expect without making Emmet any more nervous; in hindsight, the fall weeks prior had been a set of unfortunate circumstances packed into a split second, but that didn’t mean something similar couldn’t happen again.

The team they’d most recently been called to battle found their 20^th victory, mercifully filling the gap in his most recent communications.

Can you give me a name?

Can you provide context?

I know some folks back in Sinnoh. Good at bringing people to justice.

There’s no need to go so far out of your way. Emmet’s already pursuing that end, and is far more local.

I’ll be in touch.

The chain went silent, which wasn’t so concerning at first, but then it stretched on well past the break for battle. That… that was bad. For all that Emmet’s frustrations were sincere-- and his plans to combat Arceus weren’t purely in jest-- the response had been meant as a joke. He should have remembered that, while he could usually trust his words to convey that kind of nuance, plain text carried about as much of it as his expression tended toward.

Clay?

Do not encourage my brother.

If you refuse to answer me, I WILL make a pit stop in Driftveil City this evening to speak with you personally .

No need for that. You don’t need to be running around in your condition.

I’ve been to half of the subway stations in Unova since this morning; distance is not an issue. More to the point, I’m only 18 weeks.

Already 18 weeks, more like.

Don’t worry, I was just talking to your pops.

To what end?

You can ask.

And that was enough of that. Ingo knew perfectly well that, while he could restate the question, it wouldn’t net any results; ‘Never said you’d get an answer’ had been a favored punchline of Clay’s for at least a decade. It used to drive Emmet up the wall and, to be perfectly frank, it still did; it was just that he was far less likely to walk into said wall nowadays.

When he was able-- just to be sure-- Ingo asked, “Clay hasn’t contacted you recently, has he?”

Emmet blinked at him and then pulled up his Xtransceiver’s messaging app. After a moment to scroll through his inbox, he shook his head. “No. Why?”

“Earlier this afternoon, he unknowingly offered to make Arceus disappear.”

“Huh.” Said Emmet, and then, perhaps predictably, “I should call him.”

And, before he changed gears for the afternoon, there was Iris:

You good?

Please save all questions for the end of the commute.

Figured.