Day 30 (Alt): New Friends
It had started fairly simply as a conversation about rock climbing on Chatotter, with Ingo and Grant both talking about their experiences free-climbing and the various views they’ve seen. The two discussed climbing techniques, height records, particularly dangerous climbs that they pushed through. Finally, Grant brought up what had been on Ingo’s mind - Lets Climb Together.
And so Ingo and Emmet found themselves out on the coast of Kalos, in Cyllage City, looking down from the cliff top road down onto the town. “This is beautiful,” Ingo says in an airy tone. “I would climb these mountains daily for this view alone.”
“I am Emmet. That seems like a lot of work,” Emmet says, looking down at the city. There were roads and stairs that lead up to where the pair were standing, but to go any higher would either require a Pokémon or climbing gear to scale the mountain. “This view is enough, and we did work for it.”
“Yes, but it was all leg work. Not really that satisfying or helpful in getting my heart pumping,” Ingo says as he looks down the road to the little Sneasel that was running towards the two. “Return to station, Young Lady!”
“My blood got pumping,” Emmet mutters as he begins moving back to the stairs. “I am Emmet, and I want to be on time. Come along, brother!”
“Coming!” As Young Lady scampers up onto Ingo’s back, the pair of twins begin to descend the stairs towards Cyllage’s city center, chatting about the variety of Pokemon that they had seen in the cavern the day before, and whether any would make for good additions to their teams. The entire journey, Young Lady swoops around Ingo like he’s a stationary pole, using him for her own entertainment.
Finally, the pair arrive at the Gym, where a young man stands outside, gemstones woven into his hair. “Ah, Ingo!” He calls out, waving towards the pair as they approach. “I’m glad the both of you could make it! Come on in!” He quickly opens the doors, and ushers the two in.
“I’m glad we could make it, Grant! I wouldn’t want to mi-” Ingo pauses mid-sentence, and he, Emmet, and Young Lady all look around at the gym in awe. It was modeled like the inside of a cavern, with stone walls and ceilings, and a large waterfall cascading down in the back into the retention section below. Ingo, and especially Young Lady, were immediately pulled back to their time in Hisui at the sight and sound, and it didn’t surprise either twin when the Sneasel leapt from Ingo’s shoulder and ran to the nearest wall.
“I am Emmet. This is beautiful,” Emmet says softly as he looks around. “The logistics of this must be outstanding. How does the waterfall work?”
“I’m glad you asked, it’s actually really fascinating!” Grant leads Emmet over to the railing, and they both look down, Emmet putting his hand on his flat cap to hold it in place. “There are actually grates down there, so it is drains into a reservoir down below, and then pumped back to the top over the course of the day.”
“Interesting,” Emmet says as he nods, tapping his chin. “How frequently do you clean the reservoirs, to keep the water clean?”
“We have pumice and basalt filters, and every Tuesday w-”
While the two talk about the water system, Ingo finds himself staring up at the rock wall that Young Lady had scaled. “Now, Lady, your mother may have stayed home with Elesa, but that doesn’t mean that you should go leaping across cliff faces!” High above, the Sneasel audibly blows him a razzberry and begins to scurry a little higher.
Huffing, Ingo takes off his coat and hat, laying them on the bench nearby as he judges the surroundings. The ground is padded, which is good since most of Grant’s challengers wouldn’t have any experience climbing, and while there are easy climbing spots like at any climbing park, Young Lady had decided to climb on the more natural rock face. That sort of rock face wasn’t unfamiliar to Ingo, and since it wasn’t naturally formed, some places were a little smooth.
Ingo starts on the recreational climbing wall, making his way about 15 feet before transitioning onto the actual stone. Finding the first few handholds was pretty easy, and in fact Ingo suspected that there were some more natural handholds purposely carved in for more experienced climbers like him. That would explain why so much of it felt like the perfect spacing for a climber. Slowly but surely, Ingo was catching up to Young Ladyc and in just a few minutes, he snags her off the wall. “Come with me, you little fare dodger,” he says with a laugh as she squirms.
By this point, Ingo is several yards from the nearest recreational wall, and so he sets Young Lady on his back and begins moving back to it. “Now, I get that climbing is fun, but we need to keep on the tracks,” he says calmly as they move to the artificial handholds. “You can’t just go leaping around in unfamiliar cliff faces!”
“Snea!” Young Lady whaps the top of Ingo’s head to show her displeasure. “Snea sneas!”
“I understand you aren’t happy being babysat, but it’s what your mother wan-” Ingo had to quickly stop what he was saying as Young Lady began to turn around on his back and prepare to launch away. “Safety checks, Lady! Cool your engines!”
On impulse, Ingo turns to grab at Young Lady as she disengages from him. He successfully snags her out of the air, but unfortunately his footing was now unsteady. Looking down, he sees that he’s about 20 feet above the mat, and holds Young Lady to his chest. “Mayday!”
At this, Emmet and Grant begin bolting in his direction as Ingo twists to his side, leaning slightly forward to the ground. His impact is swift arriving as he feels his arm smack into the padded floor, he and his passenger bouncing slightly before he rolls onto his back and groans.
“I am Emmet!” Emmet sternly speaks as he stands over Ingo. “What were you doing? It’s not like you to fall!”
Ingo groans again, before holding up a rattled Young Lady, who simply squeaks as she is displayed. “She jumped the turnstile. I saved her life.”
“She would’ve been fine, Ingo,” Grant says, grasping the arm that Ingo didn’t land on to help him up. “Now let’s get you looked at. That wasn’t a large fall, but it wasn’t nothing either.”
“It was barely a tumble,” Ingo tries to say to defend himself as he sets Young Lady down, who promptly clings to Emmet’s leg. “I’ve fallen from further!”
“There is no need to tell my climbing buddy I broke my leg falling down a cliff in Sinnoh!” Ingo shoots back at his brother while Grant laughs.
