.

Epilogue

"Diantha, this really is humiliating for a woman of my influence."

"More humiliating than working with Team Flare?" Diantha's expression held no humor as she bowed to the Officer Jenny who was just leaving the room. "Thank you, Jenny."

"My pleasure, Madam Champion."

As the door closed behind Officer Jenny, Malva stared down Diantha, not just humorless, but loathsome. "I'll be forced to wear nothing but bellbottoms!"

"I'm sorry, Malva. We appreciate the work you're doing, but an ankle bracelet seemed the best thing to do."

"It won't seem so when Xerosic laughs himself to death when I find him."

Diantha sighed. "Malva, look at this from my perspective. You worked with the leader of a terrorist organization. You had a close relationship. Then you were the last person to see his right hand man before he took off on the lam. Your offer to help is valiant, but do you think I can trust you? You were one of my Elites, and look where my trust got me there."

"But surely there's a more fashionable tracking device I could wear? I'm in need of a new pair of sunglasses, after all. Mine seem to have gotten scratched in all the excitement."

Diantha wasn't amused. "Malva, you can take off sunglasses," she deadpanned.

"Oopsie, guess I could."

Leaning forward, Diantha began again, "Look, I appreciate how candid you were in your interrogation these past few days. It was elucidating. But remember, you wear that ankle bracelet and keep up your end of the deal, I keep up mine."

"Yes, I can't wait to brag to all my friends that I won't be dying in prison."

"Malva," Diantha said, as though she was speaking to a trying child. "What else?"

Malva sighed. This was the deal she'd struck. The win to hopefully outshine all the bad choices she'd made these last few years. She thought of Ines and Nathan. They were so young and in real need of rehabilitation, new life skills, not a prison sentence.

"If I help round up all of the Team Flare employees and hunt down Xerosic, then all of the grunts who didn't know about the plan won't go to jail."

"It's a tough one, Malva," Diantha said. "There are a lot of people who want examples made of all of you. They want to see you dragged through the streets. Or at least rotting in jail for life. It's going to be the worst political move I've ever made. But I agree with you that it's the right thing."

The fight had gone out of Malva. Her pride was a terrible beast, but she knew she was the one coming out on top in this deal. If anything went wrong with Malva or any of the other forgiven Flare members, Diantha would be crucified. She might have to step down as Champion at a time when the region couldn't afford any instability.

But more than that, of all the people who wanted Xerosic's head on a silver platter, Malva had the most reason. The night the Giant Rock had been stopped, she'd tried to talk to him. To convince him to take the same road that she had—to do the right thing. He'd flown into the night on his Crobat.

She hadn't given chase. At the time, she'd still needed to talk things out with Diantha. But now she had, and she'd been given permission to find him and hand his ass over to the police. And she had not a doubt in her mind that she could. After all, he'd never known how powerful she truly was.

"I'm pleased that you do," Malva said. If anything, the Kalos Disaster and the days since had given her a bit more respect for the Champion. Respect that she should have had back when she'd been her Elite. Not just any Champion would be so willing to risk their reputation for the sake of the 'right thing.' But Diantha was.

And now Malva was too.

A bell sounded through the city's center and the workers all looked up from whatever task they'd taken on, most of which consisted of clearing rubble. Clemont's voice came over the new citywide speaker system saying, "Thank you to all of our committed volunteers. It is time for a mandatory shift change. Please be careful as you leave and we hope to see you all tomorrow. Remember, health comes first!"

Shauna stood up first, bending backwards with a satisfying groan. She felt a couple of small clicks in her spine as the vertebrae realigned, and stretched up to the sky to loosen her muscles. All this only to bend over one more time, taking a mask off of her Pokémon's face.

"Alright, Gothita, great job. Let's return."

Gothita gave a pleased coo and willingly went back in its 'Ball. Shauna swung her backpack to her side and dropped the PokéBall along with the compact gas-mask in.

Very few Pokémon had been approved by Professor Sycamore to take part in the rebuilding process in Lumiose. He'd begun a diligent screening process going species by species to approve who could safely work in the dangerous conditions. Many humanoid Pokémon were the first to be approved, as the masks that all people were required to wear didn't need very much adjustment to fit Pokémon like Machoke or Gothita. Gothita just needed a smaller one and she was all set. Then non-corporeal Pokémon like some Ghost Types were approved, as well as many Poison Types whose biologies were well-equipped to handle the toxins in the air. A week in and most Pokémon were still on the waitlist, though, namely the rest of Shauna's.

None of Trevor, Tierno, or Sawyer's Pokémon had been approved yet, so they'd had no hesitations as they'd begun heading back out through the approved exit through town.

Everything was regulated in Lumiose now. The city had been fully evacuated the day after the events with Zygarde and the Giant Rock and no one could enter without permission, and only volunteers were granted such. Residents could enter to try and regain possessions, but only with an official chaperone. That had been the case for the first few days, at least, but now hardly anyone entered for any reason beyond volunteering. Luckily, none of the vines that had gone outside the city had hit inhabited territory, so these rules only went as far as the Lumiose City limits.

There was police tape everywhere, blocking off nearly every street and building. Usually Lumiose was a city with so many cross streets, so many turns to take and get lost in, but no more. Their little group of four walked down the same street that dozens more volunteers were flooding onto, toward the Pokémon Center on South Boulevard, the same one they'd stayed in as they'd watched the news after the fall of Prism Tower.

That Pokémon Center was one of the only large buildings in Lumiose that had suffered nearly no internal damage. No vines had made their way into the building, but they'd had brushes along the outside. Cosmetically, the building was in far worse shape than it had been two weeks prior. But in terms of damage, all that was wrong was a dented roof. It would have to be fixed one day, but it was hardly a priority. Due to the building's size and resources, in addition to continuing its work as a Pokémon hospital, it was also a makeshift soup kitchen for the volunteers.

Before stepping into the building, everyone had to enter a disinfecting vestibule that had been constructed two days into the reconstruction efforts. Diantha and Clemont's primary concern was the health of all the workers, foremost above even the rebuilding of the city. All of the toxic dusts that settled on people's clothes had to be blown off before they could enter the Center, where people would be eating. Clemont had created this prototype through the efforts of one very long all-nighter, and was continuing to work toward its second iteration.

When Shauna took off her mask, she was instantly overtaken by the fresh smell of the room. More than just being clean, it smelled refreshing. That was due to the few Grass Pokémon around the room that had been brought in—Shauna saw the Bayleef in the corner who she had learned Ash had caught when he'd traveled through Johto in the past. It was nice to see that some Pokémon's skills could be used even if they weren't approved to be outside yet.

"Hello, everyone!" Grace, Serena's mom, greeted as the herd of dust-free volunteers began to make their way into the building. "Thanks for all of your work today! Please eat your fill!"

Being teenagers, Shauna and the rest had been encouraged by most of the adults to go first in line. They'd protested for the first couple of days, but after that the song and dance had gotten old. And, well, they were hungry.

"Thanks, Serena," Shauna said gratefully as she took a bowl from Serena and moved down the line to get some tea brewed from the leaves of a Unovan Pansage that Ash also knew.

"How was it out there today?" Serena asked as she continued to make plates from the massive vats of food she, her mom, and the other volunteers had made that day. Her face was flushed from leaning over steaming food all day, but she was smiling, nevertheless. She'd lost her hat and had taken to wearing her hair half-up and half-down to keep some of the short 'do off her neck. Shauna's pigtails had been serving her fine in that way.

"Good," Shauna said after a sip of tea. It was mild and only slightly tinted green, but she felt better already. "My muscles still hurt a lot, but I think I'm getting stronger."

"She is!" Tierno agreed. "She can lift almost as much as me now!"

"Oh, that's not true." Shauna blushed.

"Well, she can lift more than me," Trevor said. "But we're all getting stronger."

"That's good to hear," Serena said. "I think I'd like to help out there eventually, once my ankle heals. Maybe start trading with someone to do kitchen duty sometimes and work outside others."

"Well, we're happy you're here, Serena," Sawyer said. "None more than Tierno."

Tierno had been staring at Serena, perhaps admiring her new hairstyle, if any of his idle talk while they were outside was anything to go off of. But at Sawyer's words, he ripped his gaze away, his eyes wide and innocent as he glanced at Grace, who was smiling at them.

"Because of the food! Obviously, the food!"

"Not to worry, Tierno," Grace said. "Sawyer's wrong. I'm the one who's happiest to see Serena here, ankle brace and all."

"Mom…" Serena groaned with a blush. "There are so many people here."

"I don't care," Grace said, squeezing Serena with one arm and ladling food with the other. "I want everyone to know how proud I am of you."

As Serena rolled her eyes, Shauna grinned at the both of them. "I think it's sweet. You wanted her to be proud of you, and she is."

Grace gave Serena one last squeeze, then mercifully let her go and gestured to keep the line moving. "And I'll never stop."

When Meyer heard his son's voice over the sound system, he headed from the holding space in Professor Sycamore's lab outside to the pile. One side of the lab had been punctured by a vine the week before, something no one had seemed to notice until the next day. It seemed as though that vine had largely plugged the hole it had made, so the air hadn't become especially contaminated, but it had needed to be removed and the hole covered by a tarp before the lab could be made usable to the public. Or even to the professor.

It was the last shift of outside work for the day. Shifts were two hours long and were only in bright daylight. The whole city still had a haze over it, so as soon as the sun began to set, it was already too dark for Clemont and Diantha to consider it safe. Meyer had the last shift because he, for all intents and purposes, had become caretaker to the Zygarde.

Squishy and Z2 certainly had the power to remove all the vines that had taken over the city in a moment. They could have removed all of them days ago. But, alas, it wasn't that simple. Each vine provided a unique case. In the first days of cleanup they'd been able to go through the city and remove the vines that were in the road or only on top of things. But the ones that had crashed through buildings needed to stay in place, lest their removal cause further collapse. So they'd found that combing through the city at the end of the day—when both Zygarde had been able to soak up the day's sun—and seeing which vines could be removed after the day's progress was the only way to go. It was slow, but, little by little, the job was getting done.

"Hi there, Meyer!" James called out, waving to him alongside Jessie's Wobbuffet. "How are you?"

"Better than yesterday!" he replied, as he had every day since they'd begun.

It seemed as though the potential end of the world had awoken many things in people, especially within the niche group of people who had participated in stopping the Giant Rock. Team Rocket were perhaps the most obvious case, next to Malva. Team Rocket had continued to take their film work seriously and were in the process of collecting footage for a documentary about everything that had happened. Team Rocket had split in half, though, so they could get double the time in Lumiose, according to Clemont and Diantha's rules.

As for Meyer, aside from the general goal of trying to be a better father, he was just trying to take things one day at a time. If he could be a little better today than he'd been yesterday, that was a win.

"Hey, Squishy, Z2," James said fondly as the three of them approached. The Zygarde were in their 'Core' formes, as everyone had gained the terminology for. They'd go to 50% once they made it to the vines, to conserve energy. "Let's get started, shall we?"

As the five of them made their way down most of Vernal Avenue, Meyer found himself noticing where the cleanup had taken place that day. He had the intimacy with the space, even in its ruined state, to see all the progress that had happened, past all that was still to come.

"Excellent," Meyer said, proud of the work that everyone had done that day. "Squishy, Z2, you know what to do!"

Simultaneously, both Zygarde Cores called upon the cells that Meyer now knew to be scattered all over the region, and the Pokémon evolved before his eyes. It was never anything less than miraculous to see, and he was glad it was being captured on video. He felt privileged that he'd been the one trusted to chaperone the Pokémon, since there was no way he was going to let Bonnie spend time on the pile, no matter how safe Clemont and Diantha tried to make it. She did watch the Pokémon with Ash and Clemont during the day, though, while Meyer hunted for a new job.

The Zygarde began to divide and conquer, the reason why both were only in 50% forme and not united in Complete.

"Any buildings in particular we're looking to clean up?"

James began to point out with more detail what had been done that day according to Jessie and Meowth, and what the volunteers were looking to do the next. As he did, Meyer wished that he could get in there with his hands and help. But, technically, he was still concussed, and meant to limit his physical exertion.

They worked like that for about an hour. The sun was moving lower in the sky, hitting harder now that there weren't so many tall buildings blocking it. Meyer was sweating in spite of his lack of physical labor, and he turned to James, who was pulling from his water. "Hey, I think we've got it from here. Got a good sense of what needs to be done. If you've got all your footage, you can head back now."

James brought down the camera—he did video while Wobbuffet—wearing no mask, but clad in a full hazmat suit—controlled audio. "Really? You sure?"

"Yeah," Meyer answered with a smile. "You need to be getting ready anyway. Big night."

"It's a big night for you too," James replied in that strange, vaguely Galarian accent of his.

"Ah, yeah, but my look is that of the sweaty lumberjack man. You're going to have to dress up nice."

"I guess you're right," James said, turning off the camera and beginning to break it down. "Jessie will have my head if we're not a matched set."

"And here I thought it was the other way around."

James grinned. "Depends on the day."

"Alright now, you. Shoo," Meyer said with a good-natured laugh. "Thank you and Wobbuffet for all you're doing."

"You too," James replied as he and Wobbuffet began to walk back down the path. "See you soon."

"I don't want to go in."

"Well, that's something you should have thought about before you accepted, Alain."

"I wasn't thinking anything when I accepted! What was I supposed to say?"

"Uh, no? If you wanted to say no, you should have said no."

"I don't know if I wanted to say no."

"Do you want to now?"

"I…I don't think so."

"Then let's go in."

"…Fine."

Alain pushed the door leading into Malva's chambers at the Elite Four in the Kalos Pokémon League. It was shockingly heavy and he had to use quite a bit of his weight to get it open, revealing a cavernous room with multicolored tiles on the floor. He knew that when he stepped on the center panel on the floor, flames would erupt all over the room. Of course, if a challenger managed not to step on that part, Malva had a button by her throne—for it could only be called a throne—she could press to ensure the effect wasn't missed.

"Yeah, I don't think this is for me," Alain stated as he continued to try and take everything in.

"Well, of course it isn't for you—it isn't you," Mairin reasoned. "Remember this is just temporary. You're taking her place and then, who knows. Maybe this could be yours one day."

Alain wasn't sure what he thought of that. It had been a while since he'd really thought of what he wanted for himself and his career. Did he really want to be an Elite in the long term? Did he want to be Champion? He just didn't know anymore. It was like he didn't know himself well enough anymore in order to know.

The Elites, aside from Malva, of course, hadn't even been in Lumiose for the crisis. In a moment where it felt like the entire world was either in Lumiose or watching it, somehow Siebold, Wikstrom, and Drasna had missed it. Alain had always assumed that the Elite Four would have some box in the stadium where they'd watch the whole Kalos League, but it turned out they'd seen it as a day off. None had been in Lumiose, none around TVs, none with their phones on. Anyone who hadn't had one of those three things didn't hear about the Lumiose disaster until afterwards. That was crazy to Alain.

Really, aside from battling the occasional challenger, Alain had no idea what Elites were supposed to do. Malva had been able to have a whole side career on PokéVision—and a third one as a member of Team Flare—while Siebold was a chef, and really, Alain didn't know much about Drasna or Wikstrom at all. Should he if he was going to take this job? Were they his coworkers or did they just hold the same position?

While Alain stood flummoxed by the makings of an existential crisis, Mairin had trotted up the stairs and taken a seat on the throne. "Alain, this is incredible! You gotta sit here—it feels like you rule the world."

"That feeling didn't work out so well for Malva," Alain said wryly as he slowly walked up the stairs.

"Well, good thing you're not Malva," Mairin said, standing up so Alain could switch places with her. She pushed him into the chair and stood to the side, putting a hand on his shoulder. It was funny how they were so much more similar in height now with him sitting than standing. "Now just imagine yourself sitting here, about to give some kid the battle of their lives."

He could see it. He could see some version of Ash Ketchum approaching him and challenging him to a Battle at least as good as the one they'd had in the Lumiose Conference. It could be fun. That part, at least.

"You're really lucky, Alain. You'll get to try this out without commitment. Then you can see how you feel about it."

"You're right about that," Alain agreed. Maybe it would be a good opportunity to figure things out. He looked up at Mairin, who was smiling at him, just like he'd been missing for so long.

Maybe he already had something figured out.

"If we wanna visit Chespie before we have to leave, we should do it now."

As Steven had predicted, Chespie's body had been in rough shape after it had woken up. But, to everyone's immense joy, it had woken up. Once the Mega-Evolution energy had been drained from its body, all it had needed was a general healing and an intense physical therapy program. But that Mairin could deal with. That Alain could deal with. It was good enough news that he could start living with himself again.

Alain stood up from the chair and reflexively reached for Mairin's hand. She took it easily and the two of them made their way out. They'd be back soon enough, readier than ever.

Temporary housing had been set up in the cities surrounding Lumiose, those being Dendemille, Santalune, Camphrier, Courmaline, and Laverre. Trailers were being set up in any available real estate where displaced Lumiose residents could live, as well as volunteers who were cleaning up. Misty, Bonnie, Serena, and Mairin were staying in one in Santalune, while Alain, Clemont and Ash resided next door. During the day, the girls' trailer was empty, while Ash, Clemont, and Bonnie stayed in the boys'. All day. So, Ash was not surprised when he saw Misty waltz in and make herself at home.

"Hi, guys," Misty said as she dropped her bag by the door and shrugged out of her protective jacket. She'd been through one of the air sanitizers that Clemont had invented after her shift in Lumiose so, save for a little sweat, the jacket was just about clean.

"Hey, Misty!"

Ash, Bonnie, and Pikachu—all equally stir crazy—got up rather eagerly and ran over to her. Clemont was the only who didn't, not even seeming to notice as he continued to fiddle with an invention that none of the others understood much about.

Ash and Misty met by the door in a tight hug and Ash couldn't help but grin into Misty's neck. For someone who hadn't thought about it much in the past, it was nice to be able to be like this with her. To touch her and have it be normal.

It only lasted a moment, though. Then he pulled back and the questions started flying.

"What did you guys do today? How are things looking? Is everyone doing well?"

"Ash is going crazy," Bonnie said as Pikachu leapt into Misty's arms, wanting his turn with her too.

"What? I'm not going crazy," Ash said, trying to portray with his eyes that Bonnie was really the one who was crazy.

"No, of course he's not, Bonnie," Misty said, pulling her hair out of a ponytail as she bent down to Bonnie's level. In a stage whisper she said, "He's always been crazy."

"Hey!"

"Hay is for Ponyta," Misty said flippantly. "Besides. I never said whether I liked crazy or not."

Misty put a hand on the back of Ash's head, fingers threading through his hair, as he was hatless for once. Ash leaned into the caress and they smiled at each other.

Then Bonnie wiggled between the two of them and said with a waggle of her eyebrows, "You know, you're quite the catch."

"Hey, you're not giving her to Clemont!"

"I didn't mean for him," Bonnie said innocently to Ash. "I meant for you."

"Oh," Ash said with a blush. "Yeah."

"Pika pi," Pikachu cooed, seeming to revel in Ash's embarrassment.

"Okay, guys, I have to take a shower before the ceremony," she said, handing Pikachu off to Bonnie. "Bonnie, watch him until I'm finished."

"Pikachu doesn't need to be watched," Ash protested.

Misty smiled over her shoulder before heading into the bathroom. "I meant for you too."

"I already do that all day," Bonnie said with a groan to the closed door, flopping on the floor next to Dedenne, who had watched the whole scene take place.

Ash sighed, doing much the same as Bonnie, also falling to the floor, albeit carefully, so he didn't hurt his ribs. Pikachu crawled in his lap and Ash absently stroked his back. Pikachu had probably been pet more in the past week than in the past year—his coat had never been shinier. Dedenne too.

Ash's ribs had left him out of commission for helping with the reconstruction in Lumiose. He was the only one without anything to do. Well, him and Bonnie. He could offer up his Pokémon to volunteer, but none of them had masks that would fit yet either. Maybe Pikachu, but Pikachu wasn't about to leave without Ash. Thank goodness, because Ash didn't know what he would do without his little buddy there.

He and Bonnie were making the best use of their time that they could. They would train Ash's Pokémon for a couple hours every day, but they couldn't do too much, since Pokémon Centers were already at capacity with really injured Pokémon. It would be irresponsible to steer away resources just because you trained a little too hard with your healthy Pokémon. And they did have Z2 and Squishy. Unfortunately, the legendaries spent most of their time relaxing in the sun, preparing for their time with Meyer later. Aside from that, they'd had to entertain themselves inside.

Truthfully, Clemont wasn't very good company. He was totally consumed by his inventions. Clemont had invented a lot of things when they'd been traveling the region, and Ash didn't remember when Clemont had spent the time doing so. Though all of those inventions had exploded, so perhaps it was good that he was spending a little more time on these ones.

"You really are going crazy, you know," Bonnie said.

Ash was currently shaking both of his feet. If he'd been sitting on a chair, both legs would have been bouncing up and down uncontrollably. "I know."

After a couple minutes—that felt like hours—Misty came out of the shower, clad in Ash's robe. Her hair was wet and dark, and it looked like she'd just stepped out of the pool or the ocean.

"Bonnie, let's go over to our trailer. You can help me decide how to look for tonight."

"Oh boy!" Bonnie said, darting up, grabbing Dedenne, and running out before Misty had so much as stepped out of the bathroom.

Misty giggled, shaking her head at the young girl before turning back to Ash.

"Ash, I'm not expecting you to help with any styling choices, but your job is to pull Clemont away from his inventions long enough to get dressed and ready to go."

Ash looked at Misty pleadingly. "But—"

"You can do it," she said as she was stepping out the door. "And don't forget to get dressed yourself!"

Ash stared at the door, even after Misty closed it behind her. A week ago, he might have wondered how he could like someone so much who was mean to him. But, really, he knew that she'd never been mean. Well, maybe early on. But this was just how Misty talked. To everyone, but especially to him. And really, he did it to her too. And he liked that. He liked them.

He stood up. "C'mon, Clemont. You heard Misty. Let's get ready to go."

At the sound of his name, Clemont shook his head and looked up at Ash, blinking a number of times. "What? Huh?"

"Okay, so you didn't hear Misty," Ash said, finding Clemont's water bottle and giving it to him. "Here, I haven't seen you drink in hours."

"Oh," Clemont said, taking the water bottle and drinking thirstily. "I guess you're right."

"So, let's get you dressed before we go, okay?"

Clemont nodded as he set the bottle down. "Sure. Just a couple more minutes."

Now, maybe Ash would have fallen for this if he hadn't been living with Clemont for the past week. And if he hadn't traveled with him for the year before. Because unlike Clemont of the year before, Clemont of this week seemed to say that a lot. Just a couple minutes before dinner, just a couple minutes before turning out the light, just a couple minutes before taking his Pokémon outside. And by now Ash had been fooled enough times that he wasn't about to get tricked so easily.

"C'mon, Clemont. It'll only take a couple minutes to get ready and then you can have a little more time with your stuff before Misty drags us out of here."

"I know, but—"

"No, buts! Clemont," Ash knelt down beside his friend, trying to force some eye contact, "I understand that you want to help. As someone who can't, believe me, I know the feeling. But everyone else is taking a short break tonight. Why can't you?"

Clemont sighed, peeling his gaze away from his work long enough to take off his glasses and wipe them with his sleeve. "I just…I just want to make up for what happened."

"Yeah, that's what we all want to do," Ash said. "We all want to make things better."

"No," Clemont shook his head, "I don't mean what Team Flare did. I mean what I did."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I mean to Aliana and Bryony. And Xerosic, Ines, and Nathan," he explained. "I know that Aliana and Bryony are in jail now, paying for their crimes like they should. But, you know, that should be their punishment. Not what I did to them. And I know Ines and Nathan are fine now, but—"

"Clemont, hey." Ash gently put his hands on Clemont's, gesturing for him to put his glasses back on so they could really see each other. "We all had to make tough calls. I mean, I was fighting on Lysandre's side, right? That definitely caused a lot of problems for Misty and Al—"

"Yeah, but that wasn't you."

"I know, but I'm just saying. I mean, people have said to me that it's in bad times and emergencies that people show who they really are. And, I dunno, maybe that's right for some people. But I don't really think it's true. I guess it might be part of who you are, but it's not all of you. So…okay, so part of you is that guy who had to make some tough decisions—which, by the way, I think were the right ones—but a bigger part of you is the guy here, inventing things so that everyone else can help at all. And part of you is the guy who's going to get dressed right now so that Misty doesn't kill me."

Clemont sighed, stiffly beginning to push himself up. Ordinarily, Ash would have leapt to his feet and pulled his friend up the rest of the way, but he still had to mind his ribs. So, for once, Clemont made it up first, and offered his hand, giving Ash the slightest grin.

"Well, I guess we can't have that."

"Is it true that you foresaw the Kalos disaster months before it took place?"

As a crowd was dispersing in the stands at the Kalos Pokémon League, Team Rocket was on the ground, interviewing Olympia. She was looking at the three of them warily. Jessie was used to this, of course, but it always made her feel prickly when she wasn't doing anything wrong. And, as of today, she hadn't done anything wrong in a whole week. Well, legally wrong, at least. So the look was completely unnecessary.

"Aren't you all Team Rocket?"

She was just about to say something to the effect of: aren't you a psychic? Shouldn't you know we're on the good side now? James cut her off before she could, though.

"We're actually filming a documentary about the Kalos disaster and its recovery process," he explained. "Since we have so much footage about it, it only made sense to put it to good use."

"Ah, I see," Olympia said. "Well, I'd love to answer your question, but I see Charlene over there and I want to talk to her about things at the Gym. There's so much to do now that we're using it as a shelter."

"Yes, of course," James said. "Please, tend to that."

"Thank you," Olympia said.

After Olympia had disappeared back into the crowd, Jessie thwacked James on the arm.

"What?" he cried, looking wounded. Unfortunately, while holding the camera, he couldn't rub his injury.

"You let her go too easily! Not everyone's gonna want to talk—it's our job to make them talk!"

"Force da powerful Psychic Gym Leada who was just in da hospital?" Meowth asked sarcastically. "Yeah, nothin' wrong wit dat idea."

"Oh please, she looks perfectly healthy. It's not like we're attacking an infirm."

"So dat just leaves da powerful Psychic Gym Leada issue."

"C'mon, there are a million people here," Jessie said, moving them forward. "Just try not to let the next mark slip through our fingers."

It was true: everyone they might be interested in speaking to was there at Kalos's official Pokémon League Stadium. With Squishy and Z2 alongside Bonnie and Meyer, the only one missing was Xerosic. The ceremony honoring all of them had just finished. Team Rocket had shot the whole thing, of course, along with some live news crews, but they were the only ones of the lot wearing the medals that all the 'heroes' were now donning.

It all made Jessie quite uncomfortable. In all the times they'd defected to the hero side in the past, this was the part where they would have left, hiding in the shadows, or watching from a rooftop somewhere. But instead, they were here. Still cleverly off to the side—they hadn't been seated in the line where everyone else had been—but indelibly a part of this.

The ceremony had been sweet. Everyone had been honored individually, there'd been speeches, and a moment of silence for the lives that'd been lost—all in a neat, one hour package for television. Now that the ceremony was over, it was the perfect chance to grab interviews from some of their fellow 'heroes' who had been evading the camera since the Lumiose disaster.

"Oh, dere's Serena!" Meowth exclaimed. "Ev'rybody loves Kalos's sweetheart."

That was true. Serena had been a rising star before the Kalos disaster from being the runner up in the Gloire Showcase Master Class. But the impassioned speech she'd given in the helicopter during the disaster had given her near-universal name recognition in the Kalos region. Everyone knew her and loved her and Team Rocket definitely wanted to make use of that in their documentary.

"Oh, Serena!" Jessie called, waving to the girl as they crossed paths.

Serena, however, had been walking as quickly as her ankle allowed, and passed right by them. "Sorry, Team Rocket! I want to catch Misty before she leaves!"

Jessie's arm fell to her side and she pouted. "Oh, the nerve!"

"It's fine," James coaxed, pointing the camera in another direction. "There's Professor Sycamore."

Another person with one hundred percent name recognition in the region. He'd certainly add credibility to their movie.

"Augustine," Jessie said, stepping in front of him so he couldn't slip away the way Serena had. "Do you have a moment?"

Professor Sycamore stopped, eyebrows raised in surprise. Jessie couldn't tell if it was from them cutting him off, or the fact that she'd used his rarely-heard first name. He probably hadn't realized that she knew it.

"Oh, uh, sure. What do you need?"

"Why don't you tell us how your role as the region's foremost professor has changed since the events in Lumiose?"

"Of course," Professor Sycamore started. "Well, my role has changed enormously, because my field of profession was Mega-Evolution. Since the discovery that Mega-Evolution hurts the Pokémon that undergoes it, I've spearheaded a campaign to end the use of Mega-Evolution in League-sanctioned Battles, and hope to outlaw it entirely. And I'm writing a research paper on Mega-Evolution to back all that up."

"And you're also creating things like masks to make it safer for humans and Pokémon to work to rebuild Lumiose, right? Who are you collaborating with?"

"Yes, a lot of us are working together. Valerie and I have teamed up to make different sized masks for every species of Pokémon. She's a fashion designer, so she's amazing at taking the measurements and translating that into design while I have the resources and tools to get the masks made. Clemont and I are also working on inventions to keep everyone safe and healthy. Alain has returned to being my assistant part-time while he takes on his new League duties, and Ines and Nathan are learning the ropes from him."

"Well, that all sounds like amazing work."

"Thank you," Professor Sycamore said. He then began looking side to side, awkwardly, shifting on his feet. "Is that all you need?"

"No," Jessie said, putting her hand out in case he tried to run from them. "Now you can just kind of sound off on anything about what you're doing or the Lumiose disaster and we'll cut your words together as we please?"

"…Is that really how documentaries are made?"

"We have no idea," Jessie said with a big smile on her face. "Carry on."

She tuned him out, giving him little more in the way of prompts than the occasional, "Hmm," or "Go on," as she spotted an orange head in the crowd. Of course, that particular hair color immediately made Jessie think of the original twerpette, who—as she, James, and Meowth had been the first to predict a long time ago—now appeared to be an item along with the twerp himself. But that wasn't who she was looking at. For starters, this kid was a lot shorter. And secondly, she actually had something to say to this one.

Jessie drifted away from her crew almost without thinking. She saw their gazes drift to her, even Professor Sycamore's, but all James and Meowth had to do at this time was keep their equipment pointed towards the rambling but admittedly somewhat attractive Professor. They didn't need her.

Within only a few paces, Jessie was, for the first time in a week, in company with the side-twerps.

She didn't know what to say. She had nothing to say. All she had to do was rifle through her tote—packed with lipsticks, powders, and some of the goodies she'd managed to steal from the various snack tables she'd encountered that day, and plucked out a camera.

"Here."

The four side-twerps had been clustered in a square, somehow not noticing her, even as she towered over them—especially the tiny red-headed side-twerp—but opened up, as she extended her hand into their group.

"Oh, my camera," the side-twerp said, reaching out and taking it from her. "Thank y—"

But she was already gone, twisting through the crowd, back to her place. But now, with a little ghost of a smile pulling at her lips.

A week in Kalos had always seemed like the perfect vacation to Misty. Perfect location, obviously, and perfect amount of time spent. As a traveling Trainer, it had been rare to stay in one city for that long. As a Gym Leader, it was impossible to get away for more than a weekend most times. A week away would have been decadent.

But for all the ways she'd envisioned it, it had never gone anything like this. That was, standing posed for photographs at the end of a ceremony where they'd all been given official medals of valor after having spent the majority of that week clearing rubble and trying to rebuild a destroyed city. That was a little over the top, even for Misty's imagination.

But that's where she was. As the last official photograph was taken, Ash took her hand and smiled at her. His eyes were still slightly wide and crazed—sitting for the ceremony probably hadn't helped with his unspent energy—but they were focused on her in a way that made her heart go pitter-pat. She still wasn't used to this. She hoped she wouldn't be for a long time.

"That's that," Ash said.

It wasn't perfectly clear if he meant the ceremony or the pictures or the whole ordeal of what they'd been going through for the past week, but Misty understood the sentiment regardless. "That's that," she agreed.

Their perfect line of heroes started splitting off as people began chatting with each other. After all, they hadn't all been together since Anistar City. It only took a couple of seconds for Steven Stone to approach and say, "I hope I'm not interrupting."

Misty wasn't quite out of the habit of flushing when people said that to her. It had become such a knee-jerk reaction to blush and bluster when people made comments about her and Ash that she hadn't managed to shake it yet.

"No. What's up, Steven?" Ash said.

"Well, I heard that you two are leaving Kalos today. I am too, so I wanted to make sure that we got our goodbyes in first thing."

"That's so kind of you, Steven, thank you," Misty said. "Yes, we head back to Kanto tonight."

"I'm sure that everyone's grateful that the two of you were here for this," Steven said.

"You too!" Ash replied. "You came all this way just to help. Not just anyone would do that."

He didn't seem to quite realize what he'd said until the words came out, leading him to glance back over at Misty and give her a special smile.

"If you ever find yourselves back in Hoenn, let me know. It would be good to see you both again."

"Likewise," Misty replied. "If you're ever in Kanto."

Steven grinned. "Well, I hear you have a lot of caves there, so I might just take you up on that. Anyway, I best be saying my goodbyes to the rest of the group. But I hope to see you again soon."

"Sure thing," Misty said. "Bye, now."

"Bye, Steven!"

Misty glanced at Ash, who was using his other hand to wave Steven off, as was Pikachu from his rightful place on Ash's shoulder. Thoughts of another vacation crossed her mind. To Hoenn, by the water, the both of them. Steven spoke as though it was a given that if they went, it would be together. And maybe it would. Maybe most of the things they would do now would be together. Well, if not physically, then at least metaphorically, she supposed.

"We've gotta go say goodbye to everyone else," Ash said, looking out at their crowd of cohorts. "It's not like everyone's gonna come to the airport with us."

Us. They were an us now. But still, Ash knew all these people much better than Misty did, and deserved his own proper goodbye with each and every one of them. So she pulled her hand away. "Let's make the rounds and I'll find you when I'm done."

Ash nodded in agreement, running off to where Mairin and Alain were. And before Misty could decide where to start with her own goodbyes, it was decided for her.

"Hey, Serena," Misty said, surprised. "We were just going to say goodbye to some people before we head out, so if there's anyone you want to catch up with—"

"No, I actually wanted to talk to you," Serena said, perhaps a bit shyly. "I know Clemont, Bonnie, and I will be seeing you both off later, but I thought we could have some girl talk first."

"Sure," Misty said. "I'd love some girl talk before being stuck with Mr. Pokémon Master for a two-hour flight."

Serena gave a nervous chuckle. "Right. Well, I just wanted to thank you for your honesty, um, back when we were on the Rock. It was meaningful that you trusted me with your secret."

"I guess I'm glad too," Misty said. "Not just because it helped Professor Sycamore figure out how to save the world, but because it led to…this."

Misty quantified 'this' by glancing to where Ash was gesticulating wildly to a stoic Alain and cheerful Mairin and pointing between him and herself.

"Yes. I also wanted to congratulate you on that."

"Oh, well, thanks," Misty said awkwardly, still not sure how to behave around people's reactions to her fledgling relationship. She'd have to get used to it, though, if she wanted to survive a moment around her sisters the next day.

"But I also…I also wanted to show you the same honesty that you showed me," Serena said, taking a deep breath as she kept firm eye contact with Misty. "This whole time I've traveled with Ash, and even before, I've…had feelings for him."

That Misty hadn't been expecting.

Back when May had first been traveling with Ash, Misty had had moments of jealousy. Moments of worry that she and Ash would have a connection more than Misty had ever been able to muster between the two of them. But after getting to know the other girl, her worries had dissipated all but immediately. She'd felt the same concerns around Dawn until Brock and May had reassured her that Dawn definitely wasn't interested. By the time Ash had begun traveling with Iris, Misty had gotten over those kinds of fears. Whatever would be would be, and it didn't ever seem that it would be that Ash would get together with one of his traveling companions.

So to hear that her old, pubescent nightmare had actually come to pass was…well, not scary like it might have been five years ago. But certainly shocking.

"Oh," Misty said, trying to keep her expression blank as Serena moved to continue.

"I never acted on it—well, not really. I guess I never had the courage. Which I imagine you can relate to. And how hard that's been. But I guess, I guess I wanted to tell you because you deserve to know. To know that and that I'd never do anything. I really am happy for you, because…I know how happy I would be if it were me. But really, I'm happy for Ash. Happy that he's happy. And because of that, I wish you the best."

"Oh—thank you, Serena," Misty said, unsure of what else to say. The other girl's face was red, whether from embarrassment or the effort of saying such a difficult thing, Misty didn't know.

"I just, if it helps, I think that my crush on him was always more of a fantasy. I'd idealized him from when we were younger and even though he really is similar to what I'd imagined him as, it's still not the same. That's not the basis of a relationship. Not like what you have. I-I know that. Now."

"Um, I'm not sure that helps either, but it's good that you know that," Misty offered, struggling to keep a question mark off the end.

Really, what was she supposed to say to all this? Of course she wasn't going to like the idea of another girl liking her boyfriend. Especially one of his best friends. Who had just traveled with him for a year along with her apparent years-old crush? But she was saying all this in good faith, so…what could Misty say?

Serena continued. "I just ask—not that I'm really in a position to ask anything but, if I may—please don't tell him. I'll tell him someday. Someday when all of this is just a story and I've moved on and he's saved the world a dozen more times." In spite of herself, Misty smiled at that. It seemed everyone's experiences with Ash had some common threads. "I know I didn't keep your secret perfectly when you told me and even though I'd do it over again, I know that wasn't really right. And I'm sorry."

Misty took a breath and tried to take it all in. She'd been known for her temper in her youth and had spent the last few years learning how to deal with it. As a Gym Leader, she needed to be level-headed. She needed the calming spirit of a good teacher. So she paused for just a few seconds before responding and then put her hand on Serena's shoulder, a gesture that seemed to surprise the other girl.

"There's nothing to be sorry about. I—thank you for telling me. I'd never be able to handle something like this with such grace so…congratulations. For being more of an adult than I am."

Serena blushed and looked down. "I'm glad you think so."

"I do," Misty said, bending her neck to regain eye contact with the girl. "And while I can't say I'm happy to hear that a beautiful, smart, talented girl likes my boyfriend, it's not my place to keep you from telling him things that are yours to tell. So, yeah, please wait until things are less new with us and I can feel more sure that he feels like I do, but you deserve to be able to share your truth whenever you want to."

Serena looked at Misty in surprise. "Really?"

Misty squeezed Serena's shoulder before letting go. "Really. Ash's friends are the best people in the world, and that includes you. Just because we like the same guy doesn't mean that we have to be rivals. We can just be friends. It might be awkward at first, but that's no reason not to try."

"Well, I can't wait to meet the rest of Ash's friends, if they're all like you," Serena said with a grin.

"They may not be like me, but I can promise you that they're all just about as amazing as he is." Her eyes softened. "And you know how fond I am of him."

Serena nodded. "I do. And…you can be sure that he feels the same. I—it's obvious."

"Um, thanks." Misty looked down to hide her blush, unsure how to end the moment. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ash making his way through the rest of his goodbyes, and then her gaze fell to a group in the corner. "Alright. Lemme see if I can manage a goodbye to Team Rocket."

It turned out much of the flight was Ash recounting many of his non-televised adventures in Kalos, whilst trying to stave off how much he already missed Clemont, Bonnie, and Serena. In between stories, Misty caught glimpses of the sadness he was trying to mask, and she wondered if that's how he'd been when she'd left the group. Just like she couldn't say anything to comfort him now, had he been inconsolable then?

When they got off the plane, people recognized them. Sure, Ash had had people here and there recognize him in the past, and Misty more and more frequently had people knowing her as a Gym Leader, but this was different. Everyone seemed to know who they were and what they'd done. Of course, that had been the case in Kalos too, but more expectedly so. It would take some getting used to here at home. Hopefully it would die down before then, though.

Pallet was a short drive from the Viridian airport. Misty wasn't sure if Ash had ever bothered to take a car back before; she assumed he'd always walked. They didn't consider that this time, though, for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which being his ribs—the whole reason he was coming back now instead of staying to help in Kalos.

Although, Misty thought as she felt Ash's fingers interlaced with hers in the back of the cab, perhaps not the only reason.

They would stay in Pallet for the evening. They'd get to see Mrs. Ketchum, as well as Professor Oak, Tracey, and maybe Gary, and try to get back on Kanto time. Then they'd both head to Cerulean so that Misty could get back to being the Gym Leader. The plan was to ride out Ash's recovery where there would be enough stimulation—see: Pokémon-related activities—to keep him occupied. That would mean more than a month, if all went well, of essentially living together. After only a week of dating.

But, truth be told, Misty wasn't concerned about it. After all, she and Ash had traveled together for years. Sure, the dynamic was different now, and they'd be staying in her house instead of sleeping bags outside, but they wouldn't be sleeping in the same bed. Not yet.

That was the next five weeks or so. After that, Ash wasn't quite sure. He might want to go back to Kalos and help with the rebuilding. Or he might want to go on another journey. There was a region no further than the Orange Islands called Alola. Certainly a place Misty could disappear to for a weekend.

Or he might try Kanto out again. He'd gotten so close to winning in this last Pokémon League. Maybe it was time to go back to his roots and see what the Indigo League would have in store for him a second time. And then they could finally have a real Gym Battle. Now that Team Rocket was on the good side, there wasn't anything that should interrupt their match this time around.

As Pallet appeared in the distance, and Misty could see the windmill of Professor Oak's lab, one thing was certain. Ash had always made all of his decisions with nothing more than him and his Pokémon in mind. And saving the world, here and there. But whatever he decided to do this time, Misty would have a part in it. She wouldn't be the whole decision, this Misty knew. She didn't want to suddenly become Ash's whole world to the point where he lost himself and his goals. But to be a factor in the decision? She hadn't even had that when she'd been traveling with him.

It felt good. His hand in hers, coming up to his mother's house, where Misty would be introduced anew as his girlfriend, all the choices they would get to make together—it was all good.

And the funny thing was, it all came down to a choice of hers. With the threat of the world ending, she'd run to Ash. At the time, it had felt like impulse more than choice. But everything she'd done, ultimately, had been a choice. And with the threat of no tomorrow, she'd chosen him.

But after all that, with the renewed promise of a million more tomorrows, he'd chosen her.

Now they were faced with another choice: what's next?

Well, for now it would be dinner with Mrs. Ketchum. Then it would be off to Cerulean tomorrow. But after that? They'd just have to wait and see.

FIN

A/N: Oh my goodness, ya'll! This is the first multi-chap that I've finished in almost 4 years! And, unlike that one (Lost in Halloweenia), which I wrote in 1 month, this one took me 19 months. (This one is over 100K longer, but still.) And it's my longest yet! I'm going to fight my impulses to write a days-long note here as, believe it or not, I do every time. First, thanks to my wonderful beta, C'sMelody. She follows me wherever I go and, when imperative, she pulls me back. Folx, this story would have had basically no shipping in these last two chapters if it weren't for her, so give her a big hand. It's still not the shippiest of stories, but that's not my thing. Hopefully, you enjoyed everything else I tried to do.

BUT, speaking of ships, this story was meant to be my contribution to Pokéshipping Week 2018! (What a joke!) Now's the time I reveal the prompts. They were 1. Misty in Kalos, 2. Possessed/evil Ash, 6. Protagonist Misty/sidekick Ash, and kind of 4. Traveling companions react to them dating. (5. Maiden's Peak revisited was the R chapter in my alphabet challenge). So the big joke at the end of this is that even after all of this freaking effort and time it still doesn't complete Pokéshipping Week. Ah well.

The last big thank you goes to all of you! Thank you, whoever you are, for reading this! I'm not sure who here has also been reading Ghost Story, but if any of you are, thank you so much for indulging me as I went on hiatus to write this stupid idea of a story. And I do think this story was a stupid idea, but I'm proud of its execution. As for GS, I'm working on it. I got the next few chapters done earlier in quarantine and, unfortunately and fortunately, I've been distracted by the real-world racial disparities for the past many weeks. But I promise to redouble my efforts on it as well as in trying to make the world a more equitable place as C'sMelody catches up on the chapters I've done. Nevertheless, the next chapter won't be posted until I'm further into the story. But I hope to see you all there when the time comes.

Yes, this is the short version of my remarks. Goodbye for now and I hope to be back again soon.

Much love,

anjumstar